Then I would get a dark bond from his business associates. Old men who smelled like dust and spiderwebs, who looked at me like I was a piece of meat. Well, I didn’t know for sure. I’d never met them, but my father and Tobias had been setting up my arranged mating for months.
I was making a solid assumption based on the alphas and business associates Father had brought around the house in the past. The pack they wanted to gift me to wouldn’t be any different.
They would treat me like I was nothing and try to force me to do what they said. I couldn’t take it anymore.
Iwasa piece of meat as long as I was with my father and Tobias.
So, I had run. Tobias giving me to Jonathan had been a wrench in a plan that had already been in motion—or maybe it was a gift. My brother had unwittingly given me a head start I’d desperately needed.
Despite Soren’s trust in me, I’d ruined any chance I’d had at seducing Leighton. I knew that the second I caught the look of horror on her face. With no dark bond on the horizon and police probably on their way, I had no choice but to run again.
Someone else would bond me. I had to find someone, right?
They couldn’t be as perfect as Leighton—no one could—but I didn’t have a choice.
I tore out the door in a sprint that made my entire body heavy with fatigue, the knife clutched in my hand. The stairwell door was the only barrier to my freedom, and I shoved it easily. Down the stairs I went, flight after flight until I had to pause.
Every breath was painful and tears streamed down my cheeks. My neck throbbed, but it was the price I had to pay for knowing nothing about the world. Pain, but nothing to show for it.
I made it down the rest of the stairs with my fading adrenaline. I’d been running on so much of it for the past forty-eight hours, I had to be low on it.
Is that how adrenaline works?
It didn’t matter.
I rushed through the lobby after shoving my knife into the waistband of my pants, getting an odd look from the building manager perched behind a desk.
Sun blinded me as I stumbled out onto the sidewalk. Pavement burned my bare feet but it was a fine distraction from the other aches and pains of my body. With no possible destination in mind, I picked a direction and walked in it.
* * *
I couldn’t tell how long passed as I walked down dirty sidewalks, rocks and twigs poking my scorching feet. The high-rise buildings were behind me now, and I found myself in a residential area of family homes on small lots. It felt peaceful, with trees lining the edge of the road. There was soft grass for me to walk on, soothing my aching soles.
Was I ever going to see Leighton again?
Had I…killedAmbrose?
The idea of killing him didn’t give me the same thrill I’d gotten from stabbing Jonathan. Nothing about causing Ambrose harm thrilled me. A part of me shattered when I’d pierced through his shirt and into his skin, but I’d tried not to let the knife go too deep.
Only deep enough to make me a flight risk.
“Are you alright, Miss?”
A woman with a small dog paused on her walk, looking me up and down in concern.
I had smears of blood on me, bare feet, and a ring of bruises around my neck. ‘Alright’ was not how I’d describe myself right now. Giving her what I could muster of a smile, I nodded. “Yes, perfectly.”
She didn’t believe me. I palmed the hilt of my knife, hidden beneath my shirt, and tried to calm myself. Would she call the cops? Police meant my father would find me. Would he? How would he know the report was made on me specifically?
Who am I kidding?
Since I’d killed Jonathan and fled the house, I bet he’d had someone checking up on every report about every woman in the city. They’d realize this was me.
Tobias would come for me.
He’d slick his golden brown hair back with gel and put on a suit before coming out to find me. He’d sweet talk the police.“Oh no, Sir. This is my younger sister. She’s always been a little… off, you see. We’ve got to get her home to her medicine.”They’d let him take me because he was convincing and because they knew who he was. A low-level cop wasn’t going to be the one to challenge a crime family pretty boy.
Then I’d be back there.
