Lost In Her Mind

20. Rouges

As I waited outside the boutique, I scanned my surroundings. Humans of various ages and colors lingered everywhere. Some were talking, some shocking, and some eating food that caught my nose as they walked by. Picking my lips, I began to realize how thirsty I was. The nausea of being here was taking a tole on me.
As I continued to scan the area, I realized that just across the floor sat a large black vending machine. Inside a clear bottle of water called my name as it sat on the 2nd shelf.
Looking back at the boutique doors, I wondered if I should still wait or just go over to the vending machine. I could be over there and back in just a moment.
Tightening my purse strapped to around my shoulder tighter to me, I walked over to the vending machine. The led screen read a dollar fifty. I shuffled my hand around in my bag until I pulled out the money and inserted it. Pressing C4, I watched as the metal level began to move towards the bottle.
Suddenly, I was pushed forward, and my hands quickly darted forward, stopping me from smacking into the glass of the machine.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that." I heard a deep voice behind me. Turning around, I began rubbing my wrists from the jolt of pain that burst through them.
"That's alright." Turning to face the group of 4 men that suddenly stood around me caging me made me quickly tense.
They were close. To close.
My chest began to beat rapidly as my stomach dropped.
"I'm sorry, let me get out of your way." I said quickly as I tried to make my way through them back towards the boutique.
A man with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes grabbed my forearm roughly and tugged me back towards him.
"You're not going anywhere, sweetheart. We haven't had any fun yet." He snarled. Looking up at the large man, my face immediately paled. Rouge. They were rouges. The red tint in his eyes suddenly flashed away as he slammed me back roughly against the vending machine. The redness of their eyes signified the marking of a rounge. Warning to others of the wild beast they held inside.
My head bounced off the glass for a moment, making me wince.
The man stepped closer to me, and instantly, I wanted to shrivel away. But I couldn't, with the man in front of me, two on one side and one on the other. I was completely caged in. I felt like a bird. I was always the bird.
"We shouldn't do this out in the open man. Let's take her somewhere." A brown haired boy with freckles said. Immediately, I began to panic even more.
If they brought me somewhere, that would be the end of me.
Get away, Aria. I thought. Escape.
"What exactly are a bunch of rouges doing here?" I managed to speak out. The shock of the boys' faces matched one I'm sure I held also.
The dirty blonde suddenly grew a smirk. He leaned his long, lanky arm against the vending machine, bringing his face down closer to my own. The red tint to his eyes once again returning, signifying that his wolf was near the surface. That wasn't good. Rouges were known for being incredibly wild and dangerous. And their reputation was not just words. I knew that, of course.
"I knew I caught your scent. So tell me, babe, who exactly are you?" He said, leaning closer.
The scent of oak immediately penitrated my body, always making me fall to my knees from the overwhelming sensation.
The heaviness in my chest suddenly began to lift as I realized what it meant.

" You're talking to the princess of the Blue Waters pack." His deep voice interrupted from behind the group of boys, startling them, making them quickly jump to the side to see who had talked.
I almost whimpered at the sight of Zine. His large frame stands tall and tense with balls of fists at his side. His jaw was tight and locked as his blue eyes quickly glanced between the boys then me.
I desperately wanted to run to his side. To hide away just like my hand was doing previously.
Zine opened his mouth once again.
"Also, my mate." He snarled.
My chest began to tighten as the dirty blonde suddenly stepped in front of me, luckily not blocking my view from Zine since he easily towered over everyone here.
"And who exactly are you?" The Rouge questioned. Part of me wanted to laugh at the ridiculous question. Surely even rouges could sense the presence of an alpha.
Right?

A dark smirk quickly spread across Zine's face. The strong aroma he gave off suddenly was overwhelming, almost making me drop to my knees.

"I'm Alpha Zine, of the Red Mountains pack."

The rouge in front of me suddenly tensed as did the rest. Even as a rouge, you knew of the monster of the mountains.

" Your lying, no Alpha of that statue would be caught out in public where he could easily be taken out." The dirty blonde spat. I could see the snarl return to Zine's face as he quickly. shortened the distance between himself and the rouge, easily towering over him.

" You can try rouge. Or, you can get the fuck out of my way." For a moment everything was silent except for the loudness of the humans swarming in the mall. My breathe hitched in my throat as I wondered what was about to happen.

If they fought right now, it would be the worst possible situations, and everyone knew that. Our biggest law as wolf's is to stay hidden. Our sacred identity was to remain safe from the humans for their sake and ours. And if we were to expose ourselves, the higher council would easily take out everyone to maintain the secrecy.

But, rouges were known for not obeying the wolf's law. They were known for their wild actions and violence.
With my heart beating out of my chest, I waited for the next move. An alpha never backed down, and that could make this situation so much worse.
Suddenly, the dirty blonde wolf moved to the side, stunned I stared at Zine, who didn't take a moment to reflect that the rouge just backed down.
Quickly, he reached out and grabbed my forearm that still burned from the rouge.
Tugging me harshly, he brought me over to his side and began to quickly walk down the hall, never letting go of me. With my heart still beating me out of my chest, I looked back towards the rouges.
The dirty blonde stared, and when I looked, a quick smirk spread across his face.
"I'll see you later, princess Aria." He mouthed, making a deep, endless pit in my stomach.
"Quickly Aria, stop looking back." Zine said roughly as he pulled my arm even tighter.
"It's taking everything in me not to go back and rip them to shreds." He snarled as he turned and took one last look behind us as we neared the main entrance.
"Wait, where are we going?" I asked.
"To the car, it's not safe with the rouges here."
Immediately, I began to pull my body against him.
"My brothers are still here, I can't leave them." Even pulling my body against did nothing as he easily overpowered me, continuing to pull me closer to the heavy glass doors.
"Your brothers are smart and part of an alpha bloodline. They should be able to sense them. I need to get you out of here." He quickly turned his head towards me so that I was staring into the blue abyss that almost made me melt to the floor.
"I can't fight or protect anyone with you around. My wolf can't do it. I need to get you out of here." With such a simple sentence, I began quickly walking back along with him.
Pushing the heavy doors open a gust of sweet wind instantly hit my nose, making me shiver.
When did it start pouring?