Page 58 of Forsaken

“We’re not guests,” I counter. “We’re a part of Daybreak Pack, and I’m sure they’re doing as best they can under the strain and pressure of hosting.”

I never thought I would be backing up my pack like this again, but I’d take them over Lydia Greystone, whose hideous family thought up the Rejected Mate Academy. Maybe the original founder never envisioned someone staying as long as me, but that means new rules need to be made.

“If that’s the case, I’m sure your security team will do its best to figure out who’s responsible for these heinous acts.”

“They’ve agreed to let Mia stay here for protection,” Jonah states. “It’s the best course of action.”

“I disagree,” Sean remarks, squeezing my fingers until they hurt. “I want her with me.”

I don’t look at Nathan. I don’t trust myself. We all know Sean is full of shit. Instead, I watch Jonah as he formulates his thoughts. “I disagree. She—”

“Who better to have her than her mate? I’d protect her with my life.”

Under usual circumstances, he’d be right. I glance at Kinsey. Her shoulders are thrown back as if she’s not backing down either.

“I agree,” Lydia finally says. “Mia and Nathan are in my charge, and I accept their mates’ hospitality.”

My stomach clenches. She turns and exits, leaving no room for argument.

The security guys step back, gesturing toward the exit. Sean pulls me along behind him, his fierce grip meant to be nothing but a romantic gesture. However, for me, I see it as a claiming. I don’t know what he thinks he’s going to do with me when we get there, but he better know that I’m not going down without a fight.

“I know if we were back in Lunar,” Jonah offers, “we’d put a guard on his house, at least. Just in case anything happens. We take life threats seriously.”

The Daybreak guards sigh as if they’re slowly losing their patience with him, but they agree to send us back with a guard. Relief floods through me. Sean won’t be able to kill me under their noses, will he? I can at least make enough noise to draw attention to what’s going on.

Kinsey rushes to hug me goodbye. “We’ll figure this out,” she whispers in my ear. “Stay safe.”

Again, I don’t even chance a look at Nathan as I’m led out of the security wing. The last thing we need is to show evidence of our true feelings. Especially right here in front of Lydia and alpha security.

Sean leads me down the cement steps and to the parking lot on the side of the alpha’s mansion. Opening the passenger door, he grins. “Look at that, me being all gentlemanly.”

“Didn’t know you had it in you.”

“There are a lot of things you don’t know.”

“Ditto,” I growl back as I sit and swing my legs inside.

He closes the door a little too hard, and from the corner of my eye, I see the silhouette of my sweet, jealous Nathan stalking toward a small, white car that must be Gayle’s. At least I know he can handle himself with her.

If all these people would disappear, I’d run away with Nathan right this second. I’d take our chances with Feral. Hell, I wouldn’t even care if we died a week later, packless. At least we’d have each other.

Alarm rings through me, causing my arms to sprout goosebumps. I pinpoint its origin as coming from my wolf. Mentally, I soothe her worries. I’m only ruminating on the impossible. Robbie was punished and cast out—something we hadn’t even been told, though it makes sense. With the other packs in town, Daybreak would’ve wanted to deal with the Robbie’s situation as soon as it happened and not have it linger. He had two strikes against him. One, he tried to run away, and two, he was rejected. A second-class citizen.

The SUV thrums to life underneath me, and it’s like a signal to start a race. I don’t know how Sean is going to play this, but I know I’m smarter than him. I’m better than him.

“Answer me this,” I voice as Sean takes a left out of the alpha’s compound.

“I’d rather not,” he deadpans.

I shrug. “I would rather not be left at Greystone forever, but we can’t always get what we want, can we? Oh, except for you.” I let my words sink in before I move on to my original thought. “Why do you hate me so much that you’d want to kill me?”

Sean peers over, the dark shadows from the early morning sun casting his face in a black hole of nothingness. “It isn’t really you. It’s the loss of control, Mia. When I figure out how to get rid of this, I’ll have taken back my own life.”

“We could’ve been something,” I tell him. “You wouldn’t give it a chance, so we’ll never know, but we could’ve been something.”

“I thought about that a couple of times,” Sean admits. “But I don’t want my life chosen for me. I choose my own.”

I shake my head. “Didn’t it ever occur to the two of you that you may not get paired together?”

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