I turned and walked off, glancing back just one time to see him staring after me, his face creased in suspicion. Seriously, that had been some of the weirdest shit ever, but I already had too much to deal with to worry about it any longer.

“Mera!”

The shout stopped me before I made it into the trees, and I gritted my teeth, unable to keep up a fake smile any longer. Turning, I waited for Jaxson to interrupt me for the second time that day.

“Did I just see you talking to Alpha Dai?” he asked as he hurried up.

My eyes flicked around him to where the other man had been. “Alpha Dai?”

Jaxson nodded. “Yeah, he’s from the Tokyo pack, visiting America with some of his members. I just thought it odd because he doesn’t speak English, and I know you failed out of Japanese in school.”

My eyes narrowed on him as I sorted through my confusion. “He spoke perfect English. If this is a joke between the two of you, it’s a really fucking bad one.”

Jaxson didn’t smile or laugh, and I could have sworn he was as confused as I was. “No joke, Meers. He requires a translator whenever he comes to these things.”

He pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons before the alpha dossier appeared on the screen. Scrolling through the many packs and various details about their members, he finally stopped at the International contingent. Sure enough, right there in black and white was Alpha Dai, requires full translator.

“Uh…” I mean, what was I supposed to say to that? “Maybe it wasn’t him. I mean, there’s no other reasonable explanation, right? Except if I secretly learned Japanese in the two months of memory loss time, all the while keeping it exceptionally well-hidden from everyone who knows me.”

I was being sarcastic, but Jaxson didn’t even crack a smile. Lifting his phone, he pressed a few buttons before I heard it start to ring. A familiar voice answered in a gruff “What?” on the other end.

“Something is up with Mera,” Jaxson told Torin. “Get outside and bring Alpha Dai with you.”

After he hung up, I resisted the urge to run before my moron of a mate showed up here. It was only the small part of me curious to see if this was all a misunderstanding or not that had me staying put.

Jaxson and I existed in an awkward silence while we waited, and even though he attempted to break it a few times with small talk, I ignored him, staring toward the pack house.

As soon as Torin and Alpha Dai walked out, I went to them.

“Are you okay?” Torin asked when we were close, a look of concern on his face. “I might just kill Jaxson if he keeps up with these vague cryptic messages about my mate.”

As he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close, I tried to figure out why his touch was so abhorrent. Torin was giving me everything I’d ever wanted in this world, a true pack and family life… and it felt so damn wrong.

Leaning forward so that his arm would fall off me, I smiled at Alpha Dai. “Did you speak English to me before?”

The alpha tilted his head, and again he wore a super confused look. “You’re speaking Japanese,” he said, in what sounded like perfect English.

Switching gears, I faced Jaxson, whom, despite everything, I still tolerated better than Torin. “Did I speak Japanese?”

Jaxson nodded. “Yeah, sounded like it to me.”

“See,” I said, turning back, only to shake my head and side-eye my oldest friend. “Sorry, what? I spoke Japanese?”

I knew Japanese? Had I actually learned it during my two months of memory loss? As I pressed into that thought, the familiar sharp pain in my head jabbed harder than usual. “How is that possible?” I mumbled through the pain. “I did one semester in school! The extent of my Japanese is Konnichiwa and Ohayou gozaimasu!”

Alpha Dai blinked. “When you said that, you sounded like an American trying to butcher my language, but before, you spoke to me in perfect Japanese. Like it’s your natural language.”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “Nope. I cannot handle this, I’m sorry.”

Before anyone could say another word, I spun on the spot and took off into the trees, desperately craving an escape.

“Mera!” Torin bellowed after me, but I didn’t turn back.

The one advantage to tonight’s event was that Torin was required to be present and converse with all the alphas. Especially since he was so new to this role; it was more important than ever to establish us back in the pack hierarchies and foster new friendships.

Duty first. Which gave me exactly what I needed: time to escape.

Only someone did come after me, the crashing of bushes and trees loud behind me, as I tore through the forest.

I didn’t turn back, though.

If they wanted me, they would have to catch me.

4

After a few minutes of free running as fast as I could, with no thought to direction or destination, my wolf finally rose up to lend me some of her speed and strength. My heels disappeared soon after, and I took a second to lean down and tear the train off my dress.

From there, I was sprinting with the wind at my back and the moon shining light on me from above. A howl rocketed up through my chest to escape my lips as I tilted my head back.

There were days I would never exchange this gift of having a wolf soul and supernatural abilities for anything.

“Mera!”

Why the hell was Jaxson always shouting my fucking name? And always with a command in his tone. Unfortunately for his arrogant ass, I was done taking orders from anyone. Even orders silently given in a single word.

I ran faster. And faster.

The trees whipped by as I released the anxiety and stress that had been eating at me for days.

It had just been too damn long living like this, broken, wallowing through the darkness in my head. I needed to rise above it. I needed to be… more?

Words started to form in my mind, familiar words, and as they unfurled, I saw them as if they were literally being written in front of me.

From the darkness, the phoen—

The pain hit me harder than ever, and I hadn’t been ready for it this time, my feet tripping over nothing as my brain spasmed violently. Slamming into a tree at that speed sent me flying into the air before I tumbled down a small embankment.

By the time I came to a stop, I was bloody and beaten, the dress nothing more than tatters.