Royally Rogue

Baby

A warm arm wrapped around my shoulders, and I lost track of my motions. The wolf inside of me was hyperventilating out of excitement, leaving me defenseless against Xander's charm. He was like the ringmaster in charge of everything with a collected demeanor, even if the lion was chewing apart one of the audience members.

He was bombarding me with overwhelming sensations. Fear that he was in danger, anger that he hurt Roman, concern that he himself was hurt, worry about the explosion, not to mention the 'second' one, and of course that giddy feeling down in my stomach.

Xander held an air of command that only seemed to dissolve when he put his attention to me. All he wanted was a hug, he held an air of vulnerability and uncertainty. And I froze like an idiot.

All of my life I was raised to believe rogues would kill anyone if their guard was down. Xander was different, I could feel it. But that feeling I had I wanted to be from trust, real trust, not the mate bond.

All of those thoughts had made me freeze.

I had already thought I trusted him fully, but I didn't know him at all. I knew I wanted him, I really did... but--

It's one thing to believe you know what you want, but when physically presented with the problem, the decision becomes blurry. It's like.. before you get to an ice cream shop you're dead set on chocolate, but when you get there, you see mint chocolate chip and you're shook.

I hesitantly looked behind me towards Roman. He looked enfuriated, and reluctantly got up, following us. The air around him was dark, almost defensive. His head, which was hung low, rose up from the tired position it held.

Our eyes met.

I gave my best apologetic look, and he smiled faintly in reply.

It didn't seem he was angry at me, but I definitely wasn't dumb enough to deny it was Xanders presence.

Aaron was pointing around at random things and giving a short background on them, like the perfect tour guide. It was a wonder to me how he was so casual and open to the idea of Xander. We were barely stepping inside the greenhouse when shouts and howls were heard far behind us.

You better find a safe place and get there fast. My wolf suddenly came back with an urgent sounding voice.

I could hear frantic voices and sounds, probably about a mile, give or take a half, away. My hand instinctively went up to Xander's shirt, grabbing the hem and pulling on it. His conversation- that I had no idea started in the first place- with Aaron abruptly ended when his eyes met mine.

"We need be going faster." I said, my hand instictively moving to grip the side of my mates shirt. Xander's worry creased eyes shot in the direction of the sounds. The voices were getting closer with every second.

"She's right. They're getting closer. We need to go. " Xander's voice became dangerous and unfamiliar. He was still looking behind us, but when I turned in the direction, all I saw was Roman blankly staring back.

"Uhhh... " I gulped down nervousness, and looked back towards Aaron. He wore confusion on his face, that perfect white nose scrunched up. Could he not hear them? "Aaron take us somewhere that's safe. I don't know the castle like you do."

"Damn right you don't. I'm not the reigning champinion of hide-and-seek for nothing." His expression changed just like that, my words acting like a confidence injection. He turned on his heels, speed walking through the greenhouse swinging the doors open to the castle. Immediately, the air of the castle engulfed us and I felt panic for Xander.