The Alpha’s Chosen Outcast

11. HEATHER

Chapter 11

HEATHER

Violet is the one who comes to the shop after that night, but I’m not sure if that’s because Trey can’t handle being around me or simply because Violet needs to do more fittings and approvals in person.

Either way, I don’t see him much. He does text me, though, which is surprising.

He’s taken to sending me photos and bios of Alphas he finds in other regions. It’s like the weirdest dating app I’ve ever been a part of.

He sends photos with a short description and then a file with a full bio of who they are, where they live, what their pack is like, their leadership style, and a bunch of other tidbits I honestly never would have thought to ask about.

None of them are particularly appealing, but if marrying one will save my life, I can’t afford to be that picky.

I have until Violet’s wedding, maybe a day or two after. If I don’t get married to an Alpha before then, I won’t leave this city alive, and I don’t think there’s anything Trey or Violet will be able to do to stop that.

“Where’d you go just now?” Violet asks me.

She’s in for another fitting. We’re trying to make sure that the embroidered panels on the bodice sit perfectly before I sew them together.

I’ve already begun work on the skirt embroidery as well. We have about a month to go until the wedding. The time is going by too quickly.

“Did Trey tell you about his plan for me?”

“The whole arranged marriage thing? Yeah, he told me.”

“And? What do you think about it?”

“I think if it was me, I’d look for the richest, youngest, least Alpha-hole of the bunch and hope he finds some reason to marry an exile that doesn’t include controlling me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Think about it, Heather. If an Alpha is going to marry an exile, he’s either incredibly kind and wants to help, or he sees a way to find a wife he can control because he has this sword to hold over her head.”

“Shit, I didn’t even think about that.”

“I’m hoping you find someone kind. There aren’t many Alphas who fit that criteria, but if anyone can find someone, it’s Trey.”

“And there’s really no chance of changing the laws?”

“Not in our lifetime.”

I bring my phone over to her and pull up the folder of guys I started putting together after Trey sent me the fifth bio.

“Look at these guys.”

I hand her my phone and she starts scrolling. The looks on her face make me suspect she has the same opinions I do about each of them. She stops on one and brings the phone closer to her face, scrutinizing the screen.

“What about this guy? He doesn’t seem so bad.”

She hands back the phone, and I look at the file she picked. It’s one from the first batch Trey had sent over. I think I dismissed the guy at first because I didn’t want to take this seriously, but now it looks like it’s inevitable.

This guy isn’t bad, fairly young for an Alpha, clean cut, dresses nicely, and seems to be someone I might be able to partner with. As I keep scrolling, I realize why I’d dismissed him before.

I hand the phone back to Violet. “Look, there, under the “known preferences” section.”

She reads, her eyes going wide. “Oh. Yeah. That’s not gonna work.”

This guy is known to date young women. Very young—as in barely legal. That’s not me. Everyone else in the bios I’ve seen so far is either old, crusty, or cruel.

“What am I going to do, Violet? I’m seriously starting to panic here.”

“We’ll figure this out. Trey will come up with something and until then, we’ll keep you safe. I haven’t even told my fiancé about you, and I don’t keep secrets from him. You can trust us, I promise you.”

“Trey can’t even come here and look at me after—” I stop abruptly.

“After what?”

“After he caught me leaving here,” I scramble to answer. “I don’t think he can stand to be around me anymore.”

“Nonsense. He has other things to do. He’s busy with important shit for our father and the company. He doesn’t need to be accompanying me every time I want to try on my dress.”

“I guess not.”

“It’s really a shame that my father is still Alpha. You definitely can’t marry him, but if Trey was the one in power, that’s a different story.”

I roll my eyes. “Come on, there’s no way he’d risk his power to marry me. That’s insane.”

“As insane as trying to find a stranger who might take pity on you?”

“No, I suppose you have a point there.”

“Of course I do. Heather, open your eyes. It’s obvious he has some sort of feelings for you.”

“He does not.”

Her eyebrows shot up into an oh-really look. “So that night when you made the stupid decision to go see your parents, and we brought you back here, nothing else happened?”

I feel my face turning beet red. “No, why would you think something happened?”

“Because while I’m prancing around here in my underwear so you can pin dress pieces on me, you’re obsessing about why he isn’t here .”

“I am not obsessing. That’s so unfair.”

“You’re totally obsessing, and now you’re blushing.” She giggles. “It’s going all the way up to your ears. Oh my god.” She erupts into full-blown laughter.

I turn away from her. “I don’t blush!”

“You do, too. You’re thinking about whatever happened that night and getting so hot and bothered that blood is rushing to your face. Don’t even try to deny it.”

I turn back and sit at the workroom table in one of the straight-back chairs, covering my face with my hands and leaning forward with a groan.

“Violet,” I say into the table, “what am I supposed to do with this?”

“Suck it up.”

“What?”

