Rogues

Three

Alexie:

She wasn't lying when she said she lived on Nicholas and Third. It made me think who's tires my brother has been slashing this entire time because there was a bike just like hers hidden in the house he had told me she was staying in. She was getting out of the shower when I got there. I sat down in the living room and waited. This place is much safer than the other one. There's distance between her and the fangs. Lots of it.

The view up here is spectacular. The perfect structure facing the horizon right over the ocean. It'll be a full moon in two days and the view from here is to kill for. It begs to question. What the hell is she doing chasing dead-end leads if she can afford a place like this? Who goes out at night and decides she wants to be a got damned hero she-wolf?

"You seriously thought I'd lie to you?" she laughed.

She walked over to me drying the ends of her hair. She had exchanged the sexy dark clothes for cozy sweatpants and a baseball t-shirt but it didn't diminish the beauty of her. If anything it added to it. I think right about now is the part I should come to terms with being a deadman. This girl is trouble and is probably going to get us both killed.

"Whose house is that?" I asked looking back towards the waves.

"Decoy. Everything leads there and I get the notification should anyone break in," she's smart. "Are you hungry? I made dinner. I'm used to cooking for three or four so I always make a little extra,"

"Sure," I agreed. The way she speaks is so casual. She's comfortable with who she is which makes her very trusting. Not a good quality for what she is now. Rogues aren't casual to anyone much less trusting. "We have to talk,"

"Sure," she agreed motioning me to sit at the island in the center of her luxurious chrome and black kitchen.

"I have questions,"

"As do I," the way she speaks is very proper sometimes. Like she comes from a different era or maybe old money.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-seven," she said moving around the stove. Whatever she's making smells delicious. My mouth is watering. "You?"

"Twenty-nine," she nodded like it didn't surprise her.

"What's your name, Trouble?" she glanced back at me with a smirk before turning back around. Yeah. I am a dead man.

"Sloane Vanderbilt," she said. I laughed.

"Vanderbilt? You expect me to believe you're the daughter of the second most powerful alpha on this planet," she shrugged.

"You asked my name. I gave you an answer,"

"Is it the right answer?" she shrugged again. This time she turned around with two plates and set one in front of me. "Roast beef. Any requests or would you like me to choose the beverage,"

"Surprise me," I said looking at her.

She did this little thing with her nose. A slight twitch of it like she didn't like that I asked her to choose. I don't like it. That little nose wrinkle is going to drive me insane. I can already feel it. She's going to f**k up my head with it. She pressed something by the sink and the sound of a freezer opening echoed behind me. She walked passed me. In the floor is a circle where the frost that comes off of ice leaked out of. She stepped down and disappeared inside. I got up to see it was a wine cellar. There is a whole room down there.

"Are you surprised?" she asked when she came back up with a bottle in her hand.

"Yeah," I answered not sure what I should be surprised about right now. I just watched her walk back to the sink to shut the freezer. She grabbed two wine glasses and set them on the table before she started to open the bottle.

"Alexian is a really cool name by the way. I love it," that sent chills down my back. No one calls me that. That leech tonight only got away with it because we both knew I was not going to risk her to them.

"Sloane is a very powerful name," she smiled at me.

"My full name is Sloane Vanderbilt the fourth. I was named after my mother. She was named after my grandmother so on so forth," I laughed as she filled my glass and handed it to me.

"I thought s**t like that only happened to boys," she smiled.

"My father's name is Matias Sebastian. My older brother Brenden dodged a bullet there," we both laughed. "It wasn't a man who took the crown in my family. It was an alpha female like myself and when she found her mate he took the title by default. That is the true origin of that pack I came from. Two children are born of each mating. The alpha heir to the title and the just in case the first one dies policy. This is the first time in our recorded history that a son and a daughter are born. It's usually two boys or two girls,"

"Does that make you special?" I asked and she scoffed.

"No, it makes me an omen," she sassed taking her fork. I sat back and watched her cut the piece of meat and gracefully eat it.

"An omen?" I asked and she nodded.

"Alpha females are born a little more aggressive than the males. Maternal instinct and all that s**t. The pack thinks one day I'd kill my brother for the right to the throne if I should ever deem him unworthy,"

"Do you?" she smiled.

"Of course not. The fucker is perfect for the job,"

"So why did you leave?" she pointed at the balcony where I had been standing waiting for her to come out the shower.

"I had never seen the ocean. I didn't know that vampires existed until last year. I didn't know there were wines for different occasions. Desert wines are my favorite," I looked at the glass and smiled when the sweetness of it reached my tongue. "I was limited to the world inside a place that never had a purpose for me. I have no place in the pack. My brother and I were in perfect synchronization every step of the way. No challenge, no change, just a meaningless existence,"

"I'm in a lot more trouble than I thought I was," I sighed digging into this food. I had never eaten something this good. Tender, easy on the seasoning, and perfect with the wine. "Here I thought pack life was the good life,"

"It is. It's just not for everyone. Have you always been a Rogue?" I nodded.

"Fifth generation. You can track my lineage back to the deceased Rogue king. My dad tried the pack life for my mother's sake but he couldn't do it. He took his mate with him and here I am," she nodded like she had already known that. "You knew?"

"Yes, of course, I know. Gerard Victor killed my mother. Your family feud against my family date back two centuries," I'm going to need something stronger than this wine.

"My dad killed your mom?" I asked.

"I was two," she confirmed.

"So, I take it you don't want to meet my parents?" she laughed.

