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

Chapter 2 (Ethan)

We used the cover of the shadows that the city provided us, knowing that too many of our kind would be on patrol on the outskirts of town. Aaron separated from us when he sensed an opening in the patrol area, promising to give a call to my sister Marie on his way out before joining us back at the house.

My home wasn’t much further from there. It was separated from the rest of the pack, given to Aaron, Marie, and I once we had come of age. My father had felt that it would provide us with the freedom needed to live out the final days of our teen years before we were forced to grow up. Before he stepped down as Alpha, and passed the title on to me. Aaron was to be my Beta, and Marie, though mostly there for moral support, was to remain a Sigma, but due to her knowledge as far as medicine and veterinary matters were concerned, my father felt it necessary for her to be near us.

I rounded the stone path that led to my house quickly before stepping behind one of the large evergreens that framed the driveway. I waited as another car passed, looking upon my mate’s face for the first time since the alleyway. She stirred slightly in my arms as the red tail lights began to shine on her, her expression more at peace than before as her subconscious allowed her to move closer to me. A low breath had escaped my chest as I forced myself to close my eyes and remain calm. I needed to keep my mind clear if I was going to make this work.

If my father were to find out that I had not only kept a rogue hidden from him, but lied to him about confronting one, there was going to be a wave of disaster following his path.

My father was a kind man, he witnessed the hardship of others and even experienced some himself, and because of this he had always tried to consider what was best for both the shifter/person involved as well as the pack. He always tried to show compassion, and where it was deemed necessary he gathered every bit of power he had and brought it down like a fist to the earth, but he had never taken kindly to rogues.

After all it was a member of our own pack that had gone rogue years before he became Alpha. They had tricked his father into meeting them, using the trust he had for the person and creating an opening for other rogues to kill his mother. In rage, his father had followed, and a few years later when the same rogue returned, they took something from my mother. Something that my father could never forgive them for, and something that seeded a hatred for most rogues that crossed through our land. I would have told him now, but this was something completely different, and knowing what my father was capable of, I felt every need to protect my mate from him.

I paused outside as I pushed open the front door, taking in a slow breath of air to make sure that it was all clear before carefully stepping over the threshold. With a small push of my foot, the door closed behind us with a click and I looked over my mate’s body to see the floor, mapping my way to the corner of the entryway and using my shoulder to flip the light on. She let out a soft moan and moved her head towards the other side, my teeth clenching at the sight of a black bruise that just barely showed at the base of her neck.

I forced out a long frustrated breath as I stepped into the living room, thankful the open layout provided a clear path towards the kitchen and the stairs that led to the second floor. The stairway itself was just wide enough for two people to pass each other without conflict, giving me just enough room to be sure that her head, arms, or feet didn’t touch the walls or hand railing. The path to my room however, was more complicated. Placed around a small corner and the door knob just out of reach, I strained to accomplish the task of opening the door.

My mate let out a gasp as one of my hands closed over her shoulders, her eyes popping open and hands flailing for the source. I cursed as the door opened and she began to move in my arms, her level of resistance causing me to lower myself against the door frame. She came to be cradled in my lap just as one set of fingers closed over my collarbone and she began to push away from me.