HIDING FROM THE MATEBOND

8. Close Call

Calista

It had been three days since the interview and I had not received any word from Aerion’s office. Every minute felt like a ticking clock.

What kept crossing my mind was probably they had changed their minds and they probably wouldn’t hire me at all.

Suddenly my phone buzzed loudly on the worktop, shaking me from my thoughts.

Right there was the confirmation of my worst fears.

Congratulations, Arya Black. You have been selected for the position of the Alpha’s secretary. Report to the pack offices tomorrow at 9:00 AM to sign your work contract.

I could feel the thudding in my chest. It was happening.

I had hoped and even prayed, despite my history with the Moon Goddess and her answering of my prayers.

It was real. I had gotten the job. I was going to tie myself even closer to the very world I had tried to escape.

I felt suddenly overwhelmed and thoughts I had kept at bay started creeping in.

I couldn’t do this. I was going to go to the offices, turn them down. Tell them I wanted something less demanding because of my son. That seemed like a valid excuse.

“Are you okay, Mama?” Ethan’s small voice broke through the haze.

I forced a smile, brushing a hand through his curls. “I’m fine, baby. Just…a little nervous about starting work.”

He nodded, completely unaware of the worry eating at my insides. “You’re going to do great! You always do!”

His innocent encouragement tightened my chest. If only he knew the truth.

The next morning, I made my way to the pack offices with Ethan’s hand in mine. Luckily he did not complain about the tight grip or the moist hand in his.

I had one goal in mind. Lyra on the hand did not hide her displeasure repeatedly cursing me out.

Pus.sy! Scaredy cat! She kept hissing hoping to aggravate me as I tried to recite my speech to declining the job offer.

When we entered the building, relief washed over me when I saw the same receptionist from the interview. That meant I would not be seeing Aerion.

She welcomed me with a friendly smile and handed me a thick contract to review and sign.

It did not hurt to go through the contract and see what was being offered even if I was going to refuse.

“Take your time,” the receptionist said, nodding toward a small seating area. “You can sign the documents over there.”

I thanked her and sat down, feeling my hands tremble as I flipped through the document. The contract was pretty standard,having health benefits, a saving scheme and the working hours were good as well. 9 am to 4pm were good hours as I could drop Ethan to school and pick him up in the evening. But what caught my eye was the salary, $10,000 dollars a month.

I rubbed at the figure to ensure it was correct. That was money I could not afford to pass up.

I was on my last pennies and with Ethan starting school, I need the money for his fee and for a cheap house. Living in a hotel was strenuous enough.

The speech I had been rehearsing long forgotten, I scanned the last page of the contract and tied myself to Aerion for the foreseeable future.

As I rose to hand the papers back, my eyes caught something across the room right where Ethan was standing. An old noticeboard stood in the corner, covered with faded announcements and outdated posters. He could barely read so I wondered what had captured his attention.

“Mommy, look!” Ethan’s excited voice called out.

My heart stopped. Ethan’s finger was pointing straight at a poster. I followed his finger and there it was.

The faded, torn poster with my face glaring back at me. "WANTED: Traitor to the GreyHound Pack. Reward: $100,000."

“Mama, that looks like you!” Ethan continued, his voice loud and curious, his innocent eyes flicking between the poster and me.

NO! NO! This couldn’t be happening.

I could feel eyes in the room beginning to turn toward us as I walked in his direction.

I crouched down as fast as possible, my hands on Ethan’s shoulders, trying to keep my voice calm as possible. “Shh, baby,” I whispered, my voice trembling despite my best effort.

“Let’s not look at that, okay?”

“But, Mama, it’s—”

“Ethan, we need to go.” My voice was sharper now. I hated using that voice on him as I could slowly see his face falling.

Without giving him a chance to argue I grabbed his hand, practically dragging him away from the noticeboard.

My heart was already hammering in my chest so loudly that I thought everyone around us could hear it.

I handed over the signed contract to the receptionist giving her a polite nod hoping everything was in order.

“Thank you,” I said, praying my voice did not betray my nervousness.

The receptionist smiled. “Welcome to the GreyHound Pack, Miss Black. We’re glad to have you.”

I forced a smile in return.

“I’m glad to be here.”

I kept Ethan gripped by my side as we left, the receptionist’s gaze following us as we hurried past. I forced another smile, hoping she hadn’t noticed something was off.

As soon as we were outside, I crouched down again, pulling Ethan close, my hands gripping his arms.

“Ethan, listen to me,” I said, my voice shaky.

“That wasn’t me, okay? You can’t say things like that. You understand? That wasn’t Mama.”

Ethan blinked up at me, confusion in his innocent eyes.

“But …but it looked like you…”

“I know, sweetie, but it wasn’t,” I lied, my heart breaking a little as I saw the confusion on his face.

“It’s just someone who looks like me. We can’t talk about it, okay?”

He frowned, clearly not understanding, but trusting me the way only a child could.

“Okay, Mama. I’m sorry.”

I pulled him into a tight hug, closing my eyes to hold back the tears.

I am so sorry, forgive me I wanted to say instead.

“It’s okay, baby. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

It was all me. When Kate had given me the necklace I had asked her to make sure Ethan saw me as I was supposed to be.

Now I had to walk around town ensuring there were no other posters of me or I would be in hot soup. God knew where else poor Ethan would see the poster and excitedly blurt out the secret to the wrong person.

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to stand up. “Come on, let’s go home.I will buy you ice cream.”

Ethan's face broke out into an excited smile making my stomach twist even further with guilt.

As we walked back I couldn't help but remember what had happened in the past. After the banishment, I had thought I had been off the hook for good, but Luna Amber’s absence during my banishment should have been a warning, but I had not seen it then.

Not until three months later when I learned there was a manhunt for me, launched by Luna Amber herself.

My so-called banishment has been a trap. I had narrowly escaped it, hiding in Kate’s cellar on the outskirts of no-man’s land while investigators searched the area for me.

The accusations against me had been severe. They had painted me as a deserter, someone who had betrayed not only my mate but the entire pack and had run away to avoid punishment.

The poster had been plastered everywhere all over the neighboring territories. I had lived in fear, hunted like an animal, pregnant and alone.

And now after all that running, I was standing in the heart of the GreyHound Pack, pretending to be someone else.

And no matter how hard I tried to bury my past, it seemed my past was hell bent on clawing its way back to the surface.