“If we act like prey, they’ll act like predators.” – Alyxandra Harvey


    For the remainder of the two-hour drive to the airport, I was on edge. Benito knew my name ~ he knew who I was. Did that mean that


    I’d been caught? Did Griffin know I’d left? Was he on his way to stop me? \*)


    ‘The car waspletely silent but it felt like the driver was going to pull over any minute now and tell me the ruse was up, that


    Griffin was on his way to drag me back. Or even worse, that Griffin would be waiting at the airport for me and ready to stop me from


    getting on that ne. (“)


    Although I felt like a bundle of frazzled nerves, Alessia spent most of the drive napping. Since we had gotten into the car, her anxiety


    seemed to disappear ~ she clearly thought our escape attempt wasCcontent ? exclusive by N?/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    a sess.


    Thad two options. I could wake her up and tell her that something was wrong, that Benito shouldn’t have known my name. Of course,


    we weren’t really alone. The driver was only a few feet away from us and he’d definitely hear the entire thing. If Griffin wasn’t


    already alerted to my disappearance, he probably would be. Any chance we


    might still have at an escape would be ruined. |)


    The second option was that I could remain silent and hope Griffin wasn’t waiting at the airport, ready to pull the rug out from under


    me. And if he was, I’d deal with it then.


    I decided to go with option two.


    It’s going to be okay. You might still be able to get away. You don’t know for sure that you’ve been caught, I told myself. While it did


    little to actually help my anxiety, I still repeated that to myself the entire rest of the ride. *


    “alright, passengers. You’ll find your oxygen masks located in the overhead bin. Should the cabin lose pressure, oxygen masks will


    drop down. Please ce the mask over your own mouth and nose before helping others.” The flight attendant’s voice was monotone


    and tired as shezily demonstrated how to use the oxygen mask. It was clear that she gave this same speech several times a day.


    “Now, I’ll being around to make sure you’ve gotten your seatbelts fastened,” she said, “We’ll be wheels up and on our way to


    LAX in less than ten minutes.”


    I breathed a sigh of relief. Alessia and I had made it to the airport. Not even just the airport — we had already boarded the ne.


    When we had arrived at the terminal, we had two tickets waiting for us — one for her and one addressed to rk Bellevue. Given


    that Benito had addressed me by name, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that he had put the ticket in my name either.


    That still made me uneasy, but there had been no sign of Griffin or any of the castle guards at the airport. I had kept my eyes peeled


    the entire time. Alessia had berated me for being too paranoid, but I could tell she was on her guard too.


    “Something isn’t right,” Alessia suddenly muttered beside me. We were already in our seats, seatbelts fastened. I watched her eyes


    narrow as she scoped out the rest of the passengers. (7


    Up to this point, she hadn’t made a singlement about our escape so I was surprised to hear her speak up.


    “That ticket,” she said, gesturing to the paper in my hand, “It’s addressed to you. Your full name.”


    Benito used my name


    rk. He kne


    dn’t even catch that. Something is definitel


    npletely sure we’d seed


    h of guards or Griffin to show up out of thin air and drag me back.


    leave? Wouldn’t he


    fully. “Definitely. Le


    ike signing his own dea


    ess w


    l like she was trying to decide if s


    mind link just before he let us go. I thought he was letting someo


    fact that you


    s ze over too, but I hadn’t considere


    inking Griffin. Why wouldn’t he stop me?


    unlikely he would change his mind so quickly, but then again, it’s not like I knew him very well. We had literally only spent one day


    to


    the mate bond, but maybe he assu


    s the case, he


    I wanted to believe it but the exnation felt empty. As little as I knew Griffin, he did


    to soothe the guilt. I knew I was leaving Griffin high and dry – I could only hope he’d understand my reasoni


    recements


    urning to me, “But I don’t think y


    ou asked why Griffin would let y


    inking him,


    odd


    ing you a headsta


    eadst


    t it, rk,” she said, “How would you rathe


    *) “Personally, I’m not


    urselves. And Griffin is an Alpha wolf like me. He’s a predator. Huntin