"I'm sorry Tahra but I can't! I can't right now! Give me three months —No! One is enough. I just need a month," Zane began to speak, only to realize that Tahra wasn't listening and all she wanted to do was pull away from him.
Before they made more sound than they should, Zane had to let her go.
"Trust me Tahra! The pack is not safe for you right now! But I promise—" he began to say only for Tahra to hurriedly cut him off before he could finish.
"ITS NOT SAFE FOR ME BUT ITS OKAY FOR EVERYONE ELSE?" Tara belted out with all the rage she had been heating up inside her.
Zane understood how she felt but she also didn't know how to explain it.
He had done some preliminary investigation and indeed found out that the dead men were linked to Tahra's family.
If he allowed her to go back to the pack, without a legitimate partner, Park rules demanded that she go back home to her family and even he as Alpha would not be able to go against her family.
'How do I tell her that her father is a killer and he might actually harm her too!' Zane thought to himself knowing that as much as Tahra disliked her family, she still considered them to be family.
Which was why Zane could only still to the lake excuse he had.
"The killer of those men is around—" he began but Tahra had already had enough.
To make matters worse, the long silence after she had asked her question was enough for Tahra to realize that Zane was simply cooking up excuses to feed her.
"That's enough! LEAVE! I want you to leave and never come back!" Tara yelled at him not caring the least bit about the amount of noise she made.
Deep in her heart she even hoped that some border patrol personnel would come their way, which was bound to make Zane leave even faster.
"Tahra, please! I just need a little time and—"
"I don't have a little time! You saw how I was almost harassed before you came!" Tahra snapped at him, especially since they were the reasons why she had begged him to remove her banishment that way they wouldn't see her as disposable.
"They wouldn't dare touch you again! I'll send messages to Ahrse and also get someone within his pack to—"
But Tahra had heard enough and was no longer in the mood to listen to Zane's words.
Brewing with anger, Tahra stepped closer to him and raised her hand to hit him right on the cheek. Beyond shocked to feel her palm against his cheek, convinced that it was something Zane would have been able to easily avoid.
Zane had seen it coming but decided at the last minute not to avoid it, only to regret his actions the second he felt a slight against his cheek.
Realizing that it hurt more because of who had done it.
"I—I'm sorry!" Tahra hurriedly apologized feeling extremely guilty at what she had done, as she saw the deep hurt in Zane's eyes.
Without a word, Zane turned around and hopped over the fence heading back to the car he had packed as quickly as he could.
He had just gotten in when he sighed leaning his head against the steering.
All his troubles began when he realized that even without the connection the mate bond gave them, he was still thoroughly and completely in love with Tahra.
"I should never have rejected her!" he sighed to himself realizing that getting her back appeared to be next to impossible.
Tahra was stunned at Zane's disappearance and left feeling guilty about what she did.
But regardless of what she felt, there was no way for her to chase after him to apologize.
'It'll be better if he never comes here again!' Tahra thought to herself as she returned to the position by the wall where she had been sitting.
Picking up her discarded lunch about to finish it only to toss it away again in anger.
Her eyes brimming with tears as she realized just how truly alone she was in the entire pack she was in, with no one to talk to.
At first, she had wanted Zane gone but now that he had indeed left, she realized that his presence had actually somehow made her safe.
Even if the words coming out of his mouth were lies, the fact that he had made the journey to see her, made her feel like she wasn't all alone.
For the rest of her shift, Tahra simply ducked her head between her thighs and wept in a low tone.
By the time she was done, her shift was also over and she immediately got on her feet after wiping every trace of tears from her face.
The last thing she wanted was for Gavni to see her in such a miserable state.
Picking up the discarded lunch bag, Tahra walked quickly heading straight to Gavni's post near the gate to report every bit of what had happened between her and Munak.
Spilling every single detail of what had happened to him the second he let her in. Only to be completely shocked to hear his response.
"Let's say I do believe you, where's the proof that they harassed you?"
"Ar-Are you saying I need to get harrassed first before you can give a report?" Tara asked with a clear gasp, one she couldn't even try to hide.
"I'm not saying that! I'm saying if you start making trouble, things will only get worse for you. Munak, Harry, and John are well-liked in the clan. It doesn't help that John, one of the people you accused has a mate!"
"So! What does that have to do with anything?" Tahra incredulously asked back only to get another vague response from Gavni one that made it clear that he wouldn't be making the report.
Pissed! Tahra had no choice but to leave, making her way home in less time than it would have usually taken her.
She had just closed the door of her apartment behind her and fallen onto her couch when a sudden and unexpected thought popped into her head one she found hard to discard.
Especially since the more she tried the more elaborately she thought about it.
'What if I become a rogue Wolf?' Tara asked herself, realizing that although she was weak that didn't mean she wouldn't be good at hiding.
Moreover, she was insignificant and no one would care.
Yet, the main reason she stopped herself from doing it just the very moment it popped into her head, was the consequences.
DEATH.
'If I get caught, they'll immediately kill me! No questions asked'