Page 28 of Challenged Mate
I’d even tried to replay that moment in my head. I pictured the blonde beauty spewing her venom, wanting to replicate the mix of mortification and fury it had ignited within me.
It didn’t work.
When the alarm on Kayla’s phone went off, I fell onto the mat in an exhausted, irritated heap. I stared at my disheveled appearance in the wall mirrors, noting the dark bags under my eyes.
When I first arrived in Alaska, I’d slept great. But as days passed, restful sleep began to elude me.
During the day, I was distracted. I hardly thought about Asher and the feeling of abandonment his absence stirred within me. But that wasn’t true at night.
Each night, I stared at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep. My mind was plagued by thoughts of how cruel the Mother was for orchestrating Asher as my fated mate. She was all-knowing. She’d known my life would take me down a different path. It seemed She didn’t care.
Kayla fell to the ground next to me. Sweat plastered strands of hair to her face and neck. She offered a water bottle.
I accepted with a quick word of thanks, then gulped half of it down.
“You’ll figure it out, I know it.” It was the same thing Kayla always said. She was nothing if not positive.
I didn’t disagree with her, though we both knew I wasn’t as hopeful.
Each day that passed without accessing my magic, the more I believed it had been a fluke when I attacked Hannah.
“Let’s go back to my place and grab some lunch,” Kayla offered. “My afternoon is free. Maybe we can try again later.”
I could commit to lunch, but I wasn’t set on training again. A girl could only take so much failure in one day. “Sure.”
Kayla hopped onto her feet and held out a hand. She helped me up. We gathered our things and exited the dance studio. We had to walk through a large weight room to reach the exit. Dozens of males and females were spread throughout the state-of-the-art facility, using various training equipment and free weights.
A few called out to Kayla. She returned their greetings. The most I got were a few half-hearted waves. I returned them with a nod of acknowledgment, unbothered by the fact most of the shifters pretended they didn’t see me. It was better than them staring.
We left the building and made our way to our four-wheelers parked along the street. After making sure I wouldn’t kill myself driving one, Chase had left me the keys to a forest green one from the alpha’s garage. I’d tried to deny the offer. It felt weird to borrow the vehicle from a guy I hadn’t even met, but Chase wouldn’t hear my objections.
And, honestly, I was glad to have a way to travel from the alpha’s house to town. Otherwise, unless I wanted to walk the decent distance day in and day out, I would be isolated in my guest apartment.
You could shift and run to town, I thought.
My wolf huffed her agreement.
I hadn’t shifted since the final contest in the Alpha Games. Sharing part of my mind, my wolf knew why.
I’d never shifted without a packmate nearby. Even if I went on runs alone, I only did so within Summit territory. And the connection which allowed Summit shifters to communicate with each other was always present—humming like the white noise of a soothing sound machine.
If I shifted, I knew I was too far away to communicate with my pack, but what I feared most was the silence. The grave reminder that I was alone.
It seemed foolish, but at least my wolf was understanding. For now, at least.
I didn’t think she’d allow me to keep her tucked away for much longer. And I promised her I wouldn’t.
Kayla’s home was located on the East side of town, only minutes away from the athletic complex. I parked along the curb on the wide street, admiring the modest two-story home.
It was nestled between two similarly sized homes. A wooden patio extended from the front of the house, and pots of colorful flowers lined the railing. A white picket fence surrounded the front yard, separating it from the neighbors.
“This is super cute.” I joined Kayla by the waist-high, white gate.
She beamed. “Thanks! My brothers and Chase built it for me after I turned eighteen.”
Wow.
“They did a great job.”
