Page 10 of What's Rogue Got To Do With It

Larkin sensed who I was immediately, even if he didn’t realize it at the time. His arousal filled the room, the quilt slightly tented. Being in extreme pain hadn’t stopped his body from responding to me. I didn’t acknowledge it. He didn’t need to be embarrassed, and I wasn’t ready for that conversation anyway.

Instead, I kept taking care of him…. feeding him when he needed… being his crutch when he needed to use the restroom… changing the bandages on his wounds.

And everything seemed like it was on the right track…that was until this morning. His fever was higher than it had been, so high, I could feel it radiating off of him like I was standing next to an oven. But that wasn’t the scariest part. His words weren’t coherent. Not even close. And there was a stench coming from his wound. His infection was getting worse and quickly.

There was no way around it, I needed to run to town and get some better supplies. My place wasn’t set up to be a mini hospital. At the very minimum I needed sterile bandages and antibiotic cream.

I waited until he fell asleep, wrote a little note explaining where I was going with a stick figure of me with a stethoscope and set it up like a tent by the nightstand. I hated the thought of him waking up and thinking I had gone.

My truck went through the path in the woods and then the dirt road at speeds far beyond safe for the old thing. I didn’t care.

My first stop was the pharmacy for disinfectant spray, rubbing alcohol, bandages, antibiotic creams, anything and everythingthat said it might help.If they didn’t have what I needed, I might try the grocery store.

I didn’t read labels or make choices. I snagged it all and planned to sort through it later. For now, getting home was more important than paying for supplies I didn’t need.

An older man in a white coat, possibly my grandfather’s age, walked past me, looked in my basket, glanced back up at me, then to the basket again.

“Looks like somebody needs to be going to the hospital.”

“Thank you, sir, but no. It’s just a little infection.” How had he seen infection from my hot mess of supplies?

“This doesn’t look like a little infection.” He scented the air. “Doesn’t scent like it either.” This time he whispered. “Meet me outside.”

I wasn’t sure what came over me. Normally, if a human told me to meet them outside, I’d have assumed that was the last place I wanted to be. But something about this man had me trusting him.

After grabbing one more roll of gauze, I headed straight to check-out, tossing in some candy as the cashier rang me up, thinking sugar might make Larkin smile.

I barely had my bags in the truck when the man came out and straight to me.

“I know what you are,” he whispered, his eyes darting back. “Here.”He grabbed my hand and put a bottle of pills in it. “Follow the directions. It’s the only way to get rid of an infection.”

“How did you get that?” Humans needed prescriptions, and I sure as hell didn’t have one.

He pulled on the collar of his coat. “Inventory is going to be off.”

I didn’t understand any of this. Not how he knew what I needed or why he wanted to help enough to risk stealing from his job. But I was grateful.

“Use it until it is gone. Whoever it’s for is going to need it.”

I leaned in, scenting deeply, wondering what kind of shifter he was and surprised my fox hadn’t already picked up on it.

“You can scent all day long, and you won’t know what beast I am—because I don’t have one.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “That was rude.”

“Nah, don’t be sorry.” He put his hand on my arm and spoke slightly lower. “I was born to one such as you and a human. I don’t have a beast but I’m not human, either. Now go. If I can scent the infection on you, this can’t wait.”

A quick thank you later and I was racing back home.

Maybe the world wasn’t as black and white as I’d thought. If the pharmacist's parents were a rogue and a human, maybe rogues could have mates.

No. The law was clear and allowing myself to fantasize about happy ever afters wasn’t going to do either of us any good. The man’s parents had been lucky, nothing more.

My fox kept pushing me to go faster and faster on our way home, but ramming the truck into a tree wasn’t going to get those pills to my mate. I did hurry though and parked too close to thehouse, running inside to find my mate, looking at the note, his eyes half closed, small smile there.

“I just woke up.” His voice was hoarse and weak. “I don’t... because I don’t feel so good today.”

I dropped the bags, gathering the pills first.

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