Chapter 17

Jessica's eyes slowly opened, the sun peeking at her through the clouds and curtains. Her body was slightly sore as she rolled over onto her stomach. This felt too weird. The pillows didn't feel as rough against her head, the sheets were much softer and more comfortable, and her feet didn't roll off the bed on either side.

Wait. Jessica's eyes shot up as she sat up, soreness shot through her abdomen as she did, making her hiss out. Curtains? She looked around the room and swallowed. It was bigger. Much bigger than Kamilla's room, heck, the entire flat! She touched her neck and felt a pleasurable jolt shoot through her. It also made her mind kick into gear.

Memories flooded back to her as she remembered what she did before she fell asleep and a gasp exited her mouth and a slight tremble in her arms occurred.

"Oh...shit..." Jessica thought.

She had sex with the Alpha. No. She had sex with the Alpha and mated with him! Last night!

She gulped deeply and took another look around. He was nowhere in sight.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no. No...Why did I do that...?!" Jessica whispered, in shock at her previous actions. She let her emotions get the best of her, her logic flew from under her feet, and she now bounded herself to the Alpha of the Delaney pack!

Panic filled her thoughts, but she took deep breaths. She had to remain calm. She had to! She got out of bed slowly before heading toward an open closet. Her eyes widened at how spacious it was and how neatly it was kept. She shook her head as she walked in. She shouldn't be gawking right now.

The pants were way too big, but she didn't have time to care at the moment as she tried to keep her thoughts clear.

She had heard from other mated pairs that their mates can sense their emotions and hear their thoughts from long distances away, and she didn't need her mate to—

"No," Jessica commanded herself, "Don't call him that. An Omega never calls an Alpha their mate."

She quickly reached into a drawer pulled out a long-sleeved white shirt and put it on, glancing over her shoulder several times to make sure no one was coming as she reached for a belt to hold the pants up.

She had to get out there fast! She shouldn't have mated with the Alpha to begin with!

Forgetting about shoes, she ran as silently as she could toward the windows to the balcony. She looked over and swallowed: This was a three-story, well four story including this room, manor house. But she didn't have time to think as she ran back and then jumped through the window.

Jessica free-fell out the window, hitting the snow, and rolled once on the ground. The shock felt like she merely jumped a foot in the air; she had seen humans die from heights that high, and she was thankful she wasn't one at that moment.

She looked around quickly for other wolves before she got up and ran toward the exit of the compound. She faintly heard crunching through the snow and slid to the side of a flat, keeping her breathing steady and quiet.

Please don't smell her out. Please don't smell her out...

She looked to the side and saw 5 other Omegas carrying items needed for their everyday chores. As they passed her without so much as a glance, she wasted little time as she slowly continued low against the flat, waving between flats until she got to the exit.

The sky looked like it was just becoming dawn, the morning star quite visible and radiant in the light, misty blue and pale orange sky. How long did she sleep?

She shook her head off the thought and continued to run; though she avoided detection from the other Omegas she saw if she were caught by any other member of the hierarchy, she'd never escape from here.

She tried.

She tried her best not to think about Erick—no—the Alpha of the Delaney. He'd sense her and her intentions if she did. She ran barefoot through the freezing morning snow until she got to the gates, panting deeply through her nose. Jessica stared up at the massive steel barriers and gulped as she looked about it. She had never jumped a fence this tall before.

"There might....be another way around," Jessica whispered between her pants, "Maybe...a hole...?"

She then shook her head. The Delaney pack isn't stupid. She was sure there were next to no flaws in their security system, and even if there were, she had no time to try and find out.

She would have to try...no. She had no other choice but to jump it. She took a few large steps back—and a few deep breaths—and ran as fast as she could toward the fence. Jessica fought against the friction of the cold morning air as she leaped; she held back a grunt as she winced in pain when the blade of the fence nicked her leg, the left pants' leg tearing slightly and letting blood trickle through it, but she landed on the other side and ran.

She dared not take the open road so she cut through the frosted thicket, protecting her face from rogue branches that seemed to try and stop her endeavor as well, begging her to return to the Delaney den. She looked up as best as she could through the frozen brush to see which way the sun was rising. That would help her decide which way to go.

Jessica was going to go South.

The wolf in her head yelped and whined in between her barks at her as she ran.

Stop! Go back to our mate! We don't have to run!

"Shut up!" Jessica commanded her wolf, "Don't call him that!"

She had never yelled at her wolf, her other self, her friend, before and it hurt her heart to do so, but her wolf's sorrowful yelps continued still, ignoring her entirely.

Go back to our mate! We don't have to suffer anymore! We need to be with him!

"We don't!" Jessica told her back, "We survived for years without protection! Once we go west everything will be fine!"

Tears started to trail down Jessica's face once more as she continued to fight the wild limbs from the tree, "Why did I stop in Jackson?! I should have never gotten off at that stop—"