Paige opened the door to see Nathan's officers waiting in the hall just like they said they would. She knew by the look on their faces that they had heard every word she said. Werewolf hearing was strong that way. She turned down the hall and saw that the door to the kitchen was open meaning that her family had probably heard everything too.

Not wanting to talk anymore, she went up the stairs to her room locking the door behind her. She showered quickly and climbed into bed. She could hear the deep voices of Nathan and her family saying goodnight but she couldn't make out any of the words. She lay in her bed trying to make her mind shut off so she could sleep. At some point her mom, her sister and her brother all tried knocking on her door wanting to talk to her. Not having anything to say she ignored them and stared at the wall. She didn't know how long she laid there, but she eventually fell asleep.

Paige cursed her body when she woke up early again. All she wanted to do was sleep and avoid anyone who heard her conversation with Nathan last night. She listened intently to make sure everyone was still asleep before dressing quickly in her running clothes and slipping out the side door.

She took a deep breath in the cool morning air and stepped out the gate. There was a black SUV parked in the curb in front of her house. She eyed it nervously as she shook out her limbs as a warm up. As she neared it, the passenger window rolled down and one of the men from the night before called out to her from the drivers seat.

"Good morning Ms. Wilson!"
"Do I know you?" She asked warily.
"Right, I guess we weren't properly introduced last night." He turned off the car and stepped out. Moving around the car with his hand out he said, "Allen Travis, Gamma of Moon Wind Pack." She stepped back as she came closer and didn't take his hand. He held it out awkwardly for a moment before letting it drop.

"Do you have a last name? Allen Travis, Gamma of Moon Wind Pack?" She asked.
"Travis is my last name ma'am."
"You have two first names as your whole name?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"That's weird."
"If you say so." She eyed him warily.
"What are you doing here? Allen Travis, Gamma of Moon Wind Pack?"

"Just Allen, please. Alpha Nathan asked me to provide you with protection." She looked at him in disbelief. There was no way she was going to let this happen.
"So you're gonna give me some condoms or something?" He gave her a look that said he appreciated the joke but was trying to maintain some professionalism. She bit back a smile.
"No ma'am. I'm here to protect you as you move through out the territory." She leveled a glare at him.
"The hell you are."
"Please ma'am. The Alpha is just worried for your safety."

"You can tell Nathan that my safety is none of his concern. He gave up the right to that concern the day he left me on a beach in Bali." She took off for her run. When he didn't follow, she thought maybe he'd actually listened to her. That was until that same black SUV pulled up along side her. She glanced to her side to see Allen driving along beside her, his windows down.
"Is this going to be a thing?" She asked, not stopping her run. "You're going to follow me around where ever I go?"
"I have my orders ma'am."

She ignored him and continued running. She knew the strict obedience of wolf packs and nothing she said was going to make him back off. That doesn't mean she had to make it easy for him. She continued jogging down the street until she came upon a park. It had an open field that backed up to the tree line, she assumed was used for pick up sports.

With a backward glance she took off across the field as fast as her feet could take her. She knew she didn't stand a chance of out running the wolf but she could get a good head start. He hadn't been wearing running gear and he'd have to get out of the car. She was half way across the field when heard the tires screech and he slammed on the breaks. She heard the door slam and she put on some speed. He caught up with her as she reached the forest.

He stepped in front of her, forcing her to stop. Breathing heavily she looked up at him with a smirk. "Problem Gamma?"
"No ma'am. I just need to know the rest of your route that's all."
"I don't know my route," she stepped around him to keep running. It looked like there was a trail she wanted to check out. "I just go where the wind takes me."

She started up the trail and the Gamma followed. It was a little rougher than she was used to. She had to slow her pace to accommodate all the roots and rocks in her way. She had only chosen it to bother the wolf following her but he seemed to be keeping up with her just fine. He was even taking it at a walking pace. She followed the trail until it came out at a small lake. When she left this morning she had intended to stay out on her run until her family had all left for the day but now the gamma was making things difficult. She just wanted to be alone. She sat down on one of the benches surrounding the lake and the gamma stood off to the side, keeping a respectful distance.

