Chapter 9: Mission Runaway

Chapter 9

After getting ready to go shopping, I still didn't have it in me to go with him. I couldn't even say his name. How dare he just command me and mark his territory when I'm not his. He doesn't own me. I'm just his victim.

I don't even know why I have to go shopping with him, it wasn't like I was actually staying here all my life.

Yes there were only about three suits of clothing in the closet and I was wearing the second pair but it was a pair too much because I wasn't staying here long enough to wear the third.

As much as I opposed the idea of shopping, doing it with my kidnapper was a whole other level of insanity and completely outlandish in my books.

I never really understood the perks and enjoyment one gets while spending an entire day walking around in crowded stores, doing nothing more than spending all their money and liquidating their bank accounts on nothing more than material things that might not even last a year.

You can call me cheap but I prefer the term thrifty, it had a better ring to it. But considering that I didn't exactly walk with cash whilst being kidnapped, I guess Thane was paying. At least that was a plus.

This trip seemed to becoming more appeasing as I thought about it because it did open an opportunity for me. I just had to play my cards right and hopefully I will be within the confines of my home by tonight.

Things seem to be in my odds as I stepped out of the bedroom and walked towards the living room, of the top floor, and saw Thane.

He looked dejected, like he was about to beg for my forgiveness from the look on his face.

I felt like jumping for joy but in all honesty I felt like comforting him. Note to self; check into the mental institute when I get home.

As soon as I stepped into the room he looked up at me with those puppy dog eyes. Those beautiful brown eyes, they looked like a sea of chocolate and I was definitely drowning in it.

I mentally slapped myself to snap out of this trance state I fell into.

"Emery..." Thane whispered.

I simply gave him the silent treatment in return.

I walked to the kitchen fully aware that he was following me, time to implement step one. I grabbed a glass of water as he stood on the opposite side of the counter.

"Emery I know what I said was inexcusable and unwarranted, but you have to believe me when I say I'm sorry. Can you please just look at me?" he gently asked.

I know he wanted to try those darn puppy dogs eyes that makes me melt inside but I didn't want him to know that was my kryptonite.

I reluctantly turned around and saw a glimmer of a smile appear on him but disappeared just as quickly as it came as his entire facial features held torment.

I constantly sipped my water and looked into my glass so I wouldn't be trapped in those chocolate sea he called eyes.

"The heat of the moment got to my head and I said things I wish I could take back. I know I don't own you Emery and that's the last thing I meant to say. Hurting you is the last thing on my agenda and I didn't mean to do it. I know it's selfish of me to ask this, but please forgive me. Please?"

The look in his eyes, the sincerity he displayed and my stupid heart all wanted me to forgive him. And I would've but my brain overpowered all that with common sense. I continued to not speak to him and when he saw I was in no rush to answer, he continued.

"Tell me what to do to make it better. Tell me what to do to make it hurt less. Tell me what I can do to earn your trust, your forgiveness?" He looked broken.

"Let me go alone." I mumbled.

He look taken a back that I actually spoke to him.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you." He said.

"You said what you can do to earn my trust, well for that to happen you can let me go shopping alone. I need some time, at least a few hours of solitude so I can be able to think for myself and get a breath of fresh air." I declared looking at him.

"No. Absolutely not." He finalized.

Yea I thought that was pretty far fetched, that's why I had a backup plan.

"At least let me go alone with Bailey." I tried.

"She can come but I am going with you." He stated.

"Weren't you the one saying how you thought her and I would be great friends? And to be honest she is my only friend in this place. Plus I need a girl's advice on what to buy, not a guy's. And you want my trust, so let me go or I may never forgive you." I threatened.

He contemplates this for a moment as I pray that he agrees.

He finally opened his mouth to speak and I held my expectations very high. "Okay fine you can go with Bailey-"

I smiled brightly as I cut him off and said, "Yay!"

"Wait, you didn't let me finish."

"There isn't anything else for you to say." I answered.

