by Kamryn Hart
“Did you hate us?” Rogue asked, trying to clear his head.
“Why would I hate you? Either of you?” Emily asked back.
“We left you out of pretty much everything. This too.” He was talking about this physical connection of course.
“It hurt a lot sometimes, but no. I never hated either of you for it. I tried to understand, to protect you both by more or less staying out of the way.”
“And that right there shows you were always too good for either of us.”
“But I’ve been so lonely. It started back then and got so much worse since Mason died and you disappeared,” she said. It almost sounded like she was begging. “I wanted both of you, and I thought you both felt the same, but you never did anything about it. And I tried to understand, but it hurt.” She gripped him tighter. “No one asked me what I wanted. You thought you were both protecting me, keeping me out of everything because you’re shifters. I thought I was protecting the both of you. I would change it if I could go back. I would have told you both exactly what I wanted.”
She took a deep breath. “You and I need to stop beating ourselves up over the past, Ethan. Mason wouldn’t want that. You said earlier Mason doesn’t want me here, but if he loved us, he would want me here. Where else could be better?”
Rogue grimaced as pain lanced through him, overtaking any ounce of pleasure he was feeling. “Somewhere safe, somewhere far away from me. You don’t understand, Emily.” He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the burning blur from his eyes. “Mason made me promise. He made me promise when I held him in my arms as he died. I have to protect you, and the way to protect you is to stay far away from you.” He jerked out of her grasp, unable to touch her another moment longer without combusting. He pressed his hand to his cheek. “This mark seals the deal, Em. I can’t do anything about it. You have to leave.”
He shoved past her, opened the door, and slammed it behind him. He sunk down onto the porch. Snow was falling lightly. It was cold, but nothing eased the burning in his skin. He struggled to his feet, anxious to get to the piles of snow on the lawn. It was better than nothing. And he could barely breathe. His chest was squeezing so hard, it made it damn near impossible to breathe at all.
“Is this really what you want, Mason? You want me to leave Emily alone right now?”
The burn grew worse—if that was even possible.
“Moonwatch could go up in flames if David comes here and uses a Solsis Burst. You want her in that house all alone? Maybe David will hunt her down as soon as she leaves.”
The burning stopped. The pain stopped. The effects were as immediate as a light being turned off and on by a simple switch.
“Thank you,” Rogue said under his breath.
He hightailed it right back into the house to find Emily on the wood floor crying her eyes out. He knelt down beside her and placed his hand on her back.
“I’m sorry,” he said. He was a piece of shit for making her cry like this.
“I don’t get it,” She blubbered. “You keep getting hurt because of me being here, because of some promise. He has to take it back.”
“Well, for now, he has. The safest place for you to be is with me until whatever this David Fletcher business is about blows over.” He held out his hand to her. “I promise to keep you safe.”
She wiped her tears away and glanced at his cheek to see that the moon was either gone or that it had stopped glowing. Then she took his hand. “Mason’s going to have to get over it because I’m staying with you, Ethan. No one is telling me otherwise. Not some stupid-ass promise, not Moon voodoo, not magic.”
Rogue offered her a weak smile. He wasn’t sure he could hold out hope for something like that, but if anyone could get Mason to change his mind, it was definitely Emily. He was dead, but that promise held a part of him here. All this time Rogue had never realized it, but since Emily arrived, since the burning started, he knew it was true.
It wasn’t the way he wanted, but the three of them were together again. Maybe things would be different this time. He found some solace in that.
Chapter 10
“ETHAN, WHERE ARE WE going?” Emily asked as she glanced back at that old Impala of hers she fixed up and was extremely proud of. It was her baby. Rogue could get that even if cars weren’t his thing.
They were trudging through snow hand in hand. Rogue couldn’t shake the feeling something was very wrong and taking the car would actually slow him down. He didn’t know why that was, though. They were just going to the Alpha Den. They kept walking, coming up on some other Blue Pack members who were out and about.
