Rogues

Six

Sloane:

"I hope you're doing well," Brenden said from the speaker as I laced up my boots. "I have good news,"

"What's up?" I asked. The doorbell rang.

"I found my mate. Father is very upset with me," I smiled.

"Is it someone from the pack?" I asked opening the door to see Hyde standing there. I put my finger to my lips telling to keep his trap shut before my brother had a heart attack over a male being over.

"He's not," he said making me freeze. I looked up at nothing asking myself if I had heard right.

"I'm sorry did you say your mate is a he? As in a male?" I asked and he sighed.

"Yes I did," I covered my mouth to keep my brother from hearing us laugh. "Shut your mouth, Slo. I am still your eldest brother,"

"Well, you're my only brother. I am sure father is completely over the top. Where is he from?" I asked. He cleared his throat.

"Moon Star. His name is Kaineth Slade," the humor in this dissipated.

"You were attacked? You said you would call should the issue ever present itself. Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah. Everyone is fine. Lance was hurt but he's made a full recovery. Sofie is being very attentive to him," that caught Hyde's attention.

"Tell him I send my regards. I have news as well and I know for sure dad is going to be very angry,"

"Tell me," he laughed. I know he's smiling.

"I found my mate as well," I said looking away from Hyde.

"Not a she, right?" I laughed.

"No, he is also a he. You ready?" I heard the phone shuffle around a bit.

"Kaineth is listening go ahead,"

"His name is Alexian Victor," the other voice on the line laughed.

"You're f*****g dead," my brother mused. The three of us laughed for an instant before we realized he was right.

"It's nice to meet you Alpha Kaineth. Welcome to our screwed up family. You're currently talking to the rogue in the family,"

"I'm not surprised you left in the slightest. Your dad is a d**k," I growled at him. Hyde cleared his throat and motioned the door.

"You'll have to forgive my sister. She doesn't like when people speak badly about my dad. She's just like him. It's why she can't be here. They bud heads,"

"I have to go. I have somewhere to be. I'll call you later tonight. I have a request regarding a visitation,"

"You're welcome to come by anytime you like," my brother said.

"No, I meant you coming here. We'll talk about this later,"

"You're about to get into trouble aren't you?" he asked.

"Goodbye, Brenden. Brenden's boyfriend," they both growled when I hung up laughing.

"That was intriguing," Hyde said. I crossed my arms looking at him.

"What the hell are you doing here, Hyde?"

"I told him it was going to piss you off. I told him when he originally gave me the order, last night, and this morning when he set everything up, and again before I was ordered to come here," I smiled.

"I see. I actually don't mind," I said turning around to head to the kitchen to make myself something to eat. "Have you had breakfast?"

"Yeah, actually. I brought you some," I turned around to see him holding a bag with a big yellow M on it. "Boss said he wanted to make you breakfast,"

"He made this?" I asked taking the bag from him.

"No. He said he wanted to but then I reminded him of the time we tried to make food and nearly burned down our apartment," I laughed.

"That is such a cute story," I said. He smiled.

"I'm glad you think so. I have a million of them,"

"You are my new best friend," I said opening the bag. He seemed pleased with my comment. "Don't you have a Tavern to run barkeep?"

"Haha cute," he said sarcastically. "My sister is going to be running it from now on,"

"You have a sister?" I asked turning to look at him.

"Yes, I do. If you like we can go down and meet her,"

"Not today. I have a million things to do," I said pulling a sandwich wrapped in yellow and blue paper.

"That's called a McGriddle. It's eggs, bacon, pancakes, and syrup all in a convenient sandwich," I looked down at it and took a bite. He watched me expectantly as I ate.

"This is very deliciously convenient," I agreed. "Thank you, Hyde,"

"You're welcome," he said.

"I have a few things to do. Are you okay with getting in trouble with me today?" he smiled big.

"Hell yeah, I am. He might bite our heads off later but I'm sure it'll be worth it," I smiled.

"Do you have lethal ammunition?" he raised his eyebrows.

"I do," I nodded approvingly.

