"This wasn't what I expected of you." Ryan said, breaking the silence as we both wrung our clothes.

"No?" I grunted, desperately trying to get the last drop out of my shirt. I still peered around the trees, trying to see if anyone was following us even though we were almost a mile away from the river already. My thighs had chaffed together so badly I had gotten a rash, but I refused to stop until I was certain we were out of sight and smelling distance.

"Not even a little bit. No offense but you don't seem like the heroic type at all. More of a talk than action person." Ryan explained. When my eyes followed the sound of his voice I saw some of his naked torso as he slid back into his soaking shirt. I quickly averted my eyes and made sure my naked body was completely concealed by the big tree between us.

"Well, I didn't really have a lot of options." I muttered, "And what the hell were you thinking, barging onto royal land like that? Did you think you were going to be invited in for tea and supper?" I said, suddenly feeling angry. He had started this whole mess and now I was kilometers away from my home, wet, miserable and terrified of what would happen if we were caught. If he had just given me time to tell my parents this whole crisis could've been averted.

"What was I supposed to do?" Ryan snapped back. "You were having a fucking party for single alphas so that you could have your pick because I wasn't good enough for you apparently. I figured I would give it one last go before I lost you to some asshole who just wanted your title. What the hell were you thinking? Did you really think any of those men gave a shit about you? Did you really think they could make you happy like I could? Yeah, I get it, I'm not exactly what you wanted, but it's not like I wanted a fucking princess either." He barked.

I blinked, completely taken aback. I stood still, frozen for a moment before I was able to collect myself and pull my damp shirt back on. Then I dug through my bag to find sweatpants and a dry pair of underwear as I thought about my response. His last comment had hurt me, but it wasn't unwarranted, I had screamed at him, telling him I couldn't stand to be the luna of his pack. Still, it stung more than I thought it would.

"I didn't want the gala to happen. And it had nothing to do with you." I whispered, coming out from behind the trees.

"Yeah, I know, it was about every other alpha in the world."

"No, I mean it was planned before I even met you. Actually, we met because I was so furious at my parents for trying to set me up with random guys that I went for a midnight ride. Long story short, my horse spooked and I ended up on your pack lands."

Ryan sighed loudly as he walked towards me, "But you still had the party, even though you knew you had a mate."

"I know it sounds silly, but I needed my parents to think that I hadn't found my mate yet. I think we can both assume that my father would've had any of those other alphas be my mate over you and I don't think his opinion would've been any different if he found out about us any other way. I knew I would have to tell them about you eventually, I found out pretty quickly that staying away from you wasn't in my best interest, I just hoped that I could figure out a plan to make the introductions go smoother." I explained.

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore, but we should keep moving." Ryan muttered.

I did as Ryan suggested and we continued to move, walking further and further away from the river. As we continued deeper through the forest I went through a large spectrum of emotions. I would feel panicked and worried when I felt like I didn't know where I was because it had been years since I had travelled to our destination, then I would feel joy when we past familiar landmarks like shallow ponds, massive boulders, or small fields filled with wildflowers. I felt guilty because I would only ever go this way with my parents and I felt like I was tainting the memories of sweet family time with betrayal. After that I began to think that my mother had fought for her mate and that there was a chance that she would respect my decision to do the same. That made me feel a fraction better about what I was doing.

We hiked through the woods for about another two hours. My feet were starting to ache despite the reasonable runners I was wearing and when I peered over at my ever silent mate I noticed that he must've been feeling ten times worse. Not only was his body slouching with exhaustion- unable to maintain the steady pace and heal the damage inflicted by royal guards- he was also wearing all the wrong clothes. I had a baggy, breathable shirt and stretchy sweat pants while he had a torn up dress shirt, black pants, and muddy dress shoes on. It was the first time during our excursion that I had actually noticed the clothes he had on.

"Why are you dressed like that?" I blurted out.

Ryan didn't miss a beat, even though we hadn't spoken in hours, "Because I didn't know that some princesses liked to go mountain climbing on the first date." He said sarcastically.

"Were you trying to get into the gala?" I asked. I was oddly touched by the idea and I stared at my mate in awe for a brief moment while he continued to march forward.

"Yeah, I figured I was an eligible bachelor. I had as much right to charm you as any other guy there did." he grunted.

I wanted to tell him that it was incredibly sweet and brave to do such a thing. I wanted to tell him that I appreciated the gesture so much, and that I took back all those awful words I had shouted at him a few days ago. But I couldn't. My tongue felt like it was tied in my mouth and every time I tried to think of something to say it sounded too sappy or too cheesy. So I just shut my mouth and trudged forward.

A few minutes later I sighed at the beautiful sight in front of me.

"This is it?" Ryan said in disbelief.

"This is it." I assured, nearly skipping towards the tiny cottage.

True, it wasn't much but it was enough to make me happy. The small cottage was well constructed so even after twenty years it looked brand new and well taken care of despite the fact that no one had been here for at least two years. I ambled up the little porch to the front door, running my fingers over the red siding as I sighed deeply. This single bedroom cabin held so many pleasant memories. We didn't come here often, only about once a year when I was young, it's main purpose was to help my parents get away from the kingdom since neither of them had been raised to be royal. We would play board games for hours on end, all of us so competitive we refused to lose. My dad would take me fishing in a nearby creek while my mom had a bath and when we got home my mom would read a book to me in the living room until I fell asleep. This place was nothing short of magical in my opinion.

"We can't be more than forty kilometers away from the palace." Ryan protested.

"We are exactly thirty six kilometers away from the palace." I murmured, opening the front door.

"You don't think we should go further?"

"No, they'll never think to look here. No one even knows this place exists besides my parents and they won't think I remember it."