The Alpha's Unexpected Luna

SOMA

Mason's words hang in the air until they finally sink in.

"What?" I spit out, unsure I had heard him right the first time. His gaze remains determined, and I step out of his grip. That's equivalent to treason. We'll die. "Mason."

"You heard me." Before I can put more distance between us, he grabs my hands and gives them a tight squeeze. "Think about it for a second, Soma. Why should we stay?"

"Shadowspire is all I know," I whisper-yell. "All we know."

"It doesn't matter," he counters.

Oh yes, it does.

"Once Sheila and Maeve find their mates, things will get better," I say. He lets go of my wrists to wipe the tear tracks on my cheeks. The humiliation of today affected him-us differently, but even at that, we're better off here. I have a roof over my head. Food, too. "I know today was tough, but running? That's a lot. We won't survive, Mason, I guarantee you."

Mason's lips part in an argument, and I think of ways to persuade him. Sheila recently got into Shadowspire Royal Academy, a school for royal kids and children of important members of the pack.

Aunt Helen has been trying to get Sheila into the academy since she turned eighteen last year, but she only succeeded this summer. If Maeve ends up being chosen as Prince Brynne's mate, she'll automatically be joining her elder sister there.

Shadowspire Royal Academy is a boarding academy for higher education. That means I'll be free from them until they return home during their breaks. What's a few more days of endurance until they both resume at the academy in one week? Aunt Helen might be mean, but she has a job that keeps her away most of the time. Maybe she'll finally reconsider letting me go to a university since I've gotten my high school diploma.

Our lives can truly get better here.

"What if we survive? Jimmy doesn't care whether I live or die. And we both know your cousins don't either," he spat out. I wince, trying not to let the negatives cloud my judgment. "Even if your cousins get mated, you'll still be stuck here playing maid to your aunt. But with me, if you choose to run away with me, you won't have to be a maid anymore. We'll be equal. We'll live life on our own terms. We can do anything. Be anything."

"Mason." My gaze darts left and right, double-checking to ensure we are still the only ones out on the road. "This is all so sudden. I really don't know what to say."

"None of this is sudden for me," he says. This is the most serious I've ever seen him, and I realize he decided a while ago. Today only solidified his decision. "I've actually been thinking about this for a long time. Running away and starting afresh. Apart from you, I can't think of a single wolf who will miss my absence in this rotting pack."

Me too. If Aunt Helen or my cousins will miss me, it's only because they won't have their unpaid maid to clean up after them. But leaving means death. If we leave without the king's permission, we will be labeled rogues and shot on sight the next time we try to enter the pack. I've never been outside Shadowspire.

Do I have what it takes to live on my own? That too, as a rogue?

"Soma, you're stalling." Mason squeezes my hands tighter. "What say you?"

"But I don't have any money. How will we survive?"

He offers me a broken smile. "I have some money saved up. Once we cross the border into the human world, we can get jobs. With our combined earnings, we should be able to stay afloat and build something for ourselves."

"Mason." My voice comes out as a whimper. "Humans."

There are no humans in Shadowspire. How will we survive them in a place we've never been to? What happens when he needs to shift? It sounds like such a good plan in theory, but our reality might not be the same. We have also never been lucky. What are the odds that we can make a clean exit without any trouble or the wrong attention on us?

"Listen, Soma, you don't have to give me an answer right now," he says. His voice cuts through my thoughts and doubts. My eyes find his, and he gives my hand a last squeeze, letting go with a small, reassuring smile. "Just think about it, okay? Maybe when we meet up tomorrow, you'll have an answer for me?"

"Okay."

"It's a date then," he says with a wink.

Despite the horrors of the last few minutes, his comment elicits a smile from me. But almost immediately, the smile vanishes when he winces. I pat his forearm, hugging him for the last time before he starts toward his trailer. When his figure fades into the distance, I take off in the opposite direction.