The Alpha's Runaway

Chapter One

-Addison, one month later-

I groaned as my alarm clock went off, rolling over and turning it off. Reluctantly, I got out of bed and got ready. Throwing on black jeans and a dark blue t-shirt with the diner’s logo, I braided my hair, grabbed my black hoodie, and slipped my cellphone into my pocket.

Henry was already awake, cooking breakfast. He looked up when I walked into the kitchen. The apartment was small, rundown, and sparsely furnished, but it was all we could afford at the moment, despite all of us working multiple part-time jobs. The precious little that didn’t go toward rent and necessities was carefully saved, just in case. Moving from one city to the next was always costly. 

“Diner today?” Henry asked, handing me a plate of eggs.

I nodded, “I should be home around 1. I have the day off at my other jobs, so as soon as you and Jess get home, we can train.”

This was our daily routine. Get up, work, and train whenever our schedules allowed.

“Okay. I get off work at 3. I think Jess works until 7 though.”

I nodded, putting my now empty plate in the sink, “7:30 then. Gotta go.”

“See ya.”

The cold morning air washed over me as I walked to work, and I shivered. If it was this cold in the middle of September, what would winter be like? We would have to buy coats soon, if we could afford them. Maybe if we adjusted the food budget. I hated the idea. We barely ate enough for humans, never mind wolves.

Stop! I scolded myself, Stop worrying. Whatever happens, we’ll survive.

I forced myself to think of something else, and my mind turned toward the scent that kept appearing over the past month. I knew what it was, but dreaded to consider what it meant. My wolf had become increasingly anxious since the first time I picked up my mate’s scent, but I refused to seek him out and prayed he hadn’t caught wind of me yet. His smell was always faint, and we kept missing each other. Hopefully, it would stay that way. Better yet, hopefully, his scent would disappear altogether. Maybe then my wolf, Kleio, would calm down. She had been whining non-stop since we first caught his scent. It’s been driving me crazy.

I had always dreaded meeting my mate. What if he turned out to be like my father? I’d vowed to never trust anyone after we left home. More importantly, I promised myself I would not become my mother. Besides, my mate would become something tying me to this place, and as much as I hoped we could stay, I wasn’t sure it was possible. It was best to not become attached to anyone.

I finally got to work and clocked in, pinning my nametag to my shirt.

“Hey, Lizzie. Dani’s off today?” I greeted the hostess as she walked past.

“Hey, girl. Nah, she’s scheduled for later today. I can tell her you were looking for her if you want.”

“Oh. No, thanks. I was just curious. She normally works the morning shift.”

Lizzie shrugged, “She asked if we could switch today. Something about needing to drop someone off at the airport.”

I nodded in understanding before going about whatever tasks Maria assigned. Time seemed to drag as the shift wore on. We were busier than normal, and Maria asked me to stay until everything calmed down. By 2:30, I was exhausted. Clocking out for the day, I was about to leave before a petite redhead appeared, smiling widely.

“Laura!”

“Hey, Dani.” I greeted with a small smile.

“I’m so glad I caught you! Some of us are going to see a movie tomorrow night. Want to come?”

“I can’t.” I flashed her an apologetic smile, “I have work.”

“Right. I forgot you have two other jobs.” She sighed, “Maybe next time.”

“Maybe next time.” I agreed before waving goodbye.

I left through the employee entrance, eager to get home and take a well deserved nap before the others finished work.

The second I stepped out the door, I was hit by the now familiar scent of crushed pine needles. I froze. He was here.

‘Mate!’ Kleio yipped excitedly.

No. No! NO!

I watched wide-eyed as a gorgeous young man with black hair and piercing blue eyes rounded the corner, stopping as soon as he caught sight of me. He was tall and muscular, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He broke into a smile, quickly closed the distance between us, and crushed his lips to mine.

Without thinking, I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his neck as his hands settled on my waist. Kleio finally settled and it felt like the world around me came into focus for the first time.

Suddenly, my brain caught up with my body and I pushed him away. He kept his arms around me, pressing his forehead against my own.

“I finally found you.” He laughed softly, unable to see the fear and confusion on my face.

My wolf whimpered at the sound, urging me to stop holding back.

“Who…” I started to ask before my voice trailed off, at least needing to know his name.

“Oh. Um.” He laughed, dropping his hands to his side and pulling back so I could see his face, “I’m Grant Wyndham, Alpha of the Silver Woods pack.”

“What’s your name?” He asked after a moment.

“Sorry.” I met his eyes, “I’m still trying to wrap my brain around all of this. I’m Laura Daniels.”

“What pack are you from?”

“I-I’m not from any pack.”

“You’re a rogue?” His eyes widened in surprise.

“More like… a refugee.”

Concern immediately clouded his features, “A refugee? Your pack was attacked?”

I looked away. The less he knew, the better.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.” He apologized, “It’s okay. You’re the Luna of Silver Woods now. Why don’t I take you to my house. I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

“No, I can’t.” I took a step back.

“Why not?” He asked, confused. My wolf echoed his question.

“Because it’s not just me. I can’t leave my brother and sister.”

“They’ll come with us.”

“Grant, it’s not that simple!” I snapped.

He looked taken aback, before quickly recovering and placing a hand on my upper arm. Sparks trailed up my arm and my irritation faded. I found myself longing to feel his arms wrapped around me once more. His eyes were full of compassion.

“At least let me meet them. You guys could have a home again.”

Home.

The word echoed in my mind. I’d never had one before. Everywhere we’ve stayed in the past two years was nothing more than a place to sleep. I’d never consider the house from our childhood as home. A home was supposed to be somewhere you felt safe and loved. That description didn’t fit anywhere I’d lived.

“You can’t. They’re at work.” I finally answered, pulling away from him. I didn’t like how his touch affected me.

