Rogue POV

It took me days to flee my old territory. The supposed Alpha King tracked me for 12 hours through the land before he called off the search. A few hunters tried to track me in the days after that, but I evaded them all.

Seeing my street come into view and the modest 4-bedroom house I called home come into view gave me hope that I had escaped that world again. I put my key in and turned it just glad to be back. “I’m Home”.

My room mate Kimberly is the first to great meet me. “Welcome back. How was the conference”.

“Uh, yeah it was good. Usual sort of Vet updates”. The humans I live with don’t even know werewolves exist, let alone that I’m a wolf. No way I can tell them where I was or what happened.

Michelle comes running up too me way to excited, “Well now that your back you need to get dressed up. We're going out to a wine bar tonight”.

I dramatically groaned. “No. Why”.

She just rolls her eyes, “Because I want to meet someone to have fun with and Kimberly is still looking for Mr husband material”.

I just laugh. “And what about Willow”.

“You know the only men she’s interested in are the ones in her books. Still more than you though”.

I’m the first ready and wait at the bottom of the stairs for my girls. Michelle comes down next in the shortest, tightest red dress she has ever made in matching 5-inch heels.

Michelle sees me and instantly rolls her eyes. “Why do you always dress like a bodyguard. Honestly how are you going to attract a man dressed like that”.

“A, who says I’m looking for one, and B, who is going to protect you from the ones who might actually try and eat you dressed like that”.

Her face lights up and she starts giggling. “I know, I look awesome right. Just need a man looking for a fun time tonight”. We look up the stairs as the other two girls make their grand entrance.

“Well hello commoners. Will you be escorting the ladies tonight on our outing’’, Willow calls out in a playful mocking tone.

Michelle just playfully snaps back. “You're just jealous I’m this hot and you’re not. Now hurry up we have a reserved booth”.

I wish I could be normal like them.

Walking into the dimly lit bar I check for exits and potential threats hiding in plain sight. I use my senses to check for other wolves. None. Since I know there is a threat, the coolness of my hidden blades against my skin always brings me reassurance as we walk towards our booth.

I’m stuck in my own thoughts, seeing those glowing golden eyes staring at me from the shadows and the word that makes by blood run cold replaying over and over in my head. “Mate”. Even now, I know he’s not here but it’s like I can sense eyes watching me.

“So, what about you girl. What’s new in your life”. I jolt out of my thoughts to see Michelle smiling at me.

“You know me, I never have anything interesting going on in my life. I treat people’s pets at the vet clinic. Make them better when I can and come home. I can tell you about a new surgery technique I’m researching as I want to improve my surgical capabilities. That and I’m planning my monthly camping trip for next week”.

“You really need to get a hobby or something”, Michelle groans why being dramatic.

I just laugh at her expression. “Hiking and camping is a hobby”.

“You do the same hike and go to the same place each time. How about just going somewhere new and exciting. Some were more beach-like with cocktails and cabana boys”.

I just shrug at her. “What can I say, I’m a creature of habit”.

Kimberly suddenly gets very excited and starts frantically tapping my arm. “There is a guy at the bar checking you out”.

I roll my eyes, “Please, I’m sitting next to Mish. His eyes are probably wonky from too much wine”.

A waitress brings over a very expensive bottle of wine to our table. In her best customer service voice, she tells us, “Ladies, this is from the gentleman at the bar”.

Michelle looks over and blows him a kiss. He slowly starts to walk over. In an expensive, fitted three-piece suit, muscle physique, and emerald green eyes solely fixed on me.

Shit. A hunter from the Alpha King’s pack has found me.

Eve POV

“Hello Eve”, he smiles as he greets me.

I do everything I can to hold in my growl. Through gritted teeth and a low threatening tone, I demand, “What do you want”.

He’s trying to be gentle and reassuring but this does nothing to calm me down. “He wants to see you”.

“I don’t care what he wants”. I just glare at him while using my peripheral to decide on an escape plan.

