Rogue Desires (Sample)

Five

Sloane:

"Where have you been?" Ellie asked, not bothering to peel her eyes away from her phone to look at me as I rushed up to stand beside her in the center of the pack land.

I didn't bother responding as I stared down the long stretch of road, trying to catch my breath. 

There was a thin layer of perspiration on my body, and I gathered the hair from the back of my neck, lifting it and letting the breeze hit the damp skin.

The entire run back to the border, I had felt Greyson hot on my heels. It had been exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Butterflies had swarmed my stomach, and on several occasions, I almost giggled from the excitement.

I would have, too, if he hadn't sounded so angry as he chased me, growling and snapping at the backs of my legs. No one had ever kept up with me before when I ran. I loved it.

A small part of me wanted to let him catch me, just to see what would happen, but the larger part wanted to prove myself and show him how fast I could run. I wanted to impress him.

"You smell awful," Ellie said, and I turned to glare at her.

I knew rogues usually smelled bad to pack wolves. I had heard it from them before and even smelled it myself while I was in their town. But Greyson didn't smell bad to me.

He smelled incredible and intoxicating.

I had figured that with how delicious his scent was, no one would notice if I had it on me from the little contact we had.

Ellie's nose was wrinkled, and I watched as she forced her stare away from her phone and turned to look at me. Her eyes widened as she glanced at my frizzy hair, over my damp face, down my sweaty dress, and to my dirt-covered heels. Compared to her polished, waxed, and manicured appearance, I must look like a mess. "Are you kidding me?"

"What? I don't look that bad." Greyson sure seemed to like it. I bit back the thought. His opinion shouldn't matter, and I shouldn't care that much about what he thinks of me.

He was as much of a stranger as my future mate was, and I had no business thinking about him. We spent less than two hours together over the past two days, and they meant nothing.

They were some of the most memorable hours of my life, but still.... they couldn't mean anything.

He was probably just having fun with me, laughing about the gullible pack girl he was toying with to his pack of rogues. After what they did to me during my first and only visit there, I imagined they would get a kick out of hearing about how he had me in the palm of his hand.

Once they learned I had shown up today after everything that happened yesterday, they would think I was more of a joke than they did before.

It wouldn't surprise me if he had planned to kill me once he finished his little game with me.

Yet, the way he had looked at me and touched me... I was having a hard time believing that was the case. It felt too real, too different.

My short time with him made me feel things I had never felt before and never expected to in my future arranged mating.

"Those men are coming here today to fight for your hand, some of them against their will, and you show up looking like you were just doing yard work. Show a little decency!" Ellie snapped, and I felt my cheeks burn under her glare.

My parents scolded me thousands of times, but having it come from my little sister and in front of our pack was humiliating. She sounded just like our father. He would be so proud if he had heard her. It would be just another thing she did to earn his love and respect while I continued disappointing him.