Page 6 of Gavin

When the call ended, Gavin put his phone down and took a long drink from the soda. He reached for the remote and turned on the TV, mindlessly flipping channels until he found a fictional police show to occupy his time until he headed to bed. Talking to his sister about finding his truemate just made him want to find her even more than he already did.

He hoped she showed up soon though.

He was definitely ready to find her and start their lives together.

Chapter

Three

Sadie had never been so nervous while driving, not even when she took her driver’s test and hadn’t mastered parallel parking. But leaving Ironwood with only the bag her mom had packed for her, her driver’s license, and a handful of cash her mom had saved was the most nerve-wracking thing she’d ever done.

Only when she crossed the Michigan state border into Wisconsin without anyone on her tail did she relax fractionally. She’d left her phone behind in case Alpha Holloway planned to track her down. So the only directions she had were ones her mom had written down and took her the long way around Lake Michigan.

The trip had taken nearly fourteen hours after a few stops to eat and stretch her legs, but she’d been careful to stop only in touristy areas with lots of people around so she didn’t make herself a target.

The whole time she’d been traveling, she wondered if anyone even cared that she had left besides her mom. If Alpha Holloway had planned to imprison her or put her under house arrest during his brother’s visit, he would probably be happy that she left the pack. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that hemight come for her anyway just to punish her for leaving. He considered her a curse to the pack but never suggested she leave.

Maybe because she was a good scapegoat for anything bad that happened. She got blamed for every freaking thing that went wrong, and the pack just went along with it. No one besides her mom had ever stood up for her.

She was scared to pieces to be on her own going to a strange place, but she knew her mom had her best interest at heart and wouldn’t send her somewhere dangerous. At least she had her mom’s friend to help her out.

Alli.

A fallen angel.

Who her mom had never talked about one time in Sadie’s entire life, but who she trusted enough to send her only living relative to.

Sadie parked in front of an apartment complex and stared out the windshield. The morning sunlight highlighted the gray building with the red awning over the front door. She was exhausted from head to toe and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and put the whole world on hold while she tried to catch up on sleep. But first she needed to meet this fallen angel friend of her mom’s.

Turning off the engine, Sadie grabbed her purse from the front seat and got out, reaching into the backseat to pick up her bag. She walked up to the front door and was scanning the list of names to find Alli’s when the front door opened.

“Hell’s bells, honey, you look just like your mom.”

Sadie turned and found herself staring at a youthful looking female with bright blue eyes and golden blond hair.

“You’re Alli?”

“The one and only,” she said, tilting her head with a smile. “You must be Sadie. Come on in. How was the trip? You look like you’re about to drop.”

“It was long,” she said, following the female into the foyer. Alli took her to a bank of elevators and pressed a button. As the elevator whirred to life and the faint dinging of a bell as it ascended could be heard, Sadie started to cry.

“Oh, honey,” Alli said, putting her arms around her and hugging her tightly. “It’ll be okay.”

“I don’t know why I’m crying,” she said between sobs.

“I can guess that you’re exhausted and overwhelmed. When your mom called me, she was so panicked that you would be hurt by the alpha. I know she hated sending you away but she did it to keep you safe. And you’llbesafe here. No asshole alpha with a god complex who thinks unique shifters should be hidden and treated like shit is going to come looking for you on my watch. And if he does show up?” Alli pushed Sadie gently to arm’s length. “I’m very handy with a sword.”

Sadie half-laughed and half-sobbed. “Thanks.”

“You bet. I’ll have you know that I don’t offer to slaughter people for just anyone, but your mom and I were good friends years ago. Even though we didn’t keep in close contact aside from occasionally over the years, I told her I’d help her if she needed it, no questions asked. So here you are.”

The elevator opened on the second floor and Alli held it while Sadie walked into the hall. Brushing the tears from her cheeks, she blew out a breath and sighed. “Everything happened so fast.”

“It sounds like it.”

Alli faced her as the doors slid shut. “You can stay with me as long as you like. This is a safe building with lots of supernatural people living here.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

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