I look across the table at my girls and get a mix of excited and angry faces. They had missed some huge gossip in my life after I just said I had nothing going on.

Michelle as usual is the first to pipe up. “I’m sorry, our friend here has clearly not filled us in on the details. Who wants to see her”.

“Billionaire Conrad Strongheart”.

Their eyes are so wide now that with the smiles on their faces, they look like Disney characters.

Kimberly instantly goes into her sickly sweet voice, “Why don’t you join us and tell us all about him and what he wants with our Eve”.

I protest as they don’t know the risk he poses or that they need protection right now. “What about girls only for the first two hours”. They quickly look around at each other and they give each other knowing looks.

“You’ve been outvoted. He’s joining us”, Michelle says proudly. “Firstly, what’s your name and what is your link to Mr. Strongheart”.

He pulls up to the seat next to me and starts addressing the group. “My name is Connor, and I work in his security team. My specialty is surveillance and intelligence, so I scope out and gather information to ensure the safety of the team”.

Kimberly and Michelle are currently swooning over his words and batting their eyelashes for attention. Willow seems to be deep in thought and analysing his words.

“Does he run the Strongheart foundation. There are several artifacts on display at work in the museum from his collection”.

“Yes, he does, among many other things”. He turns to me as he can now feel the blade I am holding against his femoral artery under the table. Let's him know I have control of the situation and that if he does anything to threaten us I will either kill him or cut off his manhood. He starts to squirm slightly in his seat to move away but I just apply slightly more pressure.

The girls don’t notice this interaction at all, while Michelle is furiously typing on her phone.

“OH. MY. GOD. Is this his picture? He’s Gorgeous. Is he really a billionaire? What does he want with Eve? How did he meet Eve? Why didn’t he come?”

Connor starts laughing. “That’s a lot of questions at once. Yes, he really is a billionaire. He met Eve a week ago during a mission and was very impressed. I think he has a bit of a crush on her as he has been moping around his house since then hoping she would come to him. He didn’t come as he tries to keep a low profile as he is very recognizable and that is why he sent me”.

With my anger growing, I ask him the only thing I needed to know. “How did you find me”.

“All soldiers wear cameras so we have footage from that day. We got a still of you and sent it to a hacker friend. He searched your picture and found your driver’s license. That gave us your license plate and your address, so I followed you here”. Connor starts to look at me very concerned as he can sense me getting angrier. He keeps trying to talk in a low calming tone which is difficult when I'm holding a blade to him. “We’re not your enemy Eve. He just wants to see you and make sure your OK”.

“I’ve been OK for years and don’t need him or any of you”. I stand up to leave hiding my blade from view under my jacket.

“You know he won’t do that”.

“Then I’ll just disappear again”.

He grabs my arm to try and stop me. I use the knife to slice his hand just enough for him to let go, get the message, and pull away. I re-sheath it before anyone in the bar notices but my girls are staring at me in shock. They look very concerned and scared now as they have never seen me like this before.

I start to storm out of the back of the bar making sure my girls are in front, and I can hear him yelling after me.

“He will keep looking for you if you don’t go see him and you know why”.

“I already told you, I don’t care what he wants or why. I’m not going back”.

As soon as the cold night air hits me I start to feel like there is not enough air in the world. It gets more difficult to breathe and the world gets smaller as my adrenaline rushes through my veins. I need to get home. I need to get us to safety. The girls know not to argue with me and get in the car.

As we pull out, I see Conner watching from the entrance, wondering if he has done the right thing.

Conrad POV

I’m up on the balcony waiting for the car headlights to come down the estate's driveway telling me Connor has gotten home. I can feel my wolf Jace pacing inside me getting more frustrated at second ticks away on the clock.

Since I saw her last week, she has plagued my thoughts. Her flowing chestnut hair, sapphire blue eyes I got lost in, the pale silk-like skin I wanted to kiss all over, and curves that make me want to hold tight and never let go. Even the amount of disrespect in her attitude was amazing. The fire and passion in her words make me want to tame her more. Make her mine.

