Chapter 2

DELLA

When I woke up, the first thing I registered was that I was bound and if there was one thing that pissed the hell out of me, it was being bound against my will.

I opened my eyes and saw a woman with dark hair standing a few feet away from me. Other people surrounded us and we were all in a dark unfurnished sort of cabin.

"I got you good on the head," the woman said with a wide, unnerving smirk that made me want to rip it right off her face.

Flaring my nostrils, I spat at the woman, but she stepped back and shook her head unimpressed. "And there you go, a rogue in her natural form," she said in a mocking tone, her lips curling back. "A bitch."

"Why am I here against my will?" I snapped.

"You stole from us and you're a rogue," she said.

"I stole from humans and since when is it a crime to be a rogue?"

She stepped forward and grabbed my hair, before pulling my head back. "You're not allowed to talk back, Mutt!"

I growled, feeling my eyes glow with heat.

"Sierra!" A husky voice rose from the back. "Everyone leave right now." It was his voice.

Sierra snickered and pushed my head back as the door opened and everyone walked out. Everyone except for him.

When he turned around, I felt my breath hitch in my throat. My body went rigid and my heart started beating faster.

He was the Alpha. But for some reason, I instinctively wanted to break free from the rope that bound me to the chair I was on and make him claim me. My lady parts tightened the second his green eyes found mine. His cupid now lips parted and so did mine. I bet he felt it too. His black hair was a luscious mess of curls that I could imagine pulling while he pleasured me.

I was a virgin, but werewolves were horny when they attracted their mate—

No, it couldn't be. The desire had disappeared as soon as it had come and was replaced with annoyance instead. Werewolves only felt attraction towards their mates. I stared up into his eyes as he walked towards me. There was nothing there. No desire, no emotion. Just blank.

Was it just my imagination?

I'd spent years wondering what it would be like to finally have a mate. Someone who would love me and make me theirs. But after a year of my delayed change, I'd given up any ideas of finding my mate. Who would want a mate that hasn't yet shifted? Not even my own pack wanted me.

"You're in my pack's territory," he said, reaching out and gripping my chin. "That cabin you broke into belongs to me. An old couple was staying there, but I recently bought the cabin."

"I didn't know," I muttered. "I was hungry. I've been starving."

"Did you leave your pack?" His grip grew tighter on my jaw as he leaned in.

I could smell his scent. It was woodsy, wild, just like the woods. My eyelids fluttered as his other hand touched my throat and a small moan escaped my lips.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

My eyes snapped open as the heat crept into my cheeks. His eyes bored into mine. I swallowed hard. "Nothing."

"I'm Hunt Whitlock," he said, letting go of me. "Where's your pack? Did you run away? If you did, I'd have to return you to them. I don't want an added responsibility."

"I'm Della. I don't have a pack. And I didn't plan on being anyone's responsibility," I muttered. "I'm perfectly fine on my own."

Hunt untied the rope from around my hands and once they were free, I rubbed the red rings around my wrists.

"So can I leave?" I stood up and as I tried to move around him to get to the door, he caught my wrist and pulled me back. "I can't let you leave."

"Why not?" My voice was laced with annoyance. "I did not do anything wrong."

"Unfortunately I make a lot of decisions but my pack won't like knowing that we have a rogue on our hands and I'm about to let her loose, especially with all the attacks going around. For all we know," Hunt stepped closer. "You could be the wild rogue just trying to talk yourself out of a sticky situation."

I scoffed at Hunt as I tried to pull my hand free, but he just wouldn't let go. "Do I look like a maniac going around and attacking people?"

"You'll stay with my pack until further notice," he said, coolly before opening the door and leaving the cabin.

I wanted to run as far as I could, but I also knew that was a stupid idea. Running away from a whole pack wasn't a great idea.

As I stepped out of the cabin, a blonde-haired girl ran towards me, her blue eyes wide with concern.

"Hi, I'm Faye. Hunt told me to take you to your cabin," she said, grabbing my hand.

"My cabin?" I frowned in confusion. "I doubt a rogue like me would be given such privileges."

Faye smiled even though I picked up a sad vibe coming off her. "Sure he might be the big bad Alpha of our pack, but he's not all that bad."

I let Faye lead me through the woods and as we walked, it was hard to ignore the secret glances from the other wolves that hid behind the trees.

"I think this is going to be a bad idea," I whispered to Faye as we passed several cabins.

Most of them were hidden by the tall trees and you could barely make them out.