“The car would probably be faster?” Emily suggested, not willing to accept Rogue’s sudden and complete silence. He was thinking. He wasn’t trying to ignore her. But…
She had been crying, and she had sucked up her tears and followed him again even though he had hurt her over and over since they had been reunited. He sort of explained the thing with him and Mason, but “sort of” was the best he could say. Emily deserved more. She was already in too deep. He didn’t want to make her cry again. He didn’t want to hurt her. He only wished everything good for her.
He was going to come straight. He was going to tell her everything because she deserved that at the very least. He’d tell her about Trinity. She was good at keeping secrets. Trinity was good. He’d tell her about Bruiser, about the life he chose. He’d explain more about Lunas and why he had to keep his promise.
Rogue stopped walking and squeezed her hand. “Emily, I—”
BOOM!
Rogue whipped his head around to see fire explode out of the top windows of the Alpha Den, some of the bottom ones too. Just like that, the entire building was burning. Flames licked the wood and grew larger in a heat so destructive it could only be because of one thing: someone had used a Solsis Burst inside of the mansion.
“Damn it!” Rogue shouted as Emily stared at the bonfire with wide eyes and her mouth slightly open.
Rogue took a quick look to see who was close. His eyes went to the big guy with black hair, an alpha type wolf. Derek. Willow’s mate. He was currently frozen in place much like Emily, too shocked to move. Rogue was the only one prepared for this seemingly random event. Because it wasn’t random at all.
“Derek!” Rogue shouted as he practically dragged Emily behind him. If Derek had been any farther than those few feet, Rogue would have carried her in his arms. But time. Time was of the essence.
“Derek,” Rogue growled his name this time and snapped his fingers in front of the stunned wolf shifter’s face. Rogue spun Emily forward. “Derek, this is Emily and I need you to watch her.”
He didn’t ask, and he didn’t wait for a response. He shed his clothes right then and there, ignoring the bite of cold. He couldn’t feel it with all the adrenaline pumping through his system anyway.
“Fuck,” Derek said, eyes still glued to the house. His hackles were raised and Rogue could see he was on the verge of shifting. “Willow’s in there!”
“What is going on?” Emily asked, staring at Rogue with those same wide eyes.
Well, he would have loved to have her see him naked under different circumstances, but he didn’t have time to think about that at the moment. He walked up and grabbed Derek’s face to get the enraged wolf to look at him. Derek’s blazing green eyes had “I’m going to eat you” written all over them. Rogue was unperturbed.
“Don’t you dare,” Rogue warned, his voice steely. “I’ve got this. We don’t need more people trapped in a burning building. You’ve got to head over with Emily to help everyone I get out. Got it, wolf? I’m calling the shot.”
Rogue was no alpha. He was probably more comparable to an omega, but fuck that. He knew what he was talking about, and he didn’t have another moment to waste. All he could do was pray to the Moon that Derek actually listened to him.
He shifted. His bones cracked and reformed; his skin tightened and stretched, black fur sprouted all over; his long and powerful teeth were bared
in a snarl; his tail flicked out long and kept him balanced as he took running leaps in the snow. His shift was so flawless it was like he had melted into this skin. To outside eyes, his shift was smooth and instantaneous.
He didn’t know who was inside the Alpha Den, obviously Willow. He was sure Nick and Gwen were too. He hoped that was it. He’d hate himself forever if he missed anyone.
Faster. Faster. Faster.
He sped through the snow with purpose and arrived at the burning building in under a minute. And he didn’t slow down. He barreled right through the burning double doors, knocking them inward and releasing another puff of smoke and fire that singed his fur as he jumped off the fallen doors and landed on a spot of burgundy wood that was untouched. The flames weren’t as advanced down here. However, smoke was everywhere, and Rogue crouched low to the ground as he tried to sort through that burning smell in order to sniff out the shifters in need of his help.
