Chasing Freedom

X

Mira stewed over the phone in her palm, cross-legged on the bed. She was still largely unfamiliar with it, given the only phone she'd ever used was her father's—untraceable—satellite one.

That wasn't the problem.

The problem was the contact she kept clicking, before backing out. And then repeating that.

Myles.

In a few short days, that seemed like a lifetime, he'd become an odd contact in her life. Despite herself, she missed his presence now that he was gone. Even though it has only been one night. She was obsessing, big time. Her attraction to him was a problem. A big, dangerous one, when he certainly didn't feel the same way. How could he? She'd arrived after traipsing a forest for two weeks. That was the worst first impression you could have. Now, clean, she wasn't much better, if she was honest with herself. She was too thin, her ribs protruding. Her body was still dotted with bruises that were slow to fade. She had scars across her arms from various things.

Beyond that, she was average.

He was... not. He was perfect. He could have any shifter within the pack. She was sure he did.

Why she felt so aware of her appearance bothered her. In the past, with the half-dozen partners she'd had, it had never mattered. Her attraction level in return, hadn't either. Neither of them were looking for a long term relationship. Companionship was the goal. Sometimes, a night. Sometimes, a few days. There was only one condition she refused to budge on: using protection. Humans were safe enough if she met them in the right environment, but she was immune from infection as shifters were. Nor pregnancy, with her cursed lineage. Beyond that, Mira didn't ask questions. She didn't press for details about their past, nor their future—because she had no role in it. In return, they gave her the same privacy.

Myles was off limits to her, for one simple reason: what he was, and what she wasn't. Never had she slept with a shifter. Never could she. In intimacy, there was nowhere to hide her secret. Even if she bathed in perfume to hide her scent, it wouldn't hold forever. Maybe with enough alcohol in his system...

She let out a long sigh.

Inebriate your partner to trick them into sex, thought Mira, disgusted in her for even entertaining the idea. Hindering someone's ability to consent wasn't okay—even if it was done for their own good.

Even if she did stand a chance, Myles didn't deserve to be conned into a lie like that. The repercussions for him were dire. He had acceptance and influence in a pack. He lived a comfortable life. To be the reason he lost all that would haunt her conscious.

She was used to being punished for simply existing, a reality she'd accepted. No one deserved to join her in that exile.

Look how it had ended for her mother.

Fast forward decades later, and her father had been hunted and culled.

Mira wouldn't text him, she decided, tossing the phone away from her. She'd ignore Vara all the same, because the less collateral she collected for when the inevitable happened, the better. Vara didn't deserved to get dragged down with her, either. Yesterday, she'd been living in an extension of Myles' world. Today, she had to get back to her own reality.

*

When she came out of her room, hours later, she found Kiva pacing the open-plan entertaining area. She was talking on the phone, an edge to her tone that had Mira freezing in the doorway. Tugging at the sleeves of her oversized sweater, her gut reaction was to run back to her room. She fought that, listening instead, wondering who was on the other end.