The Great Escape Series

MILO

I sat at my desk and stared at the computer screen, not really seeing anything, while my mind raged with what Rafa had revealed about Ira.

“I think that she was abused back home.” The horrible words kept popping up in my thoughts, and every time I imagined her being beaten or worse, an immense anger rose inside of me, leaving me breathless and shaken up.

Igor was snarling and pacing at the back of my mind, fighting to come out to the surface and hunt down every single one of those that had dared to hurt his mate. And I hated to admit that I was thinking along the same lines.

I felt an intense urge to protect her. I wanted to hug her and tell her that everything was going to be all right and that no one was ever going to hurt her again if what Rafa had said was true.

That only made me angrier because I felt like I was betraying the memory of my real mate; the internal conflict was tearing me apart.

I jumped to my feet and started pacing around the room, frustrated with myself. The image of Ira and the scar marring her face flashed in front of my eyes and I growled, “Damn it!”

I slammed my fist into the wall, making a big dent in it and bloodying my knuckles.

“Milo?” I heard Lucas calling from the doorway. Once he saw the state that I was in, he quickly shut the door behind him.

“Are you okay?” he asked, looking at me with worried eyes. I just nodded and sat on the couch with my head in my hands.

“Are you ready to tell me what is bothering you?”

I shook my head and heard him sigh.

“Well, you have been acting strange since Ira came here, so I am going to guess it has something to do with her,” he said, and I stilled, silence engulfing us.

“I know that you don’t trust the kid, considering her origin, and maybe neither of us should; only time will tell. But I can’t make myself not be grateful to her. She saved my little brother, Milo, and she didn’t have to.”

I looked at my best friend and sighed. I could see that he was fighting between his allegiance to the pack and his gratitude toward the Huntress, and that it was killing him.

“Don’t worry, Lucas. I understand, and I am not angry at you. I will have to get used to having someone like her here.

“The only thing she has to do is stay away from me, and I’ll manage,” I said, all the way praying to the Goddess for strength because the problem was not the kid staying away from me; it was me staying away from her.

***

After Lucas had left, I managed to finish some work even though it was taking me longer than usual.

Igor wasn’t exactly helping the matter either, since he was, yet again, sulking about being kept away from his mate. I ignored him for the most part, but it was hard work.

I could hear people from the pack laughing and enjoying themselves in the yard and ignored them. But then the smell of homemade food drifted through the open window, and my stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten all day.

So I stood and went outside even though I didn’t want to. As soon as I stepped through the front door, they all stopped talking and stared at me, making my already foul mood even sourer.

Ignoring them, I sat at the table, next to Lucas, and started eating. As I watched them having fun, I couldn’t help but wish that I was a part of it. But in the last few years, I had managed to completely isolate myself from them.

And now that I missed being a part of the group, I didn’t know how to go about it. It was as if I had forgotten how to speak to others without making them scared.

I searched through the crowd for Ira, and when I couldn’t find her among others, I frowned, curious to know where the little beauty was.

I felt someone’s stare on the side of my head and instantly knew it was her by the feeling of warmth that spread through me. So I slowly turned around and saw her sitting alone under the old oak tree.

As soon as she saw me looking, she averted her eyes, with a blush staining her cheeks. I felt my breath escape me as I marveled at how beautiful she looked in that moment. Right then, I made myself look away.

As the rest of the evening went by, I could occasionally feel her eyes on me, which I pretended not to notice even though my whole body felt like it was on fire.

I was sitting at the bench behind some bushes, hidden from view, when I heard her voice. It made me instantly alert.

“I like being here and I like them. Everyone has been so nice to me today, and I have to admit, it came as a surprise,” she said quietly, and I could hear a small smile in her voice.

“Surprise?” someone asked, and I realized it was Rafa.

“Well, no offense, but I was raised listening to horror stories about your kind, so I kind of expected to be treated badly, especially because of my family history,” she explained softly, and I heard Rafa humming understandingly.

“Can I ask you something?” Ira asked, and someone must have nodded, because I heard her take in a deep breath before continuing.

“What is everyone’s deal with Mr. Alpha?” she finally asked, surprising me.

“What do you mean?” Rafa responded, sounding as confused as I was.

“Well, they all mostly ignore him. At first, I thought that they were afraid of him, which I could understand since the man is Herculean,” she explained, and I barely managed not to snort.

“But it’s not that. It’s more like they don’t want to talk to him, like they are ignoring him. And it’s just confusing since I thought that him being the alpha would make him Mr. Popular.”

I waited to hear what Rafa was going to say after Ira had finished talking, praying that the boy was going to keep his mouth shut.

“Oh…well, it’s a long story and not mine to tell really. But what I can say is that the alpha doesn’t like people very much and usually keeps to himself. The others don’t want to anger him, so they ignore him.”

They remained silent for some time after that, and I thought the conversation was over. I was thinking about going back to the house when I heard Ira start to talk again.

“I don’t think that is true.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think that he hates being treated that way and that he wants to be a part of the group but he doesn’t know how.

“I saw the look in his eyes when he watched everyone having fun while he sat all alone. He looked so sad, and I don’t know why, but it made me sad.”

I sat there frozen on the bench, my whole body in shock. Albeit being whispered, I’d heard the last sentence, and I didn’t know how to react.

I wanted to jump out there and shout at her for daring to speak about me as if she knew me, but I couldn’t. Because as much as I hated to admit, the kid was right.

She was right about everything, and it shook me to the core because she saw right through me after barely knowing me for even a day.

I wondered what would happen after a couple of days or weeks. Would she look at me and know what she was to me? The thought terrified me. In that moment, I knew I was screwed.