We did it.
We fucking did it.
The train carries us away through the mountains.
Bird and I have found shelter from the night. A way to escape and carry us miles from our hunters. And inside these bags, clothes to keep us warm.
I allow myself to relax, until I realize that Bird’s shoulders are shaking.
Shit, is he suffering from shock?
Am I pushing him too hard?
I lie next to Bird on my back, stroking his hair away from his face. “Little Bird?”
Then I realize that Bird is shakingwith laughter.
He throws himself onto his back.
Bird’s cheeks are smeared with coal residue from the grimy floor of the wagon.
He has never looked so beautiful.
“If Mom could see me now, she’d have a coronary.” Bird turns to meet my gaze. “I’m a true outlaw.”
“You’re a Rogue.”
Cold air paints both our cheeks pink.
We clasp each other’s hands.
It hits me that we’re alive. We’re being carried somewhere to our freedom. And for the first time in my life, I am in control of where we go next.
“I once thought that I would spend my entire life in a single hotel, until I was matched at a courting ball with an elite pack. I wouldn’t have a choice who they were,” Bird says. “When I was punished and became a Hotel Omega, I then thought that I would never see more than hotel rooms again. I’d never, I don’t know, watch a movie, eat at a restaurant, or even walk down a street by myself. And now…”
“You’re running through frozen forests, stealing from frat boys, and riding as a stowaway on a train. Never say I don’t know how to show my Omega a good time. Stay with me, kid, and you’ll be going places.”
Bird gives his sunny laugh, which makes me melt inside in a way that I never knew I could.
It’s his weapon, and he doesn’t appear to know how much power he holds with it.
“Where does this train go?” Bird nuzzles closer against my side.
I kiss him on the forehead.
Then I take a deep breath of his scent, flooding the car with my pheromones and finally allowing my eyes to become heavy with sleep. “I don’t know. That’s the excitement of being on the run.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Sanctum Lodge, Sanctum
Ipull the gray beanie more firmly over my ponytail. I deliberately keep my gaze up, walking confidently, as I clutch my brown paper bag of groceries to my chest.
I stick close to the back of a gaggle of Beta ranchers, who are carrying heavy feed sacks on their shoulders.
I glance up at the darkening sky, as the whiskey-colored sun is setting.
My feet slip on the light dusting of snow and ice on the sidewalk.
