Chapter Two

Raven

I shouldn’t be doing this.

It was the only thing they asked for, and I’d made a vow—they’d never see or hear from me again after they helped me.

They didn’t need to help me in the first place. To this day, I was still shocked that they had. If I had been in their position—or if my late mate had—they’d be dead full stop. But that was what made them better than we were…than I was.

If they had let me be, let me run, I’d never have been able to stop. And really, running wasn’t going to be much of a help, not really. All those assholes would’ve had to do was look on their phones to know exactly where I was. I’d been set free to die, and I deserved it and so much more.

My late mate was evil. I had known that from the beginning. No one kidnaps an omega to make them their mate, only to be so cruel as to intentionally form a half-bond, without being made of darkness. That cruelty goes beyond the depths of human understanding. The worst part? Over the years, his evilness had seeped into me.

I didn’t like to admit it. In fact, I hated it, but it was true. Part of me liked the things I did for him, things I did for the others who took ownership of me when he died. It was sick and twisted, but I could no longer deny it.

Ryan, his mate, their pack—they saw something better in me. I wasn’t going to pretend I understood what that was. But, when they set me free—truly free, I made a promise to the guys, telling them I would make my new life better than my old one and that they would never have to see me again.

That last part had been the biggest lie of all. I hadn’t known it at the time, my promise made in earnest, but there was no denying it—staying away was no longer an option.

At first, I didn’t understand why I was longing to go there. Why would I? It meant death or confinement, or goddess knew what. And even if it didn’t mean all those things, why would I want to be around people who saw me at my worst, a daily reminder of the omega I’d allowed myself to become?

The problem was that whatever spell that healer put on me when he gave me that tonic and said those words. It not only weakened my partial bond, but it continued to do so, day by day, chipping at it, tiny piece by tiny piece. It wasn’t gone—far from it—but the more it faded, the more I could see what was in front of my eyes.

One of those who cut out my microchip was my mate. I didn’t know which one. Heck, maybe it wasn’t even one of them. Maybe it was the person who did their laundry or someone they shared a cab with the night before, but my fated mate’s scent had been there that night. And my beast— he needed us to find him.

I held out as long as I could. I really did. But there was no turning back now. I was less than a mile from their territory. For all I knew, the second I crossed into it, they were going to put me down. But, at least, then I’d be out of my misery.

Or…maybe, just maybe, I, too, could find my happily ever after.

There was only one way to find out.

I lifted my head up to the sky, scented the air, and then took off. It wouldn’t be long now. Soon, I would have answers to all my questions. Please, goddess, let them be ones I can handle.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand the rules. I did. They set me free. I left to never return. There was nothing complicated about that. They gave me what I longed for, for so long. They gave me my freedom—real freedom.

And here I was, about to hand it right back to them.

As I ran, I tried to tell myself I had no choice, that my beast had taken control, that it was he who needed to go back, who sensed our mate— our real mate. The one fate gave to us, not the piece of shit who took forced it upon me.

Only I did have a choice. I didn’t deserve a mate. Not anymore. I was broken, still half bound to that evil piece of shit, even through death. It was bearable, but that didn’t make it gone. Any alpha worthy of a fated mate deserved a whole one, not a broken and used omega. Knowing all of this, I still let my jackal do his thing. Why? Because I was selfish and longed for him to be right.

As we wove through the trees, I thought about that night and the people who were there. Which one of them was mine? Would they even accept me? Would they even be given the chance to try, or would I be sent to the goddess the second I crossed into their territory.

We were about to find out.

I’d been running through days, barely stopping to hunt and to sleep. Today was the first time my surroundings started to become recognizable. We were getting close.

So close.

I stopped, picking my head up and scenting deeply. They’d marked their territory, and I was nearly there. Once I crossed their created boundary, there was no going back.

The path could lead to me finding the person who was meant for me. Me and only me.

Who am I fooling? The odds were far greater that the day I crossed over would be my last. I’d put one of their own in danger. And not just a little—near-death danger. The fact that I was still breathing, still standing at the edge of their home—was a miracle in itself.

We need to. My beast kept pushing at me over and over again.

And we will. I wasn’t sure if I was lying to myself or not. I needed to get away and regroup. Not far. But also not here, where anyone doing a perimeter run could and would find me.

We’ll figure this out. But first, let’s go back to the caves we just passed. Let’s rest, let’s eat, let’s make a plan. Because if we do this wrong, we might never see him. Ever.

And that was enough to have my beast give me full control—at least for now.