The Alpha's Little Rogue

Stay.

Part Three of Seven

Nova had heard footsteps behind her for a while, but then they fell away, she thought maybe, just maybe she'd won her freedom. She ran far beyond his territory, until there were miles between them. When she reached the banks of a lake that humans obviously frequented, she approached from the west before trekking north, walking through the water, knowing that he would probably expect her continue on her journey south and west since that was the way she'd been heading all along, before setting up camp away from any of the camp sites in a small clearing about a hundred yards back from the beach.

When dusk had fallen and twilight had nearly faded to true night, the beach on the west side of the lake closed for the day and she emerged from the forest. The forest and the beach were extremely quiet, with the humans having only just left. Nova walked to the west side of the beach, thankful that this lake, while not small, wasn't enormous either. Picking through the junk humans had left behind she found a treasure trove that would replace much of what she'd lost. Apparently these particular humans were not very tidy. There was a backpack with an entire outfit in it, that included a bikini, shorts, a tank top, a sweater, flip flops, a towel, a water bottle, sunscreen, deodorant, a toothbrush that hadn't even been opened and toothpaste, a granola bar, a brush, and twenty dollars in cash.

Nova stared at what she'd found. This was better than anything she'd had in her entire life. This could potentially allow her to go into towns and blend with humans, to an extent at least. She'd have to be careful. After all, she had no idea how to act like a human. But she also wouldn't be walking around naked any longer.

There was more on the beach but she turned quickly, hurrying back to her camping spot, already brushing her teeth. She didn't want to push her luck, staying too long in a place that human's frequented, even if it was after dark. Especially if there was a chance that the girl who left her stuff there came looking for it.

When she got back to the campsite Nova dropped everything in the bag near a tree and headed back to the lake. It had been three days since she'd gone for a swim and she longed to get in the water and rinse off the sweat of running for so long. Carelessly she walked down and waded in until she was up to her waist before diving underwater and swimming until she reached the middle of the lake, letting her mind go blank while she tried to ignore the painful tug that had been bothering her all day long. For some reason it was growing stronger by the minute. Before it had been like a steady ache in her chest, but now it was also a twisting pain in her stomach and a tightness in her throat that compelled her to return to that pack, while her mind still told her to run.

Her wolf whimpered again and she stopped swimming and began to tread water, her eyes scanning the dim and barely visible beach that lay between where she was and where all her new gear had been stashed.

"Fuck." she muttered with a shake of her head. He was there, standing alone, his thick arms crossed against his muscular chest.

She could keep swimming to the other side, but in wolf form he could beat her there. Turning she began to swim back towards him.

"Maybe I'll just rip his f-"

"No." her wolf answered firmly in her mind. "I'm not going to do that."

"Well I'm not going to be one of his women." she snarled back inside her head as she swam steadily back towards the beach, not hurrying her strokes.

She emerged from the water and walked past him towards her camp site, not acknowledging his presence as he stared at her, his eyes wide at his mate who he had yet to see wearing a stitch of clothes.

"Do you just walk around naked all the time?" he asked, jogging to keep up with her as she headed back to the place where she'd left the bag and her newly claimed belongings.