He gave me a pointed glare but went on. "I will be driving you there and picking you up."

I wanted to detest but I knew that was the best offer I would get and by the looks of things, he wasn't going to change his mind.

"Fine." I mumbled.

"I'm going to take a quick shower, why don't you go find Bailey, she should be in the kitchen." Thane told me as he walked to the bedroom.

I skipped down the stairs happy as everything in my plan was going smoothly. So far at least.

When I entered the kitchen I immediately spotted Bailey as she was taking out a pie from the oven and I was consumed with the delicious aroma. There were about four other women in there. Two looked a year or two older than me while the other two were much older, probably mid forties at least.

"What smells so good?" I asked as I walked towards Bailey.

"Hey Emery." She greeted me with a smile as I approached her.

"Hey." I said looking at the mouth watering pie.

"Want a piece?" She asked looking at me practically drooling. I nodded my head in gusto as she immediately grabbed a plate and sliced a piece of cherry pie for me, my favorite.

"Gimme, gimme, gimme." I hurried her as she laughed at my excitement.

As I was about to put a beautiful piece of pie to my lips, Bailey stopped me. "It's hot, you may want to wait," she warned.

I dismissively waved her off with my fork as I shoveled a generous amount of pie into my mouth. Let's just say that wasn't exactly the best idea.

"Hot!" I said with my mouth filled with pie.

Bailey had an 'I told you so' smile as she handed me a glass of milk. "I'm not sure if to tell you I was right or give you the life lesson of patience is a virtue."

I teased her when my mouth finally extinguished from the inferno. It was then that I remembered there were others in the kitchen as well.

Bailey must have noticed me shifting in my seat uncomfortably as she spoke up, "Let me introduce to you to everyone."

"This is my mom, Kate, she and Mrs. Grant here are two of the many persons that usually cooks for the pack." She told me as both Bailey's mom and the other woman gave me a pleasant smile before going back to their chatting and working.

"Over here is my sister Abigail that I was telling you about and her friend Layla." Bailey concluded. Abigail, Bailey's adopted sister, and her friend gave me a fake smile but Abigail was shooting daggers at me. She made me feel as if I ran over her cat.

"And everyone this is Emery, our new Luna." Bailey introduced me. I started getting accustomed to the term 'Luna' yet I still had no idea what it meant. What if it meant some bad word or what if it meant mistress and everyone thought I was Thane's lady.

That got me a little paranoid but when Bailey declared me as such, both the older women looked at me with such respect, pride and hope that all my worries blew out the door. They didn't even know me yet they looked at me like I was some goddess or leader to them. I guess 'Luna' wasn't such a bad word after all.

Abigail still looked at me with such disdain but I guess that was just her natural look, not everyone was perfect. Her friend did bow her head a little at my presence but that was it, she was also throwing nasty looks my way.

Bailey saw my predicament with her sister and quietly whispered, "Don't take them too seriously, they're just jealous." She winked at me but I had no idea why they would be jealous of me. Maybe they also wanted to be kidnapped, it was beyond me but I knew I landed in crazy town the moment I woke up in this house.

"So what's up?" Bailey asked as she took a seat next to me on the bar stools.

That reminded me why I came down here in the first place. "I was wondering if you would go shopping with me."

"I thought Thane was taking you." She asked and as soon as Thane's name popped up in the question, I saw Abigail direct her attention to our conversation.

"He was but I need a girl's help with shopping, not Thane's." I said. "Please, come with me," I begged as I gave her my best puppy dog eyes.

"Hmm, let me think about it..." She went silent for a few seconds and I became worried that step two of my plan was faltering. "Yes! Of course I will go with you, I need a few things myself." She said excitedly and I sighed in relief.

Step two completed.

I could tell from her excitement that she was going to make me shop till I drop, literally. Bailey was already dressed so we continued chatting as I ate my cherry pie.

I suddenly felt a hand go around my shoulder and I immediately knew it was Thane from the sparks I felt from the touch and his amazing scent. I tensed from the sudden contact but I surprisingly relaxed a bit under his arm.