"We don't question our Alpha," Faye told me. "We just go with whatever he says."

Frowning, I think back to what he said in the cabin when we were alone. He said he made the final decision but his pack wouldn't be all that happy about him letting a rogue go on the loose. Faye made it sound like no one here questioned Hunt. So if that was the case, then why was I being kept here?

We soon reached another cabin and Faye reached into the pocket of her black jeans, before retrieving a set of keys.

"This is your cabin. You can have a bath and I'll be right back to bring you some fresh clothes," Faye said as she handed me the keys. "Dinner will be served soon in the packhouse. You'll get to meet the rest of the pack there."

"Thanks." I took the keys from her and watched as she disappeared back into the woods.

I sniffed the air and when I was sure that no one else was around and watching me, I unlocked the door and went inside the cabin.

It almost reminded me of the old couples' cabin that I had been in earlier. The room was simple with a queen bed against the wall and already made with a white comforter. Everything smelled clean. Warm light washed over the room from the two lanterns positioned on the cabin wall. A freestanding white tub was near the window and already filled with hot water. It was confusing as to why the room was already prepared for me. Rogues aren't trustful wolves and I knew that from the experience. I'm not saying that I'm a sly rogue, but I saw how my father treated them when we ran into one. We usually killed rogues. And now I was one.

I stripped off my clothes, pushing them away from the tub with my feet before I climbed inside. A loud sigh escaped my lips as I settled down in the tub. The scalding hot water felt soon good as I rested my head back against the cool edge of the tub.

My fingers roamed across my body and I closed my eyes while I played with my nipples, squeezing them as the desire in between my legs grew.

My lips parted as I arched my back, the aching in my pussy grew and I felt my right hand move downwards until my fingers were brushing my folds.

"Della," a soft voice said and my eyes snapped open to see Hunt standing there, with his tall frame against the door.

I quickly sat up and brought my knees to my chest, my heart pounding against my breastbone as he stepped into the light.

For a second, I swore I could see the fire in his green eyes as they swept over me. And then they were blank again.

It was hard for werewolves to hide their emotions and the scent of their need, which is why my face was burning with mortification. Hunt couldn't probably smell my pheromones all over the place and I couldn't even hide the fact that I wanted him so badly.

More importantly, I wanted to know why he was hiding how he felt.

"This is yours." He placed something green on the bed and I let my eyes roam over the way the black t-shirt hugged his lean torso and how his dark jeans fitted him well enough that I could see the large bulge.

"I thought Faye was bringing me clothes," I said with a clipped tone.

"She was busy," he mumbled.

I nodded and just to be sure that I didn't affect him in any way, I stood up and let my arms fall to my sides as I climbed out of the tub and walked in his direction.

Hunt let his wild green eyes seep over me again and I could hear the sound of his heartbeat as it thudded hard against his chest.

"Thank you," I said slowly, before brushing past him and moving towards the bed.

The door slammed behind me and I could hear Hunt breathing hard as he walked away from the cabin. He was angry at me, angry at himself and angry at the fact that there was an attraction between us. But why?

Shifting my mind from these thoughts, I lifted the green material from my bed and found it to be a green cable-knit sweater and with it was a pair of light blue jeans.

Clean clothes, a warm place to sleep and food? I certainly wasn't running away right at that moment.

It'd been so long since I've lived normally. I pull the sweater over my head and then slip into the jeans. Both items fit my figure perfectly.

When I'm done changing and pulling on the tennis shoes, I go over to the large round mirror near the bed and study my reflection.

I braid my long, dark red hair but a few untamed curls still manage to spring free.

My crystal blue eyes had always been my best feature. They're almond-shaped and framed with long dark lashes.

"You look just like your mother," my father once told me. "When she was your age, beauty meant everything to her and she had three Alpha's fighting for her."

I gasped. "All at once?"

"All at once," he confirmed. "Until I came along of course "

I smiled as I took the necklace from underneath and placed it on top of the sweater. Wherever my parents were now, I knew they were in a better place.

Taking a deep breath, I left the cabin and walked down the same trail Faye and I had walked through earlier. I expected her to come back, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen, so I just used my senses to find my way.

As I sniffed the air for the other wolves and continued down a twisting path, I suddenly saw a huge cabin come into view. It was the biggest cabin, made out of dark wood that almost appeared black. AS I listened, I could hear their voices and smell the amazing food in the air.

Taking another deep, shaky breath, I walked up to the door and knocked.