Wild Rogues (third in lone wolf series)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“What is their story?” Abbey asked Dawn and Dawn’s daughter Emily the next morning as they cleaned the breakfast mess from the kitchen and Abbey saw Maggie staring longingly at a Hunter named Roland while he walked toward the barns, seemingly determined not to look in her direction.

Dawn shrugged, “No one really knows what’s going on between them and they don’t talk about it. They both came to us as children. Maggie nearly died so Grange had to change her even though that’s dangerous for a child because they cannot control the wolf nearly as well as an adult can. Roland was never truly a child other than in age because he had been rescued from the Hunter council and they didn’t allow them to have childhoods there. We thought they were mates but it’s been a century and a half and they still aren’t together.”

“Roland is strange,” Emily added as she dried off a plate that Abbey had just finished rinsing. “He doesn’t talk much at all to anyone, he wanders off all the time and stays gone for months without accounting for where he’s been and he sleeps in a barn instead of a house when he is around.”

“He’s from a different time, Emily. You’re young and the three decades you have been around have been a lot different from when Roland was a child. That Hunting Council did terrible things to those boys.”

Emily nodded, “I know that, mom. But look at Brendon, Gilliam and Carson. They aren’t like him.”

“Yes and no one in the world is like your uncle Trig!” Trig exclaimed as with a lopsided grin as he came into the room and planted big kisses on the cheeks of all three women. Dawn swatted him playfully, Emily laughed but Abbey froze.

She stared at him with wide-eyes and he shook his head, “Might as well get used to it,” he urged. “I’m a touchy feely type.”

“Good to know.” Julian said with amusement as he entered the room with Tanner on his hip and Audrey holding his hand. “They want to go play in the barn.” he said to Abbey.

“Okay, that’s fine.’ Abbey replied. “Just make sure they wear a coat.”

Julian smiled and kissed her lips gently, “I will.”

Abbey bit her lip and then walked into the hallway motioning for Julian to come with her. The kids looked at them both questioningly but said nothing, “Have you seen, Marcus?” Abbey questioned, that pain in her heart intensifying.

“No,” Julian replied and Abbey could see that Marcus’s absence was hurting him as well. “I can’t contact him either. He’s ignoring me.”

“Why’s daddy ignoring you?” Audrey asked with a frown.

“He’s just busy, baby girl,” Abbey assured her daughter quickly. “Sometimes when grown ups get busy they ignore everything else.”

“Papa, let’s go! I wanna go see the horses!” Tanner urged, bouncing up and down on Julian’s hip.

“Duty calls,” Julian kissed her gently one more time before putting his lips to Abbey’s ear, “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Everything will work itself out.”

Abbey watched Julian and the kids walk away and swallowed hard. Was this the right thing to do? She and Julian had talked long and hard this morning. They had both agreed that leaving was the choice to make. Abbey wanted a pack, wanted the female companionship, the family ties that came with a pack. She wanted her kids to have those things. She wanted to work in the bakery and see just how far she could go with her new found talent. She knew in her heart that going with the pack was the right choice…..

But Marcus was tearing her heart out. He hadn’t come home. No one had seen him. She knew that the pack suspected something but no one had asked so far. As a matter of fact no one had even spoken about leaving.