Chasing The Rogue

-07- 🌻 Alone

^ Zeke & Clara Lewis

[A/N - If you don't remember, we met Zeke in ch. 29 of SCM]

"Lover come over, look what I done. I been alone so long, I feel like I'm on the run."
~Matt Maeson, 'Cringe'

~~~

*Lucca's POV*

The weeks following my first meeting with Kai have been... uneventful.

Boring. They've been fucking boring.

My days have consisted of the same routine: go to work, perform at the restaurant, go home alone, sleep, repeat.

I keep looking over my shoulder, wondering if Kai's going to appear out of nowhere, but he hasn't. In fact, I haven't even heard from the kid since Lincoln played Invasion of the Body Snatchers and ran off to meet him. My wolf has been under strict lock-and-key since that day. Call it fucking abuse and I'll clock you; it's fucking justified.

'I said I was sorry,' Lincoln whines pitifully.

I raise an eyebrow. 'Are you really?'

He hesitates for a moment before mumbling, 'No.'

'That's what I thought.' I nod my head. It's not exactly that I'm mad about him meeting Kai. If he asked, I would've at least considered it. But instead, he had to force a shift while I was driving, nearly made me crash my fucking car, and broke into a pack where the Alpha already doesn't trust me. He's fucking lucky Landon happened to be walking by, or else Leon would currently have our head mounted on his wall.

Oh, and the biggest piece of annoyance is that Lincoln left my car running, out in the open! By the time he got back, he had to scare away some cracked-out teenager who was sniffing around my baby. Luckily, it's not that difficult for a giant wolf to bare his sharpened canines and send the kid running for the hills. If my car got stolen, I would— well... it's not like I can actually do anything to the wolf who lives in my head.

He's pretty much grounded, but that's not too different from usual. Because of our status as rogues, Linc and I run the risk of going feral. As everyone has been able to witness, our exile has knocked a few of Linc's screws loose. Impulsively taking control, forcing shifts... It wasn't quite this bad when I lived with Landon, but since he moved out, I lost my one connection to other wolves.

'There's always Kai~' Lincoln sings in my head.

'Stop.'

'Come on, think about it! If we mate, we'll have a permanent connection to another wolf. We could even join his pack!'

"I don't want to join his pack," I interrupt in a sharp whispered tone. "Living in another restrictive pack with a big-headed Alpha... Alphas don't really care about their wolves. As long as everyone is obedient and blindly living the mate they were assigned, then the Alpha is content. It doesn't matter if everyone is actually happy and safe — as long as they're giving off the illusion that they are."

My voice raises to a growl as bitter memories roll into my mind. I snap my mouth shut, looking around to make sure no one is looking my way. My jaw clenches painfully as the memories continue to force their way into my head.

Memories of pleading to our Alpha to do something about Olivia.
Memories of our Alpha brushing the issues aside, simply because Olivia's mate was his trusted Beta.

My hands clench in disgust at the thought of that bastard. Arthur. I can still see his taunting smile. The fake one he would plaster on his face while he made excuses for Olivia's bruises, and the smug one he would throw my way whenever someone believed him.