The Rogue Series 1: The Rogue Alpha

HARLEY

The room they put the five of us in is bigger than any room I’ve ever seen. There are two large beds and a small couch. Light-green floral wallpaper lines the room. Beautiful fabric curtains hang across the windows.

There are two doors in the room, one to a bathroom and one to another small room with shelves in it. The bathroom is so shiny and clean, with two sinks, a tub, and a shower. Who needs this much space?

A sweet older woman quickly brings us food and some clothes before excusing herself.

The girls stare at Simon and me, their eyes huge as they shift nervously in front of the food. Their stomachs growl, echoing through the large room as the food sits in front of us. Hesitantly, I grab a small chunk of potato from the plate, eat it, and wait for pain. Nothing comes.

Smiling, I nod at the kids, pushing a plate toward them. They reach for it quickly, filling their mouths with the rich flavors.

Exploring the space as they eat, I focus, searching my mind for Simon and pushing open our link to his so we can talk. “This feels off. What pack welcomes rogues?”

“None of them. Do you think it’s some kind of trick? Have you heard of Night Fang before?”

“No, I don’t think so. Let’s rotate watches just to make sure nothing happens tonight. I’ll take the first shift.”

He nods.

The night passes quickly.

When the morning comes, there is a light knock on the door. Simon and I sit together, chatting as the kids rest. Ms. Brenda walks in nervously with a small smile. “Ms. Harley, the alpha would like to see you.”

Simon grabs my arm firmly, his eyes finding mine. “Not alone.”

I look between Simon and Ms. Brenda, nervousness filling me. Is this a trap? “We have to find out what they want,” I think to just Simon.

I can see Simon thinking, weighing our options. But the truth is we don’t have any. We are in the alpha’s home, the pack’s territory. Our future is in their hands, and if I don’t play nice now, what message does that send?

“Be careful. You can’t trust an alpha.”

I nod, beginning to follow Ms. Brenda. “Don’t worry, I’ll be okay. Watch the kids.”

Ms. Brenda guides me down a long hall, stopping in front of an open door to an office. She is chattering the whole time about the pack and how lucky we are to be away from those barbaric rogues. Sweet, but a bit misguided.

The office Ms. Brenda guides me into is covered in wall shelves with more books than I have ever seen. A desk sits near one side. A couch and armchairs are to the left, and a table is to the right. This place is huge.

Sitting on the couch is Alpha Jackson, with Beta Liam on the other side of the couch and Gamma Wyatt in a chair.

The alpha watches me walk in and motions for me to sit on the remaining chair. My heart immediately begins to flutter, my skin tingling as Alpha Jackson’s eyes trace my form. Even in this space, Alpha Jackson looks so strong. I could truly look at this man all day.

“Hello, Ms. Harley.” His voice is rich, but the way he says my name sends shivers through my body. My name never sounded so beautiful.

“Hello,” I respond to all three of them, trying to avoid eye contact with Jackson.

“We are hoping we could talk to you more about your history and your makeshift family,” announces Beta Liam.

I nod, expecting questions, but they all just stare at me expectantly. I shift in my seat and begin to ramble, “There isn’t much to say, honestly. We all come from the same camp. We’ve known each other since we were little. As you’ve probably picked up on, rogues aren’t the cuddliest parents, so we had to take care of ourselves mostly. We left about two years ago and have been running ever since.”

“What made you run?” asks the gamma.

My stomach tightens, and a shiver shoots through my spine. There are some threats even this odd pack won’t want to face. “This and that. It wasn’t safe for us.”

Alpha Jackson lets out a low growl, his eyes studying my face like a puzzle he can’t figure out. “You’re being evasive.”

I sigh. I am being evasive, partially out of shame and partially out of self-preservation. If they learn the truth of where we come from, who we’re running from, we’ll be dead before lunch.

Some rogue leaders are hated and feared by all packs, and unfortunately for us, one such rogue leader is chasing us. They won’t understand we aren’t like him. “It’s complicated. I can’t fully explain.”

“Try. I’m sure we can follow.”

My heart sputters with his words. I struggle to form words, trying to think of an explanation that will keep us out of the pit.

“Okay, sure. Um, well, you know we grew up in a rogue camp. It wasn’t great. I’m not saying all rogue camps aren’t great. I’ve heard good things about some. But ours wasn’t run like that. All the kids were kept in a sort of orphanage mixed with a work camp.” I pause, thinking back on the years in that space. The pain, the yelling, the abuse.

“There was a lot of—” Pain chokes me up slightly, making it hard to form words. “It just wasn’t good for kids. One night…”

Again, the words won’t come, and I can’t lift my gaze to the men in front of me. “I just didn’t want the girls to go through that. So I got us out. It was late, and most of the men were asleep, so it wasn’t too hard to get away.

“The last two years haven’t been that bad, actually. We’re used to surviving in the woods, and I think I’ve done a good enough job keeping us safe. We’ve had some close calls with other rogues and some of the old camp, but it’s been manageable overall.”

I finally look up, seeing exactly what I didn’t want to see in two of the three men’s faces: pity. Sadness.

Alpha Jackson, on the other hand, looks like someone kicked him in the chest. His hand tightly grips the arm of the couch, his other balled in a fist at his side. Anger is plastered on his face. His eyes burn through me, causing me to shift more in my seat.

“No need to look so ominous, guys,” I say. “We’ve had it better than most. It’s all good.”

A low growl rumbles from the alpha’s chest, causing me to wince this time. Both the beta and the gamma look at him, shock flashing on their faces.

Before anyone can respond, a tidal wave of fear spreads through the mind-link, followed quickly by Simon’s voice. “They’ve got Millie! It’s a trick!”

Without thinking, I jump up and run from the room, growling.

Luckily, no guard stands in my way, so I dart through the empty hallway. The leaders from the office quickly follow me.