Runaway Rogue

Chapter Nineteen: Indigo's POV

Indigo's wolf felt like she was feral for a long time and it took more effort than she would have liked to get the beast under control. What was worse was that Caspian sensed it in her. Every time she sucked in a breath too fast, every time her eyes flickered to somewhere in the distance, he was there, trying to soothe her.

She hated how sweet it was, hated that this man whose natural expression was a heavy glare, softened like warm butter around her. He wanted to cook for her, offered to do her laundry, took her on drives and walks around the packlands.

It was wonderful. Too bad none of it mattered.

Andrew was coming. And he was looking for her.

Caspian's sweetness didn't change that reality, didn't change the fact that she had a backpack now full of everything he had gotten her tucked out of sight. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

Andrew was still hunting her. The absurdity of it was the first shock, that he still was chasing her after all this time. Then there was the terror.

He would be angrier now, the consequences of him stumbling on her heightened. If he hadn't given up yet, there was little chance that he never would. And his persistence was only part of the problem. The other parts involved his money and his influence.

She could have told Caspian, who would have told Forest, undoubtedly. They could sell her out and the pack would be better off. She wouldn't even be able to blame them for it. How could they put her wellbeing over the good of the pack? Or, maybe they would keep her safe for a little while, but Andrew would find out. He had a nose for these kinds of things. Someone would talk, they always did. And when she was eventually revealed, Forest would have to make some hard decisions between protecting her and risking others.

There were a hundred ways she could spin it, it didn't matter. She would always end up losing. And the longer she stayed, the harder it would be for both her and Caspian. The worse it would be when Andrew found her.

She knew she couldn't stay. But when Caspian smiled out at the golden glow of the sun and suggested a walk, she couldn't say no either.

"You've been busy lately," Indigo mused as they walked together.

He looked absolutely delicious in a heavy green hoodie with tan pants, the epitome of a walking sin in the woods.

He sighed, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against his side like it was the most natural thing in the world. "I'm sorry about that. We are having a visit from an alpha and it's just a weird situation."

For a moment, there was no sound beyond the crunching of leaves beneath their boots and Indigo's whirling thoughts.

"I'll be gone in the morning, but we can spend the evening together. You said you didn't care much for horror movies, but we can find something that's so terrible it's funny instead of scary," he suggested. "I'm sure you could whip up some fancy cocktails to go with it."

That sparked something. "Oh my gosh, when I worked at one of the bars, I made some featured drinks. I had this one called the black widow and it had black berries and I served them with these fake spiders on the side. And there was another that I made, a pumpkin spice white Russian, it was deadly." And they both had ingredients that the small grocery store here would not carry.

Caspian pulled her tighter against him. "Those sound amazing. I'll take one of each," he said.

It was meant to be something soft and sweet. She wanted it, so badly that her teeth ached with the need. She could curl up in a thick blanket, have him sitting beside her. She would nuzzle into his side every time something happened on screen. He would pretend to be unaffected, but grin behind sips of his drink.