FATED ESCAPE

ies, but that's still a whole lot more skin than I wanted him to see. And he c

y, I didn't

a cry of pain when my leg twinges, and there on the floor beside the b

n the room, but with his scent eve

ks?" "No

m desperate to know what he was reading, but I'm also desperate for him to leave so I don't have

built like most shifters, l

and regards me steadily for a long moment.

urges th

sks when I don't respond

eping his back to me. "But what little I saw, I liked.

he door behind him. For an ete

of him liking me make

from Shane, is there a smile stretching

nd gray Shaker-style kitchen with six shifters, including Mack an

at I was a rare exception, the sole child in a family of two, just my father and me after my mother died

the other children my age, but because of what I wa

when I met my mate. I spent years dreaming and daydreaming that I'd find a place tha

. No one wants an uninvited gue

fast has barel

any more attention than I have already; the Winter Lake pack has been dart

she introduced as her mate, Warren, seems the friendliest so far. He has to be even taller than Ben

er he's starving because he's barely looked up from his plate, or he's just not that interested in me. Penny, the red-headed g

I'm not sure if it's because Bennett, the one shifter whose name I

ir of stained and worn blue overalls that tells me he wasn't just filling the truck at the gas station. He works there. Out of everyone at the table, h

the conversations I've been eavesdropping from my table mates, I haven't heard even one mention of who it m

learned during my runaway and the many hours I've spe

ion I've asked hasn't led to him asking one back, which he'd have ever

yourself then someone would consider y

If Mack wandered into my father's, or Shane's pack, he wouldn't last five minutes. But here I'm being c

sed I loved tacos, how I don't know, but when he walked in wit

back so I could tug it over my head, he helped me sit

w Mr. Pilsner who visits the library every Monday will fake having weak knees so Nancy from the flower shop will come ou

one, it was a pleasure I'd never had before. So I ate slowly, hoping to draw th

After he cleared the tray away, he helped me lie down. The last thing

aking to ask me if I wanted to come down

lone in bed, I didn't. I couldn't. Not with the memory of ev

o the bathroom, and then his help to slip into a pair of his sweatp

notices I've eaten the five pieces on my plate

myself I'm being greedy since no one else has gone back for seconds yet. And even though I know no one will thin

rins at me. After anot

and snaps his hand out

the table, my body tense and ready for the inevi

ly picks up the platter of bacon, and hands it over

ho has his hand out expecta

order like that to an alpha. But he's not the only one acting like it's perfectly normal for a beta to speak that bluntly to an alph

r head down to avoid attra

pull Mack up about ordering him about. If anyone from Shane or my father's pack

t, he's forking bacon on my plate when he must sense

lize I must've had it hanging half-open a

en it clears away as if he's just realized someth

ually." "Oh, it's j

his guard before lunging across the table at him. My worry is more about self- preservation because I'm sitting next

ust looks