"You girls ready?" He asked us.

I was about to answer but a little rat butted into our conversation.

"Thane, hey, how are you?" Abigail walked up to us and placed her measly hand on his arm that wasn't around my shoulder.

I didn't know why I was so furious, but I was raging at her hands on him.

I looked up at him to see his reaction to her but surprisingly enough he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at me.

"I'm fine." He simply answered, not bothered by her. He kept looking at me in a searching gaze as if he was trying to figure out if I had forgiven him or not. Or maybe he figured out my plan.

I turned my face away before my eyes revealed something that led to my escape plan.

"So I haven't seen you around much, like before." She said in a seductive way cutting me out of my thoughts.

Was this girl blind or a halfwit? Thane wasn't even giving her two second of his time, he wasn't even looking at her.

"I've been with my girl." He shrugged.

Hold up did he just say 'my girl'. I nearly died, and not because I was swooning over him.

"Well I'm-" I cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"We're ready." I announced as I suddenly stood up and moved in between Thane and Abigail to get her slimy hands off him. I grabbed Bailey's hand on my way out and led her towards the front door.

I don't know what took over me but I felt this strange feeling of anger towards Abigail. I didn't even know her so why do I feel this resentment towards her and so what if she liked Thane, it wasn't as if I was interested in him.

Abigail continued to talk to Thane but I couldn't stand her so I continued walking. Not long after, maybe less than a minute, Thane meet us outside, keys in hand.

He had a worried expression on his face as he approached us.

"You know if you wanted more time to flirt with her, we would be more than willing to go by ourselves." I said to him. "Isn't that right Bailey?" When I looked at Bailey she looked like a deer caught in the highlights and quickly avoided our gaze as she took more interest in the trees surrounding us.

"Don't drag me in your little squabble." She quietly mumbled.

"Emery-" I cut him off.

"No by all means, if you want to go get some, go right ahead. I mean after all I'm just your kidnapped victim." I shrugged turning my gaze away from him so he wouldn't see how much it actually affected me.

I felt tears pricking the rim of my eyes and I fought with my conscience that I was just being silly and I didn't actually care about him. I had to keep my emotions in check to play out my mission at hand.

Thane suddenly grabbed me by my shoulder and gently turned my chin so I was facing him.

"Listen to me-," I opened my mouth to testify but he cut me off, "no, I don't want to hear it. It's your turn to listen to what I have to say. She and I aren't together. I never liked her and I never will. There is only one girl I have my eyes on. One girl that stands out to me and one girl I truly care for. One girl that already stole my heart and may not know it yet." He beautifully concluded.

But it shattered me. I keep telling myself I don't like him but I don't even know anymore. My mind is saying one thing and my heart is saying another. They were constantly at war since I met Thane.

"So why don't you go for her instead of annoying me all day?" I asked, surprisingly keeping my voice from shaking and cracking.

"Because she's right in front of me." He stated.

I looked up at him to see him staring directly at me with his eyes displaying nothing but honesty.

I wondered for a brief second who he was talking about as I looked around for the girl he so lovingly described, but when I saw no one there I reluctantly turned back to meet his humored expression set on me. I was shocked as I came to the realization that he was talking about me.

Taking my silence in a wrong way he quickly stated, "I'm sorry, I know I'm over stepping my boundary. I shouldn't have said that."

I was about to tell him 'no' and testify he was wrong but before I could respond, Bailey quickly appeared out of nowhere and thankfully saved me from my inner turmoil.

"You guys ready? We're not getting any younger." She said walking towards what I suppose was the garage.

"Come on." Thane said, taking my hand in his as we walked to the vehicles.

Once the garage door opened, I was dumb stuck. There were a lot of vehicles. A few vans, a couple bikes, a jeep and a mustang which I desperately wanted to test drive.

I was in awe. Colour me impressed Thane.

