Chapter 312
EMILY
As soon as Axel confirms he is in fact Axiel Mercier, the legendary vampire slayer, I turn and run, no idea where I’m going, just knowing I need to get out of the house.
I had told the doctor I wanted to tell Aaron something–which was partially true–I’d decided in the bathroom I needed to tell Aaron I didn’t care about Axel rejecting me, that I didn’t want to be his mate after all.
How true those thoughts had turned out to be.
I’d gotten as far as the hallway when I’d heard Aaron shouting at Axel about him rejecting me, and then paused outside the door as Axel had told Aaron there were things about him that Aaron didn’t know.
Dangerous things.
It wasn’t my fault their voices had carried so clearly.
And okay, maybe I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping.
But after Axel’s reply, my curiosity had gotten the better of me, so I’d loitered, holding my breath, wondering what could be so terrible and dangerous that Axel had apparently rejected me for my own good.
A
Would turn out to be none
other than a notorious, immortal slayer.
Axiel Mercier is like the human bogeyman for young wolves. We got old scary bedtime stories about him.
Be a good wolf or Axiel Mercier will come for you.
A lot of wolves don’t even believe he actually exists.
Stories about him petered off in the last hundred years or so. People began to believe that maybe he’d been killed.
But the literal living proof is standing in a bedroom across the hall from my own room.
It’s the worst possible scenario for me.
The man Aaron has assigned as my guard to protect me and look after me is the very same person who would kill me the second he found out the truth about what’d happened to me.
I’m in more danger than I ever imagined.
I shift and run, and don’t stop running until I’ve left Rathborn pack lands behind me.
I’m in a local National Forest where humans come to go hiking and camping.
I don’t want to go back–especially with Aaron leaving for
How what to do.
I have nowhere else to go.
I have no possessions, no money of my own.
Aaron has organized a bank account for me to access the family’s vast finances, but the card hasn’t arrived in the mail yet, and I’m not even sure I have full access without Aaron’s approval.
Considering what he thinks about my fragile state of mind, there’s every chance he’s restricted my access to make it harder for me to run.
I shift and emerge from the forest, coming out on a hiking trail.
There’s a bench nearby overlooking a small river, so I go and sit there, resisting the urge to cry as my thoughts spin in circles and I can’t come up with any answers.
I wanted to kiss Axel earlier.
I wanted to surrender my body to him.
And the worst thing is, even knowing now who he really is, part
of me–especially my wolf–still longs for her mate.
How could the Moon Goddess tie me to such a man?
What did I do to deserve such a terrible fate?
“I hope you don’t mind me saying, but it’s such a beautiful day,
how can someone so lovely look so sad?”
I startle at the voice just off to my left and look around to see a tall man standing there.
His hair is like the gloss of a raven’s wing and his eyes are the most startling blue I’ve ever encountered.
Somehow, my senses are all screwed up–they’ve been off ever since the old Roberts Alpha began his horrible experiments on me—so I can’t tell if the man is another wolf, human, or otherwise.
The man holds up his hands to indicate he means no harm, and I realize I’m probably staring at him in suspicion.
But can anyone blame me for not trusting anyone?
First, I was abducted, held and tortured for ten years, then the man who was meant to be my mate rejected me, and turned out to not be a simple man at all, but the biggest threat to my life that I’ve ever encountered.
“Sorry,” he says with a friendly smile. “You just look like. something is really bothering you, and I couldn’t keep walking past.”
“My whole life is bothering me,” I reply honestly, even though I’m not sure why.
But the stranger has kind eyes and a friendly smile, so I find myself relaxing a fraction.
That sounds like a lot to deal with,” he says sympathetically.
“That’s an understatement,” I mutter darkly, which makes the stranger laugh.
He has a nice laugh, and now I’m kind of intrigued.
And I do kind of feel touched that he was nice enough to stop and talk to me, just because he thought I looked sad.
He’s also right.
It’s a beautiful early–spring day. The snow is starting to melt, and the sun has just the slightest bite of warmth to it that feels wonderful.
The stranger edges closer, indicating the empty end of the park bench I’m sitting on.
“May I? Sometimes it’s easier to talk to a stranger. I don’t mind listening.”
I glance around, part of me so lonely and misunderstood, I pathetically want to pour my heart out to the first person who offers.
However, I’m also aware that this nice man probably doesn’t deserve the burden of my problems. And I can’t even tell him the full truth anyway.
I’d have to be purposefully vague, because no one can ever know
what happened to me.
“I don’t want to interrupt your hike,” I reply instead of answering.
The man shrugs and walks over to sit on the far end of the bench, keeping an appropriate amount of distance between us.
“I’m not in a hurry, and I’ve already done a fair bit of hiking today. I can probably use the break.” He smiles as he regards me. “My name is Ronan.”
