Page 23 of The Wild Moon
I’d been planning to travel light, but once I’d reached my parents' place, I had a hard time choosing what to take and what to leave. At this point, I knew full well not to expect the house to survive Lars’ wrath. I’d escaped his prison, and on top of that, I’d assaulted his wife.
He was going to burn the place to the ground, I was sure. So, I took what I felt was important and what I could haul, then left as fast as I could. After all, it was the first place they would look for me.
This was the second, though, so I had to be quick.
Bending over, I picked up a few bits of gravel from the driveway, shaking them in my hand as I walked to the side of the farmhouse. I switched all but one of the pebbles to my left hand. That one was launched in the air, clattering noisily against the window.
I cringed at the sound, but I couldn’t risk going inside. If any of the pack enforcers arrived, I needed to see them coming so that I could run before they located me. But I couldn’t leave just yet. Not without saying goodbye to the one person I had left. The one person who had never doubted me for a moment.
I chucked the second pebble, glancing around as it bounced off the glass. I didn’t hear, nor smell, signs of anyone else, but that could change instantly. I launched the third pebble, my eyes already looking around the property.
“Ow,” a voice hissed from the window. “What the hell was that for?”
I swung my gaze back around to see Jo sticking her head out the window and rubbing her forehead.
“Shit, sorry. Jo,” I said, keeping my voice low. I strode up to the side of the house, so we could be as close as possible, thus keeping our voices down.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “Why are you…You’re leaving, aren’t you?”
I quickly nodded. “I had to come and see you. I had to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye?” Jo repeated, frowning at me as she shook herself awake.
“I’m not coming back this time, Jo,” I said quietly.
I looked around as I talked, watching for anyone approaching the house. Thankfully, like most shifters in Seguin, the Alustria family lived on an old farm. They had no neighbors nearby, and I could see all around me. Anyone who was sneaking up on me would be forced to reveal themselves long before they got close enough to catch me.
“What about the Wild Moon?” Jo asked nervously, looking up at the sky, where the moon was now waning. “What will you do?”
“Survive,” I said. “If I stay here, if they force me to mate with Johnathan, I will be as good as dead. On the inside, at least. I’ll find some way to be safe while I’m out there. To not harm any humans during the Wild Moon.”
“I don’t understand,” Jo said. “Why? What happened? What did Lars want with you?”
I sighed. “You had some bum luck, not shifting,” I said. “It’ll happen, and I can at least assure you that when you do, you won’t end up with the bad luck of being mated to Lars’ son.”
Jo rolled her eyes. “That would be nice. At least one worry off my plate. Why can you guarantee that to—Oh.”
I nodded.
“Oh, no,” she said. “You’re serious? John is your Soulbound mate?”
I nodded again, gritting my teeth. “Yeah. And then I kinda sorta rejected him in front of the entire pack. Including Daddy.”
Jo gasped. I quickly filled her in on the rest of the night's activities, watching her horror grow as she listened to the way the pack Alpha had treated me.
“What are you going to do?” Jo asked eventually.
“I don’t know,” I admitted, feeling my fears rise. I had no real plan, no idea of what to do. I would run.
And then what? Keep running for the rest of my life? With the Soulbond, Johnathan could find me anywhere if he wanted to. I would never be safe from him. Or his father.
“But you’re Soulbound,” Jo said. “You can’t just escape that.”
“I have to try,” I said fiercely.
Jo disappeared from the window and seconds later came flying out the front door, wrapping me up in one of her customary hugs. Her head only came to my shoulders, but I accepted it anyway, giving her a hard squeeze.
“I’m going to miss you,” she said quietly.