"Good. May I see what you are carrying?" he pulled out a revolver and showed me a few of his knives. I took it and handed him a silver Barretta. It's beautiful. I had thought of him when I was getting ready to go out earlier. I knew it would be just a matter of time. It's the alpha in my mate that makes him overprotective. I would have been a bit disappointed if he wasn't. Hyde would be his choice. He's the only male he'd trust to be around me. "That is for you. Alexie said people like gifts,"

"Thank you," he said picking it up. He expertly checked to see if it were ready to go. It is.

"You may leave your car here if you like. I have my own," I said.

He nodded. I led him to the garage and unlocked the Jeep. He climbed into the passenger seat as we waited for the door to open. I closed it back up and headed to the location I was given. He stayed quiet as we drove into the city. He pulled out his phone when he received a notification. His thumbs moved expertly over the screen and I smiled.

"You can't text can you?" he asked.

"Of course I can," I said glancing at him. "I just don't do it anymore,"

"Why?" he asked. "I'd be nothing without my phone,"

"I no longer have many friends to text with. My limited contact list now consists of people who are just as busy as I am. Back home, no one really agreed with my departure. Those who I considered friends all turned their backs on me," he sighed.

"That's rough," he said.

"Yes, but that's how life is,"

"You've been alone these past eight months?" he asked.

"Mostly,"

"That makes a lot of sense actually,"

"What does?"

"Your social norms are very blunt. Is it safe to assume it was really hard for you to socialize as the alpha's daughter?"

"Yes, it is safe for you to assume that. Most of my friends were part of my patrol squadron," he nodded.

"Well, I am going to enjoy teaching you real social norms. You and I are going to drive Alexie nuts," I laughed loving the challenge. One of my favorite songs came on the radio and I turned it up. "You're a Highly Suspect fan?"

"Yes, are you?" I asked.

"Hell, yeah. That guy has soul," I smiled agreeing.

I pulled up to the building where I'd be meeting a man about his missing wife. I hate these. Most of the time I find that the missing person was not missing at all. The man is sitting exactly where he said he would be. I asked Hyde to stay back as I approached the man. Hyde sat in the empty table behind me.

"Mr. Taylor?" I asked.

"Sloane?" he asked and I nodded. I extended my hand to him he stood up before he greeted me. I took a seat with him. "Would you like anything to drink?"

"No, thank you. How can I help you today?" I asked. He placed a file folder in front of me.

"I came home a few days ago, someone had broken into my apartment. She was gone. Before you say the same thing the cops said. She didn't run off with some other guy. She would have taken her things and cleaned out my bank account. It's been four days. If she is with some other guy so be it. I just want to know she's okay," I nodded opening the folder to see a picture of his beautiful wife and him. "These are addresses, numbers, accounts. Anything I could gather from where she usually likes to go,"

"Thank you, Mr. Taylor. I actually have one last request," he nodded. "If you don't mind. I'd like to take a look at your apartment,"

"Yes, of course," he said. "We're on the twenty- third floor. You can follow me,"

"This is my partner. Mr. Kenzington," I said motioning Hyde when we stood up. They shook hands and we followed him to the elevator that would be taking us up to their home.

"The apartment has been cleaned out a few times since she disappeared,"

"That's fine. I just want to take a look around. Maybe find something you might have missed," he nodded.

"Can I see?" Hyde asked and I handed him the file I was given. He went over the pages. The man led us to the massive luxurious apartment.

His scent is all over the place along with a more feminine one and one that caught my attention. A werewolf. The look in Hyde's eyes told me caught on to the scent as well. The smell of cleaning chemicals distorted the scents a bit but it was clear a wolf had been here. Not just in the living room but all of the rooms like he had gone about the apartment freely. The bedroom told me exactly what it had been doing here. Mr. Taylor took a call in his study.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Hyde asked.

"She's mated to a wolf?" I asked.

"Yes, ma'am. You can take this case. This man is going to be heartbroken if it's one of ours. He could be in danger," I nodded.

"Let's look for a wolf with a human. If he wants to properly mate her he'll be looking for an alpha to turn her,"

"That costs a lot of money out here. Turning a human is not always as easy as it seems," he said.

"I know that. It doesn't stop these idiots from trying," I added looking around.

"Did you find anything?" Mr. Taylor asked coming into the room.

"Do you have a housekeeper, Mr. Taylor?" I asked.

