I am Rogue [Book 1]

Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

               I was smirking as we came near the final turn towards our pack territory. Ash and I had argued for the majority of the ride over what to listen to on the way back. He wanted to listen to something along the lines of Alice Cooper, which I didn’t have a problem with really, but I wanted to listen to my Lorde cd. Honestly though the argument could have ended after five minutes, however the looks Ben and Mange were giving one another seemed to spark something in both me and Ash to take the fight onto a new level of annoying just for them.

               Leaning back in my seat, completely comfortable with how close we were to home away from home, I kicked my feet out the window and glanced towards one of the males behind me- Mange, I think. His attention was on the different terrain around us, his eyes flickering to the review mirror as if he had little faith in the car behind us being capable of following suit. He wasn’t bad looking for a male werewolf, though his name did have me curious. I mean, who on earth would want to be called mange? Mange was a damaging skin disease caused by parasitic mites. Who would want that as a name?

               Looking at him, I just couldn’t see it. Why had he chosen to be “Mange”? Had he been named it by a friend or something, because he really needed to reconsider who he considers a friend if that was the case. To werewolves, mange would be an insult, either by saying we were unclean or that we were a parasite on those around us. This man seemed to be physically appealing enough, his shaggy brown hair curling around his ears and his strong jaw obviously able to take a punch. Sze-wise the man was a giant compared to his companion, which made him a mountain to me. Seriously, we had almost made Ben ride with the other car just so Mange could have the backseat.

               I was still trying to figure Mange out when he turned to catch me staring at him. The only thing he did was raise an eyebrow and give me a cocky smirk as if asking me ‘Do you like what you see?’ Blushing, I turned and sat my seat back up, my body suddenly abuzz with excitement I almost started to bounce around.

               “Do you feel that?”

               I glanced towards the review mirrior to see Ben stiffen and look around himself as if he were momentarily confused. Hell, I was confused by his reaction. I couldn’t feel anything threatening or worth being worried about. What I felt was the connection to my family tighten around me and beacon me home with open arms as the minds of others touched mind and shouted their welcoming in joy that Ash and I had returned safely.

               “There is power here,” Mange whispered, though I wasn’t sure if it was to answer Ben’s question or if he hadn’t meant to say it out loud.

               “Do they not know how distracting it is to shout when someone is driving? Aim, contact Nyx and let him know we're back with some baggage.”

               Two offended growls came from behind us, but I was too excited to be back, wanting to check on little Rosie. “Hey Nyx, we’re back. Ash wanted me to tell you we brought some heavy baggage with us, but I figure I might as well tell you it’s just a car full of mountain werewolf men. Tanner sends his regards, but he could not attend.”

               With a forewarning to Nyx that we had come back packing muscle, I climbed out of the now parked car and headed towards Nyx’s tent, nearly running to see Rosie’s smiling face. Ash growled out something behind me as he ushered Tanner’s wolves towards wherever Nyx had told him to take them no doubt. Didn’t matter to me if he felt like it wasn’t fair I got to rush away from the walking mountains.

               People waved and said hello as they saw me pass, the smiles on their faces telling me they were happy I had returned to them more than their earlier mental greeting. It felt wonderful to be around them again, to breathe in those wonderful scents that set my wolf to ease and made my body almost go weak at the knees, wishing this feeling of bliss would never go away. Some would say I have no idea what real bliss is since I haven’t jumped through some sheets, but I’d beg to differ. True bliss was coming home to welcoming smiles and knowing that you were accepted among a loving family no matter what.

               “Rosie,” I squealed out as I saw the gorgeous little girl sitting on my usual stump, her legs crossed underneath her and a stuffed penguin in her arms. Hearing my happy voice, she turned to me, making sure I was really there before hopping down and meeting me half way, throwing her little arms around my waist and burying her face into my stomach, taking in my sent.

               Stroking her hair, I returned the favor, taking a deep breath filled with her familiar sweet scent, my nose wrinkling at the sour mix of sweat and dirt that came with it, but otherwise I was happy to have her so close to me again. Any time away from the cute little pup I had grown to almost need around me seemed to be too much.

             Kneeling down to her level, I pecked a soft kiss on the tip of her nose, hoping that it wasn’t covered in whatever she had decided to roll around in. “I missed you too, little Rosie, so much,” my mouth moved to form the “oh” feature as I elongated the ‘o’ in so, stretching my arms out to match my dramatization of the word. Pulling her to me again, I sighed. “Were you a good little pup while I was gone, Rosie?”

                Leaning away from her, I looked into her eyes for the answer. Before coming home, I had made Ash pull into a town that smelled clean of werewolves. I had promised Rosie a present if she had been good while I was gone, so I made sure to go in and get her a little something from the local Walmart where we had stopped. The other werewolves had been a bit grumbly about my need to do so, and Ben even complained about women and shopping. I just snorted and told him he should be happy it was me wanting to go in and not Ash or we would never have made it home in time for the raid. I was going for one thing, Ash would go for anything, including long legged blondes who worked the till.

                Seeing that Rosie had been as good as I had come to expect, I grinned and pulled my pack from my shoulder, letting it hit the ground. Unzipping the bag, I pulled out a stuffed wolf pup that had a coat of grey and white streaks and sported mercury colored glass eyes that seemed to stare back at you in a comforting way – not like those freaky human baby dolls stores sold for little girls. How those didn’t give people nightmares I would never know.

                Little Rosie jumped up and down, one arm holding the penguin to her while the other shot out and snatched the wolf pup. Readjusting, she gently cradled the wolf pup, placing a kiss on its fake furred forehead. The action made me smile, and I knew the poor penguin would soon find it’s self left behind. No doubt Rosie would be playing her own version of house with the stuffed animal I had just given her.

               Like the penguin soon would be, I was forgotten as Rosie ran into Nyx’s tent with her toys, making strange noises in her throat. The girl was a cutie, but I still felt a pout form on my lips at how sudden I could be replaced. Bloody wolf pup had to look so damned cute at the store, all alone on its shelf. Guilt tripped. I was guilt tripped by a stuffed animal who had now replaced me. Isn’t that some fucked up reality?

               Shaking my head, I turned to go look for Nyx. He was no doubt listening to everything Ash had seen and heard while we were in Tanner’s territory as well as examining the spare muscle that we were given so generously. Strangely, I found myself beginning to get nervous about the raid to come. At first I had been excited about it, but now I felt as though something wasn’t right with so many things, mainly Tanner’s pack. Dread was beginning to sit heavily in the pit of my stomach as I made my way towards Nyx, his large 6’4” frame calling to my inner animal to come home as any alpha would have an effect on their pack members.

[Author's note: If you are reading my story, please let me know your thoughts through comments. Feedback, both positive and negative, is helpful to a writer. Thank you! - L.L.S.]