“What the fuck?” Bo snarled. “You’d better be kidding.”
“I’m not. I’d show you, but my phone was in my car when it started burning.”
“Does Artie know?” His voice was still basically an animal’s.
“Artie has never given a shit about me. He didn’t even invite me to his wedding. He definitely never tried to get me out of my engagement.”
“That’s not true.”
“What did he do, then?” I countered.
There was a beat of silence.
If he had done something to try to help me, Bo would’ve known about it. I hadn’t seen either of them in half a decade, but I knew they still talked frequently. They were basically brothers.
I may as well have been an only child.
“He cares in his own way,” Bo finally said.
“His way of caring looks just like everyone else’s way of not giving a shit.”
“He’s not all bad.”
“I never said he was.”
Bo let out a harsh breath. “You can’t mate with the alpha.”
“I can, but I’m not going to unless I have to. If there’s a way out, I’m going to take it. Which is why I’m here. Running away.”
“Hiding out with the yetis isn’t a good way to get out of a mate bond, Mads.”
“I’m not staying in the canyon. I’m going back to the resort. I’m friends with the witch who owns it.”
Bo’s forehead creased. “I thought a phoenix shifter owned it. Lee or something.”
“Liam’s mated to the witch I’m friends with. We bonded over arranged marriages. Hers didn’t come with a list of wifely duties, luckily for her. And him, because she probably would’ve killed him. Anyway, Sage will give me a place to live. I’ll teach yoga classes or serve food if they don’t have anything else for me to do.”
“What have you been doing for work since you graduated?”
“I still teach dance classes in Cub Lake,” I said. “I took over the studio a few years ago. I’ll have to sign it over to my friend Leslie when I’m gone. She’s mated to one of the guys in the skulk. I already have her covering for me for the next few weeks, because… well, because I’m running away, obviously.”
I added the last part hastily.
I’d told him the wedding had been delayed.
He scoffed. “When are you really supposed to be getting married?”
I looked at the clock. “Right now.”
Bo swore viciously. “Really, Madi?”
“I didn’t get cold feet. I decided I wasn’t interested in a life of wifely duties.”
“You should’ve broke off the engagement months ago.Yearsago,” he growled.
“I tried. Repeatedly. Getting rid of someone you’ve been basically sold to isn’t as easy as it sounds,” I snapped back. “He knows how to fight, and all of the other kitsunes will help him hunt me down if they can. They don’t care about whether I’m willing. They care that I’m a fox.”
“But they won’t follow you to the resort?” Bo sounded skeptical.
