Page 9 of Broken Forced Mate
After she leaves, Sera and I sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes. The evening shadows creep across the room as students return from dinner in the common hall below. Voices drift up through the windows, laughter and conversation that speak to a normal college experience I’ve never quite managed to have.
Finally, she speaks up. “Want to tell me what’s really bothering you about going home?”
“I told you. It’s been three years. Things will be different.”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”
I meet her gaze and see the understanding there. Sera knows about Wyn, about the real reason I applied to the Llewelyn program so desperately after my twentieth birthday.
“He’ll be there,” I say quietly.
“And that scares you because?”
“Because I don’t know how I’ll react when I see him again. I’m afraid three years wasn’t enough time to get over him, and I’m engaged to a good man who deserves better than someone who’s still hung up on her first heartbreak.”
Sera nods. “Have you considered that maybe you need this trip to finally put that chapter behind you? Face him, realize he’s just a man who made a choice, and move on?”
“What if I can’t move on?”
“Then you’ll figure out what that means for your engagement to Bastian. But you can’t keep running forever, Rae. Eventually, you have to deal with the things that hurt you.”
The truth in her words makes my chest ache. I’ve spent three years building walls around the memory of that night, convincing myself that distance would eventually dull the pain. But sitting here with another man’s ring on my finger, preparing to return to the place where it all started, I realize those walls might not be as strong as I thought.
The Llewelyn territory has been good to me. The university challenged me intellectually in ways I never expected. The matriarchal structure showed me possibilities I never imagined growing up in the male-dominated Grayhide pack. I’ve made friends, excelled in my studies, even found someone who wants to marry me.
But none of it feels quite real. Like I’ve been playing a role, pretending to be someone who moved on from her past instead of someone who’s been hiding from it.
But who am I, really? The confident diplomat-in-training that everyone here sees? The heartbroken girl who left Grayhide three years ago? The alpha’s sister, who’s supposed to make a politically advantageous match?
"There's something else, too," I admit reluctantly. "I've been having this weird feeling about going home. Not quite anxiety, but something…off. I can't explain it."
"Like a premonition?" Sera asks.
"I don't know. Maybe? I've never had actual visions like Ash or the other psychics in the family. Just these vague impressions sometimes that something isn't right. But they're so unclear I never know what to do with them."
"Your omega abilities might be trying to tell you something," she suggests.
I shake my head. "It's probably nothing. Just nerves about the trip and seeing Wyn again."
Sera doesn't look convinced, but she lets it drop and heads for the door, then pauses. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. Whatever happens when you see him again, you’ll handle it. I’ll see you in the morning.”
After she leaves, I sit on the edge of my bed and stare at the engagement ring. Bastian took one of my rings from my jewelry box and had it sized before he proposed because he was so confident that I would say yes.
Maybe that confidence was justified. Maybe I am the kind of person who says yes to the safe choice, the practical option, the man who offers stability instead of passion.
But tomorrow I’ll find out if three years away is enough to withstand the storm of going home.
Chapter 3 - Wyn
The intelligence briefing has been going on for two hours, and we’re no closer to understanding what the Thornridge pack really wants.
I stand against the wall in Oren’s office, watching the assembled pack leadership debate our next moves. The conference table is crowded with familiar faces, people who’ve fought alongside us through the worst times and helped rebuild our territories into something worth protecting.
Oren is at his place at the head of the table, looking worse for wear. The past few years as an alpha leader have aged him, adding lines around his eyes that weren’t there when we were kids. But he’s grown into the role in ways his father never could. The contrast between father and son couldn’t be more pronounced. Where Jerrod ruled through fear and intimidation, Oren leads through earned respect and careful decision-making.
“Eight confirmed Thornridge scouts,” I report for the third time today. “All carrying professional-grade surveillance equipment. They’re not here for tourism.”
“Could be advance reconnaissance for a larger force,” suggests Reeyan, the pack historian. “Historical precedent shows this pattern before territory takeovers. The Ravenclaw invasion of 1847 followed identical reconnaissance methods.”