“Suck it the fuck up. I like you, and I really don’t want you to end up dead because you got picky about the only loophole that keeps you alive. Trey and I will help you make it bearable. We’ll be your friends. Even if you want to jump my brother’s bones.”

“When you put it that way…” I trail off.

We both burst into laughter, and I can’t remember the last time I felt this kind of connection with another human being besides Trey. And that was different. Violet is also a wolf.

I love my friends from the place I call home now, but they’re not like me in this one way. I can’t change with them. In fact, I haven’t been able to change with anyone in the past five years.

That nagging question returns: what are they going to think when they find out I’ve lied to them about this since the day I met them? What’s Jessie going to say?

In the end, this isn’t something I need to worry about right now because they’ll probably find out upon my death anyway.

“Heather, just think about it. No matter who you choose, you’ll be the female Alpha of a pack. YOUR pack. You can work to change the laws on your own.”

“Yeah, if the Alpha I marry doesn’t try to keep me under his thumb as some kind of brood mare until he has enough kids to say he’s done with me.” I counter.

“Then I suggest you choose wisely.”

I look down at the table again. “Trey says we have a mating bond.”

“He said what?!” Violet sits down.

“But I can’t marry him because he’s not an Alpha, not that he’d want anything besides the mating part. Or at least he hasn’t said so.”

“He’s going out of his way to find you a husband. Trust me, that’s a big deal.”

“If you say so.”

“It is.”

“Fine, okay, but I still have to choose one of these men and marry him. I feel like jumping out of my skin just thinking about it.”

“You need a run.”

“Great idea, Violet.” I smile. “Let’s just do a couple laps around the break room and then a relay down the hall a few times. That’ll take the edge off.”

“No. I mean a real run.”

“I can’t do that. Trey already caught me leaving here before, and I was careful. His guys are all over the place, and I have no idea who they are. If I change on pack territory and they see it, I’m signing my own death warrant.”

“There’s one big difference you’re forgetting.”

I raise my eyebrows at her in question.

“This time, you have me. I know Trey’s guys. I know where they like to hide out. And I have the power to tell them to step back.”

“You do?”

“Yes. Follow my lead, Heather. It’s time for you to learn what it means to have power as a woman and a wolf.”

She heads out of the workroom and toward the front. I hesitate for a moment and then follow her. Am I really doing this? She holds up her hand at the entrance to the store and sends a text with her phone in her other hand.

She twists her head around to me and I see her face scrunch up. She folds her fingers into her palm, holding up the last in a “one second” gesture.

I hear her phone buzz, and her head snaps back to read the incoming text. Her fingers unfold, and she beckons me with a slight wave.

“They’ll leave us alone. No one knows who you are or why they have to watch you, so they’re totally willing to stay away given an order from me.”

I walk forward and link my arm with hers like we’re two girls about to head out on the town.

“Where to then?”

She looks over at me. “Central Park.”

She’s a fucking genius. It’s dark, and not many people are in the park. Those that are would be looking to harm young women like us, but they’d regret trying pretty quickly. We’re quick, though, and we know how to move in the shadows.

We grew up in this city as wolves, and right now, those feelings are rushing through me. It’s like the first time I turned back on the soil I call home.

As we get closer to the park, our pace increases. Soon, we’re running. I can see Belvedere Castle, and we’re about to run through the Shakespeare Garden.

I smell the delight of wet grass and stones. Violet looks back at me and smiles. She says one word, and I know exactly what she means.

“Now.”

There, in the heart of Central Park, we turn together. It’s not the same as turning with the pack like we did on full moon nights before I was exiled, but it is better than turning alone.

Since we’re not out on a full moon night, we don’t become full wolves—more like wolf/human hybrids. No one who comes across us will dare to mess with us.

I run alongside Violet on all fours, looping through the trees, feeling the earth beneath my large paws, and smelling everything in this patch of woods. That’s the thing about Central Park, it makes you feel like you’re not in the city. It’s our own little piece of paradise.

Before the wolves came out, this place had a lot of trouble attached to it. Now it’s ours. Tonight, it’s only for me and Violet.

The time that passes could have been an hour or a year. I don’t care at all. When we barely have any breath left, we change back and go over to the Shakespeare garden to lay amongst the flowers and bask in the scents of night.

Violet turns her head toward me and reaches out her hand. I reach back and take it in mine.

“I don’t care who you marry, Heather. If you’re Trey’s mate in any way, you’re my sister too. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I squeeze her hand, but I don’t turn my face to her. I don’t want her to see the tears rolling down my cheeks. I’m glad we did this. I needed it more than I realized. But it was also impulsive, kind of stupid, and acting on instinct.

My mind goes back to that night with Trey when I also acted on instinct. I can’t act on any feelings I may have for him again, regardless of any bond we have.

The facts still remain. In a few weeks, I’ll either get married, get murdered, or disappear once again.