The Rogue Slut

Sixteen- Looking Ahead

"Mai."

My ears perk up at the name of Lenora's best friend. I prop myself up on my elbows and listen carefully. I can only pick out bits and pieces of what Maika is saying but I hang on every word that Lenora speaks.

"Where have you been? I've called about a hundred times. How did you know I was staying at this hotel? In this room?" Lenora presses the phone to her ear and shoots questions at rapid fire.

"Can't explain...have to understand...not safe..."

"Of course I know it's not safe! I've been hiding for months!" Lenora yells and grips the phone so hard I worry it might snap under her pressure. The wire coil stretches as she tugs it more and more—winding it up in her lap nervously.

"Calm down...meet me...fifteen minutes."

"Alright, alright. We'll be there and Mai...I've missed you," Lenora lowers her voice but I can still hear the emotion she fails to cover.

When she hangs up, Lenora turns her full attention to me.

"Where are we going?" I inquire as Lenora pulls back the bed sheets and starts throwing on clothes. I quickly follow her lead even though she is clearly too lost in thought to answer.

She doesn't speak to me as she pushes her feet into her sneakers and pulls open the hotel door. Without sparing me a second look, she leaves the room with the door open behind her—she just expects me to pick up her shit all the time.

I shove my hands into my jean pockets and follow a distance behind Lenora because I need some space to think.

This much I know: the last time I saw Mai, I was trying to kill her and she was trying to kill me. Lenora had gone in the tunnels and I had my beta and gamma watching Mai when I realized she was mindlinking with Lenora. I had to stop that.

Mai was fast—she slipped away into the night before I could get to her and I hadn't seen or thought of her since. I just assumed she was defecting.

Now, she has managed to not only escape from being captured but find Lenora and I—something many bounty hunters have been trying to do for months now.

How could she possibly know exactly where to find us...down to the hotel and room number? Lenora had been calling her on a burner phone. She couldn't have tracked us without us knowing.

With my head down, I blindly trail after Lenora down a street light lit sidewalk. We walk a few blocks before Lenora stops at a corner and looks around.

"Over here!" A voice whispers harshly from a shadowed alley to the right.

It's a feminine whisper but I'm still anxious to see who it is. It's hard not to be when there is a bounty worth god knows how much on your head.

"Maika?" Lenora calls and trustingly steps into the alley. I hesitate before doing the same.

Arms flail as they wrap themselves around Lenora and my instinct to jump in and defend my mate spikes. Just as I am about to rip the body off Lenora, the pale moonlight catches their faces and I see who it is.

Her arms around her best friend, Mai looks close to tears, "I've missed you so much."

"I know. I missed you more," Lenora wraps her arms around Mai's shoulders and holds her tight.

I feel as if I should turn away and let them have a moment but I can't take my eyes off of how the moon lights up Lenora's blonde hair.

"I have so much to tell you. You must come with me to a safe place where we can talk," Mai steps back from Lenora's hug but keeps her hands on my mate's shoulders.