His sensitive ears picked up the sound of coughing. He burst through a thick smokescreen to find Gwen and Willow halfway inside of the grand foyer and sitting room. Gwen was grounded, unconscious on the floor with light burns and blood dripping from a wound on her head. Willow was awake. She was also burned, but she almost had Gwen gathered in her arms. Rogue scurried over to help her.
“Nick’s upstairs,” Willow said as soon as she saw him. “I’ve got Gwen.” She hoisted her up into her arms and quickly made her way to the new entrance Rogue had made. Flames hadn’t devoured it yet. Willow would get herself and Gwen out safely in just a few steps.
“Go, Rogue!” she shouted as she moved faster. “We’re okay. Help Nick.”
Rogue waited a couple more seconds to see Willow and Gwen emerge from the burning building, and then he was on the move again. He zig-zagged up one of the staircases, the one that looked the least sabotaged by fire, and struck like lightning when he landed at the top. He shot forward down an expansive hall, keeping his senses honed. He was about to let out a scream, a call for Nick, when a flash of white-light had him seeing spots. It was followed by a shrieking explosion and a wave of pure heat. More flames, another Solsis Burst. At least he knew where it was coming from.
After shaking his head to clear his vision and ringing ears the best he could under the time constraints, Rogue took a sharp right into a spacious room with a ceiling many feet high. It was probably an area reserved for a family hang out instead of that sitting room downstairs for guests, but they were similar in size and content. This room had tall bookshelves lined up high against the walls, but they were still feet below the ceiling. Surroundings noted and filed away, Rogue pressed forward carefully. The floor was unstable. This place was going to collapse.
The smoke was thick, and Rogue couldn’t see worth shit. Breathing was starting to become a struggle, too. He picked up the pace a little when he realized the floor wasn’t too bad off yet. Then the smoke in front of him swirled and parted. He ducked down just in time for Nick’s big blue-gray wolf to jump over him. He feared the Alpha would fall straight through the condemned wood, but it held. He fell to his back and rolled around, killing the flames that were threatening to give him worse burns than the ones he already had. His coat was singed and chunks of it were burned away to nothing. But he survived another Solsis Burst. That was all that mattered.
Rogue smacked at a flame in Nick’s coat that hadn’t gone out with one of his big paws. Nick barked, drawing Rogue’s attention to the smoke moving unnaturally again, like a gust of wind was blowing it away. It was then Rogue caught a glimpse of a bird, a bald eagle specifically. He was up high, sharp eyes scanning everything below as he circled around just below the ceiling. This room was ideal for the bird, not so for the dog and cat.
Unless maybe… Rogue glanced at the bookshelves, and he formulated a plan.
Nick was snarling and snapping his jaws at Rogue’s side, but he was hesitant. Rogue saw why when the eagle began to light up. It started as a faint glow, but it was quickly growing brighter as the light stemming from his skin slipped through his feathers. Soon he’d give off a brightness like a miniature sun, and then he’d burst with the sun’s energy.
Rogue had to act fast. They couldn’t take another burst, and the eagle was going for one with great magnitude. At least that gave him a little more time.
He took off, leaving the wolf behind and bewildered. He really hoped he’d be able to bridge the gap between him and the eagle once he made it to the top of the bookshelf he was running at. He’d have to jump high. He took the bookshelf at a leap, and then he climbed like his life depended on it. It wasn’t like climbing a tree. The thing was falling apart at his touch, flames were biting at his paws and catching on his fur. Books fell to the rising inferno below, but he dug his claws in deep and somehow made it to the top in record time. He took one quick look at the too bright light of the eagle. The bird had to circle his way again to keep airborne and away from the flames that could burn him just as easily as they did everything else; it was only the initial burst that had no effect on the Sun Shifter who created it. Rogue waited a couple more seconds for the moment they’d be lined up and he jumped, using his powerful back legs to spring him high, closing that insane distance between him and the bird. He growled and held out his claws because he was either just going to catch him or he was going to miss him.
