Page 12 of Trusting Her Mate

“Clearly.” I roll my eyes.

Peyton gestures again, patient as a saint. “Wren, sit.”

I nod, swallowing hard, spine locked straight even as my body wants to curl in on itself, small and cornered. My hands tremble, nerves stretched so tight I swear I can hear them buzzing, electric and raw, just beneath my skin.

“I’m sorry,” I say, quieter now. Real. Not performed. Not sharpened into humor for Dax’s benefit. “I shouldn’t have dragged you into it.”

Boone doesn’t let me off the hook. “No, you shouldn’t have.”

I nod. “I know.”

Peyton’s gaze flicks to Boone, warning him off, and he exhales through his nose like he’s about to argue.

Caine leans against the wall, all Alpha stillness and waiting. “Start from the beginning.”

So I do. I talk, and at first, my voice shakes, but then the words spill out, jagged and raw.

Ashstone Pack.

Alpha Mercer.

Dax, the Alpha’s son, always watching me like prey.

The fucking contract my father signed behind my back. No ceremony. No bite. No mate bond. No consent, not ever. I ran before dawn, hands shaking so badly I nearly dropped the bus ticket, duffel bag thumping against my hip, praying with every step that the world was wide enough to let me fucking vanish.

My father folded beneath the weight of Ashstone’s threats. My mother packed my bag with trembling hands, slipping protein bars into the lining, her eyes red but her jaw set. My brother ... his apprenticeship has been secured, a trade for my future.

I came here because Katu’s reputation has me clinging to hope like a damn life raft. Sanctuary. That one word hangs in the air between us, heavy as a prayer, and I am desperate enough to believe in it.

“How old are you?” Caine asks.

“Twenty-two.”

“Any prior bond to Dax?”

“Nothing. No bite. No chosen bond. No ceremony.” I keep repeating the same thing over and over, hoping someone will believe me. “Just a contract I never signed. My father did. Under threat? Maybe. Probably. Ashstone doesn’t need to make threats when everyone knows what it means to refuse.”

Caine nods. “Then the contract is weak.”

I let out a shaky breath, but he isn’t done. “But not harmless.” My relief sours.

“They accepted benefits ... debt cleared, my brother’s apprenticeship....” My voice fades.

Boone’s jaw tightens with anger, Peyton’s eyes soften with something like compassion. I don’t know how to hold either feeling, don’t know how to let them in without breaking.

Peyton reaches for my hand, but pauses, waiting for permission. It’s the smallest grace, and it undoes me. I force myself to meet her halfway, slipping my hand into hers. I flinch, shame and gratitude tangling in my chest, but I don’t let go. Her palm is warm, grounding, and the first kindness I’ve let myself accept in ages.

Caine turns to Boone, but Boone cuts him off. “No.”

Caine raises a brow. “I haven’t asked anything.”

“You’re about to.”

I glance between them. “What’s happening?”

Boone mutters, “The Alpha is about to make my day worse.”

Caine ignores both of us. “Dax will return with officials, possibly his Alpha, possibly documentation. Until we dismantle the contract, Ashstone will claim you’re avoiding a valid arrangement.”