Chapter 54

"Is your mate okay with you running off with me like this?" Dani was sitting in the passenger seat of Waylon's car, her backpack at her feet, his duffle bag on the seat between them. He had given her one of his baseball hats, a faded camouflage thing that was thoroughly broken in, and an oversized pair of sunglasses that obviously didn't belong to Waylon.

Dani watched as Waylon's hands clenched on the steering wheel, his expression turning pained in an instant. She began to ramble, the way she always did when she was nervous. "I remember you mentioned having a mate when you were talking about my mark." Her hands traveled up to her collarbone and she rubbed at the mark roughly as if she could scrub it off of her skin.

"It's alright. You're right. I did have a mate. And I did mention that earlier. I knew Cora more or less my entire life. We grew up together. She was my dad's beta's daughter. We played together almost every day because our mom's were best friends. She could beat me up