Page 19 of The Alpha’s Runaway Mate (Evermore Hollow #1)

FIFTEEN

NOLAN

The first week feels almost normal. Jessica’s been here, sleeping in my bed, our bed, cooking breakfast and dinner, moving through the house like she’s always belonged. For the first time in years, the cabin doesn’t echo when I walk in.

But she’s starting to get restless. She’s not built for stillness, she needs movement, something to do with her hands, her mind, that relentless energy that keeps her sharp.

“I don’t see why I can’t go back to work,” she says, standing at the counter, arms crossed, chin lifted.

I set my coffee down, already bracing. “Because it’s not safe.”

She laughs once, no humor in it. “You’ve said that every day for a week. Safe from what, Nolan? The same drunk who tips too much?”

“From what’s moving out there,” I say evenly. “You think I’d keep you here if I didn’t have a reason?”

Her jaw tightens. “You don’t get it. I can’t just sit here doing nothing. I’m not used to, ” she waves a hand around the cabin “being kept.”

I push off the counter, closing the distance. “You’re not being kept. You’re being protected.”

Her voice catches. “It feels like the same thing.”

The sound of it scrapes right down to the bone. I exhale, trying to keep my temper on a leash. “You don’t have to work right now. I’ll happily take care of you. Hell, you never have to work again.”

Her expression hardens. “That’s what Ethan used to say.”

The name hits like a punch to the ribs. “Jess, that’s not what this is.”

But she’s already reaching for her keys.

“You’re not leaving,” I say, voice low.

Her hand stills on the doorknob. “Watch me.”

Something in me snaps. My bear surges forward and my Alpha power rides my words before I can stop it. “Jessica. Stay.”

The air hums with command. The kind of tone that makes grown men drop to their knees. But she doesn’t even flinch. She turns, calm and blazing, eyes sharp as flint. “Try that on someone else,” she says coldly. “Doesn’t work on me.”

“Goddammit, Jess.” I slam my hand down on the counter. “You walk out that door without protection, you’re asking for trouble.”

She spins to face me, chin up. “You mean trouble like the literal monsters that crawl out of Snarl after midnight? Or the ones lurking in Evermore Holler?” Her eyes narrow. “Because newsflash, I’ve been living with those nightmares around me since before I met you. I know what’s out there.”

“I don’t think you do,” I snap. “You might’ve seen them from a distance, but you haven’t seen what happens when they decide to feed. You’re human, Jess.”

That does it. Her head jerks back like I slapped her. “Wow,” she says flatly. “There it is. You finally said it.”

“Don’t twist my words.” I growl.

“You think being human makes me weak,” she cuts in, voice sharp enough to bleed. “You think I can’t handle myself because I don’t sprout claws or growl when I’m pissed. You’re just like the rest of them.”

“I’m nothing like them.”

“Then stop acting like it!” she fires back. “Stop trying to decide what’s safe for me, or where I can go, or who I can be around. I’ve been surviving monsters long before you, Nolan. You don’t get to cage me and call it love.”

She yanks the door open, the screen banging hard against the wall.

“Jess…” I take a step forward, but she’s already gone.

The sound of her truck door slamming is a full-body blow. My bear rages inside me, pacing, ready to tear through the forest after her. But I force myself still. If I chase her now, I’ll just prove her right.

Still, the idea of her out there alone makes my pulse pound.

I pull my phone from my pocket and open the app I swore I’d never need.

The little blue dot glows steady, heading down the main road.

At least she’s still got her phone and I can track her that way.

It’s a line I shouldn’t have crossed, but it’s the only thing keeping me from losing my mind.

She’ll never know. If she did, she’d probably pack her things and disappear for good.

Let her breathe, I tell myself. She’ll come back.

The rain outside thickens, thunder rolling over the ridge. Fuck that’s all I need right now, her driving around in that piece of shit truck in the middle of a rainstorm. Trouble on top of trouble. About fifteen minutes later I hear another engine. The rumble grows until it’s right outside.

Kolt and Xander stroll in without knocking, tracking mud across the floor like always. Xander whistles, looking around. “What’d you do, scare her off already?”

“Not now,” I growl.

Kolt smirks. “Rough morning?”

“You could say that.”

Xander pops the top off a beer from my fridge like he owns the place. “You only sound that pissed when someone’s bleeding.”

“Why are you here?” I cut him off before my patience snaps.

Kolt’s grin drops. “We’ve got news.”

My chest goes tight. “What kind of news?”

