#9 The Lonely Rogue

Caspian

Just as I began to feel breathless and dizzy, she pulled away, her face bright red and her breathing heavy. I tucked her hair behind her ear, removing it from her face, and stayed silent as she caught her breath.

Cole was pecking at the back of my mind, trying to mindlink me. I guess Jett reached out to him and asked him to come help so I wouldn’t have to. I finally let him in just for a moment, giving him short instructions to come to the restaurant with help to clean up.

“Junie?” I whispered and she smiled at the sound of my voice.

“Caspian.” She said my name for the third time; each time was like the first, new, exciting, and full of hope for our future.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since the first day I met you. Clearly you’re braver than I am.” I teased her and her face lit up.

“I couldn’t help myself.” She smirked, biting her lip.

“Oh please, help yourself to me anytime you’d like.” I said, pecking her lips quickly as she giggled.

“We have quite the mess to clean up.” She sighed, looking around the restaurant.

“Cole is gathering up some men to come help. They’ll be here soon.” I said.

“Do you know who they were?” She asked.

“Outside there was a woman who I saw meeting with your brother a few weeks ago. She said she was coming for you.” I confessed. I didn’t want to tell her anything about this, I wanted to keep her in the dark, but I knew that would only piss her off more.

“Oh, lovely.” She grumbled in frustration, dropping her hands from my face. I snatched up one of her hands as we walked around the restaurant to assess the damages.

“They said your family owed the rogues a blood oath since before you were born.” I said.

“I have no idea what a blood oath even is.” She replied.

“It’s when someone makes a deal, an agreement, or pledges an allegiance in blood. It damns not only them, but everyone in their bloodline to the same fate, unless they are released from the oath. It takes a very powerful witch and isn’t done lightly, not to mention how rare knowledge of the procedure is.” I explained.

“It must’ve been my grandfather. He was the first to go rogue and it wasn’t just by accident or lack of choices. He was a radical, a zealot. He went rogue because he hated the pack’s allegiance to your grandparents, to the royals. He always upheld the ideals of the Council as do my father and brother.” Junie sounded disgusted as she spoke of her family.

“Your father and Reid are still in prison at Cypress. We’ll integrate them about this blood oath.” I said.

“Reid probably won’t know anything, just my father.” Junie said, glancing sideways at me.

“I’ll call Alpha Avery immediately and let him know. I’ll visit myself as soon as I can, as well.” I replied, watching her carefully as she picked through the carnage.

“I don’t understand what they want with me. I’ve never been involved with any of this.” She sighed, seeming to be speaking mostly to herself.

“She didn’t seem to know that you were my mate or that Reid and Corbin were imprisoned. Maybe the rogues thought they went dark and were going to use you as bait.” I suggested.

“Who did you say you spoke to?” She asked me.

“Her name is Brittney.” I said. She paused and eyed me curiously,

“I’ve never heard of her. I’ve only ever met three rogues, they came to the house a few times one year when I was just a girl; maybe twelve or thirteen. It was right around the time Reid really started getting involved in everything. It all seemed very initiation-like, I mostly just remember that it creeped me out.” She mumbled.

“Do you remember anything about the rogues who came to your house?” I asked.

“I remember that they didn’t seem like rogues. They smelt like them, but they didn’t speak like rogues. They were much more sophisticated and well read than the rogues I’ve met before. They were all men, I remember that they seemed like three generations; a grandfather, father, and a son. The youngest man was named Miles and the older one was…..Benedict, I think or maybe Benjamin? Something like that. The oldest was named Cohen.” She said, kicking a broken chair across the room.

I felt my face completely drain of color, blood freezing in my veins. I gulped and shoved my shaking hands deep inside my pocket.

“Cohen. Are you sure?” I asked, struggling to keep my voice even. I must not have done a very good job, because Junie paused in her investigation to eye me curiously.

“Positive. I remember it because it was such a strange name.” She said,

I turned my back to her and walked away, pacing through the restaurant. I was so lost in thought I didn’t even notice that Junie had followed after me until her hand was resting on my back.

“What’s wrong, Caspian?” Her face was filled with worry as she walked in front of me.

“Cohen was the name of the rogue who murdered Sabrina and our baby.” I replied in a tight voice.

Junie’s eyes went wide and she gasped, a far off expression clouded her face before she focused on me again. She reached out towards me and I accepted her embrace, holding her tightly in my arms.

“What does this mean?” She asked in a quiet voice.

