Rogue Mate, The Moltiare Collection: Bk1 (Sample)(Available on Amazon/SW)

Chapter 10 (Ethan)

I turned one of my ears to the side as I heard something move towards my right. A small shuffling in the leaves came and went as it slowly moved further away. A quick breath of air and the rapid beating of the creature’s heart telling me that it was a rabbit. I kept low in the bushes as I watched the border of our lands from a distance, waiting for any sign of wolf that might come to pass.

My father had called me in the early hours of the morning telling me that rogues had been spotted circling our border. I had immediately looked towards Jess, wondering if they were the same rogues that had hurt her and just that thought was enough to keep me from falling asleep again. So I went for a run, deciding to take a look at the spot myself.

There were two of them, both male, but there was something odd about them. They had circled around the borders once before coming back to this location, leaving a scent of a wolf and death in their wake. They didn’t stop before then, didn’t cross our borders, not even an inch, but this spot had been where they stopped twice. I bothered me, knowing that I needed only to run a straight line from my backdoor to get here and hardly anyone would have known.

I had thought to ask Jess when she came down stairs, but I didn’t want her to worry. Especially not after she started smiling. Remembering it now, when I saw it, I felt my lungs gasping for air and when she had begun laughing, my heart melted.

She was becoming comfortable around us and in the house. Bit by bit, she was showing more signs of happiness, and every night she let me hold her for a bit longer. I knew that once I mentioned a rogue all of that would fade. She’d go back to hiding in the room, safely tucked under the covers where she thought that no one could get her. She’d tell me that she’d need all of her strength for when she would face my father.

Which would be soon, I knew. Her ankle had completely healed, the wound on her back had all but closed, and the bruises were slowly beginning to fade. I wanted the pack to accept her, with all of my heart I almost needed them to. I didn’t want to desert them, but if my father couldn’t find a way to make it past where Jess came from, then I would do so in order to keep her safe. The fact that I’d be willing to do that for someone I had only known for weeks scared me. If I couldn’t protect her, then how much more would it hurt?

No. I was going to protect her. If I had to move a mountain to get there then so be it, but I would see that she was safe if it was the last thing I ever did.

I let out a low growl as someone approached from behind, but Willis’s scent filled my nostrils and I settled again. He moved beside me, his white hair reflecting in the little moonlight that was there before he shifted into human form. Gina’s smell covered his clothes, as well as the scent of lust, but I ignored it. He had been spending more time with her lately, but the full moon was in two days, and lately they had been talking about her turn. Maybe if they were lucky, she wouldn’t change her mind this time.

“Hey,” he lifted his hand in a wave with his voice just below a whisper, “my turn to take over in a few.”

Good, that meant that I could go home to see Jess.

“I haven’t seen anything yet, but my bet is that they’ll come back to this spot at some point.” I grunted as I joined him in my human body, “Did you check in with the others?”

He nodded, “They haven’t seen anything yet, but old man Geary called me before I left. Said to tell you something, but no one else.”

I lifted my brow as I waited expectantly.

“He said ‘the shadows were there to take her’.” He watched as my body tensed and I let out a deadly growl, “I assume you knew what he meant.”