Rogue Desires (Sample)

Two

Sloane:

The cold rush of water around me was refreshing, washing away the morning, but it caused my dress to wrap around my legs and restricted my movement. I pulled myself through the hole in the rock wall about six feet down, regretting not stripping out of my dress before diving in, but I didn't want him to get away without getting answers. The dress was slowing me down enough as it was.

It could have been another decade before I saw him again. By then, I would be mated and probably would have been forced to pop out several children for the man my parents had given me to.

Unable to use my legs, I used the rock walls to pull myself through the hole before reaching the other side and surfacing for a large gulp of air. The wet cave was cold and sent a chill through me as I drug myself from the water and into the cave system, kicking out my drenched skirt.

But when I looked around, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Why did you try to help me?" I called out, lifting the heavy, water-logged skirt as I looked around at the open cavern and the tunnel options.

When he didn't respond, I bit my tongue, staring at the ground to search for a trail, but the small stream of water that ran through each corridor made it impossible.

I was familiar with the first few, having gone down them a time to two. One was a dead end, where the water was sucked down into a natural drain. I wasn't sure where or if it came out somewhere else, and I hadn't searched for it.

My preferred path was the tunnel to the right, leading right out under a beautiful waterfall. It was my favorite place to go, and I started in that direction but paused when I reached the entrance.

It didn't feel right, as if my body knew he hadn't gone down this one.

There was one path further down the cavern that I had never explored due to the sharp edges and the way the hair on the back of my neck stood up just from looking at it. I had been smart enough to avoid that one until now.

Today, I was feeling brave.

Stupid because I was ignoring my instincts and chasing after a man, but brave enough to chase him into the ominous tunnel to get my answers.

I don't know why I held my breath as I entered it, carefully avoiding the sharp rocks jutting out. 

But a few steps in, I relaxed. I was even more relieved to find that after only a few minutes of walking, there was a ladder with a hatch overhead, and I climbed up and pushed it open.

The forest seemed darker here, making me uneasy as it was the middle of the day, and I paused when I saw buildings only a few hundred yards away through the trees. Was this where he lived? 

A quick glance behind me showed a mountain to my back, and I swallowed hard as I realized if anything went wrong, my only way back to my pack would be to make it to the tunnel or a three-day walk around the mountains.

Lifting my chin, I marched forward, only slowing when I realized it wasn't just one building. It was a town.

A town filled with rogues whose attention immediately turned to me as I stepped out of the tree line.

I didn't see their Alpha anywhere, but that didn't mean he wasn't here. He should have only been a minute or two ahead of me.

"What's a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?" A raspy voice called out, and I jumped, lifting my hands to prepare to fight as I spun to my left to face the balding middle-aged man.