Chapter Seven

"What are you doing here!?" she asked hysterically, backing into the wall. To her dismay, she noticed that her backpack was right beside him. It was wide opened. There was a banana peel by his feet which meant that he had been eating her food for some time. She hadn't noticed him come in.

He was eating her food. The only food she had left.

"Give that back!" she exclaimed. "That's mine!"

"Not anymore," she said, opening his mouth and pouring the remnants of the crackers straight into his mouth. He then balled the empty packet in his fist and threw it so it landed beside the peel. He began rummaging through her bag and she immediately reacted. She stood but he was too fast for her.

He stood as well. She was instantly intimidated by his height. He could hurt her if he wanted to. He still might. The chances of her running out and escaping were higher than recovering her backpack. He said, "Not so fast. Sit back down."

"No."

"I can easily catch you," he remarked. "You're not much of a rogue. You were sleeping as if you had been tucked into bed by your parents. Do you know where you are? Do you know who I am? Sit."

Rae wasn't left with a choice. She sat down even though the command killed her and he mimicked her, then he resumed searching through her things. She gritted her teeth but said nothing. She wished she had eaten everything when she had the chance.

She was so upset that she thought she would cry.

He found an apple and immediately bit down on it. Juice trickled down the side of his mouth. He wiped it with the sleeve of his denim jacket. He was looking at her intently, curiously. After he swallowed the first bite, he asked her, "Where are you from?"

She didn't answer him. He took another bite.

"I won't ask again," he said, searching through her things. He closed his hand around the jar of jam and said, "This is a treat. Where'd you find these things? Where'd you steal them? Come on, don't be greedy. Tell me and I'll let you have some of your things back."

"I didn't steal anything," she forced through her teeth.

"I don't believe you," he said around a mouthful of apple. "You wouldn't have just found these things. I can tell this is expensive. It comes from the human world." He looked at her suspiciously then. "Or are you the kind of wolf who meddles with humans? Who wants to be one of them?"

"No," she said and shuddered. "I'm not."

"Explain this, then," he commanded. "I'm losing my patience with you, you know. You're making me repeat myself. I don't usually repeat myself."

"It was given to me."

"By whom?"

"Someone I found on the road."

He scoffed. "Someone just gave you these? Do I look like a clown to you?" He tilted his head then and observed her for the longest time. She felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny but looking away would mean that she was intimidated by him and that wasn't the case. Well, it was, but she didn't want him to know.

"You're not a rogue."

"Why else would I be here?"

"You tell me."

"I won't tell you anything."

He sat back and shrugged. "Have it your way. Sit there, then, fair lady, and watch me eat all this delicious food, food I'm certain you were saving for a better day."

"Wait," she begged, and he stopped rummaging through her belongings. He watched her attentively. She believed that he would stop if she told him what he wanted to hear but she didn't want to give herself away either, especially since she was still relatively close to BloodMoon.

"You're right, I'm not much of a rogue. Until a few days ago, I belonged to a pack. But I had to leave and I brought these things with me. My supply has dwindled over the last few days, this is all I have left."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Which pack?"

Rae gulped. "I can't tell you. I don't think it matters."

"Oh, it does," he hissed. "You said you've been on the road for a few days. I take it you mean two, or three? There are only four packs in this area. You could be from GrayFang, but you'd have to be impressively fast to be here in three days. Then there's SpringMoon, BloodMoon, and StonePaw. Which is it?"

She gritted her teeth. "Why does it matter?"

"I decide why it matters or not," he said, narrowing his eyes at her. He became aggressive suddenly and she questioned her decision. Maybe she should've insisted on the rogue story. She didn't anticipate this reaction from him.

Rae watched him silently and he shook his head. He didn't do much for a few beats but she wasn't entirely convinced. Then he stood up and grabbed her backpack. She looked at it hopelessly. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving."

She stood as well. "You can't do that. Give me my backpack!"

"Try to take it from me if you want it so much," he said, walking toward her slowly. She didn't back away. She stood her ground. She was looking into his eyes, unflinching.

He stopped a few inches away from her and stared her down. She thought of grabbing the bag. She was going to. "I should have known that he'd send someone to spy on me. He says he isn't intimidated by me but goes through great pains to figure out what I'm doing. This is what he sends."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she told him. "If you're implying that I'm a spy, you couldn't be more mistaken. I work for no one. Besides, why would anyone bother spying on a thieving rogue like you?"

He chuckled heartily. His eyes didn't leave her face. "You're something, aren't you? The problem is that that's exactly what a spy would say, don't you think?"

"I don't think anything," she argued. "I've never met a spy."

