Fated to the Alpha Stepbrother
We left the cabin behind, the keys left in the mailbox for whoever found the place next, and drove his old pickup truck forty miles south to the edge of the neutral territory.
We checked into a small, unnamed brick inn that catered to wolves who had chosen to walk away from the pack hierarchies. There were no titles here, no Alphas, and no declarations of war. The lobby smelled like old woodsmoke and wet wool, and the old innkeeper didn't even ask for our last names when Rohan handed over a couple of crumpled bills for a room on the second floor.
The room was small, with a sagging mattress and a single window overlooking the dark, mist-shrouded valley below.