#9 The Lonely Rogue

Caspian

I couldn’t believe that I let my idiot Gamma, Cole, talk me into going out tonight. He was good friends with the local packs Gamma and Beta, and I was old friends with the Alpha. Cole Valentine was the exact opposite of me and Jett. He was a wild, smartass playboy who thought he was way funnier than he was. He was the grandson of one of the original members of the royal guard, a descendant from an old Alpha bloodline. He was an elite fighter and smart as a whip. He was good in a crisis and I trusted him with the Queen Luna’s life.

I denied him the opportunity to protect his Queen Luna and now I was denying him the chance to be Gamma at all by refusing to take another mate. Despite the fact that he put me in a bad mood, I owed him.

So, that’s how I found myself stepping out of a portal into the human realm, entering into a city in South Carolina. Jett begrudgingly agreed to come along, not having much of a choice seeing as he was my bodyguard.

“Where the hell are we going?” I grumbled as a limo pulled up to the curb.

“Some bar Alpha Avery likes in the french quarter.” Jett said, opening the door for me.

“Cole, I swear to the Goddess….” I started to threaten him but he wasn’t having it, laughing as he climbed into the limo himself.

“You’ll be fine.” He popped open a bottle of champagne that was waiting for us on ice, “Have a glass.” He handed over a long stem glass.

“Why do you listen to this idiot?” Jett mumbled.

“Because he secretly craves this little thing called fun. Maybe you’ve heard of it?” Cole mocked Jett, offering him his own glass which Jett refused.

“Shut up, Cole.” I growled and we rode the rest of the way to the bar in silence.

We pulled up in front of a bar with a blinking neon sign, the Lion’s Den. Classy. We filed out of the limo and walked right past the line. Cole nodded at the bouncer who reeked of werewolf, he must’ve been a part of Alpha Avery’s pack. We strolled inside and started up the steps, Cole and Jett taking the lead. Halfway up the steps, a scent slammed into me like a freight train.

The alluring scent of strawberries and fresh flowers flooded all of my senses. My eyes glazed over and a soft growl involuntarily left my chest. My wolf howled in my head.

“Mate!” Jess yipped.

“No, we don’t deserve a second chance mate.” I argued, feeling nothing but dread.

“The Moon Goddess disagrees. She gave us one. Look at her.” Jess demanded.

I lifted my head and looked around in front of me. Coming towards the steps was the tiniest woman I had ever seen. She had to be 5 feet or less, her hair wider than she was tall. It was a mop of curls the color of warm carmel, bouncing around her shoulders. Her skin was as soft and warm looking as her hair. Despite her height, her legs were long and delicious, covered in sexy black tights.

Before I knew it, she was heading in my direction, her curvy hips sashaying as she walked down the steps. I couldn’t help but notice how her breasts bounced, peeking out from the deep v-neck of her shirt.

Suddenly, she was falling. Her heel having caught in one of the steps, she stumbled and started falling towards me. I reached out my arms, instinctively catching her. The second her hands were on my arms, even though the fabric of my suit, I could feel the sparks. My body came to life under her touch. It felt like I had swallowed a white hot branding iron, my throat was burning and my stomach was on fire.

She gasped and looked up at me through her long, dark eyelashes, revealing two warm orbs of honey. Her luscious lips parted in shock as she studied my face. Jess puffed out his chest in my mind as she watched us. She said something, but I couldn’t focus on her words, just the sound of her voice. Heat built up in my chest.

Before I knew it, she was turning away from me and all I could think about was how I couldn’t let her go. I reached out and grabbed her arm.

Don’t go, stay with me, is what I wanted to stay. Instead, I said,

“Who are you?” She blinked at me in shock. Okay, that may have come out harsher that I intended.

“The manager.” She replied smartly. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her disobedience.

“I mean your name.” I argued. This really seemed to set her off.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” She dared to snarl at me, ripping her arm from my hand.

Of course, if I was any kind of intelligent, I would have noticed the gleaming gold name tag glaring at me from her chest. To say I was distracted would be putting it mildly.

I was just put off enough by her attitude to let her get away. She practically ran towards the bar, but my eyes never left her small form. Even when she turned back and leveled me with a glare, I still refused to look away. I didn’t understand, could she not feel the bond? Was she not a werewolf?

No, my senses told me with certainty that she was a werewolf. A low-ranked one, but a wolf for sure. I was so focused on her scent as my mate, that I neglected to sniff out which pack she was from. With her eyes focused on me, her eyes widened and I saw her mouth form a single word: mate.

“You okay, Caspian?” Jett asked, drawing my attention away from my mate.

“Yes.” I grunted, continuing up the stairs and joining them at a booth in the back of the bar.

“Alpha King, your grace, welcome.” Alpha Avery grinned at me from the booth, motioning for me to sit down. His Beta, Conrad, and Gamma, Shaw, were also there.

“Thank you for the invitation, Avery.” I said. Avery slid a wine glass across the table and filled it up with something expensive looking.

“Sure thing, your highness. It’s been a long time.” Avery said.

“Yes, it has. Long enough that you’ve forgotten my name, it seems.” I smirked at him, sipping at the wine. Avery grinned widely,

“Not at all, Cas,” He chuckled, “You remember Conny and Shaw?” He motioned towards the Beta and Gamma.