At 1 am I see the headlights so bolt down the stairs to meet him at the front door.

“How did it go”. I couldn’t contain myself and was talking as soon as Connor opened the door.

Connor can’t make eye contact with me as he talks and just stares at the ground. “Her friends seem nice, but she was furious. Sorry Alpha King but she won’t come”.

The noise woke my Beta Liam’s and his half asleep brain starts to slowly put things together. “What the hell did you do”.

“Nightstalker found her, so I sent Connor to make sure she is OK. She’s been living with humans since she was 13. Can you believe that”. I can’t help the pride in my voice that I found her after she escaped the hunters.

Liam’s face starts to go wide-eyed with frustration. “YOU SENT A HUNTER AFTER A ROGUE AND YOU'RE CONFUSED AT WHY SHE’S PISSED AT YOU”.

When he phrases it like that it does sound bad. It’s not how I intended it to come across. Surely, she can see that as she wasn’t attacked. Right.

I try to defend myself to Liam. “You know that’s not what I did. Connor was under strict orders not to harm her or her friends. Just ask for her to meet me. And that’s what you did right”.

I look over at Connor who is nodding but I can tell he is leaving something out. “What else did she say”.

He takes a deep sigh and avoids eye contact again. “She said she is fine on her own and if we ever go near her again, she will disappear again”.

My heart dropped. I start running my hands through my hair to calm myself down. Jace is howling inside me and I can feel my breathing increase and my heart beating in my throat. How did I screw up this badly? I just wanted to see her again.

Liam can sense my turmoil and starts planning to resolve the situation. “Alright. Everyone into the study so we can work out what to do next. And you”, pointing a finger straight into my face, “you are not to do anything regarding her before running it past me. This girl is under yours and Jace’s skin you’re not thinking rationally. You’re also clearly not going to move on without some sort of closure so for your own sanity you follow the plan we come up with. Understood”.

Liam my be my Beta and second in command but he's always been more of a brother and so I always value his advice and support. “Fine”, I growl back.

Liam looks at me, a mix of concern and confusion on his face. “What exactly is your end goal here”.

The words leave my mouth before I process their potential reactions. “Jace says she is my mate, so I want her as part of the pack and to be my Queen”.

The study door shuts behind us and Liam turns to me with a horrified look on his face. “Are you insane. You know the dangers that poses to every member of this pack. Rouges have a permanent ban from rejoining all packs for a reason”.

Connor instantly agrees. “I get that she’s powerful, but she kicked our asses in the raid, has avoided detection in the human world since she was a pup and tonight, managed to slice my arm with a concealed silver blade in a public setting without a single human noticing. You need to get over this obsession and leave her alone”.

I charge across the room and before I know it, I have my claws out and my hand around Connor’s throat pinning him against a wall. My eyes glow with Alpha energy and I stare at his fear in his.

In a low growl, I sneer at him. “NO. She belongs with me”.

I feel Liam come up to the side of me and gently place his hand on my arm as he tries to get me to loosen my grip on Connor. “It’s alright buddy. Connor didn’t mean any disrespect. Let him go and we can talk about what to do next”. He always calls me buddy when he doesn’t know if it’s me or Jace who has lost control.

I release Connor and he starts coughing as he moves away from me. I go and get a drink of whisky from my office stash to try and calm my nerves.

I hear Connor mutter under his breath to Liam, “Could she really be his mate”.

I skull back the whiskey and feel the burn go down to the emptiness since I lost her. “Jace is certain. She’s mine”.

I can hear the hesitation in Liam’s voice as he asks for clarification. “I get that you or Jace might like her, but I have never known anyone to have mate bond. The stories we were told as pups of the Moon Goddess curse to take them away was just a fairy tale. Right”.

Doesn’t matter if this bedtime story is true or not, I can’t leave her out there to fend for herself anymore. I want her to come home.