Hyde looked at me confused. We had gotten everything we needed. This man is human and we can't exactly tell him that we caught the scent of a wolf that his wife had been sneaking in when he was out. The man nodded and asked us to stay put while he went to get her.

"What are you doing?"

"You should know considering you're around these creatures constantly. You have to do this in a way that doesn't seem suspicious," he smiled as Mr. Taylor brought an older woman in with him.

"She speaks a little English. She's Hispanic," he let me know.

"Buenos Dias," I greeted her looking at her and she relaxed a bit. "Usted limpia el apartamento?" (Do you clean this apartment?)

"Si," she nodded.

"A mirado algo fuera de lo normal aqui?" "(Have you ever seen anything out of the ordinary?)

"Muchas cosas senorita," (Lots of things, Miss). I couldn't fight the grin that spread across my face with the sarcastic way she said it.

"En Este apartamento?" (In this apartment?)

"La muchacha de aqui era un poco traviesa," (The lady of the house was a bit of a troublemaker)

"Como se miraba?" (Can you give me a description?)

"El Hombre?" (The man?) she asked and I nodded. "Muy alto. Como Su amigo," (Tall like your friend) she said pointing at Hyde. "Grande. Muy Guapo. Pelo n***o. Hojos Verdes. Muy elegante. Tenia accento Engleso," (Big, very handsome. Black hair, green eyes. Very Elegant. Has an English accent.)

"Cuando limpio el apartment cuando la seniora desaparecio, encontro algo que no quiso que el senior viera?" (When you cleaned the apartment did you find something that you didn't want the man of the house to see?)

"Si, me gustaria darselo cuando el no este presente," (Yes, I'd like to give it to when he's not present.)

"Why don't you walk her out?" I asked Hyde. He nodded motioning the woman out of the apartment.

"What did she say?" Mr. Taylor asked.

"She said there was a man who came by often. A very tall English man. If she ran off with him or he took her. I'll find her. She gave us an exact description. I have a picture of your wife. I'm really good at this," he nodded.

"Yes, a friend of mine recommended you. Luis Hernandez," I nodded remembering that was one of my first cases.

"How is he?"

"New wife," we laughed.

"Of course. Well, I'll keep you updated as promised. Give me at least twenty-four hours to get something. I'll call if anything comes up sooner. I'm going to see if we can get surveillance footage so we can get a clear I.D."

"Thank you," he sighed with relief. I walked out to see Hyde coming back in my direction with his left hand in his pocket.

"This is fun," he said when we both got into the elevator. "These rich women are kinky,"

"What did she give you?" he pulled a black and red ball gag from his pocket. I laughed taking it from him.

"I have a guy that can run fingerprints. If he's one of ours we've got him on file,"

"She said he was English," he looked at like he has someone in mind.

"Tall, broad, always in a suit?" he asked. I looked up at him to see a sly little smirk on his lips.

"You know him?" I asked.

"Alexie is going to love you so hard right now," he said pulling his phone out. I smiled as we walked out to the car.

"Is she okay?" Alexie answered. That made me smile.

"Well, hello to you two man," Hyde said playfully.

"What?" Alexie growled.

"We stumbled into something you're going to love. We're headed your way,"

"How much am I going to love it?" he asked skeptically.

"Early Christmas gift from your girl love," he chuckled. Even threw the phone, it warmed me.

"I just got to the Tavern. I'll be waiting," he said and hung up.

"What's the deal?" I asked.

"New guy. Took some territory from the fangs started his own crew. It's the part that separates Fangs from paws. It's a tricky spot. Gerard has tried taking that spot from the fangs and the new guy a couple of times. If we take that spot, we have a full circle perimeter around the vampires. We can control what they put out completely,"

That is not something that pleases me in the slightest. It sounds a lot like establishing dominance over the land. I didn't leave a pack to get into another one. Alexie and I are going to have to talk about that. I am an alpha but that doesn't mean I want to be the alpha of a pack. The Wolf Mafia of Rogues is one of the largest organization in the world. They're everywhere.

That's what I liked about this. The only reason I'm okay with my mating to a Victor. I can go as I please without the limitation of a territory. This place is beautiful. I love the beach and the massive city but I want more than just this. There are hundreds of locations I want to see. One place no matter how big isn't enough for me anymore.