Chapter 52 52
LOIS
It had been a normal day, although a bit gray not knowing anything about Emmanuel.
When Emmanuel walked into the classroom, we all fell silent as he approached the teacher, though every pair of eyes shifted in my direction—something I was slowly getting used to. Whispers rippled, then silence returned as the teacher rose from his chair.
I lowered my gaze. We hadn’t spoken since the other night, when we argued, and now Emmanuel was entering my class first thing in the morning.
“Lois, you have permission. You may leave,” the teacher said.
Emmanuel came to my desk without a word, gathered all my things, took my hand, and I stood, walking out of the classroom with him.
“Permission for what?” I asked once we were outside. “Where are we going?”
“We’re leaving, Lois. Let’s stop by your house so you can grab whatever you need.”
“Wait… what do you mean? I want to know where we’re going.” Everything was strange.
Dexter approached when he saw me leaving the room.
“We’re going on a trip, Dexter,” Emmanuel told him. “Your services won’t be needed anymore. I have the director’s permission. We’ll be back in a few days.”
“Have a good trip. Goodbye, Lois.”
“Thank you, Dexter.” I returned to my conversation with Emmanuel after Dexter left. “Where are we going? What is all this? I still don’t understand.”
“We’re leaving. Far away.”
“Emmanuel, none of this is clear to me.”
“Listen to me, Lois. You should’ve been my priority the moment I learned you were my mate. If my position as future Alpha threatens our relationship, then I don’t want to be Alpha. You come first. And we’re leaving. There’s nothing for us here.”
“Did… did something happen with your parents?” It had to be that, because Emmanuel was making a drastic decision.
“Do you trust me, Lois?”
“With my eyes closed, Emmanuel.” Of course I trusted him.
“Then don’t doubt me, please. Because I’m capable of giving up everything for you—and that’s exactly what I’m going to do now.”
“Give up everything?” My heart began pounding unevenly. I was scared— not terrified, but scared of not being worth it, of not deserving the sacrifice Emmanuel was so clearly willing to make for me. “If this is because of what I said the other night, I would never ask you to do something like that for me, Emmanuel.”
“And even if you don’t ask, if it’s what I have to do, then you don’t need to. You’re my mate, my priority, the most important thing I will ever have. And we’re leaving. We’ll go to a place where you’re accepted and where they don’t judge you only on strength or whatever else they come up with.”
“W-Were they trying to replace me?”
“Don’t think about that now, because it won’t happen. Let’s go to your house and grab a few things.”
“Oh, Emmanuel! Are you sure about this? About running away? We could be punished by our Alphas—you know that, right?”
“Calm down. Let me handle everything. They won’t find us.”
Calm down? We were about to run away because Emmanuel’s parents wanted to replace me, find him another mate, because I apparently wasn’t worthy of him or of the Luna position in his pack. And I… I didn’t want him to abandon everything for me. It wasn’t fair to him or his perfect future. His parents were going to lose their minds, my parents were still there, and the Alpha… my Alpha would kill me. I was sure of it. And if I survived that, Viviana would kill me for running away like this, and finally my parents. Everyone would take a piece of me if they caught us.
And why was I thinking about everyone else except myself?
It was our relationship, our future. What everyone else thought didn’t matter much, because if we left, we’d still be together—and that was what I wanted most. To be by his side. By Ezequiel’s too, but I couldn’t lose Emmanuel either.
We had to leave before they separated us again.
We went to my house and I grabbed a few things—whatever could fit into a backpack. We couldn’t waste time. I put on comfortable clothes and we left, without looking back.
AIDAN
I’d heard them. They were leaving. Where? They didn’t say, or maybe I simply didn’t know.
Lois was leaving.
The necklace burned against my chest while my hands twisted under the desk. I couldn’t let them go.
“Excuse me, I’m going to the bathroom.” I rushed out of the classroom and ran outside. They were already gone—surely heading to Lois’s house so she could grab her things.
What was I supposed to do?
Alert my father?
No, that would make things worse for the two of them. So then? Just watch her leave?
I couldn’t just stand there doing nothing.
I could alert Viviana and let her handle the rest, but if that went wrong, Viviana would expose me to Lois. I was sure of it. And we hadn’t seen each other since I left her in my room that night.
“Damn it! Lois!” Why did she have to make things complicated? She only needed to stay mad at Emmanuel a little longer, and Viviana would’ve kept feeding her doubts. Why did they reconcile so fast? Why were they leaving like this?
I looked up at the sun and wished for nightfall, but by the time night came, Lois would be far from here.
I couldn’t do anything without revealing myself.
I’d have to watch her leave and do nothing.
(…)
EMMANUEL
“Don’t be nervous, I don’t have a single doubt about what I’m doing. Do you want to bring anything else?”
“I’d rather travel light. Don’t you want me to pack something for you? It could fit in my backpack.”
“No need.”
“Are you sure? Underwear, toothbrush?”
“I’m sure.” I placed my hand on her cheek, and Lois closed her eyes. She was scared. So was I. But I had always been meant to do what was right—for the both of us, maybe for the three of us. I knew I couldn’t leave the pack without a future Alpha, but Ezequiel was there. He could take the position when needed; no one would notice the difference. My life with Lois needed to move forward, and just knowing they had been searching for another mate for me filled me with rage.
I kissed her lips and we left the house without looking back.
First, we had to take a train—one that would take us toward the border route with the humans. But to do that, we had to cross the boundaries of my pack.
I knew a place where they wouldn’t look for us.