Forsaken by E. M. Moore
27
Nathan returns to the ballroom as Kinsey and I take that bathroom break. “That was dumb,” I sigh, still giddy from Nathan’s fervent kisses.
“Sometimes, the risk is worth the reward. I was watching out for people. You were fine. No one even noticed.”
I take a deep breath, smiling at a woman who enters the restroom behind us. I move closer to my friend. “So, we’re all on board?”
“You didn’t talk it over with him?” She lifts a brow.
I shake my head. “No, we were otherwise engaged.”
She smirks. “He’s all for it.”
“Well, I got that part,” I blush, only highlighting the rose-colored powder I’d placed there earlier. “But he knows what to do?”
“Mm-hmm. Wait for the signal. We’ll do it during dinner while everyone is preoccupied.”
My stomach twists in knots. There’s so much riding on this. “When’s—”
Just as I’m about to ask when dinner is, a chorus of hard plinks sound from the other room. The woman washing her hands quickly dries them. “That would be dinner,” she says, leaving in a plume of perfume.
I fan my face.
“Be casual. Be cool.”
I nod, following Kinsey back into the room. Sean’s staring in the direction of the door, his foot tapping against the marble, and when he sees me, he visibly relaxes. Jonah glares at him as the two of us make it to the table, which now boasts two more couples. “I thought I’d have to send a search party after you,” Sean says flippantly, a touch of a warning in his voice.
“I told you it was just girl stuff,” Jonah remarks.
Kinsey leans over, giving him a kiss on the lips as the couples now seated with us titter like they’re the cutest couple alive. They kind of are, but whatever. Conversation moves, as it always does, to mates. The couples seated with us are both from Daybreak, so they ask Kinsey and Jonah question after question. None of them bother to ask Sean and me. As far as they’re concerned, I have a scarlet A on my gown. They already know our story.
Honestly, I barely keep up with the conversation. Outwardly, I stay calm, but I’m reeling inside. I’m so close to leaving with Nathan. I can almost taste the freedom, like fresh raindrops on my tongue. Like the sun on my wolf’s fur. It’s something I haven’t had in a very long time.
I breathe out, centering myself and not allowing the nerves to take over. I’ve been letting things happen to me this entire time. I sat there at Greystone like a good little shifter. I played their game. Now, it’s time to play mine.
My pack didn’t want me. My mate didn’t want me. It’s time for me to live out the rest of my existence with someone who does.
Kinsey brushes my leg with hers, and I straighten, waiting for the sign. She told me it would be obvious, something I wouldn’t have to second-guess. When it happens, I am to leave the mansion through the southwest corner of the grounds. I’m to wait for Nathan there for a maximum of three minutes. If he doesn’t show, I’m to shift and race to the car. I’m allowed to wait there for another few minutes. If he still doesn’t show, I’ve been told to leave without him.
I won’t, but that’s what I’ve been told.
I hope it doesn’t come down to that.
Someone hits their fork on the water glasses again, and I perk up, believing it’s the announcement for the next course. There’s movement next to me as Sean stands, grabbing his glass and clearing his throat. I gape at him, worry cascading over me at what he’s about to do. He gives a nervous laugh as the whole room turns toward him. “Good evening, Winter Solstice guests. My name’s Sean Collins. I’m a pack member of your hosts, Daybreak. I have some amazing news to share with all of you.” He peers down at me. To everyone on the outside, he must look like a lovesick fool. I blink at him, dread boiling in the pit of my stomach. “My mate and myself have been separated, and I’m happy to tell you all that I’ve just accepted her.” He beams down at me, a sickening spark in his gaze.
A roar sounds from the other side of the room, and I gasp, looking past Sean to find Nathan shifting in the middle of the ball. His tux shreds as his claws curl. Jonah immediately springs into action as a chorus of excited exhales ring around the room. He barrels into Nathan, still in his human form. The table collapses under the weight of both men.
Kinsey stands, bringing me to my feet. “Now,” she says. “Leave.”
Sean whips around and shoots his hand out, grabbing me by the wrist. “Checkmate, Mia.” He grins. His sadistic ass finds this funny.
The couples at the table with us gather around, congratulating us and giving Nathan’s outburst true contempt for ruining our moment.
Jonah and a few of Alpha Richard’s security team drag Nathan from the room. He’s fully human now, his skin glistening in sweat and as naked as the day he was born.
My heart cracks down the center, but I place a smile on my face as my world zeroes into a pinpoint. They’ll put two and two together. Unless Nathan and Jonah can come up with some believable excuse, Nathan at least, is done for.
Alpha Richard makes his way over to us. The couples we’re with part, giving him ample space. “I’m so happy for the two of you. I love to see our fated pairs come together, the way it should be. No doubt the tragic events of the past couple of days have shown you two that you need your mate more than anyone else.”
Sean entwines our fingers. “Yes, sir. When I found out she was in the cabin when it caught on fire, it sparked something in me. I knew I couldn’t live without her.”
His answering smile is genuine.
I peer at Sean. He makes me sick, but I have to play the part. My chances of escape are now gone with all the attention. “I always knew that,” I purr in the sweetest voice I can muster.
Alpha Richard laughs, the sound reverberating around the room. “Often, females know everything before men do.”
My whole table laughs, but I have a suspicion it’s just to cover up the mess that’s being picked up on the other side of the room. Kinsey is frozen in her spot, staring at the door Jonah left through. Several servants are arranging brand-new plates just as they were, and before long, it’ll be like nothing even happened.
Alpha Richard takes our joined hands and raises them in the air. “To true love, my shifter brethren.”
