When the meeting was almost over, I stepped out and went to the garden. It was almost secluded and filled with roses. I sat on a bench close to the council hall and plucked the pink rose, big and fully bloomed.
“Escaping the noise, too?”
I was startled and looked up to see a man looking at me amused. He was tall with ocean-blue eyes; he had the energy that pulled me like gravity and that scent of forest and breeze that felt intoxicating. My wolf screamed, "Mate! Mate!" But I was not ready to get fooled with this mate bond once again. I ignored it.
I had seen him before, and then it hit me—it was Alpha Elias of the Red Crest Pack.
"Ah, yes... council meetings can be overwhelming," I replied.
Alpha Elias sat on the bench across from me and said, "Or, maybe it was something more. You seemed distant."
I was caught off guard, but something made me feel at ease. I felt I could share anything with him without judgment, and I would feel safe.
“Sometimes, we go where we think we can hide.”
He raised a brow.
“And yet, here you are, sitting in plain sight.”
“Lysa?”
I stiffened when I heard that familiar voice. I turned to see Alpha Kade with Mia hovering beside him.