Thane led us to the jeep which was surprising because I took him for more of a race car type of guy.

"This is one of my babies." He said to me in a proud stance.

"Can I drive?" I asked hopefully.

He looked at me for a few seconds before responding, "Another day I promise, when I'm sure you can drive."

I gave him a disbelieving look as I grumbled under my breath, "I'm sure I can drive way better than you."

He somehow heard what I said and chuckled as he opened the passenger door for me. I must admit I never met anyone who did the simplest thing of opening my door.

Once I got in and he closed my door, I threw Bailey a thankful gaze for saving me just moments before as Thane started the engine. Step three was completed as we drove away from the crowded and trapping house.

I must admit the jeep drove smoothly and the rumble of the engine was a hum with no sound of any weird clanging and I could tell he took extra care of his vehicle.

"How long will you all be?" Thane asked breaking the silence that engulfed us.

I narrowed my eyes at him knowing exactly why he asked. "You aren't planning on waiting in the car park for us are you?"

His guilty expression answered my question before he did. "What? No way." He lied in an off tone.

"Mhm, so you weren't planning on be the overbearing and overprotective person that you are?" I asked leaning closer to his face to pressure him into telling me the truth.

He turned his head briefly to look at me and I then realized how close we were, a few inches to be exact. If he decided to move his head any closer we would might as well be kissing.

I promptly moved back from the close proximity, "Eyes on the road!" I yelled at him.

He wiggled his eyebrows at me suggestively before returning his gaze to the road. But strangely enough there wasn't another vehicle in sight on the road.

"Aww! You two are so cute together. Totally meant to be." Bailey said in an adoring tone. Thane just chuckled at her sudden outburst while the tips of my ears turned red.

Thane kept sneaking quick glances at me until he finally answered my pending question. "I was actually planning on waiting in the parking area." He shamefully answered.

"Ahah! I knew it." I called out.

"Alright, alright, you got me, but I'm still waiting on you two."

This made my blood from my face drain. If he stayed, even if he wasn't with us, I had no chances of escaping.

"What? No you can't." I said a bit too briskly.

He narrowed his gaze at me.

"And why not?" He asked in suspicion.

I racked my brain for a viable explanation so he doesn't see through my lies. "Well for starters you promised you were going to give me some space-,"

"And I am." He confirmed.

"Waiting in the same area as us isn't exactly what I call giving me space." I gave him a pointed look. "Plus don't you have work or something to do, you can't possibly tell me you don't have a job."

He warily took my words into consideration, giving it a lot of thought, before he finally but hesitantly agreed, "Fine, but I will call Bailey's phone to check up on you."

Knowing that was my only option I accepted his offer. "Okay," I grumbled.

The rest of the car ride was quiet and when we finally reached the shopping area, I could practically taste freedom.

Bailey got out and I was following suite until Thane gently grabbed my wrist and gained my attention. I looked at him confused because I was moments away from completing step four, arriving at my destination.

He pulled out his wallet from his pocket and handed me a sleek, black credit card. He held out the card to me but I didn't move to take it. I was never the one to accept money from anyone, I even hated asking my parents for cash, and I most definitely hated being treated as someone's charity case.

"This is to purchase whatever you want. Go crazy, there isn't a limit and my bank account is loaded." He shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"That supposed to impress me?" I faintly asked while warily looking at the piece of plastic.

He laughed before replying, "If that puts me in your good books then yes I suppose. But honestly don't worry about anything, buy whatever and how much ever of anything you want." He said shoving the card in my hand.

What was I supposed to say, thank you?

"I can't accept this, it isn't my place and it isn't my money. Plus I'm not some charity case." I grumbled while trying to forcibly give him back the card.

"No Emery, that's not what I meant. Listen, everything that's mine, is yours, okay. You're also my responsibility now which makes this card is yours to spend. It's my job to take care of you, please just accept it. And how else were you planning to go shopping without money." He asked with a sparkle in his eye.