Wait a minute. As he sailed through the air, he realized he recognized the bald eagle. His name was Griffin Mandell. He worked for Trinity. But his eyes didn’t look right. There was no light, no thought processes going on. No one was home.
Rogue caught him. His claws connected, smacking Griffin’s head just hard enough and just right to render him unconscious. The Solsis the eagle was gathering inside of his body to fire off as a deadly weapon blinked out like a light, and together they fell down, down, down, into the abyss bellow which was almost nothing but open flames. Rogue did his best to grab hold of the eagle, but he needed all four paws to maybe land without dying, so he caught the bird in his teeth. The flames swallowed them both up, burning, and Rogue’s paws hit the floor. His left back paw went through the disintegrating wood. He tossed the bird through an open area with no fire and yowled in pain as he tried to work his paw free. All it did was make the floor crumble. Suddenly, his back half was hanging down from the ceiling of the first floor.
He was going to fall. His paws were slipping. Nick bounded through the flames, skidded to a stop, and latched his teeth onto the back of Rogue’s neck. He tugged and hoisted Rogue back onto more solid ground. It was amazing they hadn’t burned to a crisp yet, but they were about to. Nick barked, eager to lead the way out of there. Rogue went for the bald eagle first, catching him in his jaws. Nick’s yellow eyes showed he was livid and was much more in favor of snapping the bird’s neck, but he ran forward instead, leading them the safest way out of the once magnificent Alpha Den.
Nick knew this place like the back of his hand, even with the flames. He knew exactly where to go when impassible walls of fire blocked their way, and they made it safely down to the first floor. He took a running leap out of the closest window and Rogue followed suit just as the building groaned and the final collapse began.
Landing in the cold snow stung like hell, proving Rogue was covered in burns. Shifters were shouting all around, a Moonwatch firetruck, not official in the lawful world of humans, was dousing the flames with a high-pressure hose, but the place wouldn’t be saved.
Rogue dropped the eagle carefully in the snow and looked around. Nick had already shifted. He looked awful, all covered in angry red burns, but he was with his unconscious mate, Willow, Derek, and Emily too. Rogue was glad Nick was with his mate. That was much more important right now than bitching about how Rogue saved the bald eagle. Rogue hoped Gwen was okay. He needed to go to her and see what he could do.
He shifted. The stretching and tightening of skin was definitely the worst part of the change with all of the burns he had sustained. He had to bite down on his lip to keep himself from screaming. His lef
t foot was cut and bleeding, and he was sticky with soot.
Suddenly, Emily was at his side. She was looking him over, her hands hanging in the air. She wanted to touch him, to help him out of the snow probably, but she didn’t know where she could touch him without hurting him. Tears fell from her eyes, and she settled for crouching down beside him. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll heal,” he assured her. “How’s Gwen?” He scooped the unconscious bald eagle up in his arms and somehow made it to his feet. He limped, trying not to put pressure on his bleeding foot. “Mind if I use you as a crutch?”
He put one arm out and Emily allowed him to rest some of his weight on her as he looped his arm over her shoulders.
“Some shifter named Casey is working on her. She’s waking up.”
Casey. Right, Casey! How could Rogue have forgotten? He looked back at the small cluster of wolves to see Casey had, in fact, joined them. He officially moved to Blue Pack recently with his family, too. It seemed he had been practicing Lunas, because he was holding Gwen’s hand, saying something to her. That soft blue light that meant a contract had been made emanated from where their skin touched. Slowly, Gwen started looking better, bit by bit.
“I’m glad I got that to work,” Casey said with a sigh. That healing exchange took a lot out of him. He looked haggard. He was definitely new at this.
Rogue and Emily headed over. Rogue wanted to check that Gwen was really okay.
“Get that eagle out of my sight, Rogue, if you don’t want me to kill him,” Nick threatened.
Rogue grimaced. “It’s not what you think, Nick. He’s part of Trinity. I think a Black Witch got to him. His eyes were… all wrong.”
Nick was growling, and his hackles were raised.
