Just a Rogue

Ruby

“Damn. You’re fine,” I purr to Theo, as soon as I can catch my breath again. I think we might have finally gotten a little sleep just before dawn, but he woke me up again as soon as the sun started coming up. Having his tongue suddenly inside me, incorporating itself into my dream, was really something. What a way to wake up.

This has all been really something. I’m not even the same person any more. It’s so strange. Am I still Ruby? Part of me is, yes, but part of me is Theo now. We’re merged together in a very odd and wonderful way, not just our bodies but also our minds and our hearts and our souls and our wolves. I’m just not sure what any of this means going forward.

I know one thing though. I’ll never be alone again. I stayed with Xavier’s group because I didn’t want to be alone. A lone wolf is vulnerable, isolated, unnatural. Wolves aren’t meant to be alone.

Was it only yesterday that I woke up in the cave, that I ran away from Hugh, that I submitted to the pack? Only yesterday that I gave Wyatt a good dose of snark in the jail cell? How is that even possible? It feels like it was a thousand years ago, a past life, a different planet.

I crawl up on top of Theo, laying right across him like he is the most comfortable mattress ever, and he happily accepts my weight, wrapping his arms around me, holding me to him. I kiss his chest. “I love you,” I tell him. How extraordinary to love somebody like this.

He murmurs, “I love you too. But eating you wasn’t enough. I want real food.”

I laugh. “Didn’t get enough calories from me?”

“Nope. Get up. Let’s go get breakfast.”

I sit up so that he can get up too. We sit side by side on his bed, naked, and my hand rubs his lean thigh next to me. In the morning light, I see scars all over his leg, and my finger traces over them. “You gonna explain what happened here?” I ask. I know nothing about him, really, except that I know everything about him. I know his soul, he is part of mine now, I trust him and love him and desire him, but we weren’t spending time conversing last night. I don’t know the trivia, like how he hurt his leg, or what his family is like, or what his job is here. Or what he sees happening with us now that we are mated. Where will we live? If I’m exiled, will he come with me? It occurs to me that there is a lot to talk about, now that we are starting to come down off of the sexual high that kept us frantically fucking and coming and fucking some more all night long.

He kisses me, and I see that his dick is already growing hard again, but he says, “I’ll explain anything you want. But it’s a long story, let’s talk over breakfast, all right?” To emphasize his words, his stomach growls hungrily.

“Heh,” I chuckle at him a little. “Pampered pack dude,” I accuse, “I’ll bet you’re not used to missing meals.”

I say it as a joke, but it seems to strike him hard. He frowns, and caresses my throat where he left his mark last night, making me gasp with the electric tingle that his touch creates. “No, I’m not, and you won’t be either, little wolf, not ever again.” The nickname makes me smile. His wolf is a lot bigger than mine, we found out last night, but even so things still fit together perfectly.

He takes my hand and leads me into the bathroom, where we take a wonderful shower together, but we don’t linger the way I would like. I think he really is very hungry. He lends me a pair of sweatpants that I have to cinch around my waist, and an oversized t-shirt, and I admit it’s a relief to get out of those rogue clothes. Then we walk down the stairs together, with him holding my hand reassuringly.

I’m nervous, I have to admit, and his touch is the only thing keeping me from trying to run off. My experience with the pack so far has been an interrogation, a stint in the jail cell, a chat outside with the other she-wolves and then meeting my mate. And then sex, of course. So much sex. I don’t know what to expect this morning, whether I will be reviled as a rogue, or whether Theo will be mocked for mating one.

“It’s going to be fine,” he murmurs, “you’re gonna like everyone.” I clutch his hand tighter and follow him into what appears to be a cafeteria.

It’s overwhelming, all the people in here chatting and eating, and I really can’t take in everything that is happening. I just stick with him. He feels so safe. He leads me to a buffet line, and tells me to get a tray, and when I take just an apple off the buffet for breakfast, not wanting to seem like some sort of greedy glutton, he rolls his eyes and starts loading up a plate for me.

Then, carrying our trays, he leads me to the back corner, where I realize that Corinne and Lynette and Nova are already sitting with some of the pack wolves, and they all greet us with smiles and cheers and congratulations.

Still overwhelming, but I’m starting to feel like it is in a good way. Can you be overwhelmed with happiness? I have a mate that I already love more than life itself, and now to be greeted with all of this cheerful friendliness, it is really remarkable.

Corinne

I recognize the mark on Ruby’s throat. It is the same thing that I saw on Amelia’s throat on New Year’s Day, the mark of her mating. I realize that I felt sad when I saw Amelia’s mark, but I don’t feel the same way with Ruby.

I only feel joy for her. I think it is because my circumstances are so different now. When I realized that Amelia was mated to Dom, I was sad because I felt that no such happiness could ever be in store for me. My sisters were still captive with the rogues, and I had no hope for my own future.

Everything is different now. Except for Grace, I saved them. They are all here, with me, safe in the packhouse, eating breakfast, comfortable and happy. And even more, Evan has been so loving and wonderful with me. I won’t ever have a mate like Ruby has found, but I have found something just as wonderful. A kind, gentle, sweet man who obviously wants the best for me. A man I can love. A man I can raise my baby with. I’m happier than I ever realized could be possible. It’s so remarkable.

Ruby takes a few minutes to settle in with our friendly little crowd. Last night Lynette and Nova got the full welcoming pack treatment, dinner and a movie and the whole thing, and they are already seeming pretty comfortable. I’m especially happy to see little Nova starting to open up. And once Ruby gets the sense of the vibe here, she starts joking in her wonderful snarky way, and I can tell that she is going to be happy here too.

Once breakfast is winding down, Amelia asks, “What is everyone planning to do today?” Lynette and Nova look at each other and shrug, clearly having no idea what they should be planning to do. Maybe they’ll be able to work at the cafeteria with me. But first, I have to take care of something.

“I’m going to try to go to the hospital to visit Seth,” I say quietly, and my sisters nod sympathetically. None of them saw what happened at the cliff, but they’ve all heard about it, and they understand why I want to see him.

“I can drive you,” Evan offers, and I am so grateful to him. “I’ll even stay with you. You don’t have to do it alone.”

I’m surprised when Ruby says, “Can I come?”

Theo must be surprised too. He asks, “Why?”

She shrugs. “Seth was always decent to me.”

Theo nods. “All right. I’m coming too.”

I glance at Lynette and Nova, and they shake their heads. Understandable. To them, Seth was just the instrument of Xavier’s torture.

Evan stands up. “Wait here for a couple of minutes, okay?” he tells me. “I need to go clear it with my boss.”

Theo’s eyebrows rise, like he has just thought of something. “Oh, uh, I guess I need to talk to Beta Malcolm too.” He gives a crooked grin to Ruby.

When they leave, Amelia turns to Ruby and confidentially asks, “So, how did you enjoy your night?”

Ruby gets a huge smile and is about to start describing everything, while we girls all lean in, and Dom looks super awkward. “Um, I’m going to, uh, join them,” he says, jerking his thumb over at Evan and Theo as they walk across the room.

We all laugh and wait for the poor male to get away, before getting on with our girl talk.

I would feel perfectly happy if I didn’t know how much Grace would be enjoying this too.