"Of course, I would love to meet your parents. You're my mate. I want to know everything about you. You'll have to forgive me if I openly hate your father. I am sure my upbringing would have been much better with my mother around,"

"You're not going to kill him?" I asked looking at her. Her eyes met mine.

"Had I met your father before I met you. I would have. I would have brought him here. Had my way with him and then tied him up on the beach and set him on fire while he was still alive," I had to look away from the brutal honesty of her statement. She didn't flinch or look away her eyes had stayed on me. What the hell was she in her pack? "I'm not going to do that. However, I don't speak for my father or my brother and as your mate, I'd like for the same courtesy,"

"Like you said, I don't speak for my family," she smiled. "We have an eye for eye law that is absolute to rogues,"

"Would you be upset if I killed your brother?" she asked playfully.

"Yes," I smiled looking up at her. She smiled brightly before laughing.

"I couldn't even if I tried. I've grown rather fond of him. Although, I'd like for this petty tire slashing to stop. I didn't beat him that bad," at that I laughed.

"He was in bed for three days recovering," she smiled letting out a little giggle.

"I thought rogues were supposed to be tough. Maybe he's in need of a zealous leader," that is a direct hit at me and my dad.

"Leadership isn't the problem here. He's just an i***t," she laughed knowing that she struck a nerve. "What about your leaders, huh? What kind of leaders in their right mind let a princess like you wander off into the big unknown all by her lonesome?"

"The same leaders who wouldn't be in their right minds should they have forced me to stay. I don't want to be the alpha. In forcing me to stay I would have killed them. They know that. I know that. In their deaths, I would have been stuck in the very place I didn't want to be in anymore. I would have had to stay to ensure pack's safety,"

"That sense of adventure fades after a while. Sure, there are pretty things but there are a lot more ugly ones. Not just among the immortal class but these humans are as savage as us if not more. Sometimes it's better not to know," she nodded taking our empty plates to the sink.

I watched her wash them and put them in the dishwasher. When she was done she stayed where she was, leaning against the counter looking at me. I had never felt insecure in my life until this very moment. I want to know what she sees. I want to know what she thinks. Am I good enough? Is she superficial and do I meet the requirements of her type?

"No man has ever tantalized me as you have," she said walking over to me. That didn't ease my mind in any way. If anything I hate that she had looked at others and liked something about them. "There is beauty in the brutality of what you are. I just want to look at you," she pushed the chair back and straddled my lap. "I hope I'm not overstepping,"

"No," I choked not being able to look away from these eyes of hers. "You haven't stepped over anything,"

"Now?" she asked sliding her hands under my shirt. A low growl rumbled out of my chest in approval as the feeling of our skin to skin contact coursed through my body.

"Getting there," she smiled leaning into me.

My entire body responds to her in a way that scares the hell out of me. The cold tip of her nose grazed against my neck all the way up to my ear. All she's doing is getting the feel, the scent, trying to familiarize with the claim she'll be taking. She's so close. So close I can taste her. She moved along my jaw to the other side of my neck.

"Am I close enough?" she whispered in my ear.

"No," I finally snapped out of it. It's the truth. I need more now. I want inside. I want, no. I need to take my claim.

A growl vibrated out of me and I pulled her into me closer. I gripped her thighs picking her up and setting her on the counter. She let out a little giggle that just fed this inside of me. I looked up at her, her eyes challenging me for more but I can't. I let go and stepped back.

"I'm sorry," I apologized feeling ashamed. She looked around, hurt echoing in her eyes.

"Am I not enough for you?" she asked. "Or is it that I am too much?"

"What?" I asked pulling her back to me. "No. You're the most perfect woman I have ever laid eyes on,"

"So, why did you pull away?" she asked confused.

"Sloane," I said reaching for the ends of her semi-wet hair.

"Is there someone in your life already?" she asked. I had to repeat her words in my head. She didn't like the hesitation because she pushed me away.

"There isn't anyone else, Trouble,"

"I don't believe you now," she said turning away. Her playful demeanor faded into something dark.

"There isn't anyone else. Obviously, I'm not exactly pure but I've never taken more than I should have from them. I knew I'd find you eventually," she turned to look at me the silver in her eyes shining as she fought against the anger. Something dark is a huge understatement. My girl doesn't take rejection well at all.

"Then what of your hesitation,"

"I just found you. I've seen the beauty of what this is in my parents and I want to give into this believe me," I said pulling her to me. She let me. "You're not just any girl, Sloane. You're the girl. I've done a bunch of f****d up s**t in my life and I will probably keep doing them, but this right here," I said pressing my hand to the spot where she will have my mark. The anger in her eyes drained away and she relaxed into my touch. "I want this to be the one thing that is right in my life,"

"I must disappoint you then," she said looking away. I tilted her chin up and made her look at me.

"f**k no. You know what you want and how to get it. That is sexy as f**k. I can see that no one ever says no to you princess. I'm sorry I made you feel like that,"

"On the contrary, Alexian. No is all I have ever known," she said pulling away. "I just never expected my mate to refuse me as such. I always imagined that you'd be the one person who would never deny me what I want,"

Her words struck me like a kick in the face. I know of being denied something my entire life because of what I am. It's why I always take whatever the hell I want whenever the hell I want. I didn't gain my reputation from my old man. I'm Alexie Victor because I can f**k s**t up on my own without anyone telling me what to do.

"Tell you what, Trouble. Do this one thing for me and I will never deny you a single thing. So as long as it's within my power to give to you," the twinkles in her eyes unsettled the s**t out of me but it's too late to take it back now.