Just a Rogue

Dominic

“After THIS do you think we get to be alone together?” I mind-link Amelia, as we are leading the rogue females back to the command center. “I mean, I think we’ve earned a little private time!” It’s all I want.

“I sure hope so,” she thinks back to me, and an image of her languidly licking down my torso starts coming through, and I’m not sure it is so much deliberate as day-dreaming, and… sproing!

She steps through the conference room door before me, then turns around to usher in the ladies while I move forward to get out of the way. Motion captures my eye, and I look over to see Theo surging to his feet so fast that he practically knocks his chair over, and everyone stares at him as he starts stomping straight past me, towards the door where Amelia is standing.

Deja vu, man. I see that hungry, determined look on his face, and it is the exact same expression that Alpha Kanen had the night of the Solstice Ball, when he was rushing towards Janine and I thought he was headed for Amelia. I know that look. I’ve felt that look. Theo is on a mate hunt.

At least this time I know it’s not Amelia. She’s mine, I will never have any doubts about that again. But who is Theo after? I spin around to watch, and see him brush past Amelia and the two girls who have been holding hands, and come up to Ruby, the rogue who submitted to me at the trailhead.

And sure enough, he growls, “Mate!” to her, and grabs her.

“Mate!” she gasps back to him, and in less than one second they are wrapped around each other like a couple of boa constrictors and they are frantically sucking face, obviously having completely forgotten there is anybody else at all in the room.

There is a shocked silence as every single one of us stares at this with mouths hanging open.

After about a minute of them grabbing each other everywhere in very socially unacceptable ways, they start staggering out of the room together, clearly intent on rushing off to Theo’s room and immediately boinking each other’s brains out.

Uh, wow.

Beta Malcolm has the presence of mind to grab Theo’s cane and thrust it into his hand before he can get too far, probably doing him a favor so that he doesn’t hurt himself getting out of the room. Theo barely grunts out an acknowledgement before he and Ruby are moving forward together, the cane in one hand, and the rest a tangle of arms and legs as they depart.

There is about another thirty seconds of absolutely flabbergasted silence, which is finally broken by Luna Darlene. “Um,” she inquires, “what do you guys have in the water here at River Moon?”

And that does it. We are all hysterically laughing. Because she’s right. Kanen and Janine, me and Amelia, and now Theo and Ruby. Mates are finding each other left and right around here.

Amelia is laughing in my mind. “Well, if THAT’s the way it’s done,” she points out, “no wonder everyone was so surprised about us waiting!”

I grin over at her, and can’t resist grabbing her and treating her to a little bit of mate bond herself.

After a few minutes Alpha Kanen says, “Well, on that note, let’s take care of a few things and then everyone deserves a break. Have a seat, everybody.”

The rogue females, the ones who are left, sit down, wide-eyed, probably thinking that we are all actually crazy. Corinne has Evan on one side and on the other is the young she-wolf, the one who just looks like a little girl.

When everyone is sitting and quiet, Kanen says, “I want to summarize the situation for everyone, because there were a lot of moving parts today, so it’s possible that you all don’t know the outcome of each part. First, we have eight male rogues downstairs in the jail cells, where they are well-secured and can wait until we decide what to do with them.”

I see the girls looking at each other, probably wondering about the other two.

“The two male rogues who aren’t there are Xavier and Seth,” Kanen goes on, looking over at Corinne. “I want you to know that at this point, they both survived the fall over the cliff, and are being treated at the hospital.”

Corinne gasps and covers her mouth, and I can tell she is totally shocked. Honestly, so am I. I was sure Xavier was dead meat, and that Seth wasn’t far behind.

Kanen continues, “Alpha Ross and a security team are at the hospital to guard the prisoners while they undergo treatment. It isn’t clear what the prognosis is, but apparently they were both critically injured. We’ll keep everyone updated.”

The little girl, Nova, whispers, “What about Grace?”

Kanen answers her question. “We haven’t been able to locate the woman who fell off the cliff. We have to assume that the current took her out to sea. There is a strong undertow in that area. I’m sorry, but we don’t expect that she survived.”

A tear slips down Nova’s cheek, and Corinne keeps an arm wrapped around her.

Janine speaks up. “I’m sure you’re wondering what is going to happen next. There will be a tribunal to judge the crimes of the male rogues. For the female rogues, since you submitted, and since it appears you were being held captive, we don’t expect you to face trial. I will level with you, though, there will be an investigation to determine whether you will be allowed to remain in pack territory. Pending that, you can stay here. River Moon has some housing available in Arcata that you might want to move to on a more permanent basis, but for now, you are welcome to stay in the packhouse. There are some rooms available downstairs, Amelia can get you all set up.” She meets Amelia’s eyes. “Same rules as before, they can either be inside their secure rooms, or they can be with any pack member.”

Amelia nods. It makes sense. The packs are generous and kind, but not incautious. Trust will have to be earned.

Darlene says, “I believe that Dark Woods will be returning home in a day or two. We’ll continue working on our alliance, and we’ll coordinate with River Moon on the tribunal and the investigations, but we’ve been gone for two weeks now. It’s time we get home.”

Amelia looks into my eyes. It’s time for us to make some decisions. What happens next? She needs to meet my parents. And we need to settle on where we are going to end up living. Here? Dark Woods? I feel like I’ll be happy to do whatever she wants. I really wouldn’t mind staying out here, I’ve grown to appreciate this area, its beauty, its beaches. I like it here.

“Now,” Kanen says, “you’re all dismissed. Have dinner, rest, talk. We’ve had a long couple of days, nothing else needs to be done for now.”

