Page 18 of Rogue Games

Will it be one of the other alphas who doesn’t like the idea of having a former rogue as a colleague? Or will it be someone within my own pack who’s barely able to cope with the influx of respectable, vetted guests from other packs, let alone two unknown rogues.

Not that it matters what people say. My decision is final. Whatever the consequences, I’m not changing my mind.

Letting them in was the right thing to do.

I hope it’s not my own pack that objects, but welcoming Wyatt and Jamie into our inner sanctum might be a step too far for some of my older wolves. They’re only starting to trust me after decades under my tyrannical father.

MAYA: What’s going on?

My sister can sense my unease and will have seen me slipping outside. Losing her smell after a vicious attack from my father meant her other senses have become even stronger to compensate. She hears everything, and right now, my slightly elevated heart rate is giving me away. Like a dog with a bone, I know she won’t give up easily.

DEAN: You’ll see.

Maya narrows her eyes but stays quiet for now, following my lead. We’ve been through hell together. She’s one of the very few people who knows exactly how bad things were inside this house. We don’t keep secrets from each other, and yet, I can’t bring myself to tell her what’s going on inside my head.

My reaction to Jamie is visceral. Even now, desire for her courses through my veins, but I don’t want a mate, I remind myself, especially one that would bring so many complications. I can just imagine the scandal if I mated a rogue. The other alphas already think I’m practically feral.

And yet… anticipation bubbles up inside me as the door to the ballroom opens. I sit straighter in my chair, craning my neck to see who it is, hoping that it’s her. My eagle-eyed sister swivels in her seat, from me to the door, noting my disappointment when Lynn walks back in the room, solo.

“Hoping for someone else?” Callum teases, sliding into the chair next to me. His eyes dance with amusement, and my sister perks up, sensing there’s something going on here.

“Oh really? Who?” Twisting once more, one hand resting on the back of her chair, she watches the door like a hawk.

“No,” I snap, raising my glass of whiskey to my lips, having to concentrate hard to keep my hand from shaking. “I’m not looking for anyone. And I mean that in every sense of the word.”

Nobody listens to me. Instead, they sit forward eagerly like I’m gearing up to tell them some convoluted story.

“Is she her?” my beta asks, eyes wide. I swear he’s a bigger romantic than any of them. “Did your wolf recognise her?” His eyes dance with excitement, and Maya gasps, clutching his arm on a squeal.

“No. NO.” I hold up a hand to stop her before she gets carried away. “I’m not interested in finding a she-wolf,” I assure them all, waiting for a beat to see if they sense any deceit in my words, because they don’t feel like the truth.

Maya groans and hits Callum hard in the shoulder. “That's for getting my hopes up.”

They’d all love it if I found my mate, someone to smooth out my rough edges and share my workload. But that’s not what I imagine. I see a mate as the beginning of the end. The start of my descent into madness, just like my father, and an end to any peace and quiet.

“Are you sure?” Callum’s tone is hopeful. “You should have seen them eye-fucking, Maya. You could have cut the sexual tension with a knife.” He wants the best for me, but it could never be.

The sting of disappointment is hard to ignore. No wolf has ever caught his attention like this. He’s still enchanted with her.

“Don’t worry, you haven’t lost all your money to Lynn just yet.”

That was supposed to be a joke, but my words come out sounding more bitter than I intended, but I can’t help it. Nothing about this feels very funny. Instead, it has me feeling off-kilter, and I really don’t like it. My wolf replays the moment Jamie emerged from the shadows, her exquisite features highlighted by the pale moonlight, giving her an ethereal glow, and my chest grows tight, palms turning sweaty.

I get it, I snarl at him, she’s gorgeous. But she’s a rogue. And she’s annoying as hell.

“Then why did you lose your shit at the idea of her entering the competition?” Callum asks bluntly, refusing to give it up. He eases his big frame back into his seat and scans the crowd, probably on the lookout for his perfect match. I hesitate and he swivels back to face me even more curious about my odd behaviour now. Well, he can join the club. I have no idea what’s going on, either.

“I didn’t lose my shit,” I grouse, but Callum just laughs, not buying my weak rebuttal. He was there after all.

Maya chimes in, determined to help Callum push me over the edge. “Is it because she might win?”

My gut twists. I hate the idea of her winning a pack of her own more than I’m proud of, not because she’s a woman but because then she’ll definitely leave.

“Because you could always make sure she doesn’t,” Maya jokes with a wicked smile.

“What? No!” I exclaim, horrified that my sister would even dare suggest I’d get in the way of someone winning the games.

“I’m not saying you don’t think she could be an alpha. I’m saying you don’t want her to win because then she’d move away, and you couldn’t keep her here to have your babies.”

---