Page 20 of The Forbidden Wolf

Charlie hesitated. “I’m a barista, Elyse. I shouldn’t have said that with quite so much confidence. Doctors lose patients during deliveries too.”

“But they would have known,” I said. “They would have known I was there all along. And if they had known…”

My throat seized up as a million memories that never had the chance to be made pressed in all at once. Everything would be so different for me and my sister if our mother had lived. She had found her fated mate; surely she wouldn’t have allowed her daughters to be treated as political pawns.

“Come to the city,” Charlie said softly. “Come see the movie. Just like you’ve been doing. And then all you have to do to get away from this insanity is turn right instead of left when you walk out that door. All you have to do is let us walk you home.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I want to, Charlie, but I—”

“Yes, you can.”

“No.” I sniffled. “If I do this, I have to go. Like, on an airplane. Before they even know I’m missing. I have to disappear. Start all over. But I don’t… I don’t know how to be a person, Charlie. I don’t even have an ID. Legally speaking, I don’t actually exist.”

“Alright,” she said. “Then we skip the movie, and you and I go straight to La Guardia, and get on the next flight to the middle of nowhere, and we start over.”

“What?” I sat up straight, shaking my head. “Charlie, no, you can’t—”

“Yes, I can,” Charlie said. “And I will, so don’t waste time arguing.”

“No.” I held up my hand as if she could see. “You love New York.”

“I love you more.”

Warmth flooded my heart. Images of our new life flashed before my eyes. We’d settle down in some little rural town, open a bakery or a book store or a little flower shop, and charm the locals, even the grumpy ones, and Charlie would fall in love with a rugged fireman, and I would be aunt to all of their children, and of course everyone would gossip about why I never married the handsome small town doctor who clearly worshiped me—

Kiana will find us.

The montage music in my head screeched to a halt. I slapped my palm to my face and dragged my fingers down my lips. She was right, of course. My sister would hunt me like Tommy Lee Jones hunted Harrison Ford in The Fugitive. And if she found me with a human…. Guilt stripped away my fragile hope. I had already put Charlie in terrible danger by giving in and telling her my story. I couldn’t let her get any more involved.

“I can’t go before the mate—before the wedding,” I said wearily, driving my index finger into the throbbing spot at the center of my forehead. Lights exploded in the corners of my vision. “My sister’s a bitch, but I can’t do that to her.”

Charlie released a rather impressive growl for a human. “You don’t owe her anything.”

“I know, but I… need to see this guy. I need to know she’s okay.”

“Alright,” Charlie sighed. “Tomorrow?”

I chewed on my lower lip. “Friday. If you don’t hear from me before then, just meet me at the movies like always. I’ve got to return this phone.”

“No. No way. A lot can happen in a week, Elyse.”

“It will give everyone time to think I’ve resigned myself to their plans,” I said.

“Okay,” Charlie sighed. “And it will give me time to get everything ready.”

“Don’t buy the tickets,” I said quickly. “Wait until Friday.”

“Why?” I could practically hear Charlie’s eyes narrow suspiciously.

“Because…” I spread my hand across my forehead to squeeze my throbbing temples. “Because if I don’t show up, then you need to forget this conversation ever happened.”

“Geez, Elyse!” Charlie exploded, fear quivering behind her frustration. “I know I’m the one who asked for a story, but you know you’re not… really in the werewolf mafia, right?” She laughed nervously. “That stuff is for the movies, which I’m starting to worry we let you see too many of. You’re not a chosen one, honey. You’re a real person in a bad situation that we can get you out of.”

My stomach clenched. I should have just kept my mouth shut and disappeared. If she stuck her human nose in shifter business…

“Charlie,” I tried to sound as much like an Alpha as possible. “I have to go now. I will do everything in my power to see you next Friday. But if I don’t, then you have to let me go. I won’t be in danger, but you will be if you get any more involved. Some things… aren’t just for movies. Do you understand?”

Her heavy breaths crackled through the phone.

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