Runaway Rogue

Chapter Seventeen: Indigo's POV

Indigo could have never fathomed a reality after Andrew where she spent an afternoon in the kitchen, laughing with her mate. Freshly after her escapades when she trotted off to another territory, things had been strained. He was a rogue killer and she a rogue.

But mate bonds were powerful things and day by day, the silver was leaving her system. And when someone was meant for you, it was hard to detach. Especially when that someone had spectacular green eyes that changed and shifted like living forest and offered up rare smiles.

Like now, when they were in the kitchen together. Both of them had confessed to not being able to cook or bake and with the location of the pack, eating out was not an option. Indigo was prepared to spend her days eating raw fruits and vegetables until Caspian shyly suggested they could try baking together.

Indigo would have scoffed at any other man, but Caspian was so timid about the whole thing. They found a recipe that was labeled for beginners and went to the small pack-run grocery store together. Indigo still caught stray glares from a few around, but her scent wasn't calling out in a warning to them anymore, more muted with each moment that passed.

"I bought this hand mixer when I moved out, but I've never used it," Caspian admitted, looking at the small appliance.

"Well, it's too much work to mix this by spoon and I don't think hacking at it is going to make it light and fluffy like the recipe calls for," Indigo commented. She grabbed the mixer and plugged it in. "I'm going to mix and you're going to pour the dry ingredients in."

Caspian was an attentive helper in the kitchen as they made their pumpkin and chocolate chip loaf together, even if he tasted the batter far too often. And gently touched her every now and then, leaving flour prints on her tee shirt and jeans.

She didn't know when it had gotten so easy to be around him, but when he grabbed her hips and shuffled her to the side for a couple steps to grab a pan, it was so tempting to sink into him. Then she would remember that he admitted slaughtering dozens of rogues or think about Sasha and Paris would were undoubtedly worried sick for her and she would snap out of it.

Perhaps the whole mate thing was not as bad as she originally thought, but she wasn't willing to jump in with both feet either. Just because he smelled good and had a laugh that made her knees weak didn't alleviate the fact that being tied to a pack was a risk.

Caspian seemed to have his own concerns. Despite the reality that she constantly changed the subject or just outright told him to stop, he was determined to get his answers. When she tied her hair up to start washing dishes, he settled in beside her with a dish towel for drying, his gaze locking with her neck.

"So was it a boyfriend that you were in love with or something?" he asked, focusing very intently on a pan.

Indigo didn't allow herself to pause. Whatever Andrew was, boyfriend was not the right term. "No, I wouldn't say that," she mused.

Caspian nodded his head absently, seeming to understand that she would give him crumbs, but never the full cake. "Did you love him?"

That was a more complicated question than he probably knew. "I guess so. Or, at least, I convinced myself what I was feeling was love or that love would come eventually." It was impossible to label emotions of the past when there was so much more clarity in the present. Everyone had told her he was wonderful, rich beyond her wildest dreams, that his pack would always keep her safe. He was supposed to be her mate. She believed it, determined that it would get better if she was strong enough, that maybe she wasn't good enough for him and that's why it never felt right.

"Does he know that you have a mate now?" Caspian pressed.

At that, Indigo snorted out loud. "No, the less he knows, the better."