He searched her face. She didn't know what he was looking for. She wanted to grab the backpack but the longer she waited, the more unreasonable the plan seemed. She wouldn't get far and he might even hurt her. She didn't want that. So she said to him, "Look, take the food is that's what you want, you starving dog. But leave my backpack. There's nothing in there that you'd need. I have essentials in there!"

"Oh, I've seen your essentials," he said, and she blushed against her will. Curse her face. "They're also of good quality. Let's make a deal, you answer my questions truthfully and I'll give you your backpack, food, and all. I'm not a starving dog but I can be when it's convenient to me."

Rae gulped and wondered if she should take his deal seriously. She couldn't understand why he wanted so desperately to know where she came from so maybe he truly thought she was a spy. "I'm from BloodMoon."

"BloodMoon?" he sounded surprised. "Is that so?"

She didn't answer him.

"What are you called?"

"Anna."

"Liar," he chuckled. She didn't know what he found so amusing about their conversation. It was deeply upsetting. Maybe he was a lunatic. "There's no Anna in BloodMoon."

"How would you know?"

"I know everyone in that pack," he said, tilting his head. "I've done my research on it. You're lying."

An instinct to protect her pack took over her body. She didn't know where it came from. She couldn't truly understand it. "Why have you been doing your research on BloodMoon? What do you want?"

"It isn't your pack anymore so it shouldn't matter. Unless you're lying to me about that, but I don't think you are." He started circling her and she felt beyond uncomfortable. She was a little scared, too. She looked at her backpack and hopelessness flooded her. There was no escaping him. She had to endure him and wait for their little interaction to come to an end. "I know who you are."

His words shocked her but she tried not to let it show. "Is that so?"

"It is," he answered, "only, I don't know what someone like you would be doing out here, although now that I think of it, it isn't hard to guess."

Rae gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. Humiliation stained her cheeks. There was no way that he didn't know what he was talking about. He truly knew who she was. He said, "You were to be mated to Negan of StonePaw, weren't you?"

"Stop," she said in a low voice. Suddenly, she felt stupid. She was idiotic. She didn't know how she ever thought that she'd be able to escape the embarrassment. She would always come across someone who knew who she was. Or perhaps what she had to do was walk for miles and miles for months on end until she was in an entirely different land. The wolves in the far south spoke Spanish and were less likely to know BloodMoon as it wasn't one of the main packs. Maybe she would go there. She'd leave as soon as the damned stranger stopped interrogating her and let her be.

He stopped as if she commanded him to stop walking. "You're Rae of BloodMoon, aren't you?"

"If you're so sure, why do you ask?"

"One can never be too sure," he replied. "So you've decided to leave your natal pack? I can't say I blame you. Negan has never been an honorable wolf. I'm not surprised that he decided overnight that one sister was better than the other. Don't think I don't know where you're coming from. I made the same decision many years ago."

Rae scoffed. "You were practically abandoned at the altar of the Moon by your mate, were you?"

"No," he admitted. "It was far worse. My brother took my rightful place as Alpha. He had the whole support of the pack and I was shunned. Cast out."

She frowned. "That's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible," he said. He sounded angry.

"But how could such a thing happen?" she asked him. "How could your pack have betrayed you in such a way?" She was mildly shocked by how they went from arguing to talking about such a topic. It made no sense. But she felt no judgment or mocking from him. It was a comfort despite what he had said and done to her.

"Simple," he said. "I wasn't the firstborn. My father anointed me as Alpha on his deathbed. But once he died, the declaration he signed was destroyed and my brother took my place as Alpha. Everyone believed him because it is what's expected."

"So your pack didn't betray you."

"There were others present during the ceremony," he said. "It wasn't a public one because he was ill, terminally so. The Beta was there, as well as the Second Beta. They all sided with my brother."

"That's unfortunate," she said.

"It is," he said, "but I have my plans. As for you, what are yours? How long do you intend on keeping this up?"

"I don't know what you mean," she said dryly.

"You're not returning to your pack?"

"Why should I?" she asked. "They betrayed me."

He tilted his head and grew thoughtful. After a moment, he said, "You haven't left your pack that long ago, have you?"

"No."

He gestured at her backpack. "And this is all you thought to bring with you? You're the least sensible wolf I've ever come across. What do you think the wilderness is? Do you think you'll come across fruit trees and that prey will be lounging about, waiting to be hunted?"

Rae grabbed the backpack from him then. He didn't protest, he simply watched her. He said, "You amuse me, you know."

"I'm glad."

She grabbed her blanket and her clothes and shoved them into her backpack. She walked past him and reached outside. She thought he wouldn't follow her but was proved wrong when she heard footsteps behind her.