Betrayed: Days of the Rogue (26 page)

Chapter 23

The trees on either side of the
private road were still mostly bare, though the promise of leaves
could be seen in the swelling tips. Wild grasses and weeds weren’t
quite so reticent to welcome spring and were already showing green.
Rafe took all this in as he drove back to his place. He shifted in
his seat and cast a glance at his companion, suppressing a sigh
when he noted how she was still resolutely staring out the side
window.

So far the ride had been conducted
mostly in thick silence; his lame comment about the recent morning
fog had garnered only a small grunt of acknowledgement. Eve seemed
lost in thought and disinclined to talk. It wasn’t surprising, Rafe
acknowledged; he’d dumped a lot of information on her, and she
needed time to sort it out but he had a feeling there was more to
it than that. Usually she was the one talking and he was the quiet
one. It felt odd to have their roles reversed.

Sliding another look her way, he
noted faint lines marring her brow and how her hands were tightly
clasped in her lap. He wished he knew how she was feeling. Being
empathic didn’t help him any when the other person put up a mental
wall, and Eve’s was firmly in place.

Was she upset to learn that he was
empathic? Did she now feel she’d need to be constantly on guard
against him invading her privacy? It wouldn’t be the first time
someone had reacted that way. He grimaced as the memory of a long
ago day pushed its way forward…

He’d been eight years old and a
classmate had caught his fancy. Trying to impress the young she
wolf, he’d decided to share a secret with her, whispering to her
the fact that he was one-quarter Fae. At the time she’d seemed
impressed, but the next day it had been an entirely different
story. She hadn’t even looked his way all morning, and he couldn’t
figure out why.

“What’s wrong, Meghan?” He’d
approached her in the coatroom trying to understand the abrupt
change from the previous day when she’d sat with him at lunch and
shared her oatmeal cookies.

“You’re Fae.” A look of distaste
had accompanied the accusation.

“So?” He’d shoved his hands in his
pocket and shrugged.

She’d tilted her chin and looked
down her snub nose at him. “My mother told me all about your kind.
You can see inside my head and know everything I’m thinking.”

“No, I can’t.” He’d rolled his eyes
and shook his head at the absurd claim.

“Yes, you can. My mom said so and
so did my dad.” She’d given her head an emphatic nod and then
placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. “The Fae are sneaky
and you can’t trust them. I don’t want you knowing everything I’m
thinking so just stay away.” With that, she’d turned on her heel
and stalked off with all the self-righteousness that an
eight-year-old could muster.

He’d watched her leave, bewildered
by her reaction. His mother had recently told him being Fae was a
secret, that it made him special. The idea had filled him with
delight and he’d been bursting with excitement to share the news
with someone. Since moving to this new pack, Meghan had been his
best friend but now…

Deflated that his first love had
been so fickle, he’d headed back to his desk and tried to
concentrate on his work. Her rejection had hurt and that in itself
would have been enough to spoil his day, but it soon became
apparent she’d shared his secret with the rest of the class.

Just minutes into the lesson an
eraser hit him in the back of the head and he’d turned around to
glare at the children behind him.

“Hey, mind reader.” One of the boys
had hissed at him while keeping a watchful eye on the pack’s
appointed teacher. “Can you figure out who did it?”

“I’m not a mind read. It’s only
emotions I can sense and not even that yet.” He’d tried to explain
the intricacies of being Fae even though he hadn’t really
understood all of it himself. “It takes the Awakening—”

“Ha! You’re not even awake!” The
boy had sniggered and then turned to the others. “Rafe’s just a
dozy Fae! We’ll have to wake him up.”

Walking home from school, the
others had followed him, heckling and shoving, yelling at him to
‘wake up.’ More than once he’d been knocked down, the knees of his
pants tearing, abrasions on his palms from where he’d tried to
catch himself. But he hadn’t complained or turned to look at his
persecutors. His father had told him to stay out of trouble, not to
cause problems in their new pack. So he’d held his head high and
walked home, holding back the tears that had stung his eyes,
keeping his lips firmly pressed together so no one could see them
tremble. His throat had felt tight and his face burned hot with
shame. Being part Fae was nothing to be proud of.

