after that. Really, though, what else could she do?
Knowing that she would never be able to come back here no matter what happened, Taryn packed a large dufflebag complete with clothes, passport and a few sentimental objects with the plan that she could stash it in her car ready for Friday night. Unlike the other wolves, she always drove to the club as she was constantly on call in case someone from her pack needed healing.
She didn’t have a lot of stuff, so it wasn’t hard to sift through it and only take the things she really liked or wanted. Her dad had forbid her from getting an actual job that paid wages, wanting her here at all times due to being the pack healer. The only times she ever had money to buy herself things were when he gave her some, which wasn’t often. One thing she had learnt from her mom was the importance of saving money, so at least she had some to take with her.
The problem was getting the dufflebag to the car without her constant companion seeing. She figured that her best chance of making Perry a little distracted was if she seemed the most boring person imaginable. Of course that wouldn’t be enough because she was considered a flight risk. She ensured that she appeared to be angry, but drained of the will to fight, hoping to pass as someone resigned to her fate. So that was what she did.
After another two days Perry became less vigilant and she found a moment to stash the dufflebag in the trunk. Then she busied herself concentrating on what she would do if Trey didn’t appear at the club. She knew she was going to her uncle, but what she hadn’t mastered was just how she would do that while being watched so closely.
She figured that her best option would be to disappear in a crowd of people. If she could slip away from the club while her dad’s enforcers were still inside the club, she might have a chance at getting away. She had to have a chance. She couldn’t mate with that sicko.
Finally Friday morning came. It had felt more like two weeks than four days. She had remembered what Trey had said about not doing anything out of the norm, but there was one thing she had to do before she left. Her usual visit to Joey’s and her mom’s graves were every other Sunday, but Perry didn’t seem suspicious. Surprised, but not suspicious. Although there was a chance this might seem suspicious to him later, it wasn’t something she could leave without doing.
She went to her mom’s grave first and, as usual, spent a few minutes tidying it up by replacing the decaying flowers with a fresh bunch. Silently she apologised to her for this being the last time she would ever be able to visit and for not being able to have the kind of loving relationship with her dad that she would have wanted.
Her eyes filled as she gave Joey’s grave the same treatment as her mom’s. She then sat in front of it as she silently spoke to him.
Hey Joe. I don’t know how much you guys up there know about what goes on down here, but there’s been some really weird crap going on. Remember I told you last time about that weird-ass alpha my dad is trying to force me to mate with? Well, it turns out he’s also a very sick son of a bitch and my dad doesn’t even give a shit.
There’s this other alpha who’s offered me a deal that would get me out of this, but it means I’d have to mate with him. It wouldn’t be a real mating, because all he wants is an alliance with my dad and it will only be temporary. The thing is…I need to make everyone believe that he’s my true mate, which means I’m going to be telling them that you never were. And I’m so sorry for this, so fucking sorry, but I can’t see any other way out.
People say I must wish I’d never found you if it meant you were going to die before we even had a chance to have the mating bond, but I don’t wish that, you know. Never have. We might not have mated, but we did have a bond.
I’m so sorry,
Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins