Page 12 of What's Rogue Got To Do With It

When he was dried off and in a new pair of shorts, he looked like an entirely different person. He still had a way to go, but he’d get there. The medicine was doing its magic.

His stomach rumbled loudly. “I think... I think I could eat.”

“What can I make you? I’ve got noodles, rice, hamburger in the freezer, and some chicken too, I think. Or my fox can go out and hunt if you want something like a rabbit.”

“You know what I really want? Red licorice. Isn’t that weird?”

I perked up. This was my time to shine. I dug through the bag from the pharmacy. “I picked these up. Figured you might need sugar.”

“Look at you. You already know me so well.”

I didn’t. But I really wanted to.

7

LARKIN

The cabin was too quiet.

Creven and I had spent almost every moment together in the days since he’d rescued me. And now I was alone, something I was used to since I left the pack, and I longed for company. Not just anyone though. Him, my fox shifter mate.

I sat on the edge of the bed, testing my weight on my injured leg. It was much better thanks to the antibiotics he'd somehow managed to buy and the attention he'd been giving the wound. He was resourceful getting the medication with no prescription and without the pharmacy setting the police on him.

But people like us, ones who didn’t belong, had developed skills we'd never needed within the safety of a pack or den.

Creven hadn’t been gone long but I was restless, not because I wanted to bound about. There’d be none of that for a while thanks to my injury. I was missing him and wanted him by my side so I would be whole. It was silly when I knew so little about him but he was my mate. Any other details would come slowly.

I didn’t want to consider what would happen when my wound healed. He and I were not like other shifters and mating wasn’t possible for us. I shouldn’t be eager for him to be here and instead enjoy the slow passing of time.

My wolf had been calm the past few days, basking in our mate's presence and the safety of the cabin. But now, with Creven gone to town for supplies, my beast was pacing beneath my skin. I imagined the sensation was similar to when humans spoke of butterflies in their tummy.

I couldn’t calculate how long it’d been since my beast took his fur because I was fuzzy on days and dates. But he yearned for the freedom of being on four legs with the forest floor beneath his paws. And he wanted to hunt and he was picturing a plump rabbit.

I need to run,my wolf whined. He clawed higher, making me gasp as I pushed him down. He was insistent and I spent the next hour reasoning with him. Not that it did much good.

Please give me my fur. I’m tired of being cooped up inside you.

I twirled a chunk of hair around my fingers, a sign I was frustrated, both with Creven being gone and my wolf pestering me.

But Creven asked us to stay inside while he's gone. I promised.

I clung to the promise and in my mind, it was more binding than any oath a shifter would swear to a pack. Not that I had one. But I was thinking with my human brain and my beast didn’t give a toss about promises. He was trapped in his skin and he wanted out.

Please don’t test me.

A beast could ignore his human’s will and take his fur, but my wolf hadn’t disobeyed me. He was itching for fresh air and I distracted myself by looking around the cabin.

There wasn’t much to see as it was small but the floors had been swept and the dishes washed. Laundry hung outside but Creven must have washed the clothes by hand. I studied the handful of books with worn spines on a shelf. Creven had either read them many times over or he’d picked them up second hand.

Though the place was sparsely furnished, it spoke of a man who was content with being alone. He’d built himself a life away from pack politics and disputes. Me too. We existed in the space between the human world and shifter.

But my wolf grew bored looking at books and clamored to get out. The. Pressure ballooned inside me, much like water building up in a dam until cracks appeared. Despite my limp, I paced the floor and ignored the ache.

I must shift,my wolf demanded.Please, I can’t be in here a moment longer.

"No," I said that out loud rather than in my head as I gripped the back of a chair.He’ll return soon. We can’t… no!

The world flipped sideways as my injured leg gave out and I slid onto the floor. My wolf clawed at me, shoving me aside as he took his fur. My skin erupted and he surged out of me.

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