Page 10 of Broken Bonds

“How about you start hunting for venues? I’ll put together ideas for food and cake, and we can finalize that next week. We don’t need to worry about flowers if it’s outside, right?”

“Exactly.” She hesitates. “I’m sorry, Mal,” she softly says. “How about I try to find a venue that can’t get us in for a couple of months? If I pretend it’s somewhere I have my heart set on, it buys us a few more weeks. Right?”

I reeeally hate myself for this. “That’s genius,” I say. “Tell your parents we talked about this today. They’ll believe you, right?”

“Yeah.” She sniffles. “They’ll want us to have a baby.”

“I know. But with Brynnella due soon, and Carleen actively trying, maybe we can duck that and enlist Mom and your parents to defer it until you graduate. If we pretend we’re doing what he wants, and if he’s elected, he’ll be too busy to pay any attention to us, right? I’ll even start letting him give me money. He’ll think we’re completely in his pocket.”

“We are,” she grumbles.

“I’m sorry. This is my fault for getting sloppy and getting caught.” I do mean that.

“No, I don’t blame you,” she says, which makes me feel worse. “I really thought we could pull it off. I should’ve accepted it was a deal with the devil when I agreed. Dad said he’d made excuses when your father asked him before, but he didn’t know about the deal with the college tuition. I know there are at least three other girls in the pack who would jump at the chance to marry into your family.”

That last part surprises me, because I damned sure never had girls fawning over me when I was a teenager. Not even at pack events.

“All right. At least this is a plan of action. I’ll call you when I get back.”

“Okay. Have fun.”

“Yeah.”

Again, I hate that Lana’s been enmeshed in my father’s web more than she already was simply by being born into our pack.

But I don’t want to die, and it’ll only be a matter of time before I draw my father’s attention and he tries to snap the trap around all four of my legs instead of just one. I refuse to spend my life miserable. It’s worth it to run rather than be forced into working for him—which I know is the next step after getting married—and then being forced to have pups I don’t want.

I damned sure don’t want to bring more innocent children into the world to be crushed under his paw.

I blink away the memories and focus on my walk. On my return to the hotel, I swing through a convenience store and buy snacks that’ll pack and ride well. I’m planning to head out hours before dawn and want to take a nap first.

Because once I’m out in the open and running again, I know sleep will be a precious commodity very hard to come by at first.

Chapter Six

Mal

Wayward One

As I pack my things I realize I forgot May-May in my closet. This time, I won’t get to see her again. Regret fills me, but with my life on the line, I’m realistic.

I shove away the prickle of tears threatening to break through and head out. By my nose the bored woman manning the hotel’s front desk is a chain-smoking human with a love of cheap beer and even cheaper perfume. She wasn’t on duty when I checked in the other night. When I check out I have my bike and backpack with me in the lobby. The only reason I bother to check out is just in case I need the extra witness to point pursuers in the wrong direction.

I stayed there four days, paying day-to-day in cash. I weighed running farther, faster, but I needed information before blindly running. I needed a destination. Likely not my final one, but I have limited funds and limited transportation.

Plus, I wanted to see if there were any reports on the news about me. If Dad believes Mom and Lana, no one will start looking for me until tonight, maybe tomorrow, and they’ll start at the wildlife reserve. They won’t expect me to head this way. The woods out there are thick and wild, and I doubled back on myself several times, plus using the bike, meaning it’ll slow anyone tracking me.

My father is important but he will want to run down leads himself before involving the police. He’s got pull, but he’ll have to wait the standard 48 hours to report me missing without proof there’s foul play. If he tries calling in favors that might bring attention he doesn’t want to his private affairs.

And that’s something I’ll use in my favor.

While she’s checking me out I throw in a soft drawl, pitching my voice down. “Meeting my brother. We’re heading over to the Talladega National Forest. He’s driving up from Macon. Going to spend a week there trail riding and camping.”

She nods but I can tell she’s not really listening, just wants me gone so she can go back to playing video slots on her phone. “Have fun.”

Five minutes later, I’m on my way. It’s still cool and there’s not much traffic, so I make good time. The touring bike has paid for itself many times over, and this journey is no exception. I have a rack on the back to carry my backpack so I don’t have to wear it all the time, and the gel seat’s comfortable enough to ride for long hours.

Which is good because I’ll be on it for at least the next several days. Thanks to being a wolf shifter, and spending the past couple of years using this bike, fifty miles in a day is a doable objective if the weather and road conditions hold in my favor.