Page 31 of Alpha's Unclaimed Mate

I can’t believe I left this five weeks ago, and it feels like it’s been five years.

As I wait for my baggage, I start making mental lists. First: get a job. Second: find the cheapest apartment around.

“Seren!”

I spot Jane almost instantly, her face lit up with a welcoming smile.

“I knew you’d be back,” she says as we hug. “Gunner and I had a bet going. I said six months and he bet a year.”

I smile. I would’ve bet a lifetime, but I was a different person a few weeks ago.

“Let’s get some food before we pick up the car,” Jane suggests as we approach a long row of fast food kiosks.

“Tacos look good,” I agree. Since I skipped lunch again on the plane, I’m starving.

Over two platters of tacos and a pitcher of lemonade, I tell her about my last few weeks. Jane is livid. She’s glad I got my passport and all my other important documents, along with the other essentials I managed to pack.

As we walk back to the parking lot, my phone rings. It’s an unknown number, so I ignore it. It rings three more times, and I get a creeping feeling it’s someone from the packhouse.

“Give me your phone.” Jane suddenly turns to me.

I blink at her.

“Hurry.”

As I’m taking it out of my bag, she snatches it from my hand.

“Hey—” I begin to protest, but Jane’s eyes are determined.

“Trust me,” she says softly, glancing around to make sure no one is watching. “Here’s the first step to your fresh start.”

Before I can react, she hurls my phone into the back of a nearby ten-wheeler truck. The phone lands with a soft thud, disappearing among other discarded items.

“What—” I start, but Jane places a calming hand on my shoulder.

“This is for you, Seren. It’s time to let go of the past and move forward. Now you don’t have any more ties to the life you’re leaving behind.”

I take a deep breath, the truth in her words sinking in. “I still have my laptop in my bag. What about that? And my bank accounts?”

She laughs, and there’s a lightness in her voice that eases my tension. “Every problem has a solution. I’m just glad you’re in a place where you’re looking out for yourself.”

As we get into her car, I believe her words. Out with the old, in with the new.

Soon we’re driving into the city center, with bright buildings shining all around us. But at every nook and every corner, every other person has one familiar face—Theron’s.

I’m not sure moving away from someone you love is easy. But Theron will have it easier than me, since he never loved me, and that knowledge keeps me moving forward.

CHAPTER 12

THERON

Iscan the royal ballroom’s dining table, watching the faces of thirty-six women while absently rearranging the food on my plate. Not one shows even a hint of Seren’s features.

It feels like a punishment from the Moon Goddess, as if she’s stripping away every reminder of Seren from me. But she can’t take away my memories.

She could’ve been here right now.

A phantom pain stabs my chest with the thought.

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