Evan

Now that the drama is over, I know that we are going to have to settle in, make some decisions, try to figure out what happens next. If Dark Woods is going home in a couple of days, I suppose I’ll be expected to go too, but my priorities have changed. Whatever I do is going to have to include Corinne.

Corinne’s friends are here with her, and they were always her priority. I know that whatever she decides, it is going to include them.

Will it include me? That’s all I want, but I can only hope. I know one thing, though. I never want to see her locked away in a room by herself again. I ask her, quietly, “Are you hungry? Tired? Do you want to take a rest before dinner? Need to use the bathroom or take a shower or anything?”

Her gray eyes meet mine, and she looks perplexed for a minute, like it hadn’t occurred to her that she could start tending to her own needs now. “Um…” she dithers, unable to decide what she wants.

“I hope that whatever you want to do,” I continue, “you’ll stay with me in my room for now? I mean, unless you don’t want…” I sound like an idiot, and I don’t want to be making demands or imposing myself on her, and I suddenly feel incredibly insecure.

But those gray eyes fill with an emotion that I can’t identify, something accepting, welcoming, and she whispers, “I’d love to stay with you.”

Phew. I think I actually sigh out loud with relief.

Amelia, always practical and considerate, tells the other she-wolves, “Let me show you your rooms, you can freshen up and get settled in a little before dinner, okay?”

Lynette and Nova look at each other, clearly baffled about everything that is happening, but all I really care about, all I can think of, is that Corinne says she’d love to stay with me.

It’s all I want.

Lynette

Nova is safe.

That’s been my goal for so long, for her to be safe. It’s all I want. It’s the reason I didn’t shift while she was handcuffed to me, the reason I didn’t kill myself long ago, the reason I didn’t try to run away and drag her with me. It would have harmed her, and I couldn’t bear that.

Nova is such a unique girl, so sweet, so compliant, with a warm light shimmering within her. I always knew that she was special, but now that I have seen her wolf, I think she is even more special than I ever realized.

Did Xavier know? Or was he just afraid of her size? I suppose it is still possible to figure out what he was thinking. The bastard managed to live through falling off a cliff with a silver collar locked around his throat. It figures he’d be too fucking stubborn to just die.

What’s going to happen now? An investigation, apparently, to determine whether we’ll be allowed to stay in pack territory. Well, they won’t have to dig very deep to find out that they probably won’t want me to stay. Most of the female rogues I have ever known got that way by running away from abusive situations. Not me, if they ask me I’ll admit that I earned my rogue status by breaking pack law. So I know I’ll continue being a rogue, but this time I’m going to try to make it on my own. I’ll never trust another male as long as I live.

I won’t go yet, though. I want to make sure that Nova is settled in with the pack. They’re going to let her stay, obviously, and I can see that they are good people and will take good care of her. They’re not the kind of pack who will just indiscriminately kill people, or enslave them. She’s still a kid, who knows, maybe someone will adopt her or something. She deserves a good life, and I’d like to know before I leave that she has it.

Amelia and Dom take us downstairs. “Corinne was staying in one of these rooms before she went back to the cave,” she tells us. “There’s plenty down here, so you can each have your own room. Might be nice to have some privacy.”

But Nova’s forehead wrinkles, and she won’t let go of my hand, and she looks at me like she’s afraid of being alone. “Could we, uh, share a room?” I ask Amelia.

Her expression is filled with so much understanding and kindness. Dang, if anyone in my pack had been this nice, maybe I would have been more content while I was there. “Of course,” she says, and moves down a couple of rooms. She opens a door. “This one is a little bigger, and it has two beds. Still only one bathroom, though, I hope that’s okay?”

I snort out a little laugh. We’ve been squatting in bushes or at the back of the cave this whole time. “One bathroom is fine,” I say.

She nods, and brings us in to show us around. It’s super cushy in here, there’s even some clean clothes we can use in the dresser, and the bathroom is fully equipped, shampoo and toothbrushes and everything.

I feel like I’m on a different planet than the one I woke up on this morning.

“How about I come back by in an hour,” she suggests, “so you can rest or clean up or whatever you want, then we can all go to dinner together? I’ll bet Corinne and Evan will join us too.”

“What about Ruby?” Nova asks.

Dominic laughs. “I’d be willing to bet she and Theo will be too busy for dinner.”

Amelia

We drop Lynette and Nova off in one of the rooms down the hall. I’m not really surprised that they want to share a room. I think it would seem a little scary to be alone in a strange place like this. I hope they enjoy the shower and stuff. Living in a cave must be so uncomfortable.

As soon as the door closes and locks behind them, Dom leans in close to me and whispers, “We have an hour?”

I look up at him and smile. “I have nothing at all on my agenda for the next hour,” I tell him mischievously, inviting him to do exactly what he does next.

He grabs my hand and starts bustling me down the hallway to the last room, opens the door and pushes me onto the bed. “Time for a quickie!” he says, leering at me hilariously.

It’s funny, yes, but things always get very serious with us, very quickly. He is suddenly intense, urgent, rushed, almost frantic to get inside of me. The mate bond only enhances my own feelings. He’s all I want. I smell his delicious beach and cocoa scent, I feel his presence tingling throughout me, his lust is rushing through my own mind, overwhelming me. I am grabbing him as violently as he is grabbing me, and I barely get my pants down to my knees before he is unzipping and pulling his hard dick out, flinging me onto my stomach, and plunging into me from behind.

Oh god this is so good.

“I love you,” we both gasp together, and come together.