She watched as the sun moved from behind the mountain. The events of the last day and the beauty of the sunrise reminded her of another beautiful sunrise. She had made Nathan get up early so the could hike the mountain to see the sun rise over the Pacific. He'd been unhappy about it but when he saw the sun peak over the horizon he had the biggest smile. That was only a few days before he disappeared.

She noticed that tears had started streaming down her cheeks. She thought she had cried herself out back when he left her but old wounds can still cause new tears. Even five years later. The more she tried to stop the more harder she cried. She pulled her knees to her chest and sobbed.

She didn't know how long she sat there. At some point she was aware that the Gamma had sat next to her. He didn't say anything, he just sat there lending her comfort. At some point she lifted her head and started wiping her nose. Her ugly crying made her nose run and she was wanted to make it look like she hadn't been crying by the time she made it back to her parents house. The Gamma silently handed her a pack of tissues. She thanked him and cleaned herself up. She took a few steadying breaths while looking out across the lake.

"Wanna talk about it?" The Gamma asked.
"Not really." She sniffled. He sat in silence with her. The was a small beep and he took out his phone. He had a text message. He typed out a short reply before putting the phone back in his pocket.
"That's from him?" She asked. He simply nodded. "Please don't tell him I was like this. I don't want him to think-" she trailed off. She want sure what she wanted him to think about her but she didn't want him to think her weak. She didn't want him to know how much he had hurt her.
"I won't tell him ma'am. But I think maybe you should. He really is sorry, and he wants to explain-"
"You don't need to make excuses for him," she said, cutting him off. "He did what he did and now he has to live with it. I just have to make it through the next ten days and I can be free. I can go back to my life and put this whole mess behind me." She tried to say it with conviction but it came out more like she was trying to convince herself.

"I noticed, last night, that you didn't let him explain why he left."
"Does it matter?" The Gamma tilted his head as if to say it might. "What excuse could he have for sneaking away in the middle of the night. Like I was just some girl he picked up in a bar, whose name he didn't remember."
"It was a pretty rough time for him. There were some big things going on."
"There's no amount of rough or big things that can make up for him leaving me like that. He could have woken me up. Or at least left a note."
"That's true. But-"
"But what?"
"It's not really my place to say."
"Just say it."

"It's not like you were all that serious. You spent some time on a beach in Bali, it's not exactly the real world is it?"
"Is that what he told you? That it was just hanging out an a beach in Bali?"
"He didn't tell us much of anything."
"Nathan and I were together for six months. Bali was the last stop my bucket list. He was going to come with me to London as I started my program." The Gammas mouth dropped. Shock washed over his face, it looked like a bunch of things were falling into place for him. He quickly closed his mouth and schooled his expression.

"The night before he left, I told him about me. About where I came from. I hoped that by telling him about me it would let him be comfortable enough to tell me about himself. When I woke up in the morning he was gone and I thought-"
"You thought he was rejecting you like all the other wolves in your life."
"Yeah. And I was left to go to London alone."
"Damn that's heavy." They let the truth of that hang in the air for a while.

"Look," the Gamma said, "It's not my story to tell," he looked down at the ground, "But you could probably piece it together through the pack histories. You have the timeline of when you two were together and when he left you. You can look it up. It's all there."

"I don't know that really care all that much. He left me. End of story. Anything that's in those histories isn't going to make what he did any better or any more excusable."
"No, but it might make it more understandable."

They sat in silence for a little while longer. When she stood to go back the Gamma pointed out a paved footpath they could follow that would put them out near her parents house. She took it at a walk not wanting to make the wolf beside her run without proper footwear. At least, that's what she told herself. In reality she was too tired to run anymore. All the pain she'd been running from had finally caught up with her and it was exhausting to handle.