He’d gone straight to his room, not
wanting to share his disgrace with anyone.

The taunts had continued at school
for some time after that, and he became an expert at hiding what he
was thinking and feeling. Eventually, the teacher had final caught
wind of the situation, but by then he’d been firmly established as
an outsider by the other pups.

It had taught him a valuable
lesson; how it felt to be ostracized, to be on the receiving end of
prejudice. He’d also learned to keep his heritage a secret, not
sharing the truth until he felt he really knew a person. And even
then, he could never be sure of how they’d react to the news. More
than once a promising relationship had ended after he’d mentioned
his background. Thankfully, it didn’t happen very often anymore, or
perhaps it was the fact that, with his busy schedule, he seldom
bothered with relationships…

He gave a sigh. The scars of the
past were still there. Maybe that was why he’d been drawn to
working with rogues; on some level, he knew how they felt.

Of course, Eve wouldn’t reject him
for being Fae. He glanced at her once again. She was Fae as well.
Though that didn’t necessarily mean she was comfortable with the
idea that he’d ‘been in her head’ the other night and now knew
exactly how she’d felt during their sexual encounter. Last night
he’d managed, barely, to keep him mental wall in place but that
first time…

He cleared his throat and flicked
another glance her way. “About the other night…”

“Rafe, I really don’t think this is
the time.” Her chin rose slightly, but Rafe noticed how her fingers
tightened. Yep, she was definitely bothered by it.

“Avoidance isn’t healthy you
know.”

“I’m not avoiding anything. Just
postponing.”

“One and the same.”

“Not at all.”

“Eve—” He glanced her way
again.

“Look out!”

Something streaked across the road
right in front of them. He slammed on the brakes and the wheels
skidded, the vehicle careening wildly from side to side on the
loose gravel as he struggled to keep control. In a matter of
seconds the truck slid to a stop, leaning at an odd angle, two
wheels off the road. Rafe put the vehicle into park. His heart was
pounding, adrenaline rushing through his system, and there was
enough anger flaring in his gut that he had to struggle to maintain
control and not shift into his wolf form. He turned to look at
Eve.

“Are you okay?”

Eve nodded, her face pale, her
hands shaking as she tucked her hair behind her ears. “It was that
wolf again.”

“Dammit, Damien!” The curse slipped
from his lips before he could stop it.

“Damien?” Eve turned her head and
glared at him. “How is it his fault? It’s the wolf that nearly ran
us off the road.”

“I mean…” His thoughts raced as he
tried to come up with an answer. “If he hadn’t needed supplies we
wouldn’t be on the road right now.” It was a lame excuse and she
let him know it.

Twisting around in her seat, Eve
faced him with eyes flashing and flushed cheeks. If he’d been in
any doubt as to how she was feeling, her tone of voice made it
perfectly clear; a scalpel had nothing on it for sharpness. “There
you go again picking on Damien! What is it with the two of you?
Every time he’s mentioned you’re bad mouthing him, warning him
away, warning me away. Give the man a break. His wife
died
you know!”

“I’m well aware of that fact,
but—”

“And it’s your own fault you had to
slam on the brakes. If you’d been watching the road, you would have
seen the wolf coming.” She folded her arms and turned with a
flounce, staring straight ahead.

“My fault?” He blinked, trying to
follow her logic.

“Can’t you drive and talk at the
same time?” She continued to stare out the window, not even sparing
him a sideways glance.

“Yes, I can drive and talk at the
same time. It’s just that I…” His voice trailed off and he exhaled
loudly. This was a ridiculous and pointless argument. As calmly as
possible he turned in his seat and put the truck into drive. “The
near miss and our earlier discussion seem to have shaken us both
up. We’ll discuss this when we’re both calmer.”

Eve sniffed and wiggled closer to
the door, increasing the distance between them.

Rafe barely stopped himself from
rolling his eyes, and finished the journey in silence. The state of
his relationship with Eve would have to be put on the backburner
for the moment; Damien was a bigger concern. Had running across the
road been a stupid stunt or an act of aggression? And aggression
towards whom?

