Long Road Home by Chandra Ryan Page B

pair of shoes didn’t matter. She had a closetful of them. But she didn’t have any place to wear them since she’d moved out to the sticks. Her days in court were over. Her old life was over. Nobody cared about her shoes anymore.
    The tree branches pulled at the smooth twist she’d worked her blonde hair into, but she didn’t try to stop them. Some things couldn’t be controlled. The grasping and tugging of nature happened to be one of them. She didn’t even bother to remove the little twigs and leaves from her hair as she broke into the clearing.
    As if guided by some unseen force, she made her way to the middle of the clearing and stared up at the moon. The light it emitted filled her with warmth despite its wispy crescent shape. The moon called to her—loudly. As if the celestial body knew she’d been ignoring it and demanded her attention.
    “I….” She sank down to the soft grass and sniffled “I can’t do this. I can’t love another.” She’d been there, done that, and had the broken heart to prove it. “Asking me to isn’t fair.”
    Life isn’t fair.
    Max’s voice echoed in the back of her head. So calm and patient.
    This was their spot. The place their relationship had started. She used to sneak off to meet him here when they’d been home on vacations and holidays. Back before they ran away and got married.
    “It should be, damn it. You fought for them. You made saving their miserable hides your life’s ambition. They owed you. They owed me.” One warm tear slid down her cheek, but she brushed the singular drop aside with an angry swipe of her hand.
    Needing to explain to the universe why she would not accept her mate, she looked back up at the sky and spoke directly to the moon. “But they let him die because he was human.”
    They could’ve saved him. If her pack had deemed him worthy, he could’ve been bonded to her. Her health and longevity would’ve cured the cancer eating away at him. But her Alpha at the time didn’t believe in human and Wolf bonding. Bonding a human to a Wolf carried a death sentence. None of her pack mates would help her. They wouldn’t take the risk. Not even for the man who had fought in court for them every day. Sure, the pack had a different Alpha. But what the hell good did that do her? Max was dead. That chapter of her life had come to an end.
    She lay down on the grass and let the bitter tears flow unchecked. They weren’t going to change anything or make her mate disappear, but they might make her feel better. Feeling better would be enough.
    When the tears were all gone and the ground lost its comfort, though, she had to admit crying had been a lost cause. She hadn’t felt good since Max had been diagnosed. A few tears shed in the middle of the woods wouldn’t change anything.
    Rising, she dusted off what she could of the dirt and grass on her pencil skirt and blazer. If anyone saw her, they’d probably think she’d had a wild tryst under the moon. The thought made her laugh. Like being a lawyer, her days of wild trysts were way beyond her. They belonged to a much younger Wolf.
    The woods fell behind her as she made her way back to civilization. She smiled at thinking of Los Lobos as civilized. She’d been here two weeks and she already considered the small town civilized. It amazed her how far she’d fallen since leaving the big city. This town couldn’t even be considered rustic let alone cultured.
    Still, the peace and quiet had grown on her. Repairs were in progress. Even if the new Alpha couldn’t help Max, he did seem like an upstanding kind of guy. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad place to find a new life. But she wished she knew what she wanted to do next.
    She came to her little bungalow and opened the door as silently as possible. Her pack mates kept telling her the town was safe, but she trusted her nose better than empty promises. One quick sniff told her no one hid in the small shelter.
    Relieved, she stepped through the doorway