Page 11 of Fat Sold Mate
With a final glance around the apartment that has been my sanctuary, I shoulder my bag and descend the stairs. The bookshop waits in darkness, shelves of stories offering silent farewells as I pass.
I leave a note for Luna pinned to the register—not explaining where I'm going (I don't know myself), just assuring her that I'm safe and asking her to look after the shop until I figure things out, potentially forever. It's cowardly, but I can't face her or anyone else right now.
Outside, the night has deepened, a sliver of moon providing just enough light to navigate by. The sounds of the lottery celebration still echo from the Hollow, but they feel like they belong to another world entirely—one I'm leaving behind.
I skirt the edge of town, staying in shadows until I reach the tree line. The forest opens before me, dark and mysterious, promising both danger and freedom.
Behind me lies Silvercreek, the only home I've ever known. Before me stretches the unknown—terrifying but infinitely preferable to a life shackled to a man who sees me as a joke.
With one last look at the twinkling lights of the town, I step into the embrace of the forest, letting darkness swallow me whole.
I don't look back.
Chapter 4 - James
Moonlight spills through my cabin’s windows, casting long shadows across the floor as I pace the length of my living room for what feels like the hundredth time. The clock on the mantel reads 11:42 PM. Almost three hours since Ruby disappeared from the ceremony, slipping away like a ghost while I was cornered by well-meaning packmates offering congratulations I didn't deserve.
My wolf churns beneath my skin, restless and demanding. He doesn't understand why we're here instead of with her—our mate by pack law, if not by choice. I don't have a good answer.
I stop at the window, staring out at the slice of moon hanging in the velvet sky. The lottery. Of all the eligible women in Silvercreek, fate or chance or whatever cruel deity controls these things chose Ruby. The same woman who kissed me like she meant it two months ago, then cut me from her life without explanation the very next day.
The same woman whose amber eyes haunt my dreams.
“Dammit,” I mutter, running a hand through my already disheveled hair.
I should be relieved. The lottery could have paired me with anyone—someone I couldn't stand, someone whose scent repelled my wolf, someone whose touch would feel like sandpaper against my skin. Instead, it gave me the one woman who's consumed my thoughts since that evening in her bookshop, the taste of cinnamon still lingering on my tongue.
But her expression when Victoria called her name... Pure horror. As if being matched with me was the worst possible outcome.
I resume pacing, my bare feet silent against the hardwood floor. What the hell happened between us? One perfect kiss, promises of tomorrow, and then—nothing. Radio silence. Avoidance so deliberate it had to be intentional.
And now we're supposed to be mates.
My wolf growls, frustrated by my inaction.Find her, he insists, the command growing stronger with each passing minute.Claim her.
“She doesn't want to be claimed,” I argue aloud, though the words taste like ash.
Unbidden, my mind conjures images that make my body tighten with want—Ruby beneath me, her dark hair spread across my pillow, those amber eyes heavy-lidded with desire. Her generous curves pressed against me, skin to skin. The sounds she might make when pleasure overtakes her.
I shake my head violently, dispelling the fantasy. This isn't helping.
The clock ticks over to midnight, and something in me snaps. I can't stay here, prowling my cabin like a caged animal. We need to talk, Ruby and I. Clear the air. Figure out what the hell happened between us and what we're going to do about this mess the lottery has created.
Decision made, I grab a jacket and head out into the night. The temperature has dropped, and a hint of autumn's approach is carried on the breeze that rustles through the trees surrounding my cabin. My wolf stirs, eager to be released into the cool darkness, but I keep him leashed. This isn't a night for running on four legs.
Silvercreek sleeps around me as I walk the familiar path to Mystic Page. A few windows still glow with lamplight,but most of the pack has retired after the excitement of the ceremony. Tomorrow, gossip about the Alpha's right hand being paired with the outcast witch will spread like wildfire, but for now, there's peace.
The bookshop sits dark and silent on the corner, its windows reflecting the moonlight. No light burns in the apartment above. I hesitate at the door, suddenly unsure. It's midnight—too late for a social call, even one as necessary as this.
But my wolf won't be denied any longer, his impatience bleeding into my human consciousness. Before I can reconsider, I knock, the sound unnaturally loud in the quiet street.
No response.
I knock again, harder this time. “Ruby? It's James. We need to talk.”
Nothing.
The unease that's been simmering in my gut all evening crystallizes into something sharper. Something's wrong. I can feel it in the air, in the unusual stillness surrounding the normally welcoming bookshop.
