Ch. 11

Sage

I’m not sure why I feel more homesick with every step we take away from Blackthorn. My life has been nothing but abuse and misery in that pack. But that's all I’ve ever known. At least there, I knew what to expect. 

I should be thrilled about the new adventure ahead of me. I’m moving to a new pack. And not just any pack, I’m going to be living in the Royal pack! Surely I’ll be safe there, at least. 

But no matter how exciting that prospect may be, it doesn’t erase this gnawing pain in my heart. I had a mate! But he didn’t want me, loathed me so much he was willing to watch me die after stripping the flesh from my back with his belt. 

How could someone do that to the one person the Goddess created especially for them? If that’s what it’s like to have a mate, then I don’t want one! Not that it matters, no one would ever choose a wolfless girl like me anyway.

I thought Cassius was my friend. Now I realize I can’t trust anyone. Even my handsome stranger lied to me, let me think he was like me, weak and alone. He must think I’m a total idiot! I can’t even recognize royalty when I see it. 

I thought this man was my friend. But he wasn’t my friend at all. He’s a king. Kings don’t have wolfless omegas for friends. 

I was so terrified when he came back for me, I couldn’t help but cling to him for the safety he provided. But now that the danger has passed, all I feel is anger at his betrayal, at the secrets he kept from me. Being this close to him is irritating me.

“You can put me down. I can walk!” I insist with more confidence than I feel. 

“No!” He barks in his signature gruff tone which only infuriates me further. 

“Yes! I don’t want you to touch me! I don’t even know you!” I argue, refusing to acknowledge the little voice in my head telling me that his touch is the best thing I’ve ever felt in my life. 

He takes a deep, put-upon breath. “I’m Alaric. Alaric Sterling. And you’re Sage. Now we know each other so stop fighting me!” 

“Well, Alaric, you’re a liar and I’ve had enough of liars! You’re no better than him, letting me believe you’re one thing when you’re someone else completely!” I try to wiggle free of his arms but he only holds me tighter, the muscles in his arms like iron vices, immovable. 

“I never lied to you!” His chest rumbles in a warning growl. “You never asked, so your assumptions are your own. Don’t ever compare me to Cassius Sloane!”

Just the mention of his name sends a searing pain rippling through me. It feels like my heart breaking all over again. How can I feel so much loss, so much longing for someone who treated me so cruelly? I push against his chest in another attempt to get free but I’m tired and the effort is weak. 

“You’re injured.” His voice softens and I see a flash of vulnerability in his eyes before his walls go back up. “You’ll only slow me down. I’m an important man with important things to take care of. I don’t have time to wait for you.”

“Ugh!” I throw up my hands in frustration. “Why did you even come back for me if you’re in such a bloody hurry?” 

“I-,” he sighs, “it doesn’t matter. All that matters is I did come back and now you’re safe.” He speaks with a tone of finality that tells me I shouldn’t push it.

Well, he may be the King, but he wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for me. I won’t be bossed around by a man who's slept on my lumpy cot, hovering on the brink of death, while I nursed him back to health. So I grab his nipple and twist it hard.

“Ow! Fuck!” He loosens his grip enough for me to slide free. “What the fuck did you do that for?”

He growls, stomping toward me as I shuffle backward, a little more off balance than I’d like given I’d told him I was fine. I grit my teeth against the pain and turn to run. But my tattered shirt, encrusted in the blood from my wounds, pulls free with the movement, ripping scabs open. The pain is so intense it sucks the air from my lungs, leaving me breathless. 

His eyes soften when he sees my agony. He pulls his shirt off and covers me with it, as if he’s just realizing for the first time that my own has been reduced to rags. Then he puts his hands on my hips to steady me. 

“Better?” He asks gently.

“Yes, thank you.” I answer breathily, albeit begrudgingly. 

We’re standing so close, I can feel his warm breath on my face. The way he’s looking at me makes my heart gallop in my chest and butterflies flutter in my belly. No one's ever looked at me like that before. 

I like it and that makes me even angrier. He betrayed me and I can’t trust him not to do it again. There’s no more room in my heart for men I can’t trust.  

“Do you have a last name?” He practically purrs my name and it turns my already weak knees to jelly against my will. Why does he have this irritating effect on me? 

“No,” I shake my head, slightly embarrassed. “Not one I know of. I’m just Sage.”

“Well, just Sage,” he pulls my hips until there’s no space between us, something long and thick, and very hard pressing into my pelvis. My face heats as he bends to murmur in my ear and wetness pools between my legs at the proximity. “The next time you try to run from me, I will chase you. And make no mistake, I will catch you and when I do, I won’t hesitate to put you over my knee and spank you. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes, sir.” I stutter, not understanding why I suddenly feel hot all over just because he threatened to punish me.

“Alpha.” He corrects me. “I may be a lycan and a king, but I still have a pack and I’m still an Alpha. Your Alpha now.”

His chest rumbles on the last part and I think I might spontaneously combust. But before I can, the sound of jagged howls rends the air, breaking the moment. 

“Fuck!” He curses, turning toward the sound. 

“What? What is it?” I can’t hide the panic in my tone. 

“Don’t fight me this time!” He orders, lifting me so my legs wrap around his waist and my arms cling to his neck. “Hold on tight and no matter what happens, do exactly as I say!”

“Why?” He huffs at my refusal to blindly obey his command but I ask again anyway. “What’s happening?”

“Rogues!” Is all he says as he takes off running while I hold on for dear life.