#9 The Lonely Rogue

Chapter 20: Junie

Viv didn’t leave my apartment for two days except to go downstairs to work. She was struggling to cope with all the information I gave her, especially the mate business. She grasped the werewolf stuff pretty quickly after seeing me shift but the matebond was another thing entirely. Jett hasn’t been back since. He was as absent as my own mate.

“He’s just being a baby about it, he’ll come around.” Cole said about Jett.

“Like your boss?” I smirked, c*****g a smug eyebrow. Cole rolled his eyes,

“You play with fire, girl.” He said.

The Friday night rush was in full swing and Cole was behind the bar. Apparently he did a stint as a bartender in college and was actually pretty good at it. Jackson and Karly were happy to have his help, and I was glad to have another bartender so I wouldn’t have to cover. I was leaning against the bar, looking out over the crowd and talking with Cole about Vivian.

Viv was swaggering around the bar, quieter than usual. She was waitressing with Gabi and Sophie tonight, but wasn’t her usual flirtatious self. Toonly was covering the front door, Clyde was on the floor, and Buck was at the backdoor. Fred was at the DJ stand.

“I heard Jett and Caspian left the realm to visit a pack in Louisiana on Tuesday.” Cole informed me.

My head snapped towards him and Violet started whimpering and whining. It clicked then, the reason I had been feeling so antsy and on edge the last few days. We were feeling the strain of the matebond. That jackass could have at least done me the decency of a heads up that he was leaving and I was going to be made weaker.

“Why?” I tried to sound uninterested.

“A pack there has been struggling with rogue attacks the last few weeks, but Monday night, rogues kidnapped a bunch of women and children. Caspian went there to help.” Cole explained, eyeing me curiously.

“What a standout guy.” I grumbled and Cole laughed at me.

“Your eyes betray you, Junie, you’re impressed by his actions.”

“You need your eyes checked.” I sassed him, pushing away from the bar to circle the room and get away from Cole’s snickers.

As I began to walk through the crowd of dancing bodies, something drew me towards the back corner of the club. It was a much quieter, dimly lit area with some smaller booths and tables. There was a young girl sitting at one of the tables with a man sitting on either side of her. She had long, curly brown hair that reached down to her hips. Her bright green eyes were surrounded by dark lashes, but her makeup wasn’t enough to hide the fact that she was underage, by a lot.

“How did you get in here?” I asked, walking towards her table. Her eyes lit up when she saw me and the men beside her perked up, too.

“Through the door.” She smirked.

“With a fake ID, no doubt. You’re not twenty-one.” I said with my hands firmly on my hips.

“Okay, guilty, I got my boys here to sneak me in. They knew the one bouncer, Toonly.” She shrugged. I eyed the two men beside her curiously. All three of them screamed werewolf.

“Still, you can’t be here.” I sighed.

“I’m sorry, I actually came to see you.” She confesses.

“Me? Do I know you?” I studied the girl’s face and realized that something seemed familiar about it.

“Not personally, but I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Alice Storm, princess to the realm. These are my guards, Lukey and Mish.” She jabbed her thumb towards her lackeys. The one she introduced as Lukey winced and I assumed that his real name was just Luke.

“You’re Caspian’s sister.” I said in realization.

“That’s me!” She giggled.

“Come on, let’s go to my office.” I said, nodding my head towards the back of the bar, “You can’t be on the floor.”

I led the three of them back the hall to my office; Mish and Luke waited outside.

“Everyone calls me Ally.” Alice breaks the awkward silence, “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell Cassie that I came here.” She winks.

Cassie? Yikes, I bet he just loves being called that, I thought to myself. I had to remember that little nickname for later when I needed ammo against his annoying ass.

“I don’t speak to him much so I doubt it’ll come up.” I mumbled.

“Yeah, he’s an i***t. Cole says you don’t want anyone defending him, and I don’t blame you, but I just wanted you to hear it from his own blood that we all think he’s a moran.” Ally shamelessly blasted her brother and I couldn’t help but laugh loudly,

“Good to know.”

“Also, I wanted to meet you for myself. There are a lot of rumors floating around.” She adds.

“Oh, I’m sure.” I scoffed.

“All good things. Honestly, I wasn’t sure you were even real. But, I’m happy to report that all the rumors seem to be true. You really are as feisty and funny as they say.” Ally says.

“And who might they be?” I c****d an eyebrow.

“Okay, fair enough, mainly just Cole.” Ally smiles.

“I’m pretty sure Jett doesn’t have nice things to say about me.” I grumbled.

“Jett doesn’t say much of anything in general. He’s a stuffy old geezer stuck in a twenty-eight year old's body.” Ally rolled her eyes.

“Good to know I’m not the only one who thinks that.” I said in a mocking tone and Ally joined in on my laughing fit.

