Page 8 of The Bunny Blues

Clarice struggled to hide her smirk. “Are you sur?—”

“Yes. I freaking hate that table. It’s so ugly it could scare the crap out of a toilet.”

Was it petty to take a dig at her design choices? Yes.

Did I care? Absolutely not.

The men began speaking all at once. I wasn’t sure if it was to Clarice or me, but I didn’t care. Heading down the hall, I made my way to the staircase and back to the safety of the room I’d been assigned to use when not in heat.

My hands trembled with the desire to slap the artwork from the walls and toss the various vases and weird sculptures decorating the mansion to the floor.

With effort, I restrained myself. It wasn’t out of respect for my useless oxygen bandit mates, but because I refused to disrespect the artists who’d poured their passion into their creations.

Closing my bedroom door without so much as a whisper, I flicked the lock and rested my head against the cool polished wood. My eyes burned with angry tears, but I didn’t have time to cry. I had things to do.

Straightening my spine and taking a steadying breath, I kneeled to pull a large backpack from beneath the bed. The men would leave for work soon, and while I didn’t think they would care enough to actually come looking for me, I wanted to get a solid head start.

I didn’t know where I’d go, but I refused to sleep under the same roof as these men ever again.

Once I’d packed my important documents, a change of clothes, cash, and a few supplies, I hired a car to take me to the outskirts of the city that sat just outside the burrows. This was where most rabbit females went to have their hair and nails done and followed up their pampering with hours of shopping.

I hoped that if my mates or parents tried to get in touch with me this morning, they’d think I’d gone shopping. If I was lucky, maybe they wouldn’t realize I’d run away until late that evening.

Stepping from the car, I paused just long enough to swap my slip-on sneakers for hiking boots. The last thing I needed was for the driver to remember picking up a girl in beat-up hiking boots from the wealthiest neighborhood in the burrows.

Once I finished lacing the boots up, I tucked my slip-ons into the backpack and lifted it to my shoulders. Thankfully, it wasn’t too heavy since I’d packed light, knowing I’d need to move fast.

Spinning on my heels, I headed for the thick woods that lay just outside the city limits. Over the years, I’d spent countless weekends hiking alone through forests all around the region.

If my parents had known, they never would have allowed it. But they thought I was spending those vacations with friends, lounging on yachts or skiing at ritzy resorts in the mountains.

For once, their lack of interest in my life worked to my advantage because they never once bothered to check in on me. Heck, they hadn’t even remembered to ask about my trips when I returned home.

The wild beauty of nature was my happy place, and right now, I needed that peace more than ever. My smile grew with each step I took away from the burrows, and the weight of my sorrow began to ease ever so slightly.

I spent the next six hours trekking through the familiar forest and almost regretted it when I stepped out of the trees and onto a paved road. Shading my eyes, I stared into the distance and spotted the hazy outlines of office buildings in the distance.

Bingo!

I had done it! Pride welled up in my chest.

I’d navigated my way without marked trails through the woods and came out exactly where I’d wanted to be.

Thanks to the thick woods and the winding roads, I knew this city was a full day’s drive from the burrows. But by traveling as the crow flies and not stopping to rest, I’d made it in half that time.

If anyone was looking for me, they wouldn’t be looking for me here. Not yet, anyway.

I’d take time to get a good meal, and then I’d cut through the forest that lay on the far side of the city. As long as nothing went wrong, I could put another day’s drive between the burrows and myself.

It was a solid plan, but I knew I still needed to figure out where I was going. I couldn’t run forever. Worse, unless I wanted to risk the bond driving me back to my cold-hearted mates, there would come a time when I’d need to lock myself away to deal with the inevitable separation pain.

If, by some miracle, that pain didn’t kill me, I knew my next heat would finish the job.

Still, I refused to give up on life. I’d been dealt a crappy hand, but I was a thousand percent sure I’d never return to my mates or allow them to touch me again.

I was going to fight until my last breath to find my happily ever after—however brief that may be.

Thanks to my shifter side claiming the wretched rabbit men, I knew finding love wasn’t in the cards for me. But I refused to give up believing in myself.

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