“Declan.”

The name freezes everything in me. “What about him?”

Xander glances at Kolt, then back to me. “He showed up at my place early this morning.”

I straighten, heart pounding. “Alive?”

“Yeah,” Xander says. “Barely. Looked like hell. Filthy, bleeding, shaking like he’d gone a few rounds with a freight train.”

“Where is he?”

“In my guest room. Cleaned up, ate, crashed hard. Out cold.”

I curse under my breath. “Did he say anything?”

“Not much,” Xander admits. “Kept repeating that he didn’t mean to cross the boundary, that he ‘couldn’t stop it.’ Whatever that means.”

Kolt folds his arms. “His scent’s wrong. It’s him, but there’s something else clinging to it. Same magic from the ridge. Faint, but there.”

My gut twists. “Son of a bitch.”

“He’s calm now,” Xander adds. “But I don’t think he’s himself. You need to come see him before he wakes up swinging.”

I drag a hand over my face, trying to think through the mess. Declan, alive, corrupted, back on our doorstep.

But Jessica’s still out there.

I glance toward the door, jaw tight. My bear growls low, restless. Half of me wants to run straight to Xander’s. The other half wants to track that blue dot until I find her.

“She took off,” I mutter. “We argued. She’s pissed.”

Kolt studies me. “She’ll be fine. She’s smart. You’ve got pack business now.”

“I don’t like not knowing where she is.”

Xander nods. “I get it. But Declan’s a time bomb. We need you there before he wakes up and forgets which side he’s on.”

They’re right. I know they’re right. Doesn’t make it any easier.

I grab my jacket from the chair. “Keep a link on the perimeter. If anything comes near this place, I want to know.”

Kolt nods. “Got it.”

I pause at the door, caught between Alpha and mate, duty and instinct. “I’ll deal with Declan,” I say finally. “Then I’ll find her.”

Kolt gives a short nod. “Then let’s move.”

Xander grabs his keys and jerks his chin toward the door. “My truck’s out front. I’ll drive.”

We head out together into the rain, the cold air slapping against my skin. The storm’s coming down hard now, the kind that feels personal, sharp, relentless, full of warning.

Kolt climbs into the passenger seat while I take the back. The truck growls to life, headlights cutting through the sheets of rain as Xander pulls onto the slick mountain road.

For a while, no one says a word. The wipers drag back and forth, the steady rhythm doing nothing to quiet the chaos in my head.

“Your head’s not here,” Kolt says finally, glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

“She’s out there alone,” I answer. My voice comes out rougher than I mean it to.

“She can handle herself,” Xander says, eyes on the road.

“Maybe,” I mutter. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

While they argue over potholes and visibility, I send the thought out across the bond, clean, focused, carrying authority that leaves no room for argument.

Grayson. Ezra. Mason.

Jessica left the cabin. Keep eyes on the perimeter and watch for her truck. If anything feels off, link me immediately.

The response ripples back through the connection almost instantly.

Got it, Alpha, Mason replies, his voice low and steady.

We’ve got her, Grayson adds.

Ezra’s tone carries a note of humor under the tension. You sure you don’t want me to drag her back?

Just keep her safe, I send back. No contact unless you have to.

The link fades, leaving behind the faint hum of reassurance. She’s being watched, even if she doesn’t know it.

Xander clears his throat from the front seat. “You good?”

“Define good.”

He gives a quiet grunt. “Thought so.”

The rain gets heavier as we wind deeper into the woods. Every few seconds, lightning flashes across the sky, turning the world stark and silver before plunging it back into black.

Kolt mutters, “Feels like everything’s coming to a head.”

“It is,” I say quietly. “And it’s about to break.”

Xander turns down a narrow gravel drive, tires crunching over wet stone as his cabin comes into view. Wards shimmer faintly along the eaves, pulsing like they’re aware of our presence.

We park, climb out, and the moment my boots hit the ground, my bear goes rigid. The air here is wrong, charged with something twisted and ancient.

“Smell that?” I ask.

Kolt nods, jaw tight. “Yeah. Magic. Not the good kind.”

Xander’s already got his gun drawn. “He’s inside. Let’s move.”

We climb the steps together, rain dripping from our jackets, thunder rolling low in the distance.

Jessica’s scent still lingers faintly on my skin, distracting, grounding, infuriating all at once. I shove the thought down, focusing on what’s ahead.

Declan’s back. Something’s off about him. And whatever he brought with him, it’s not done with us yet.