Rogue Queen ➵

➵ XXXIII. Taken

Thursday, January 18th, 2018, 5:00pm

Thatcher's POV

"Ha!" Daring shouts, tackling me.

We both go down, him on top of me, landing in a heap on the snow. I grab a handful of snow, rubbing it into his face.

"Fuck you!" I say, pushing him off me and standing back up while he splutters and wipes at the cold flakes of snow I pressed into his face.

"Thatcher!" Daring whines, lifting a hand in a gesture telling me he wants me to help him up.

I roll my eyes but pull him to his feet. I hear a nearly silent footstep on the snow behind me, and spin to the side just as AJ tries to tackle me, instead crashing into Daring. Even though Daring wasn't his intended target, he and AJ start sparring/play fighting, kicking up snow and sending it flying everywhere.

I look around and see Darcy has Max in a triangle choke hold, while Four stands on the sidelines, watching his mate spar with AJ, an obvious tent in his pants.

"Daring!" Four whines. "I'm hard!"

"And how is that my problem?" Daring replies, not pausing in his fight with AJ.

"Because it's your fault!"

"And how is it my fault?" Daring says.

Four huffs, "because you're always so damn sexy!"

I roll my eyes, abandoning the training session and heading inside our house in the woods. Just as I step inside, the phone rings. Glancing at the clock, I see it's right on time for my spy's report.

Picking up my phone from the table where I left it, I answer the call and collapse on the couch, lying down and taking up all the space.

"Yo," I say, my voice bored.

"K-king," comes the nervous voice of my spy.

Ugh, omegas. Always skittish.

"Anything new, important, or that I'll find interesting?" I ask.

"Well, she said she came back because neither her or Asher wanted a long distance relationship, and because she realized things were more dangerous where they were... She probably meant she felt threatened by you, but she thinks I don't know about the rogues."

I nod, even though he can't see me. "Probably. She's highly protective over family, and I did threaten to kill one of the little brats."

"What?" The omega gasps.

I roll my eyes. Of course he would get worked up for no reason. But he can't change the past.

"Anything else?" I ask.

"... Asher marked her," he says after a moment of hesitation, "I'm not sure exactly when, but it was sometime before your attack yesterday."

I grit my teeth, growling softly. Of course he fucking marked her. That puts a slight setback in my plans.

"Are they fully mated?" I ask, my voice cold.

"N-no, it didn't smell like it," the omega replies nervously.

Good. So it won't be as hard for her to get over his death. She'll survive, just like she did when he rejected her. I never thought someone as weak as Rei was would choose to take the path of 'I'll-make-you-regret-everything-you-did-to-me.' I thought for sure she would end up in pathetic depression or committing suicide like so many other rejected wolves.

But she's still here, she kept fighting, which makes her someone I want on my side, with me.

"They're all out training," he says quietly.