He frowned, “I don’t mind waiting. It’ll give us the chance to get to know each other.”

Kleio whined, begging me to give in. In spite of myself, I relented.

“Okay.” I agreed reluctantly, “I’ll talk to them.”

He grinned and led me to a charcoal gray sports car.

“What are your brother and sister’s names?” He asked as we pulled out of the parking lot.

“Cameron and Vivian.” I gave him the fake names we adopted.

“Who’s the oldest?”

“I am. Then Cameron, and Vivian’s the youngest. What about you? Do you have any siblings?”

“Nope. I’m an only child. Though, I have friends who are like family. You’ll get the chance to meet them when we get to the packhouse.”

“If.” I corrected him quietly.

“Right, if.” He repeated uneasily, “You’re not very trusting, are you?”

“Can you blame me? We just met. I don’t know anything about you. You’re lucky I agreed to let you meet my family.”

“I guess I have the mating bond to thank for that.” He smiled wryly.

“Basically. Turn left here.” I directed him.

“So, how old are you and your siblings?”

“We’re twenty.”

“You guys are triplets?”

“Yeah.” There was no point in trying to hide that fact. He would notice as soon as he met Jess and Henry.

“What can you tell me about yourself?”

“Honestly, there’s not much to tell. Cam, Viv, and I are on our own. We’ve moved around a lot. I’ve done nothing but work a handful of part-time jobs in order to take care of us. Turn into that apartment complex.”

He did his best to hide it, but I could tell the thought of me living here made him uneasy, “So you basically have no time for anything fun?”

I opened the door of the apartment, “Nope.”

“What about before you started working? What did you do for fun then?”

“I read mostly. Or I’d just go for a walk. I told you, there’s not much to tell.”

“It’s something. Readers are usually smart. Sometimes they’re looking for a way to escape reality. And if you liked going for walks when you were younger, it probably means you like being outside or being in nature.”

“What wolf doesn’t like being out in nature? It’s kind of in our blood.”

“True.” He smirked, “Does that mean I’m right about the reader bit?”

I shrugged.

“Okay, what else? There has to be something.”

“I already told you everything. Why are you being so… insistent?” I asked defensively.

“You’re my mate. I want to get to know you. I know there’s more to you than what you’ve said so far. If you don’t remember anything else, then tell me a happy memory.”

My shoulders sagged in defeat and I looked up at the ceiling, thinking. After a while, I responded, “I was a junior. One of my friends had just gotten this fancy camera for her birthday. We would go out with friends and do photoshoots. We all took turns being the models, but I preferred being behind the camera. My friend and I were the only ones to take the pictures. It was fun.”

“So you’re a photographer?”

“I wouldn’t say that. It was only for a couple times when I was sixteen.”

“But you liked it?”

“I did.” I said quietly. I hadn’t thought about that in a long time. Meeting his gaze, I asked, “What about you? You haven’t told me anything about yourself yet.”

A part of me didn’t want to know. Still, I had to turn the conversation away from me. The less he knew, the better off all of us, including him, would be.

“You know I’m an only child and an Alpha. My Beta and my Third are my best friends. Really, they’re more like brothers. We’ve known each other for as long as we can remember. Um, I’m twenty-four. I run my family business. I took over as Alpha when I was twenty-one and as CEO after I graduated college. I don’t have as much time as I did before, but I played a lot of sports. Football, swim, soccer, lacrosse… Now that’s mostly been replaced with training my pack to fight. My friends and I do have movie nights whenever we have the chance. Mostly action movies, sometimes we’ll watch a classic. Every once in a while, Gwen will convince us to watch a murder documentary. She’s also forced us to watch a chick flick a couple times, but those are rare. Watch out for her though. She is a force when she wants to be.” He smiled fondly, “I like cooking. My mother taught me, though I don’t have the time to do it much. Camping as well. We try to go at least once a year. Our trip is actually coming up in a few months. You and your siblings should come. There’s a spot in the woods near the edge of our territory. It’s isolated and there’s a river close by for swimming.”

The front door opened, and Jess and Henry walked in. They froze as soon as they saw Grant.

“Hey, Viv. You’re home early.” I said, as nonchalantly as possible.

“Hi. Um, we weren’t busy today so my boss sent me home.” Jess said cautiously, glancing at me.

“This is Grant Wyndham.”

“Nice to meet you! I’m Laura’s mate.” Grant smiled warmly.

Jess’ eyes widened in surprise, “Her mate?”

'And you haven’t rejected him yet?' She asked me through our mindlink, surprised.

'Shut up.'

'Does that mean you will, and he’s a dead man walking, or you’ve finally realized not everyone is like Dad and it’s okay to have love in your life?'

'Jess, I will kill you if you don’t shut up.'

Jess smiled, moving to shake Grant’s offered hand, “And here I thought none of us would ever find our mates. It’s so nice to meet you! I’m Vivian, but everyone calls me Viv.”

“Cameron.” Henry watched him warily, shaking his hand.

“Laura told me you three are refugees. Since she is my mate and Luna, you are both welcome to join our pack as well.”

'You’re joining his pack?' Henry asked, including both me and Jess in the mindlink.

'I don’t know yet. It’s complicated. The three of us are in this together. I can’t make this decision alone. If you want this, we can. If you think it’s safer to cut ties with him, I will.'

'Addie, he’s your mate. You can’t just leave him behind.'Jess said, 'You have a chance at love. We all finally have a chance to live normal lives. We can’t run forever.'

'Henry?' I asked.

'I’ll trust whatever you decide. You kept us safe this far.'

I turned to Grant, “If it’s alright with you, we’d like to meet the pack and adjust to everything before officially joining.”

A relieved grin spread across Grant’s face, “Sounds like a plan.”