The Solitary Mate

Chapter 43 Sneak Peek

Michael POV

Her gaze was intense, more intense than staring at the sun or the fire between us. It made me want to crawl out of her line of sight, but I felt as if that were impossible. Grace... Arabella had mentioned her on a few occasions. She was in awe of meeting someone who was so unjudging of rogues, or at least of her own former rogue mate. I didn't fully understand Arabella's fascination with this girl, but she had captured the attention of my mate none the less. And I in turn kidnapped her. Arabella would kill me.

"Being in a pack of rogues isn't like being in a normal pack. You have to be strong; you have to be able to fend for yourself; you have to be brave. No one can afford to be kind to the weak. You're on your own." Grace's eyes watched me with the same intensity. I waited for her to intervene with sympathy or horror at the disregard for others that I spoke of but she said nothing.

"I was abandoned at a young age, so I never knew my family. It's not out of the ordinary for rogues. Pups are a luxury many can't afford. Even having a mate comes with its risks. I'm not sure how I survived for so long but I do remember thievery got me along fairly well." I laughed bitterly remembering the day I stole an apple from a nearby market.

"I was still pretty young when I met her." I fell silent, lost in a mix of regret and confusion. Meeting her changed the entire trajectory of my existence but it also led me to my mate.

"I'm assuming that her you mentioned wasn't Arabella?" Grace looked at me as if I were a wounded animal. My conflicted feelings must have been mirrored onto my face.

"No, no it wasn't." I readjusted my seated position focusing my eyes on the embers that burned at the edge of the small fire pit I had made. They glowed a beautiful bright orange color before dwindling away to black. "She calls herself my mother, but we're not related by blood."

The fabric slipped from my shoulders and I made no move to adjust it back. The bit of the cold felt right, it was painful and some sick part of me felt like I deserved it. I could feel my skin pebble under the slash of the cold. Grace shifted slightly and I felt the fabric return to my shoulders. Shielding me from the world.

I glanced at her but her eyes were focused on the fire. She didn't recoil from its glow. She leaned into it. Seeming to find beauty in the chaos. I wondered what I looked like in her eyes. What did her mate look like in her eyes? What did I look like in Arabella's? My chest ached with fear not knowing her fate. I could only pray to Luna and hope that she listened.

"Her name is Rebecca."