A Rogue's Choice

KATIE

I walked across the lush grass. Its soft texture felt wonderful on my bare feet. As I headed toward the waterfall, the sunlight glistened on the water, cascading over the rocks.

A beautiful red-headed woman sat by the edge of the pool, her fingers tracing patterns in the water.

As I approached her, she turned her head toward me.

“Mama?” a voice called out.

Her smile turned to a frown.

“You shouldn’t be here, little one,” she said in a soothing manner.

“I missed you, Mama.” I cried as tears cascaded down my cheeks.

She smiled. “I missed you too, but it’s not your time yet. You have to go back!”

The vision before me started to fade into darkness.

I called out one more time.

***

“Mama…please!” I cried.

At that moment, I realized I had woken up, woken up by my own voice. I also felt tears on my cheeks; I never cried.

I felt a hand gently cup my jaw, the large thumb wiping away the tears.

“Sshh, little one, it’s okay!” he said.

I immediately tensed and tried to pull away, recognizing the voice. It was the voice of Kane, Alpha Kane. Why was he here? Was he going to finish what his beta had started?

I whimpered as I felt a sharp stab of pain.

“Sshh, be still, little one. Just open your eyes for me.”

His hand was still on my face, and I felt a tingle run through my body. “It…it hurts,” I stuttered, keeping my eyes firmly closed.

His hand moved from my cheek, and I felt him rest it on my head, his thumb gently rubbing my forehead.

“I know, little one. Just try and open your eyes.”

I finally opened them and looked at him.

I gasped. He gazed down at me, smiling gently. I kind of expected him to be angry, like Beta Nathan had been, but he wasn’t.

His dark brown eyes held a gentleness I wasn’t expecting. None of the men I had ever met had looked at me like that, not even my father, not even when I was younger.

Kane’s dark brown hair was trimmed short, and he sported a neatly trimmed beard. I had seen plenty of men and rogues pass through, but none had the perfect looks that Alpha Kane had.

“Such beautiful eyes,” he purred. “Now, where does it hurt?”

I blinked, trying to focus my thoughts.

I went to move my hand to my nose, but he quickly stopped me, gently grabbing my hand.

“No, little one, don’t touch it!” he commanded.

I gasped again. Although he spoke gently, it was forceful, as though just by saying something, he could force you to do it. That scared me.

Kane gently lifted my hand and pressed his lips to my knuckles.

“I’m sorry, little one. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said.

I stared at him, speechless. Kane chuckled, then glanced across to the other side of the room. “Lena, can we get my little friend here some pain relief?”

I hadn’t even noticed anyone else in the room. Normally, I would have. Even if I were unable to see them, I would have noticed their scent. However, the only scent I noticed right now was his.

I looked across at the woman walking over to me. She was beautiful and tall, much taller than me. Her black hair was styled in a short bob. It was so shiny it looked like it had been polished.

Her eyes were dark blue, and her lips held a lovely smile. The way she smiled at Kane, she had to be his mate. I was a little jealous.

“This may hurt a little,” she warned me as she approached with a needle.

I watched as she pulled back the blanket covering me and gasped. My clothes were gone. I was in just my underwear.

That wasn’t the worst thing though; I had a large dressing across my stomach.

“Wh…what did you do to me?” I whimpered as I tried to sit.

This made the pain worse, and I let out a hiss.

Kane quickly grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me back down. “It’s okay. You were bleeding. The doctor had to operate,” he quickly explained.

Lena, who I assumed was the doctor, held my leg and injected me with whatever was in the syringe.

I winced, but it was over pretty quickly. I was more concerned with what they had done to me and where my clothes were, at least until I started to feel drowsy.

“Wh…what did you just give me?” I started to panic, and my breathing became erratic.

Kane glanced up at Lena.

“It’s okay,” Lena said, “it’s just a painkiller; it will probably make you sleepy. You need to rest to help you heal!”

This didn’t calm me down at all.

“I want to leave!” I screamed as I tried to sit.

Kane firmly held me by my shoulders and gently rubbed circles with his thumb. “Just stay calm, little one. This is for your own good.”

He didn’t understand. None of them did. My heart started beating wildly, and my breath came in gasps.

“Please... He’s gonna kill me!” I begged.

Kane frowned. “Who... who’s going to kill you?”

My breathing continued to come in shuddered gasps as I struggled for air. “And Terence... he’s going to…”

I clutched my hand to my chest, trying to get my breath.

“Who the fuck is Terence?!” Kane growled.

I whimpered, hardly daring to breathe when I saw the anger in Kane’s face.

Kane looked horrified as he saw the look of terror on my face and how much he had scared me.

He put one of his hands on my back and the other on the back of my head, pulling me into his chest.

“Be careful, Kane! She’ll break her stitches!” Lena snapped at him.

Kane glared at her and retorted, “It won’t matter if she stops breathing or has a heart attack, will it?!”

He turned his attention back to me. His expression softened, as did his voice. He rubbed my bare back with his hand. “Sshh, little one, just breathe!”

I gasped, and my back arched as I felt his touch. It was as if a bolt of electricity flowed through my body.

It wasn’t like the bolt that Nathan had given me; this was entirely pleasurable, reaching down to my core.

My breathing began to even out as his hand continued to caress my back.

“No one’s going to touch you...” Kane hesitated before asking, “What’s your name, little one?”

I blinked, the drug taking its toll on my senses.

“K... Katie,” I whispered, my eyes beginning to close.

Kane gently lowered me back onto the bed. “Well, little Katie, no one is going to touch you because you’re mine. You belong to me,” he growled softly.

“I... I don’t want to belong to anyone...,” I mumbled, as the drug gently pulled me into the darkness.