The Rogue Alpha's Return

Chapter 2 - Meeting Her

Conner

Well, this was definitely something I wasn't expecting today...meeting a she-wolf Alpha who was also my mate. At 26 years old I had been able to find my mate for eleven years having shifted at an early age at 15, young, even for an Alpha.

Wolves normally shifted when we reached maturity, usually between 18 to 21, with Alpha's and other higher ranked wolves shifting a little earlier and weaker wolves like Omegas, if they could shift at all, shifting as late as 22. We also usually shifted on a full moon, something that wolf studies had theorised was influenced by the gravitational pull from the moon.

I had come, in recent years, to think my mate would most likely be in my home pack as I hadn't ever felt so much as a whisper of a mate bond with anyone. In all honesty, I didn't know how I felt about that.

I wanted my mate more than anything, I had seen the deep love my parents had and wanted that for myself. I had also seen the utter devastation that the rejection of the mate bond could do courtesy of my brother and knew I would cherish my mate no matter who they were or what their rank was. A mate was the moon goddesses gift she bestowed on us, her creations, to be our perfect counterpart, for us to be the best versions of ourselves.

I had saved everything for my mate, I had never even so much as held hands with another she-wolf, because:

A) I truly did want my mate and only my mate.

B) I had run from my pack as a kid. I was only 17 at the time, so I hadn't really had a chance to 'go around the block' so to speak.

And C) well, living in the wilds as a rogue for nine years wasn't exactly conducive to meeting women.

I mean, what exactly would I have said to a woman even if I was interested? 'Hey, wanna come back to my sweet cave? It's got an ocean view' or maybe 'hi there, I got this real cozy, dilapidated hovel out in the woods that is in no way sketchy at all, wanna come bump uglies?'

Yeah...there's no scenario I can see where I didn't come across as a s*x predator. And again, my older brother's example had made the 'womaniser lifestyle'... unappealing.

So here I was, staring into the eyes of the most gorgeous creature I had ever seen.

Pale blonde hair tied back in a messy but incredibly sexy way, the most ethereal pair of pale silver eyes I had ever seen that would shame the moon, beautiful peachy pale skin that matched her scent perfectly. She looked to be in her early 20's but I couldn't particularly tell. I couldn't really see her figure either as she was wearing outdoor clothing due to the weather and current woodland location, but she was wearing tight fitting pants that showed she possessed ridiculously long, amazing legs.

One thing I could most definitely gauge is that she was tall. Statuesque tall. She must stand around 6'3. My mate wasn't just an Alpha, she was an sss. A jaw-dropping, boner-inducing, hot as hell sss!

...And I suddenly felt very inadequate. f**k, maybe I should of combed my hair or something?!

'Combed your hair? Yeah...that'll make all the difference!' my wolf snidely chuckled.

'If you're not gonna offer up anything constructive, kindly, shut the f**k up!' I retorted, annoyed that he was very much correct and I was an i***t.

As much as I'd invested myself in the mate bond and was determined to accept it without question, I was now faced with the bitter light of day...there was nothing to stop my mate rejecting me right now. I wasn't about to be winning any 'catch-of-the-day' awards as a mate to any she-wolf.

For lack of a more positive outlook, my life was an utter s**t-show; both past and present. I was a rogue, for one. I also hadn't bathed properly in weeks while I had been trekking through the wilds. Unless, does a quick dip in a lake or river with no soap count? I hadn't shaved in goddess knows how long and I was bedraggled from the rain, so I truly must've looked like a crazy mountain man. And finally, the most glaringly obvious, she was Alpha of my home pack's neighbouring pack...there was absolutely, no way in hell, she didn't know who I was...who I really was and what I stood accused of. I may have been framed and innocent, but the reality was simple.

I was a wanted murderer.

A murderer that colluded with rogues to kill my parents, the Alpha and Luna, to take over the pack in a planned coup, only to then run away like a coward when my 'plan' was exposed. All according to my piece-of-s**t brother.

Why exactly would this Amazonian goddess in front of me want to accept me as a mate? I was tall and built...that was all I had going for me...

'f**k, we are so screwed' and all my wolf could do was mournfully grumble at me in response, unable to argue with any of the thoughts that had flashed instantly through my mind.

Which brought me back to the real world happening currently, where I was stood staring at my mate, not saying a word like some dumbass potato. Luckily, one of the patrol guards injected into the situation before I could look even more of a silent fool.

"This is the trespasser we were detaining."

I couldn't help my slightly incredulous look at the guy 'no s**t Sherlock' Colt piped up. From the looks of it, my mate felt the same.

"Yes, I can see..." she spoke as she narrowed her eyes towards the guard in an exasperated manner.

Four words.

All she spoke were four words and it made my heart beat wild.

Her voice was soft, feminine, with a slight raspiness to it that gave it a sexy, sultry edge. And I wanted to hear more, preferably, her screaming my name repeatedly from under me as she clung to my shoulders while I pounded into her...

SHUT THAT s**t DOWN NOW, I internally screamed at myself.

I was already struggling to keep an erection at bay and thoughts like these were not helping to keep the tent out of my pants.

"Leave us, get back to your patrol route as scheduled" she said to the guards while maintaining eye contact with me, only turning her head to look at the two men as she finished her orders "you speak of this to no-one, understood?"

While her statement was posed as a question, her tone and aura left little to be challenged. This was a direct order and failure to comply would lead to consequences. Well at least I wasn't going to have an audience while I was probably rejected. The two guards nodded quickly and respectfully replied "yes Alpha" in unison while scurrying off to go about their duty once more.

The Alpha turned back to look at me once she was certain we were alone.

Shit, this was it.

If she was affected at all by the mate bond she was incredibly good at concealing it, although her heartbeat was giving her away. But truly, I couldn't be certain that it wasn't my own I was hearing. Her face was a perfect mask of indifference...a perfect, beautiful, gorgeous face of...for f**k sake, focus!

"So, who exactly are you?" She asked. There was no demand to her tone, just curiosity, as she turned to me crossing her arms over her chest in a casual manner.

"Conner...Green" I lied.

Fuck, why did I lie? I didn't even lie convincingly. I stalled! I mentally facepalmed myself.

'Yeah, you really are a dumbass potato'...I didn't dignify my wolf's sass with a response.

She snorted at my very obvious lie "you're a real weird rogue if you can't even get out a mediocre attempt at a lie."

I breathed out a small, humourless chuckle dropping my gaze from her's as I readied myself "...Hawthorne, Conner Hawthorne" I returned eye contact again.

She stilled, she knew.

".....As in Alexander Hawthorne?"

I sighed " yes, my brother"

"You're him" she stated rather than questioned.

"Yes..." I replied, once again dropping my gaze "...but..." I was cut off.

"You're innocent" again she stated rather than questioned. My eyes snapped up to hers, furrowed in confusion.

"I know a lie when I hear it, Conner."

Okay, I was going to skip over the euphoria of her saying my name because NOTHING right now was going in any of the directions I had set in my mind!

"Yeah...I was framed" was all I could say, because f**k if I knew how this was going to play out!

Her fists balled at her sides and her mouth tightened in the first display of emotion I had seen.

"I knew that bastard was full of s**t!" she spat out venomously and for the second time today I was thrown sideways by the unexpected...my mate believed me?