Page 11 of Rogue If You Want To
Fuck.
I scrambled to get up. I had to get out of here. I couldn’t bring somebody else into this. How could I have a mate? I was rogue. No, no, no, no. This could not be happening.
A warm hand took mine, and all the panic and anxiety fell away. Nothing else remained but me and the person connected to that hand.
“Mate.” It came out like a croak.
I dared for the first time to look in their direction.
And there he was, my mate. An alpha wolf. He had bags under his eyes, his hair disheveled, and it looked like he was wearing someone else’s shirt that he’d found in a ball in the corner of the locker room, and still… he was the most gorgeous man I’d ever laid my eyes on.
I needed to figure out what to do, and I needed to do it quickly, because this… me being here with him… it could only put him in danger. I refused to be the reason my mate came to harm.
“Otto. Yes, I’m your mate.”
Oh goddess. How did he know my name?
“Do you remember me? Torin? We met at the accident?”
He said it like a question, because we both knew it wasn’t an accident. You don’t accidentally get marked as rogue. You don’t accidentally get attacked. You don’t accidentally have your phone missing.
I must’ve told him my name? I didn’t remember it. Everything had been so dark, and hurt so much. But my brother made sure no one could identify me, so that had to be it.
“Where am I?”
And then he told me exactly where I was and how we’d gone to the new pack, one that was started by a man who gave refuge to others, for help. He also told me about how he came to find me when I needed him most.
Gods, it would’ve been so much better for him if he hadn’t.
He was my mate, but he didn’t have a pack. And there were people, the small pack, who took us in and tried to help me heal all out of the kindness of their heart. And all of them were going to suffer because of me.
Didn’t they understand? Once my brother found out I was alive, there was going to be no stopping him. I was the one thing that stood in his way, and he refused to let me stay there.
“I need to get out of here.” My whispered words were cut off by my mate hugging me, holding me close.
“You need to trust me. Please… say you trust me.” He tightened his hold, comforting me as he pleaded for my acceptance.
And the thing was, I did trust him. It wasn’t about that. Fate wouldn’t send me someone I couldn’t trust.
But I needed to protect him. That was what mates did, and this was the complete opposite of protecting him.
“Let’s go outside and meet the others, and then we’ll work on what’s next,” he said.
I nodded, unable to fight him. Even if I wanted to, I didn’t have the energy. He helped me stand, my knees nearly giving out, and then put his arm under mine and around my back, basically holding me up as I hobbled outside.
There was a fire pit and sitting around it were two men, a small boy, and an older gentleman, all pretending not to notice that we were coming out, with the exception of the little boy, whose eyes were glued to me.
“Let me introduce you to the shifters who started this pack.” My mate helped me sit me in a chair.
He didn’t get to introduce me, they took it over from there.
“I’m Creven. I’m the Alpha of Stoney River Pack. Your mate brought you here. You’re rogue, yes?” He dove right in.
“Yes.”
“What did you do to become rogue?” He wasn’t mincing words.
I didn’t blame him. He had his pack to protect, and from the looks of it, it was he doing all of the protecting… although never underestimate an omega with a young one.