“I like you.” She says, pointing a manicured finger at me with a smile.

“How old are you, Ally?” I inquired.

“I’m just sixteen. Sorry about sneaking in.” She blushed.

“It’s okay, you’re welcome here anytime just, not during business hours.” I warned her and she nods sheepishly,

“You got it, Luna.”

“Don’t call me that.” I groaned, “It’s just a matter of time until Caspian wises up and rejects me.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Ally shakes her head with a thoughtful expression, “I think it’s just a matter of time before he finally wises up and accepts you.” She quotes me.

“Well, I’ll guess we’ll find out one or the other, eventually.” I shrugged, not holding my breath.

“I know you’re busy tonight, but can we hang out tomorrow? I want to get to know you better.” Ally asks.

“Sure. Let me show you how to get to my apartment. You can come by whenever tomorrow, just make sure it’s before five. I have to be back down here in the evening.” I said, standing up from the couch and heading back towards the door.

I showed Ally where the entrances to my apartment were and she greeted the guards, Simon and Jake, like they were old pals. I walked her back out to the curb where a town car pulled up to take her back to the realm's portal. We said our goodbyes and she promised to come back tomorrow.

After going outside to scold Toonly for letting in an underaged girl, I continued mingling around the club and tending to the guests until it closed after 2:00. Viv came back upstairs to stay with me again tonight after shutting down the club and locking up. Cole went back to the realm for the night to check in in case they needed help with Caspian and Jett being gone, but sent two guys to stay in his place and promised to come back with Ally the next day.

“You alright, Viv?” I asked her as she settled down on the couch.

“Have you heard anything about them?” She asks, looking up at me with worry in her eyes. She was asking about Jett and Caspian. I filled her in on what Cole told me earlier.

“Are they safe?” She asked quickly.

“I’m sure they’re fine, Viv. You don’t get to be the king and Beta to the king without knowing how to handle yourself.” I laughed but Viv didn’t even smile.

“Okay.” She laid down and I covered her up.

“I know it’s strange, these feelings that you have. One way or the other, it’ll all work out eventually.” I promised her.

She knew all about the high possibility that Jett would reject her and the pain that would come with it. I wasn’t sure exactly what humans felt, but, judging by Viv’s behavior, she certainly felt something of the matebond. I tucked her in and kissed her forehead, feeling sorry for the pain my friend was going through. At least I wasn’t just thrust into a world I knew nothing about.

I went to take a shower and get ready for bed myself. Something told me tomorrow I would have my hands full with Caspian’s baby sister.

Ally showed up with her two guards and Cole at a little after noon, and we all decided to take a walk in the waterfront district. There was a small cafe that sat on a pier, overlooking the water and that’s where we found ourselves after an hour of sightseeing. Ally couldn’t get enough of sharing childhood stories about Caspian and her oldest brother, Malcolm.

“I didn’t even know Caspian had siblings.” I said after a while. Ally blinked at me, speechless for a minute,

“Malcolm and Caspian don’t get along anymore.” She said,

“Oh, I can’t imagine why.” I mumbled under my breath and she snorted,

“I love you, for real.” She giggled, “Don’t you just love her?” She looked sideways at Luke and Mish.

“Oh…uhm….” Mish stammard.

“Don’t go there, Alice.” Luke clearly knew how to handle the princess. She rolled her eyes at him,

“Lukey’s so mean to me.” She pouts.

“You call him Lukey.” I pointed out, earning a sharp laugh from Luke.

“Thank you!” He cheers. Ally rolled her eyes again.

“They’re going to get stuck up there if you keep rolling those eyes so much.” Cole smirked.

“Keep it up, Gamma.” She spits bitterly. I couldn’t help but laugh at their exchange.

I had to admit, I liked Ally a lot more than her brother. Maybe I could just have her as my mate, I could swing that way, if it meant getting away from Caspian.

Just as the joke was forming in my mind, it felt like someone reached into my chest and ripped out my heart. I gasped and doubled over in pain, falling off the chair and smacking the floor, hard. The entire cafe went silent at my episode, Cole was the first from our group to respond. He hit the floor next to me, and Mish ended up on my left side. Ally was in my face, trying to get my attention. I couldn’t focus on any of them.

The pain was radiating all over my body. My head was pounding, my chest was on fire, and I felt the presence of silver in my bloodstream, even though I knew that was impossible. I looked over myself and couldn’t find any wounds or signs of poisoning.

“What’s going on?” Ally shouted.

“It’s got to be Caspian. She’s fine, physically. She has to be feeling Caspian’s pain.” Cole was rambling.

“What’s wrong with my brother?” Ally sounded even more terrified.

“I’ll mindlink him.” I heard Cole say.

“Hurry, Cole.” I forced out between clenched teeth.

Something was horribly wrong.