Chapter Fifteen
Josie
They wanted to take me back to their house, but I wasn’t leaving the motel residents if I’d drawn danger to them.
I’d spent the whole evening trying to come up with a way to tell them we weren’t on a date because I never wanted to date anyone at all.
A real it’s not you, it’s me explanation, but every time I worked up the courage, someone brought us another course of beautiful food.
And although we’d been tucked into such a private corner of the garden, the hostess, staff, servers, and even the busboy kept stopping by.
The alphas knew them all, apparently, and they all had plenty to chat about.
How did the guys manage to stay sober with everything they drank?
I knew a shifter in theory could drink more than humans, or so I’d heard some of the pack joking about when they came back from a trip to the local bar.
But from the Kir Royale, that might have been the best thing I’d ever tasted through all the wines, and I swore that espresso had something in it, there was so much.
Females in our pack didn’t drink at all.
A fact I chose not to share with the alphas who seemed to find it perfectly normal for me to be served glass after glass of intoxicating beverages.
I really wanted a Diet Coke, but nobody ever actually asked me.
They were so excited, the servers, pouring each vintage and describing it in a way that had me searching for notes of chocolate or blackberry or walnut—and not finding them.
At first, I’d drunk every bit poured, hating waste, but my tablemates didn’t do that, and it seemed unwise to continue.
So, between eating, drinking, trying not to get too tipsy, and visiting with the whole restaurant staff, there never came a good time to tell them my news. And now, there was some kind of situation that meant I should go around back?
Aries escorted me to the kitchen door while Diesel and Carver went to the front. Katie hadn’t had much information, and they had all silenced their phones during dinner. But as they split off from us, Diesel had his up between them and they were listening intently.
The door flew open as we approached, and I raced inside and up to Thea. “What’s going on? Is it one of the new girls? Has an abusive alpha shown up?”
“Now, keep calm. It’s probably nothing.” She tried to get me to sit down, but I shrugged her hands away.
Oh no. Nobody ever said anything was nothing unless it was totally something. “Just tell me.”
Turned out, my aunt had managed to get word out that the pack leaders were hunting me in this area and contacted a local pack alpha who called Thea.
I didn’t ask how they knew the details. Shifters were the biggest gossips in the world and if someone had seen me in the laundromat or even the club and heard a description of a missing female, they could know it was me. There might even be a reward.
And people could get hurt. I sat down and listened and pretended to agree to lie low, but I knew what I had to do, and it wasn’t staying here where someone I cared about, someone who had already been hurt or even Thea or one of my alphas might suffer. It was fun, but it was over.
After a while, Diesel and Carver came in and they discussed with Thea the best way to handle the situation.
Their house was not secure enough, they all agreed, for now at least. They’d never gone to much trouble to set up cameras and alarms, but first thing tomorrow, they’d add to the security of here and start on theirs.
For now, they would take turns staying here with me.
Yeah, that wouldn’t need to be for long because as soon as everyone was asleep, I changed my clothes, pushed up the window in my room, and climbed out.
Tears streaked down my cheeks at the loss of the only people besides my aunt who’d ever cared for me—or who I loved—and the safety of this old motel.
My heart ached as I dropped to hands and knees to get past the living room window where Carver was lying on the sofa with a blanket over him, flipping channels on the TV.
It hurt even more, that final glimpse of him before I stood up again and ran with all I had in me until I finally found myself in front of a sign that said Derby Katz Wilderness Park.
Whoever that Derby Katz was, he had my thanks for a place to hole up.
At the edge of the city, it had wide-open acreage and lots of trees.
Not a permanent solution, for sure, but with any luck, I’d have a day or two to make plans.
This time, I’d left wearing clothes and with the small amount of money I’d made tucked in my pocket.
Running through the city as a wolf would have attracted too much attention.
Alone again. This time, it hurt so much more. And my wolf was upset too. Last time, she’d been all in.