Sera's POV

I sprint.

Not just yet, not far from the pack house. I dash directly to my small basement room and shut the door. It hurts how hard my heart is beating.

He was aware.

Marcus knew about the mate bond all along.

Ten years. I spent ten years cleaning floors, receiving abuse, and being told I was crazy for having an unreal feeling. However, it was genuine. It's real.

Nevertheless, he turned me down.

Pressing my hands to my chest as if to keep my heart intact, I collapse onto my flimsy mattress. However, the crack from this morning is no longer merely spreading. It's breaking.

I believed that something was wrong with me all those years. I believed that I was too damaged for him to sense the connection. Too much damage. Too feeble.

However, he sensed it throughout.

I simply wasn't what he wanted.

I swallow back a sob that tries to get out of my throat. It's risky to cry. Maybe someone will hear. Someone might come check on the pathetic omega having a breakdown.

My door has been knocked on.

I hold my breath and freeze.

"Sera?" The only wolf in this pack who has ever shown me kindness is Kira. "Can I come in?"

I shout, attempting to steady my voice, "I'm fine."

"You're an awful liar." The door opens anyway. With a plate of food from the pack dinner in hand, Kira sneaks inside. Not the scraps I usually get, but real food. "You left before eating."

"Not hungry."

"Liar," Kira repeats. She places the plate between us as she sits next to me on the mattress. "What took place? Why did Marcus give you that look?

I wish to inform her. I wish to inform someone. However, the words are stuck in my throat.

"He knew," I mumble at last. "The mate bond. He has known all along.

Kira becomes very still. "What?"

"He gave me a direct look when he discussed the rogue. Additionally, the bond—" My voice breaks. It erupted. He sensed it. which implies that he has always sensed it.

"That bastard," Kira exhales. "Sera, if he has known all along and has continued to treat you like—"

"It is irrelevant." I get to my feet, suddenly confident. "I'm heading out."

"What?"

"Tonight. once everyone has gone to sleep. I'm leaving and won't be returning."

Kira takes hold of my arm. "You can't, Sera. You will be apprehended by border patrols. Marcus's wolf will follow you if he truly feels the connection now. He won't let you leave.

"He ought to have considered that before he pretended that I didn't exist for ten years."

"But where are you going? You have no supplies. You don't possess—"

"I don't care." I mean it, too. "I'd rather die free than stay here another day."

Tears are shining in Kira's eyes. "You are the only friend I have."

"No one considers me a friend. I am the punching bag for the pack. I give her hand a squeeze. "But I'm grateful. for showing kindness when no one else did.

She gives me a tight hug before releasing it. "Await three o'clock in the morning. The patrol switches shifts at that point. At the eastern border, you will have a five-minute window.

I look at her. "How do you know that?"

Kira's face flickers, too quickly for me to read. "I listen. Eat the food now. Your strength will be needed.

Before I can ask her any more questions, she departs.

I eat every bite of food on that plate. I wait after that.

---

I sneak out of my room at 2:45 AM.

There is silence in the pack house. Everyone is asleep, most likely dreaming of the ideal future that awaits Marcus and Elena.

I don't bring anything with me. I don't have anything valuable. All I have are the clothes on my back and the hope that I can get far enough before someone realizes I'm gone.

I should be able to run faster with the help of my wolf, but she hasn't spoken in a long time. I'm not even sure if I can still shift.

Please, I think to the void where my wolf once resided inside of me. I need your help one last time, please.

Nothing. Nothing but quiet.

Alright. I am willing to run on human legs. It's still running, but it will be slower. Freedom, though.

At precisely three in the morning, I reach the eastern border. There is a lull between patrols, and Kira was correct. Beyond our boundaries, I can make out the deep, dark, and dangerous forest.

Excellent.

I glance back at the pack lands one last time. Marcus is sleeping beside Elena somewhere in that large house. A mattress in that basement still retains my body's shape after a decade.

I'm getting rid of everything.

I cross the border.

Something feels off right away. The atmosphere shifts. becomes heavier. As if I've entered an unformed thunderstorm.

Still, I run. A mile. Two miles. Even though my legs are trembling and my lungs are burning, I continue. Unable to stop.

My body gives out at mile three.

Gasping for breath, I fall to the ground in the dirt. It all comes at once after ten years of not being enough, not eating enough, and not sleeping enough.

I am immobile. I can't even raise my head.

I believe this to be it. *I will die in the woods by myself.*

I'm at least free, though.

I catch a glimpse of movement in the trees through my hazy vision. Something significant. No, larger than a wolf. enormous.

I ought to be afraid. However, I'm too worn out. Too damaged.

Suddenly, a man is standing over me as the wolf changes. tall. strong. The sort of presence that causes the air to sag.

He says, "Don't move," in a thunder-rolling voice. "You are in the Alpha King's domain."

Alpha King? No. No, no, no. I ran in the wrong direction. The neutral lands are where I should be, not—

I am lifted by strong hands as if I were weightless. I make an effort to talk, to apologize, to implore him to simply let me pass away here rather than send me back.

Then I see his face, though.

He's gorgeous in a way that shouldn't be possible. chilly. old. Risky.

And an impossible thing occurs when his ice-blue eyes meet mine.

After ten years of silence and death, my wolf suddenly screams inside my head.

Just one word. Again and again.

"MINE."

No.

*No.*

This isn't possible. I have a partner already. My partner is Marcus. Two mates are not possible. It doesn't operate that way.

However, the Alpha King's eyes gleam with gold, and I am positive that my wolf is correct.

He insists, "What's your name?"

"S-Sera Blackwood."

His whole body stiffens. He looks at me like he's seen a ghost for one frightful moment.

Then he mumbles two words that completely upend my world:

"FOUND YOU.”