Alpha King’s Secret Baby (The Runaway Mate #1)

Chapter 8

Casey

The sound of the dawn chorus drew me out of my slumber, and I stretched slowly, feeling a pleasant ache in my body. Bastien hadn’t held back the night before.

Bastien.

I opened my eyes and found myself alone in bed. I couldn’t hear him in the house. If not for the strong scent of our passion, I might have worried I’d imagined what happened between us.

I was ready to leave but would consider staying if Bastien asked. I could get used to living in the village with Bastien’s support. I dreaded the thought of returning home to my empty house and inevitable grief.

I buried my face in Bastien’s pillow. My mate. A person made just for me, and I for him. There was security in that. Our connection was intense, and I wasn’t ready to give it up.

Bastien and I needed to talk and figure out where to go from here—even if all I really wanted to do was pull him back into bed for round two. But there’d be plenty of time for that if things worked out.

I got up and dressed in the outfit I’d arrived in. Bastien had offered to borrow clothing from a pack member, but I hadn’t felt comfortable with that, so he’d washed mine instead. Moon Edge wasn’t the community I’d imagined, at least to me. But then, I was still an outsider. Maybe if I stuck around, they would warm to me.

If Bastien wants me to stay, that is.

My stomach tightened with anxiety. I wanted to make things work with Bastien, one way or another. He had to feel the same connection I did, mate or not. That kind of thing couldn’t be faked, and I didn’t understand why anyone would throw it away.

I let out a slow breath, calming myself. We were mates. That meant something. It was one thing to refuse me before we’d had sex. But after last night? I needed to find him and get him to open up.

The front door crashed open, and Bastien stepped inside. His face was thunderous, and icy claws gripped my heart.

“Get out,” he growled, narrowing his blue eyes.

I remained frozen. I didn’t understand his anger. I’d fallen asleep in his arms, his face buried in my neck.

“Leave!” he roared.

My throat closed, and my hands shook. “Bastien, why—”

“Don’t play innocent.” He couldn’t even look me in the eye. He gathered up my meager belongings and shoved them into my hands, backing off as if I were a viper ready to strike.

“I don’t understand.”

He took an aggressive step toward me, and I stumbled back. From the moment I’d met Bastien, I felt a sense of safety with him—even when logic dictated otherwise. I’d been naked and hurt, and he was a stranger, but I’d trusted him. I could see now that I’d made a mistake.

He grabbed my shoulders and forced me out the door and into the cold morning air. My legs felt like jelly, but I still had my pride.

“Get your hands off me.” I wrenched away from his grasp. Less than a day ago, those hands touched me with such passion. The emotional whiplash made my head spin. “Are you going to explain what’s happening, or do you expect me to obey like one of your soldiers?”

I’d thought Bastien was different from his pack and didn’t expect women to be submissive.

“Drop the act,” he spat. “I know what you did.”

“I didn’t do anything!” My father hadn’t raised a shrinking violet, and my shock turned to anger.

We were attracting the attention of the rest of the village. The early risers were looking our way, and more were coming out of their homes.

“You seduced me and conspired to get me into bed so I’d accept the mate bond,” Bastien hissed.

I reared back like I’d been slapped. How could he believe I’d do something like that? Had he found out about Kildaire’s conversation with me? But in the heat of the moment, I didn’t care what Bastien had or hadn’t heard. All that mattered was whether he trusted me, and clearly, he didn’t.

“Seduced you? I didn’t see you complaining last night,” I shot back. The idea that Bastien was a victim was absurd. “But thanks for the backhanded compliment. Apparently, sex with me was good enough to make you think about accepting the bond.”

The crushing weight of rejection overshadowed my satisfaction at seeing Bastien’s face turn red with anger. The fact that Bastien thought I could do something like that was as offensive as it was hurtful.

“You’re a good actress, I’ll give you that,” he spat.

Any fight I had left vanished, and my bottom lip trembled. The man who was supposed to be my mate—who I had been intimate and vulnerable with the night before—was treating me like I was worse than nothing.

“I told you to leave.” Bastien shook his head. “You’re not welcome here anymore.”

I pressed my lips together. If he blamed me for his own lack of self-control, then there was no reasoning with him. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

The pack members who had gathered around us stared at me. The disgust on their faces made my cheeks burn, even though I’d done nothing wrong. I was stupid to consider staying.

I gathered my strength, straightened my spine, and walked away. I couldn’t look at Bastien. If I did, I’d cry or punch him in the face, and I wasn’t willing to do either.

Bastien had parked my truck at the edge of the commune, and the eyes of the pack weighed heavily on me as I strode toward it. I threw my things into the passenger seat and started the engine as fast as possible. I didn’t look back until I was sure the village was out of view. I merged onto the highway half an hour later, Kisatchie National Forest fading in my rearview mirror. Only then did I feel like I could breathe. When I arrived, the forest seemed peaceful. Now, it held nothing but pain and my father’s ashes.

The further I got from Bastien, the more my heart throbbed. The soul-deep loss was proof that Bastien and I were fated mates. The connection started to take root when we slept together but was abruptly severed. Better now than later. I just wished I’d left before I knew what I was missing.

I didn’t understand the sudden change in Bastien, but then again, a week wasn’t enough time to see the different sides of a person, no matter how much I’d enjoyed his company. The real question was why fate wanted us together in the first place. He came from a restrictive pack that believed in gender roles from the last century and cared more about breeding than happiness. It was for the best that things hadn’t worked out.

So why do I feel like I have a hole in my chest?

My vision blurred as tears gathered in my eyes, and I pulled onto the side of the road. Burying my face in my hands, I shoved down the feeling of loss that threatened to consume me. It was stupid. It was more the loss of an idea than an actual mate—a dream that turned out to be a nightmare. But my wolf pined, nonetheless.

I gathered my strength. I’d survived the death of my mother at a young age and that of my father a month ago—this was nothing. It should be nothing.

I pulled armor around my bruised heart and told myself that my feelings for Bastien would fade by the time I got home. I’d see my father’s things when I walked into the empty house and remember what real loss felt like.

I got back on the road, gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. I was leaving Bastien and the idea of being in a pack behind. I knew it was the right decision, but that didn’t ease my pain.