Page 51 of Starting a New Life

Was I blind?

Was it as common as they’d made it sound?

My body felt like it was on autopilot as I got up and told them I’d send someone up to fetch them and show them the dining room. Their breakfast was probably cold now anyway.

Shutting the door behind me, my wolf howled in my mind, the sorrow chilling my whole body.

Some packs kept mages as slaves.

Some shifters kept people like my mate as slaves.

I headed down the stairs, gut churning, my eyes focused on the nearest door. My ears were ringing, blood whooshing through my veins, spreading icy clarity with each frantic beat of my heart.

Nix had every reason to be afraid of shifters. He’d had every reason to stay hidden.

How could I ever win his trust if my whole existence had to seem like a threat to him?

I opened the door and stumbled out into the snow, a howl ripping its way out of my chest as I let my wolf take over and ran into the woods, losing myself in the even rhythm of my paws hitting the snow-covered forest ground.

The wind was icy, but it brought clarity, slowly cutting through the cloud of rage and sorrow. I ran and ran and ran until my muscles burned and my tongue lolled out of my snout.

When I slowly approached the clearing just a couple hundred feet away from our packhouse, I found Rhett waiting for me, holding out a pair of sweatpants.

“Feel better now?”

The answer was yes, but also no.

Yes, I felt better now, but the dread coiling tight in my gut was still there.

I changed back to human, took the clothes and got dressed.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, running a hand through my hair. “With everything I found out today, I think it might take a while until I’m okay again.”

Chapter 11

Nix

They’re testing me, I thought as I sat on the windowsill, letting the icy winter breeze into my room. I shivered as goosebumps rose on my skin. My hoodie couldn’t protect me from the wind, but I welcomed it, welcomed the fresh morning air, welcomed the way it tasted like snow and salt and freedom.

I could jump, I mused, looking down at the snow-covered ground. It was three stories to the ground, and after a night in a warm bed and the head start Levi had given me, my magic was coming back quicker than I’d expected, so jumping and softening the fall would be easy.

By the time they realize what’s going on, I’d be in the forest. I can shield myself from their eyes, hunker down in a tree, wait for the heat to die down and…

What?

Move back into my tent in the forest?

Leave the territory and pray Knox’s lackeys don’t notice? Hope that the tracking spell really expired?

My stomach turned, my body shuddering at the thought.

I’d be all alone again. I’d have no one.

There was a knock on my door, and my heart stuttered until I noticed Levi’s magic reaching through the door.

“Come in,” I shouted, flinching at how loud I was.

I was used to keeping quiet, trying not to draw attention.