Page 11 of The Alpha's Forsaken Vow
I felt it when our bond snapped into place that night, I felt it in my bones and my soul, but he didn’t. No, Alaric practically slapped me in the face when he told me I'd tricked him into bed so I could bring him to his knees and make him lose his precious Alpha position. Whatever that meant.
And now I have no one, so I have decided to chase my last lead—the only clue that can take me to my family and prove that I matter to someone. That someone out there loves me and has been looking for me.
The sun beats down on the traffic, and my gaze wanders to some of the humans on the street smiling and going about their day. To them, I'm just another woman nursing a broken heart and not a wolf with a wounded heart vibrating in my chest.
Sitting straight inside my car, I read the address that was sent to me.
Six years ago, I met a woman at a grocery store who told me I looked familiar. She told me her friend, who was a healer, had a picture of a young girl who looked a lot like me. Apparently, the young girl had run from a hospital in Phoenix, the same city where my old hometown was located, and the healer never found out where she went or if she was okay.
I’d dismissed it, but the woman had given me her number in case I wanted to call. I never called her.
Today I called her though, begging for the healer’s address.
Although I don't remember much of my childhood, maybe I'm that young girl. Maybe the healer has a clue about where I really come from.
I look at the horde of cars in front of me again, begging the Goddess to at least do something about the traffic.
I’m sweaty.
I’m anxious.
And I'm hungry.
And the three things are eating at my spine.
I stay in traffic for about ten minutes before it clears. I divert from the main road, taking a lane into the area of white suburban houses.
My heart thumps when my eyes land on the address I'm looking for.
It’s a blue and white suburban house with a white picket fence and a front yard big enough for children to play in.
In front of the house is a large, black pickup that looks too pricey for this kind of neighborhood.
More than that, the truck looks familiar. I just can’t place where I’ve seen it.
A hopeful smile rests on my face as I whisper, “This is it.”
Deciding to park my car a few houses away from the healer’s home so I won't scare her, I wipe sweat off my forehead, fix my makeup, take my purse, and get out of my car.
The minute I close the door, it happens again.
The pull.
The violent, familiar, and invisible pull that sends a shockwave down my back. My wolf surges forward and claws at my skin. My muscles coil tight like a spring ready to snap.
Pain.
Humiliation.
A bruised heart, shattered into so many pieces that I still haven’t figured out how to put them back together.
They all come back, knocking the breath out of my lungs.
I know before I turn. Before my breath stutters and the ache in my chest blooms into something unbearable.
He’s here.
Dread curls in my stomach. I don’t want to look. I need to leave. Right now. But my traitorous body doesn’t listen. My gaze follows the pull like a puppet on strings, drawn to the presence that has haunted my nights, my thoughts, my every waking moment since that night.