The whole room erupts in an applause that surpasses all the noise of the cleaning and the covering up. My hopes dash in that moment. I’m destined to stay with Sean, here, just waiting to see what he’ll have concocted to take me out.
While the applause is still going, Alpha Richard leans over between the two of us. “I’ll have a room prepared for you at the mansion. My treat. I’m so glad to hear of your good news.”
I shake his hand, smiling. It’s an honor to be invited to his personal house. He no doubt wants to make a show of another shifter being with their mated pair. It’s like a billboard for doing the right thing. If you accept your mate, or even if you accept them after they’re reformed, good things happen. You get a round of applause at balls. You get a room at the alpha’s mansion. You get so much attention.
Alpha Richard returns to his table, and as if on cue, everything is back in place. The instruments are playing once again. The table is made up. The couples who were sharing Nathan and Gayle’s table are all seated around it again, talking animatedly amongst themselves. The only thing that’s wrong is that Nathan isn’t there. Neither is Gayle.
Jonah, too, for that matter.
Kinsey leans over. “Plan B.”
“What the fuck is plan B?”
She frowns. “I’m figuring that out now.”
I growl under my breath. I need to figure this shit out. It’s my future.
I can’t do anything attached to Sean, though. Couple after couple keep coming up to our table to congratulate us. I fan my face. Screw the deep breaths, I’m going to milk this anxiety episode for all it’s worth. I hold on to the back of my chair.
“Are you alright?” Kinsey asks.
“Not feeling well,” I tell her, loud enough for Sean to hear. “I think I need some air.”
“I’ll take you,” he says and grabs my hand, excusing us from our line of admirers. He acts the doting mate as we walk back out through the huge entry doors and across the marble floors to the garden.
When we step outside, Sean snickers. “Bet you didn’t see that coming.”
I tear my hand from his. “I certainly didn’t.”
“There,” he says. “Now Gayle knows what it feels like. Plus, I get the added bonus of keeping you quiet. I’ll do anything to get what I want, Mia. Anything.”
I charge at him, catching him off guard, and soon, I’m straddling his chest with my face in his. The hem of my skirt is pooled by his neck. “Shift,” I growl, placing my fingers on his throat and squeezing.
He starts to fight me, scratching at my arms and upper body. My dress snags as we roll around on the ground. Each time I top him, I stare into his eyes and beg him to shift. Sean the human won’t do anything for me, but Sean the wolf will.
“Come out, dammit,” I yell.
He breathes funny, exaggerating every tiny movement, baring his teeth in the process. Saliva leaks from his mouth, eyes turning a shade of yellow gold.
“Please,” I plead. “I know you’re in there. Shift for me again. He’s hurting me.”
His bones start to crack, and I dive off him as he contorts, his fur rippling down his arms until the shift finally completes. Tears stream down my face as Sean’s wolf lies in front of me, face on his paws.
“Please,” I beg him. “I never wanted this to happen, but he won’t stop. I have to leave.”
He whines, the sound tearing at my heartstrings.
“If things had been different from the beginning….” I whisper.
His wolf nudges my hand, and I run my fingers through his soft fur, feeling it slip over my skin like a caress. I close my eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
He whines one last time, then licks my hand. Getting to his paws, he licks the tears from my face, then nudges me. He pushes me again when I don’t immediately move. I stand a little unsteadily, and he play bites at my feet. I understand what he’s telling me to do.
He’s telling me to run.
I slide my hand over the wolf’s head again. “I love you,” I tell the animal, knowing it in my heart. He feels like an old friend now. A kind of kindred soul.
Kinsey grabs my hand. I hadn’t even heard her follow us. She picks up her skirt and starts to drag me out of the garden. I increase the pace, hiking my own skirt to my knees as I run like hell toward the terrace that leads to a side lawn.
The wolf howls, and I feel his pain right down to my toes. I stumble, but Kinsey rights me again. “You know where to go.”
“But Nathan. He’ll be in even bigger trouble than me now.”
“Go,” Kinsey roars. “I’ll contact Jonah. He’ll meet you. I promise.”
We stop underneath the trellises, the moon casting an ethereal glow over the roses. I turn toward her, and it dawns on me I may never see my friend again. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
She lets out a breath, and we embrace, holding onto one another. “You kept me sane when I needed it the most,” she said. “We’ll see each other again. I know it. This isn’t goodbye. I promise.”
I back away, nodding and catching the tears that are falling from the corners of my eyes.
“Now, go,” she says, pushing me forward. “Go before Sean takes control of his wolf again.”
I take off into the night. Behind me, I can already hear Kinsey dialing Jonah on her cell phone.
I run fast and hard.
I run until it hurts to breathe.
The gown impedes my speed, but all I have to do is get to the forest. It seems like it takes forever as I make sure to follow the directions Kinsey gave me on where to wait. When I get there, I double over, placing my forehead on the bark of the tree.
This certainly hasn’t gone as planned. With Sean making that announcement, people will be wondering where we are. They’ll all want to talk to the newly accepted pair. My parents. His parents.
This certainly isn’t the under-the-radar escape that we wanted.
Seconds slowly tick by. Worry settles in at the thirty mark. Agitation follows quickly after.
I’m only allowed to wait here for a few minutes before making my way to the car and the supplies. Each step away seems like another step away from Nathan, though.
My life. My world.
I won’t make it without him. I know that for a fact.
The roar he let out when Sean made the announcement echoes in the back of my head. I hadn’t quite processed it as it happened, but I hear it so clearly now.
It broke him.
Dear Fate, bring Nathan to me,I beg. After all, we’re going to need a miracle.
