Page 26 of Alpha's Baby Girl
As the she-wolves dispersed, Shiba brushed past me. “Someone clearly didn’t have too much of a hard time.”
I glared at her and stalked past, ignoring Fenrys, her, and Dakota’s questioning look. I had listened to her only two days talk about how much she wanted to catch Fenrys’s attention, only to now go and sleep with him outside the Mating Games’ boundaries.
On top of that, he was my enemy—I was aligned with Kato’s pack now. I had slept with the enemy, the man I was supposed to help kill. Instead, I had submitted for him—tohim, allowing the mating bond to snap into place.
Now, away from his overwhelming presence, I could think more clearly. Kato wasn’t dangerous. Would I be able to simply back out, or would he employ someone else to do the job I couldn’t do?
Alone, I walked back to the hotel. I wasn’t strong enough to resist Fenrys anymore. I had to leave before I gave in to him again, before I followed my mate to any end.
Back at the hotel, I shut the door to my room, ignored Dakota’s knocks until she went away, and let myself curl up for five minutes. Then I was on my feet, flinging my suitcase open and throwing every bit of clothing I had in it. I didn’t know where I would go, I just needed to be away from the Games—away from Fenrys and the silent, questioning eyes. My family wasn’t really an option. I had failed and brought my misery onto them once already. To quit the Mating Games was a dishonor, and I couldn’t do that to them again.
A message from Kato awaited me on my phone, along with a missed call.I expect an update soon, little wolf. I hear your survival trial went well.
The urgency had dread pushing the meagre contents of my stomach around nauseatingly. I swiped the message off, trying to ignore it. How did he know? Had he seen me? Did he have wolves patrolling the woods during the trials? That seemed the most likely option but how much had he seen? How much did he know? Was his message a taunt to see how much I would admit?
And then, the biggest question: should I fear Kato?
The thought had me panicking, packing up my belongings, my mind only on one option:run.
Once I was packed up, I considered my options.
Returning to Kato meant showing my empty hands. It meant admitting defeat and my own weakness. He would scent me before I even approached his office to admit that I could no longer see my mission through. But I had signed a contract to say that even if I didn’t see the end of the Mating Games through to the end and become Luna, I would find some way to render Fenrys ready for Kato’s pack to handle before I left the Games.
I could leave Silverlake Valley altogether. My mother’s sister’s family lived a few towns over. She had once planned to send me there after I graduated to give my family all space to let the gossip die down. I could go to them and hope they would hear me out and take pity on me. Really, I knew that it had been one less mouth to feed, one less reminder of the shame. They’d both had to change their jobs, and our household income had altered drastically. The consequences had weighed heavily on my shoulders. Everyone had wanted to blame me but nobody thought to point fingers at the boy, who, at the time, could have quelled the nasty rumors that had circulated at the time, painting me as a terrible, lovesick puppy.
I scrolled through my contacts. The only option was to tell my mother the whole story: Kato, my mating with Fenrys, him accepting me, but not knowing what to do now. But she would urge me to walk away from Kato immediately, and I was worried that was easier said than done. Sasha was the one who had introduced me to Kato, and she had said only yesterday if I needed anything then she would be there.
I called her, sniffling away tears as I looked around my empty room. Nausea rolled in my stomach. I dismissed it, acknowledging my anxiety and worries over the choice I needed to make. On top of that, my wound had set me back.
“Miss me so soon?” my best friend crooned down the phone. In the background, the sound of her favorite makeup TV show was on, and I was hit with a wave of longing for the nights we’d spent curled up in my double bed at home, judging contestants and her asking to recreate makeup looks on me.
I went to tell her everything that had been kicking up a storm in my head—needing to get away from Fenrys before I hurt him, needing to escape Kato’s contract, wanting to know if I had put myself in danger with this choice. I wanted to tell her she was right: that backing out was exactly what I needed to do. Except it wasn’t merely backing out; I wanted to escape. I wanted to tell my best friend that all I wanted was to be in Fenrys’s arms, that he was now my mate truly, but I’d complicated everything. I’d messed up and I didn’t know how to get out. How could I do this to him? A wretched sob spilled out of me, down the phone.
“Lia?” The sound in the background stopped. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve messed up,” was all I could muster. Then I inhaled deeply. “I’ve messed up, and I just—I need to get away from the Games for a while. I’ve just finished the second trial, and we have the next day off. Do you think you could come get me? I miss you.”
“Has something happened with Fenrys?” she asked, skipping over what I’d said to try to get to the point.
My silence was all she needed to know. “Let’s take your mind off it, okay? We’ll talk it out. I got you. I’m only fifteen minutes away. Meet me at the lobby.”
I considered my suitcase, hesitating. Did I really want to leave?CouldI? What sort of consequences would that have for Fenrys, my family, for myself? I couldn’t just skip town because of this, not when I didn’t know for sure if I was in danger.
I threw out some clothes from my case and only left enough to stay the night with Sasha. She lived mostly in my house but also shared a room in a house not too far away. I left my room quickly, before I rethought my decision. Before I could get to the lobby, I felt another roll of nausea that had me finding the nearest general bathroom in the hotel. I vomited and lay my forehead on the cool basin for a few minutes. Then I cleaned myself up, rinsed out my mouth, and went outside to wait for Sasha.
What if Fenrys picked me tomorrow at the banquet? What if hedidn’t? Did him returning with me mean he’d chosen me as his winner? I didn’t know if I could watch him take another she-wolf to his room or watch him flirt with the other contestants anymore. He was mymate. I needed space; I needed air that wasn’t clouded with the anticipating energy of the other she-wolves and Fenrys himself. I wanted normalcy. I wanted my best friend.
Just as a car pulled up outside and Sasha got out, my name was called from the elevator doors. I froze and turned around to find Fenrys in a black hoodie and shorts, rushing down the hallway to me. When he saw my suitcase, his face pulled into a frown.
“You’re leaving?”
I was at a loss for words. How could I explain that yes, I was, but not as permanently as I wanted to?
“I—I can’t stay here tonight,” I whispered. Maybe not even the next night. Maybe I wouldn’t even return for the final trial. I didn’t know what the hell to do. Fenrys’s face twisted in confusion. Only last night, we had finally mated, slept together in the cave, and shut the rest of the world out of our bubble of intimacy. But he didn’t know the whole truth, and I didn’t know how to admit my betrayal to him.
“Did I hurt you? Did I do something wrong?” His voice lowered. “Last night… We both wanted it to happen, right? I—”
“She told me there’s some free time from the Games,” my best friend interrupted, saving me from explaining myself. Words died on my tongue as she approached, slipping sunglasses up onto her head. Her winning smile was full of ease, so at odds with how my expression would have looked. “I’ve invited her for a sleepover. That’s okay, right?” Her tone was slightly challenging but not too much to disrespect him. I knew how Sasha saw him: the man who’d broken my heart once and now had me in tears.