He was becoming more convinced that
Damien was dangerously obsessed with Eve, perhaps somehow viewing
her as a replacement for the mate he’d lost. The latent remains of
Damien’s blood bond might even pick up on Eve’s empathic abilities,
causing him to erroneously feel there was a connection between
them. The man could be blacking out, too; his wolf grabbing
complete control and pushing his human side so far back that Damien
wasn’t even aware of what he was doing.

When they pulled into the parking
area by the house, Damien was waiting on the front steps. Eve
exited the truck without a word, walked over to the porch and began
a conversation with the man. Rafe clenched his teeth, furious at
her blatant defiance, yet could he blame her? She only had his word
that Damien was a danger, and the other man could be devilishly
charming when he chose.

Rafe shook his head. This had gone
on long enough. He was calling Reno today to come and collect
Damien, or he was taking matters into his own hands. An ultimatum
to leave or have Rogue Retrieval called would be Damien’s
choice.

Slamming the truck door with total
disregard for its aged state, he stalked over to where Eve stood.
She barely glanced at him when he stopped beside her.

“I’m going into town with Damien.”
She made the announcement without even looking at him. A silent ‘so
there’ was definitely tacked onto the end of her statement.

Rafe stiffened, the Alpha side of
him responding to her challenge. He clenched his jaw and tried to
satisfy himself by giving Damien a glaring look.

The man smirked. “She wants to
go.”

“Too bad. She’s not going anywhere
with you.” He narrowed his eyes in warning.

“
She
is doing whatever
she
damn well pleases.” Eve retorted.

“No, you’re not.” He tossed the
keys at Damien and took her by the arm. When she tried to pull
away, he tightened his grip.

“Let. Me. Go!” She pulled back
again, but was no match for him.

“The lady wants you to let her go.”
Damien stepped forward, anger sparking in his eye. It was easy to
see his wolf was near the surface, eager for a confrontation.

Rafe hesitated, all too aware that
Eve was watching. He was seething inside, a fight with Damien was
quite to his taste, but circumstances dictated a different
approach. After a moment’s hesitation he released her arm. “I’ll
let go, but she’s not getting in the truck with you.”

“And who’s going to stop me?” Eve
planted her hands on her hips.

“Me. It’s my truck. I say who rides
in it.” He stared at her steadily. Her mouth opened and then
snapped shut.

“Fine, then. I’m going for a walk.”
And with that she pivoted and stormed off.

Rafe watched her go. She thought
she was defying him, but he knew she was safe; that the rogue was
right here in front of him. However, what the hell was running
through her mind right now, he had no idea. Maybe she wasn’t even
thinking at all since, to the best of
her
knowledge, a
dangerous wolf was still lurking out there. Well, he’d let her go
for a while, and then fetch her back if she didn’t come to her
senses on her own.

He turned to face Damien and spoke
through clenched jaws. “Don’t you ever do that again. I said Eve’s
off limits.”

“You haven’t marked her, so she’s
fair game.” Damien’s lip curled in a sneer.

Rafe growled, his temper flaring.
He could feel his wolf pushing to be free, muttering its
discontent.

We need to deal with this rogue.
He’s not like the others we help. He’s invaded our territory and
abused our goodwill. We allowed him to stay when he had nowhere
else, and this is how he repays us? The female isn’t for him!

He agreed with his wolf
wholeheartedly, and his frustration spilled over into his words.
“Fair game for what? Are you thinking of replacing your dead mate
with her?” It was a low blow; he regretted it the moment he spoke,
yet Damien was pushing him, spoiling for a fight. After a week of
pussy-footing around everyone, his own store of diplomacy was
running low.

Damien’s eyes widened and then
narrowed, his features clouding with rage, his jaw clenched. “You
bastard.”

The look Damien gave him would have
had a lesser man dropping dead on the spot. Rafe tensed his
muscles, poised and ready for the other man to strike out. Indeed
the air around them began to shimmer as if he were going to shift
and fight in his wolf form. Then, as if some inner voice grabbed
his attention, Damien paused, spun on his heel and stalked to the
truck, slamming the door as he climbed in.