The Rogue that Rejected the Alpha

A Sloppy Encounter

Ambrosia POV

I was nodding off on the couch when my chimes I kept hanging next to the front door rang out. The soft, silvery noise only sounded when there was an intruder in my territory. Sometimes it was just a lost hiker, or one of those pack fools getting too close for comfort, but tonight, the chimes didn’t stop.

Not only was someone in my wood, they were headed straight for me.

I panicked, jerking away from the couch and pulling on some pants, then my mud boots. There was a soft rain going outside, so I grabbed my umbrella as well. Next to me, Sylvia stretched out and yawned.

An intruder? She asked, looking curiously at the chimes. Her voice was clear, but soft in my head as she asked, Shall I accompany you?

“Sure, but hang back,” I replied. “It might be nothing.”

She pranced out past my feet, leaving the borders of my cottage and shifting back into the shadowy monster she liked to prowl the woods as. I stuck to the path, unwilling to slog through the thick mud and uneven terrain of the forest for something that might not even prove to be a threat.

I heard the shattering of glass and caught the overbearing smell of alcohol over the soft petrichor. “Whoa,” I said, finding a man sprawled out in the mud. “You should not be here.”

I reached out to touch him, then recoiled in shock. He smelled- beyond the reek of hard liquor- tantalizing, like cedar and rain. He lifted his head, and though his smell was a good indicator, his unsteady way of holding himself and half closed eyes made me think he was way too drunk for this.

“Pretty,” he said, pushing himself up into a seated position. He sniffed the air around us, and I took another step back. Or tried to- he caught my wrist in a grip that might as well have been iron. He pulled me towards him, and I fell, landing in his lap. He pushed his nose into my hair, his other hand caressing my neck. The parade of sparks I felt at his touch was unholy- I felt my cheeks burning, and my center wettening. He growled, and it only stoked my arousal. “Mate.”

“No,” I said, “Uh-uh. No way, sir,” I pushed myself up. Or- again- tried to. He’d entangled me and was pressing his lips against my neck, which made me even hotter. His hands roamed down to my sides, and I began to fear if I didn’t put an end to this, we might go all the way here in the mud and the muck. “Sylvia!” I called out.

The shadow beast was on us in an instant, batting him away with a swipe of her paw. What would you have me do, Mistress? She asked, digging her teeth into the collar of his shirt and yanking him up.

“Wait, wait, wait,” he said, rubbing his face. “Don’t… don’t go.”

I pushed up to my feet, irritated that I was wet, soaked to the bone and dirty. “Deposit him in the pack borders, please,” I told her. Looking at him, I searched his face. Even here in the dark, I could tell that he was very handsome- but his eyes held a sadness in them. “Don’t come back here,” I said, fighting the urge to reach out for him. “I’ll see you back at home, Sylvia.”

Yes, Mistress.

I closed my eyes, trying to pretend his howling for me was just the wind.

Elijah POV

“What happened last night, man?” Jerome asked.

I was slumped over my desk, a hangover pounding in my ears. Answering the question would be a pointless waste of energy, because frankly speaking, I didn’t know. I remembered Rosalia finding her mate and introducing us. I remembered drinking myself stupid on whiskey. I didn’t remember getting home, and though I had been told I was found out in the rain blabbering drunk about my mate, and I wasn’t even sure how I had gotten there.

“Hey, man, I know you want to ignore it, and so do I, but people are talking. And there’s enough weird s**t going on right now without that,” Jerome said.

I perked my head. “Weird s**t?”

“Yeah,” Jerome flopped a folder down on my desk. “Mostly the reason I came to see you, actually. They’re wanting to halt the zoning project.”

I sat up fully, taking the folder and opening it. And the contents were definitely filed under weird s**t.

Totems, carved from wood with string tying hair to them, stained with something frighteningly reminiscent of blood. Pouches sealed with wax, filled with tiny bones and crystal fragments. Other charms were still sealed, as the gammas were getting too superstitious to actually open them.

“What the hell is this?” I asked, looking up at him.

Jerome shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe there really is a witch on top of the mountain. But they’re saying that the site is cursed, and that moving forward, they’re going to need either more hands out there with them, or they’re going to have to doze the whole forest and make sure there’s no bodies out there.”

“That sounds dramatic,” I sighed. “Tell them to move forward for now. These things look…” I squinted at the page. They were weathered and ratty with age, and looked like they were falling apart long before they’d been unearthed. “…ancient. There’s likely nothing left to worry about, but if you’re that concerned, I guess I could reach out to a local coven and see if they can have someone check it out.”

“That might help their nerves a little,” Jerome said. “So… full speed ahead, then?”

I nodded, dropping the folder in a drawer and closing it. “Full speed ahead.”

Ambrosia POV

The drunken fool invading my forest was not the last intrusion. My chimes had been going off nonstop ever since, and though I’d kept a cautious distance lest I find my drunken fool returned, I was seeing wolves prowling higher up the mountain than they ever had before. Worse still, they were traveling up it day and night, as if patrolling for something.

The witch in me was confident in my charms keeping me hidden from them, and secured by my familiar’s strength.

The wolf in me was furious.

On the fourth night of my space being invaded, I left the cottage in a rush. Ami? Going to check them out again? Sylvia asked. She prowled along beside me, all shadows and mass. I could feel her anxiety- she didn’t like when my instincts took hold of me like this. And for good reason.

I had never been the most reasonable wolf.

I shifted, shredding my nightgown and padding through the woods like a shadow myself. My wolf was black with hints of russet red, and a swirling pattern of red fur on my underbelly. Not that these cowards would be seeing that.

Two wolves up ahead, Sylvia said. Are you sure you want to do this?

I growled in response.

What are you doing here? I demanded, projecting my thoughts to them. I used the same magic to open a link between the three of us, allowing us to communicate even in our shifted forms. Why are you patrolling outside of your territory?

Rogue! The first said, doubtlessly alerting the rest of his pack.

How can you talk to us right now? The second asked, taking a hesitant step back.

Good. It would be better for them to retreat. Answer my question, I demanded, stepping forward.

The first wolf, a smaller, younger looking wolf, stepped in front of his partner and growled. My pack is coming to back us up. Don’t think you can scare the Jade Moon Pack!

Behind me, Sylvia made herself known, stretching to fill the space until she was a void of darkness in the trees behind me, with one glowing yellow eye peering out at them from the canopy. Can’t I? I asked, c*****g my head to the side.

The second wolf turned tail and ran, linking his pack, Monster! Monster on the Northern Border!

His friend, left without backup, took a hesitant step back, then a second. When I didn’t move, he turned and followed his friend back.

I held my amusement close to my chest, and turned, returning up the mountain. That was unwise, Ami, Sylvia whispered. They’ll be back.

My amusement faded. She was right, of course. A pack wouldn’t just let that kind of threat go uninvestigated. But if I allowed them to get any closer, they might find my home, my altar, my pool.

I couldn’t let that happen.

I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, I replied. At the end of the day, I’ve been behind the dissolution of three packs so far, haven’t I? I’ll add a fourth if I must.

Sylvia stopped, and I didn’t see her again until I crossed into the yard of my cottage and shifted, standing naked in the moonlight in front of my home. To my left, my moon garden was in full bloom, with soft white blossoms that almost seemed to glow a ghostly pale light.

This home, my refuge, left to me by the only person who’d shown me anything akin to love, was all I had in the world.

I hated it every bit as much as I loved it, but I would never let it go.

No matter what.