“I don’t know. Back then, he claimed to be the leader of a rogue faction in the realm. We didn’t even know we had any rogues inside the realm until then. I discharged a legion to go after him and his so-called army of rogues. It turned out to be only a small group of them who our warriors easily destroyed. Cohen was nowhere to be found. His trail went cold.” I explained in a robotic voice.

“It all seems too much like a coincidence.” Junie said, but I was hardly listening.

Cole came in then with about ten wolves from the realm to clean up the restaurant. I was thankful for the distraction. Junie seemed to sense that I needed a break, busying herself with helping out Cole and the others while I stood silently in the parking lot, thinking.

About an hour or maybe more passed by before Junie came out of the restaurant.

“Everything is cleaned up and Cole is working on a story for the humans.” Junie said, hesitantly touching my arm. I relaxed under her grip and pulled her close to me.

“I have to ask something of you, Junie, and you might not like it.” I said in a pained voice.

“What is it?” She asked.

“I want you to come to the realm with me tonight. I don’t know what’s going on with Brittney and her rogues, and the idea that Cohen might be involved has me on edge. I can’t stand the idea of being away from you. I’d stay here with you, but I need to go home in order to investigate all of this.” I realized that I was begging and I didn’t really care. Junie smiled softly and let out a deep breath,

“Of course I’ll come with you.” She said and I blinked in actual shock.

“You will?”

“I can be reasonable, Caspian.” She scoffed playfully, “Just so long as Viv isn’t left alone.” She added.

“Whatever you want, dearest. She can come, too, or I can leave Jett with her and your guards.” I rambled.

“It’s up to her.” She shrugged.

“I’ll mindlink Jett.” I said and she nodded.

“I guess I get to meet your mother and grandmother sooner rather than later, huh?” She said with a sparkle in her warm hazel eyes.

“I guess so.” I cupped her face and kissed her again, beyond thrilled that I get to have this woman in my arms, “I’m so grateful for you, Junie. I don’t know what I would do without you. I was such a fool for trying to push you away and I’m so, so sorry for that.” I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead against hers.

Junie’s hand gripped the back of my neck, her fingertips soothingly rubbing against my skin.

“I love you, Caspian.” Her voice was so quiet I almost didn’t catch it at first. Had it not been for my wolf hearing, I probably wouldn’t have. I didn’t dare pull away, I kept her close to me, kept the moment between us.

“I love you, Junie.”

It felt as if my heart was going to beat out of my chest as overwhelming and nameless emotions consumed me. I had no words for the way I felt and love seemed like too small a word, but nothing compared to the fact that Junie said it first. She broke through my walls, she tore down my barriers, and she promised me eternity by just giving me her. Her lips, her love, her words, her touch, her kindness, her compassion. All of it was exactly what my soul needed.

And, by the Goddess, I wasn’t going to let a single hair on her head get harmed. She was mine and I’ll be damned if I ever took that for granted again.

Vivian decided that she had enough excitement for one day and would stay behind with Jett, Simon, and Jake. I drove Junie and Cole to the portal while the others stayed behind to finish cleaning up the restaurant. As we approached the portal, I watched Junie’s face curiously. This was the first time she’s seen a portal, let alone traveled by one. Her eyes were wide as she leaned forward in her seat to look out the window.

“I didn’t expect it to be so…..pretty.” She whispered as the car came to a stop alongside the curb.

“You might feel a little dizzy after going through the portal.” I warned her as she walked around the front of the car to stand beside me.

“He’s being modest. You’ll wanna vomit afterwards.” Cole said without pity, walking towards the portal. I grumbled at him, but Junie didn’t seem to notice; her focus was entirely on the portal.

“We’ll go through together.” I said and she finally looked up at me with a nervous smile.

“Okay.” She was clinging to my hand.

“It’s safe, I promise.” I assured her, leaning down to softly kiss her forehead.

“I know, I trust you.” She shrugged so casually that it took me a minute to recover.

Just a little over a month ago, this tiny little she-wolf hated the sight of me. She never would have leaned into my touch, smiled up at me, and gave me her unwavering faith.

“You two really went from zero to one-hundred.” Cole made a gagging noise as he looked at us, “I’m going through the portal now to avoid throwing up.” He chuckled at his own joke as he slipped into the portal.

“You ready?” I asked Junie and she nodded. Her expression didn’t look ready at all, but she steadied her trembling hands and straightened her back as she mocked confidence.

Gently, I pulled her into the swirling void.