Page 9 of What's Rogue Got To Do With It

"Your leg needs time to heal."

I’d never been seriously injured before because my shifter abilities healed me quickly. But as my beast couldn’t shift and get us out of the trap, losing so much blood and the wound getting infected, had weakened us.

He pressed a palm on my forehead and I gritted my teeth, not because I was in pain but the opposite. I slapped my arm, trying to distract from the sensation that had taken hold of me. He raised a brow so I rubbed my skin, pretending I was itchy. It was awkward and silly but this fox shifter ignited a fire in me.

Mate. That was what I’d been sensing in the air. Tenderness and love. He was my mate. My wolf was bounding around inside me, making me dizzy and nauseous and I told him to cut it out because I was vibrating.

But this couldn’t be. He was rouge. Just as he’d discovered I was without a pack, I’d picked that up in his scent. There was an element missing that should have been there. A mate bond needed stability and the security that came with pack protection. And it was against shifter law to mate a rogue and it went against all shifter instincts to mate a lone shifter. I might not technically be a rogue since I'd never been marked as one, but I might as well be.

What could I offer a mate except a life on the run?

"What's your name?" His question dragged me back to the present.

"Larkin." Damn I should have given him a fake name. Too late now.

"I'm Creven." His eyes never left my face. "And before you start planning your escape, your leg won't hold your weight for at least another few days, so we might as well get comfortable with each other."

My mind flitted to us getting naked with cocks in holes or maybe a tongue licking my rim but I pushed those images out of my head. I should have argued and insisted I could take care of myself, but I was exhausted. The infection and the blood loss had sapped my energy but there was also the emotional turmoil of finding my fated and knowing we couldn’t mate. It was a lot.

"But I can't stay here. We both know that."

"We'll talk about it when you've recovered."

As he was rogue, he had no Alpha to contact or a den to inform. There’d be no Betas sniffing around, wondering where he’d been. Maybe I could stay another day and gain my strength.

I must have slept because when I opened my eyes again, he was gone.

We must find him. My wolf didn’t give a damn that we were a rogue and a lone wolf. He just wanted Creven with us. But his scent lingered in the cabin so he couldn't have been gone long or it would have been stale.

There was a different aroma, a spicy one near the bed. A bowl of soup on an upturned crate beside me. My belly growled. How long had it been since I’d eaten?

I’m starving.

Yes but you can go much longer without food than my human form.

It wasn’t just that Creven had cooked. He was looking after me and I hadn’t experienced that in years. When was the last time I'd felt safe enough to sleep without waking up every few minutes, wondering if I was in danger?

I managed a few sips of soup before the spoon tumbled from my fingers and clattered into the bowl. I slept again and every time I opened my eyes, Creven was there, and he'd put the spoon to my lips and insist I eat. Some of the liquid dribbled over my chin and he dabbed at it.

"You don't have to run anymore."

I gulped what he was feeding me, and raised my head so I was staring into his eyes. I glimpsed sincerity that matched what was in his voice. "I don't know how to stop.”

"I’ll teach you.”

Those three words were easy, unlike what we faced. But who knew? Maybe we could change fate.

6

CREVEN

I’d never been so scared in my life as I did when I discovered my mate lying on death's door. Not when my dad died. Not when Rayne challenged my father. Not when I was sent out as rogue. None of that came close to what was running through me now. This was the kind of terror I never wanted to experience again.

When Larkin had asked me what had happened, I couldn’t give him the details he deserved, the entire first day a complete blur. I had no idea what order anything happened and lost full chunks of time. After getting him home and cleaning him up, it all melted together… from making soup just in case he woke up, to using cold washcloths on his forehead in an attempt to keep the fever down, to listening for each breath, asking the goddess for it not to be his last.

At the time, I’d been on auto pilot, which in hindsight was good. If I stopped to think, all of the emotions I’d been ignoring would’ve slammed back into me and I’d have been useless.

It wasn’t until he woke up that the reality of how dire our situation had kicked in. And maybe that was me being melodramatic, because at the end of the day, I was going tobe left heartbroken and alone. But I was allowed to be. The situation sucked.

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