I was speechless. I slipped the card into my pocket while giving him a grateful look. Knowing that this may be the last time I see him, I did the most irrational thing I could think off.

No I didn't jump his bones.

I did however give him a hug. Without thinking twice I leaned over the console in the jeep and wrapped my arms around his neck.

He was taken aback by my sudden contact but as soon as he got his bearings, he wrapped his muscular arms around me in an endearing and comforting embrace.

"Thank you." I whispered into his ear even though I should've been saying 'see you later kidnapper'. I must admit it was a strange experience but it definitely was an unforgettable one.

"Are you okay?" Thane asked giving me a calculating look as I pulled away.

"Yeah I'm fine." I said giving him the best smile I could manage.

He looked at me warily but continued, "I will see you in a few hours. Don't forget to call me when you're done."

With a 'see you later', I was out the vehicle and checking step four off my list.

I knew I couldn't immediately execute step five of my plan or else Bailey would get suspicious so I had to do the one thing that was practically satan's spawn...shopping. I mentally cringed at the thought.

I looked at the quiet street that was lined with little boutiques as Thane's jeep pulled away from the curb and drove off.

There wasn't a single car on the street and it was a bit creepy but oddly peaceful. There wasn't much people either. But it was a strange town.

As we walked into the first store Bailey asked, "So how was sleeping outside on the forest floor?"

I was embarrassed that she knew, "Wait, how did you know? Did Thane tell you?" I was suddenly regretting hugging him.

She laughed at my sudden embarrassment. "No silly, however everyone in the pack knows." She gave me an easy smile to somehow make my mortification a little less harsh. "What were you doing out there anyways?" She asked to take my mind off my dilemma.

Shooting her a guilty smile I said, "I may or may not have insulted Thane."

"He must not have taken that too nicely."

"He sure didn't, he even left me outside alone. What if I had died?" I asked exasperated.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "He didn't leave you alone. He had some of the guys patrolling around the house, they must've been a few feet behind you, plus Thane sat by the window in the living room keeping an eye on you until you fell asleep. I wasn't even sure if he blinked. When you finally fell asleep he rushed out to you and brought you inside."

Her confession was news to me. Suddenly I felt guilty for what I was about to do. I knew I shouldn't be feeling this way, but our hearts played by its own rules.

"He really cares about you, you know." Bailey told me as she took in my silence.

"I'm sure he does." I said being half truthful. "Come on let's get back shopping." I smiled and her face lit up.

We possibly spent around two hours shopping. Bailey picked out most of the things for me while I bought simpler, comfortable clothing. I didn't spend much because one I was frugal and two, I didn't want to spend Thane's money too much if I was running away.

I bought a couple dresses, but mostly jeans and sweaters. Who knew if my plans were going to fall through, right?

After those two hours my feet were incredibly sore and I decided it was time for step five, the last step in completing my task.

I got Bailey to go sit in a cute little cafe and get something to eat as I told her I had to use the restroom.

While she was at the counter checking out the donuts, I slipped Thane's card into one of my shopping bags as I walked away from Bailey's sight.

I slipped out the door without Bailey or the cashier noticing.

I was half walking and running down the street, towards the forested area, knowing I only had a few minutes until Bailey noticed I was missing and called Thane.

I ducked in between two stores as I got out of sight from some of the curious glances of the people who was walking around the street, I breathe in the fresh air. I felt as if a weight was lifted from my shoulders and I can finally breathe again since the ritual. Step five intact.

A huge grin adorned my face as I whispered to myself, "Mission accomplished, hook line and sinker!"

Not knowing which direction to go in I just began to run. Anyway far away from where I was, I figured would be far better.

I finally felt liberated and free again as I exited the little alleyway and saw the forest not too far away.

A/N

Well, well, well.

Looks like Emery finally broke free from Thane and his crazy town.

What do you guys think is going to happen next?

Song: The Lumineers - Stubborn love

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

New characters in the next chapter!

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Read on Wolfies, 🐺

-Shania. 🐾