Page 2 of Alpha's Runaway Mate

I felt bad that I wasn’t able to get Leo the toy he dreamed of, but I wasn’t giving up. Later tonight, I was going to ask the boss for an extra shift this week, which would hopefully get me enough to buy the toy for Leo.

Thinking about my son brought a smile to my face. Seeing him happy was the only thing that kept me going every day. I could only imagine how his small mouth would spread into a wide grin if I somehow brought home the toy tonight to surprise him. I wished for it so bad. And it hurt that I couldn’t do these things for him. Thankfully, Leo was never one to complain. He was a very content kid who appreciated all the things he received.

“Hey, blondie? Can we get another round of beer?” I heard Matt yell from the end of the bar, disrupting my thoughts.

Sighing and rolling my eyes internally, I reached into the fridge and pulled out two bottles of beer. This was the seventh round for table five, and it should be the last. Drunk men tend to cause a scene outside the pub every night, but my boss told us never to cut off a customer, no matter how drunk they were. And from the way Matt had yelled just now, I could tell that he was well past the point of tipsy.

“Can you pass me the opener?”

“My hands are full. Think you can get it yourself?” Gemma replied.

I reached out to grab the opener that was lying on the counter just past the sink, when Gemma’s horrified voice rang in my ears.

“Oh my God, Lyra. Did your tattoo just disappear?”

I looked down at my arm and froze when I saw that the mark was gone. I knew what that meant. How could I not after the resounding warning the witch gave me that first night? I had been looking at that mark every single day for the last five years. If it was fading, it meant that she was sick and slowly dying. Or, her magic was weak because she had exhausted herself. Or…

None of that even mattered. The mark wasn’t fading. No, it was gone. It had disappeared.

Which only meant two things: either she was dead, or I had been found. I dropped the beer bottle in my hand, and it slipped from the counter and fell to the ground, shattering. In a blur, I took off my apron, tossed it aside, and bolted toward the door, all within five seconds.

“Hey! What are you doing? Where are you going? The pub is full tonight! Lyra!” Gemma called after me, but I was already out the door before she could yell one more sentence at me.

I didn’t care about the pub. What I cared about was at home, and they were coming for him. They were coming for us.

I waited a few seconds for a cab, but when I didn’t see any pulling up to the curb, I took to my heels. My heart was pounding rapidly against my chest, drowning out the blaringhorns as I sprinted toward the alley that would take me toward my apartment on the shortest possible path.

As my feet connected with the grass of a small park along the way, my legs burned with desperate steps, and my breath came in short ragged gasps. The branches of trees clawed at my arms, ripping into my skin, but I couldn’t stop—I wouldn’t stop.

In no time, I burst through the door of my neighbor’s apartment, breathing frantically. Leo and the babysitter both jumped, probably wondering what had come over me. But there was no time to explain. We needed to get out of here now. And fast.

“Come on, Leo. We’re leaving.”

I watched his expression shift from surprise to confusion. Then he opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “Now, Leo! Get your things!”

“Lyra, is everything all right?” the babysitter asked.

No, it wasn’t. I had spent eight months as a captive in one of the most ruthless packs in the world. I had barely managed to escape thanks to the pity of one person who took mercy on a heavily pregnant woman going through physical and emotional torture.

I had spent the last five years being happy and free with my boy. And now, all of that was about to be ripped away from me. The mark on my hand had been the indication of a cloaking spell. When I escaped from captivity, the witch who had helped me had given me the mark to hide my location from the Blackwoods. And it had been effective until tonight.

Now, the fact that the mark had vanished meant that there was no cloaking spell anymore. We have been found and they were on their way here right this minute. So, no, nothing was all right!

Leo was taking too much time to get his stuff, so I grabbed his arm and ran to my apartment. I headed straight for the one loose floorboard where I had stored the tiny nest egg I had scraped together. That should be enough to get Leo and I on a train and out of this town before the Blackwoods realized that we were gone. I grabbed Leo’s bag, and stuffed it with a couple of blankets, snacks, and anything else we might need on the run.

“Mommy, what’s going on?” Leo’s soft voice wafted through the room, stopping my frenzy. I turned around to find him staring at me, worry and confusion across his face.

“Come here, Leo. Come on.”

When he neared me, I crouched in front of him and pulled him into a hug. Then pulling away, I cupped his cheek. “You trust Mommy, right?”

He nodded twice.

“Good. I’ll explain everything to you later, baby. But we have to leave right now. Grab whatever you can from your room and meet me in the living room. Just don’t take too much.”

That was all it took to send Leo sprinting into his room, likely for his toys, while I continued to stuff the bag with essentials. Moments later, Leo came back out, carrying a bag filled with toys. All set, I grabbed his arm, and we darted into the woods. It was a shortcut to the train station.

But we hadn’t gone far, when the snap of a branch made me stop in my tracks. The familiar scent of my nemesis wafted to my nostrils. Blackwoods. I had been found.