Moonlight Sanctuary

Chapter # 2

I spend the rest of the morning in a daze, going through the motions of my daily routine while my mind races with plans. The pack meeting at one o'clock feels like it lasts forever. Alpha Marcus, Asher's father, drones on about territory disputes and hunting rights while I sit in the back, trying to be invisible.

Asher sits at the front with the other high ranking males, his arm around a blonde female I don't recognize. She's beautiful in that sharp, dangerous way that Blackwater females often are, all angles and attitude. He whispers something in her ear, and she laughs, the sound carrying across the meeting hall.

The mate bond twists in my chest, a sick combination of pain and unwanted jealousy. I hate that I feel anything at all. I hate that even knowing what he is, what he's done, some part of me still responds to him.

"The full moon is in three days," Alpha Marcus announces, and my attention snaps back to the present. "We'll be conducting the traditional bonding ceremonies for those who have chosen to complete their mate bonds."

His eyes find mine across the room, and he smiles. It's not a kind smile.

"My son Asher and his mate Willow will be among those participating."

The room erupts in applause and congratulations. I feel like I'm drowning, like the walls are closing in. Asher turns to look at me, and the possessiveness in his gaze makes my skin crawl.

Three days. I have three days before I'm bound to him forever.

The meeting finally ends, and I slip out before anyone can corner me with false congratulations. I need to get home, need to pack, need to prepare. The pack hunt starts at sunset, which gives me maybe six hours.

Back at the cabin, I move mechanically through the space, gathering the few things I can't leave behind. Clothes, toiletries, the photo of my grandmother, the only person in my family who ever showed me real kindness. She died when I was twelve, but I still remember her words: "You deserve to be loved gently, little wolf. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

I pack light, knowing I'll need to move fast. One backpack, essentials only. I tuck Sage's envelope of money into the inner pocket, along with my identification papers.

Asher comes home around four, already dressed in his hunting gear. He barely glances at me as he grabs his bow from the closet.

"I'll be back late," he says. "Don't wait up."

"Okay," I manage, my heart pounding so hard I'm sure he can hear it.

He pauses at the door, turning back to look at me with an expression I can't quite read. For a moment, I think he knows. I think he can sense my plan through the bond.

"You know I love you, right?" he says suddenly.

The words are so unexpected, so jarring, that I actually flinch. He's never said that before. Not once in six months.

"In my own way," he continues, moving closer. "I know I'm not perfect, Willow. I know I'm hard on you sometimes. But that's just how alpha males are. It's in our nature." He cups my face with one hand, his thumb brushing across my cheekbone. "After the bonding ceremony, things will be better. You'll see. Once you're fully mine, once you accept your place, we'll be happy."

I want to scream. I want to shift and tear his throat out. Instead, I nod, playing the submissive mate one last time.

"I love you too," I lie.

He kisses me, rough and claiming, and then he's gone. I hear his truck start up, hear him drive away, and I count to one hundred before I let myself move.

Then I run.

I grab my backpack, shift into my wolf form with the pack strapped to my back, and bolt into the forest. I don't follow the paths I know. Instead, I head straight north, crashing through underbrush and leaping over fallen logs. My wolf is small, but she's fast, and right now speed is all that matters.

The mate bond immediately begins to protest. It pulls at me, trying to drag me back, filling me with an artificial sense of wrongness. This is the bond's purpose, to keep mates together, to make separation painful. But I push through it, focusing on Sage's words, on my grandmother's memory, on the future I might have if I can just get far enough away.

I run for hours, until my paws are bleeding and my lungs are burning. I cross three different pack territories, moving so fast that I'm gone before anyone can catch my scent. The moon rises, full and bright, and I keep running.

Somewhere behind me, I know Asher has realized I'm gone. I can feel his rage through the bond, feel him starting to track me. But I have a head start, and I'm not stopping.

I run until I physically can't anymore, until my legs give out and I collapse in a small cave hidden behind a waterfall. I shift back to human form, gasping for air, my entire body shaking with exhaustion and fear.

The bond screams at me, demanding I return. It feels like my heart is being ripped from my chest. This is what they don't tell you about mate bonds, that they can be used as chains, that the thing meant to bring joy can become a tool of control.

I curl up in the corner of the cave, hugging my backpack to my chest, and let myself cry. For the first time in six months, I'm alone. Truly alone. And despite the pain of the bond, despite the fear of what comes next, I feel something I haven't felt in so long I almost don't recognize it.

Hope.