“Cole has a lot to say about you two.” I said and they immediately started laughing.

“That can’t be good.” Conny snorted.

“Did you find the most expensive bottle in this place, Avery?” I picked up the wine bottle, observing the label.

“Actually, yes.” Avery shrugged shamelessly.

“You come here often?” I asked and Avery nodded,

“A bit, yeah.” He replied. I nodded my head towards the bar,

“Do you know that one there, with the big hair?” I casually asked about the she-wolf who was, supposedly, my second chance mate.

“I think she’s one of the managers. She’s actually the one who gave us the most expensive bottle here.” Avery quoted me in a mocking tone.

“Perhaps she has a name?” I inquired, ignoring his joke.

“I’m sure she does, but I don’t know it.” Avery replied. Jett and Cole cocked an eyebrow at me in question but I just shook my head, silencing them.

“I have some bourbon, too.” Avery changed the subject, sensing the growing tension.

“Also expensive?” I laughed shortly.

“Only the best, your grace.” He said my title in a teasing voice this time.

We carried on for a bit, finishing off the bottle of bourbon and wine before ordering a round of beers. With the ranked members of the Cypress pack, were two gorgeous she-wolves who were brought along for entertainment. Shaw was the only one here with a mate, but you wouldn’t know it by the way he was acting. His disrespect for the matebond was off putting, to say the least.

“Avery, I want to dance.” One of the ladies whined, turning her lips into an unattractive pout.

“I’ll accompany you, baby.” Conny stood up from the booth and held his hand out. The blonde scoots across the bench and shimmies around the table, tugging her ridiculously short minidress down her thighs in the process.

“How about you?” Cole winked at the burnette.

“Are you offering?” The burnette smiled sweetly.

“Yes, ma’am, I am.” Cole jumped up and motioned for the burnette to follow him.

“I’m not a ma’am.” The girl rubbed up against Cole as she exited the booth, trailing her hand across his chest.

“Oi vey.” Cole mumbled, making a face as the girl walked past him.

“Man whores.” Jett huffed.

“Oh, let them have their fun.” Avery shrugged, “It’s harmless.”

“Not for their mates.” Jett argued.

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those love sick puppy types.” Avery laughed. His eyes connected with mine and his face immediately went white, “Oh, Alpha, I’m sorry….” He stammered.

Jett glared at Avery but I simply ignored him, standing up and walking away from the table. So many young wolves these days didn’t give enough credit to the mate bond, they took it for granted. Hell, I might have too if I didn’t know better. A second chance mate, though? I wasn’t worthy of that.

I leaned against the railing and easily found the curly haired woman in the crowd. It was like my eyes were trained to find her, my body already attuned to hers. She was moving swiftly, elegantly through the crowd. She commanded the room, despite her petite frame and quiet voice, she was obviously in charge. She collected a bunch of dirty glasses and piled them up on her tray. Suddenly, she froze while walking across the floor and turned her head, catching my gaze. She raised her eyebrow at me and smirked.

Then, a rowdy man crashed into her, spilling the tray and its contents all over the floor. The glasses shattered loudly at her feet. She gasped audibly, her head snapping towards the man who ran into her. I easily heard their conversation from here.

“My apologies….” She started to stay, but the man wasn’t in the mood to listen.

“What the hell? Watch where you’re going, slut.” He shouted, jumping back like something had spelt on him. All of the glasses were empty, he wasn’t even cut.

“Now, that’s not necessary.” She frowned.

Keeping my eyes glued to her, I walked across the loft and down the steps. My legs moved on their own, Jess compeling me forward. He urged me to come to his mate’s aid. I lost her behind the bodies forming around their exchange for a moment. By the time they came back into view, the man had his hand wrapped around her arm and was aggressively shaking her.

“Let go of me!” Her tiny voice growled.

I saw the bouncers moving towards them, but I was faster. I grabbed the man by his shoulder, ripping him off the ground and flipping him through the air. He landed abruptly on his ass. My mate’s voice caught in her throat as she stumbled backwards. I turned my back on her, positioning myself between the man and my mate.

“You were just leaving, weren’t you?” I snarled at the man.

He climbed to his feet and leveled me with a glare. I towered over the human male by more than a foot, but he was too inebriated to notice how unmatched he was. Instead, he lunged towards me, swinging his fists in my face. His throws were wild and easily avoidable.

I slammed my fist into his face, once. That’s all it took to knock him unconscious. Finally, two of the bouncers swaggered over and hauled the drunken idiot out of the bar. I turned to face my curly haired mate.

“Are you okay?” I said, angrier then I meant to. She blinked, looking offended.

“Fine.” She snapped.

“Way to go, idiot. Off to a great start.” Jess snarled at me.

“Your arm looks bruised.” I observed, my attempts to soften my voice were completely failing. She looked down to inspect herself, a deep purple ring was already forming around her upper arm. She crossed her arms and rubbed them like she was cold.

“It’ll heal.” She shrugged, giving me a suggestive look.

Well, here goes the idea that she didn’t know she was a werewolf and that’s why she wasn’t reacting very strongly towards me, I thought to myself.

She sighed loudly at my silent staring,

“Should we go to my office?” She said,

I nodded and followed after her. She weaved through the crowd and behind the bar. Once down the hall, the noise from the DJ was muddled. She unlocked a door and motioned for me to follow her inside.