Too Late Alpha The Mate He Never Wanted (Iris and Eric) novel Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Iris’s POV

The moment we passed the guards and I couldn’t feel their eyes on my back, I finally released the breath I had been holding. My heart was still pounding as we walked even further away.

Jasmine walked with me till she reached the edge. I could see the worry written all over her face. When she finally stopped, I stopped too.

“This is as far as I can take you,” she whispered. Her voice was steady, but her eyes were flooded with several emotions. I could see fear, worry, regret, but there was another emotion that I couldn’t quite read. Jasmine was holding back something. I shook my head. I was probably just seeing things.

I nodded. “I’ll be fine,” I said, but the words sounded unconvincing, even to me.

Jasmine reached for my hand briefly, squeezing it. “I mean it, Iris. Be careful.”

I forced a smile. “I’ll try my best.”

Her lips parted like she wanted to say something else, but she stopped herself. She simply gave me one last nod before turning back toward the packhouse. I stood there, watching her until she disappeared into the woods.

And just like that, I was alone.

My chest ached slightly, and I frowned. I had wanted this, hadn’t I? Freedom. A chance to leave and never look back, so that I could start afresh somewhere else. So why did it suddenly feel like I was making a mistake?

I swallowed hard, pulling my bag closer to my body, then I pulled out the map I had been using before.

I stopped under a tree and pulled it out, my hands trembling slightly as I unfolded it. The paper was squeezed, because it had gone through a lot these past few days.

My eyes scanned the map carefully, trying to trace my steps.

But my heart stuttered when I realized something strange.

The Blood Moon Pack wasn’t on it.

I blinked rapidly, thinking I had missed something. I turned the map sideways, and even upside down, tracing everything, desperate to find what I might have overlooked. But no matter how long I stared, it wasn’t there. The forests I stood in now weren’t marked anywhere on Eric’s map

Eric’s map didn’t have Rowan’s pack marked on it like the others packs.

My breath caught. How had I not noticed this before?

Confusion washed through me. I had talked about leaving for so long, but I hadn’t actually… planned. I thought I had been ready, but standing here now, staring at the map, I realized I had no direction. I was walking blindly into the forest by myself.

I released a frustrated sigh, running my hand through my hair.

My mind flashed back to a memory of Eric. I remembered him speaking with his Beta in his office. They had

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talked about the Blood Moon Pack. Its location was so well-guarded that they couldn’t even mark it on the map. At the time, Thadn’t cared enough to listen closely, but now it finally made sense.

Maybe I should have accepted the guard’s help. Maybe Jasmine should have come further. Maybe Rowan- No.

I cut the thought off before it could fully form. No. I shook my head sharply. I couldn’t think of him right now.

I folded the map back up and shoved it into my bag. Maybe if I walked long enough, I would find a part that matched something on the map. Then I could figure out where I was, and how I could move forward.

I kept walking, enjoying the cool night air, when suddenly, a tingle ran through me.

I slowed down, then I glanced around. Something in the air had shifted. The forest was too silent now.

A prickle ran down the back of my neck, and my stomach tightened.

I stopped walking, my body tensed instinctively.

A weird feeling crept over me slowly. Someone was watching me.

I turned sharply, scanning the darkness. My heart pounded in my ears. Nothing moved, but I swore I could see the faintest flicker of eyes between the trees.

I swallowed hard. “It’s just nerves,” I whispered to myself. “Just nerves.”

But I didn’t believe it.

I forced my feet to move quicker this time. Every few moments, I glanced over my shoulder, but there was nothing there. There were no footsteps behind me, no sound of branches breaking.

Yet, the feeling didn’t leave.

Instead, it grew stronger.

I picked up my pace, almost jogging. My breaths came faster, and my heart pounded as sweat ran down the back of my neck, even with the cold air.

‘Keep moving. Just keep moving.’ I thought to myself.

I tried to focus on that single thought, as I also tried to believe that if I kept walking, I would eventually find a familiar road, or town, something that would connect me back to the map.

Suddenly, a twig snapped from behind me.

My heart stuttered.

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