Page 13 of The Alpha's Runaway Mate
The bond hums between us, steady and warm, a heartbeat shared. I force myself to step back, even though it feels like tearing something out of my chest.
But she doesn’t move away. Instead, she lets her fingers graze my chest, light, tentative. The bond flares bright, sharp as a spark catching flame.
Her eyes widen. “That’s what this is?”
“Yeah,” I whisper. “That’s it.” Every breath tastes like heat and want, and when I kiss her again, it’s deeper, hungrier, everything I’ve been holding back poured into that single, consuming moment.
SEVEN
JESSICA
The walkback to my tent is quiet, except for the buzz under my skin and the sound of my heartbeat in my ears. Everything about Nolan feels too big beside me, his size, his presence, the heat radiating off him even through his shirt. The bond thrums low and steady, pulling at me with every step, making it hard to breathe.
When the trees open up and my campsite comes into view, shame rushes in. The tent looks even smaller now, a sad splash of fabric under the pines. My truck’s parked nearby, but it’s just another sign of how temporary everything is. How fragile.
Nolan stops walking. He’s staring at the tent, his jaw tight. “This is it?” he says finally. His voice is low, but there’s a weight in it that wasn’t there before.
I force a shrug. “It works for now.”
“No,” he says flatly. “It doesn’t.”
I glance up at him. “I’ve been fine.”
He turns his gaze on me, sharp enough to cut. “Jessica, this isn’t about fine. You can’t be living out of a tent. Not here.”
Something in his tone makes me go still. “Why?”
His eyes flick to the woods, scanning the shadows like he’s expecting them to move. “Because I know what hides in these trees,” he says quietly. “Things that wouldn’t think twice about tearing through canvas to get to what’s inside. Supes who don’t care about rules. Creatures that don’t care about anything at all.”
A shiver runs down my spine. “Creatures?”
He looks back at me, his voice a low rumble. “This town isn’t what it looks like. You’ve already seen one part of it, me. But there’s more. A lot more. And they wouldn’t hesitate to take a swipe at someone like you if they smelled weakness.”
My arms fold over my chest, not for warmth but to hold myself together. “I’ve been here for a week and nothing’s happened.”
His expression hardens. “Yet.”
I swallow, suddenly unable to look at him. “I didn’t exactly have a lot of options.”
Nolan steps closer, not crowding but close enough that the heat of him reaches me. “Tell me why. I’m not saying this to scare you. I’m saying it because I can feel you’re keeping something from me and I need to know so I can protect you.”
“I hear you,” I say, swallowing hard. “You want why so you can protect me? Fine. I’m not camping for fun. I’m hiding. Someone’s been tracking me, and I keep moving so he can’t catch up.”
He doesn’t move, just waits.
The silence stretches until I can’t stand it. The truth comes out in a rush, brittle and sharp. “I’m on the run,” I whisper. “I have been for months. Trust me, I don’t particularly like living like this.”
Nolan’s jaw flexes, his nostrils flaring, but he doesn’t interrupt.
“I’ve been hiding,” I continue, my voice cracking. “Moving from place to place. This was just the latest stop.”
For a heartbeat, he says nothing. The woods around us are quiet except for the sound of my ragged breathing. Then he speaks, voice low and steady but edged with steel. “You don’t have to keep running.”
I blink up at him, tears slipping free despite my best effort. “You don’t know what you’re saying. You don’t know what kind of trouble that brings.”
His eyes blaze brighter, that inhuman blue shimmering just beneath the surface. “I know exactly what I’m saying. You’re my mate. And in this town, that means your safety is mine to guard.”
The wordmatevibrates through me like a live wire. My instincts want to lean into him, to let him take all of it from me, but the part of me that’s kept me alive this long knows better.
