Page 58 of The Alpha's Chosen Outcast

“Yes,” Melissa nods. “Absolutely. Do you want to do this here?”

“I don’t want to waste another second.” And I mean it.

We come closer together and form a circle. I take Raymond’s hand on one side and Melissa’s on the other. They take each other’s hands to complete the circle. We all look at each other, and then I guide our thoughts.

“Put your head down and close your eyes.” They do. “Now, think of your favorite memory of Heather. It has to be something that makes you truly happy.”

I imagine Heather’s smile, the way she lights up when she forgets all the stresses of life. It’s the way she looks when she’s on her sewing machine or whenever she talks about wedding details with Violet.

I know that Melissa and Raymond are calling up their own memories because I can feel Heather in my mind like a piece of myself coming closer to fill an empty space I’ve been feeling since she ran from the wedding.

The feeling is magnetic, pulling me toward her in a way that’s hard to resist. I can sense where she is, like a map appearing in my mind. I can’t really explain it, but it’s growing clearer.

When I lift my head, Heather’s parents still have theirs down. I take a deep breath and feel calm. I know where she is, and I won’t let her run again. I let go of their hands, and they look up when the circle breaks with expectant looks on their faces.

“Do you have it? Do you know where she is?” Melissa asks. She’s practically shaking.

I smile at her. “I do. I know where she is.”

They both put their hands to their mouths. Melissa falls into Raymond’s arms, and he barely catches her. He looks up at me.

“We can go get her then?” His eyes are wide, and I can see tears forming.

“Yes, we will go get her and bring her home.”

“What does that mean for you as Alpha,” he asks.

“I’ll take care of that. You go pack. We’ll get on a plane tomorrow morning. I’ll text you with a pickup time after I book the flight.”

“Tomorrow morning?” Melissa is standing upright again on her own. “Why can’t we go right now?”

“There’s something I have to do first.”

Chapter 17

HEATHER

I made it back home without incident, but I’ve been freaking out internally ever since. I’ve been out running every night, and whenever I change, I can feel Trey looking for me.

When I release my wolf and go off into the woods, she cries out to be with him. I have to cut every run short to keep him from locating me.

Trey is an Alpha now. I know that means I could marry him and all my troubles would be over but I saw how that would go if I’d accepted.

He doesn’t have a strong foothold in power yet, and the pack is still mourning his father. He can’t keep them in line and assert his authority if they question his moves from his very first day as Alpha.

No, I couldn’t let him take on that burden. I couldn’t do that to Violet, either, because she’d feel it, too, when the elders around him started to push back.

The best thing for me to do is to disappear. It’s the best thing for everyone, really. All that’s left is to decide where to go and what I’ll do when I get there.

Violet’s dress was a serious show-stopper. All the NYC designers wanted to know who made it, but she wouldn’t tell them. By the time the wedding day rolled around, we hadn’t worked out how we’d handle that.

When I landed, Jessie and all my friends were at my house with a surprise welcome-home party.

They want me to bask in the glory of being a breakout designer at such a young age. It takes decades for most people to make a name for themselves like this.

I never went to a formal school for my talent. I started out with all my thrift store remakes and learned from books at the library.

I don’t want to be known by the world as Heather Cauley, a famed designer. I want to fall back into invisibility with the thrift store remakes in my kitchen and the occasional commission.

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