The Runaway Rogue

Desperate Times

Six years later. . .

“Can you help out at Vega tonight?” My Manager, Jay, asked as he pulled me to the side of the hallway. His brow was furrowed with stress and he fidgeted a bit as if the few moments standing still were difficult for him.

I felt for the guy, he’d just opened a new bar in Vegas and the turnout had been good, too good. He didn’t have the staff or equipment for the demand.

“Sorry Jay, I just don’t feel safe—” I started.

“In the city.” he finished for me, sighing. “Look, we’ve got a few huge reservations coming in tonight. I’m desperate, I got two new security guys and I’ll pay you double time.” He pleading, pinning me with his stare. “Please Vee?”

I twisted my lips and gave a short shake of my head, feeling bad to leave him struggling. “Check with Janie, I think she needs the extra time.” I patted him on the arm and began walking to toward the door. “I’m going to take my smoke break.” I hollered back at him.

“You don’t smoke!” He yelled back.

I smirked and gave him a wink as I shoved open the heavy door.

Blazing sun and the dry heat of summer met my as I lifted my face to the sky and sucked in a deep breath of the desert air.

Nevada had been my home for almost a year now. It took a few years and more than a few mishaps before I figured out how to stay off the wolf radar.

Heavily wooded areas were likely to be pack territory, and many wolf packs owned large businesses making dense cities similarly treacherous. Hence my decision to move to the desert, wide-open, dry land was not an appeal for the furry-folk.

Bartending and waitressing may not have been the least exposed job I could’ve picked, but it had been all I could find as an inexperienced eighteen year old and would pay under the table.

Approaching my clunker of a car, I pulled open the driver door, reaching into the scorching interior to grab my purse.

A rattling sounded from the bag as jostled it. Setting the bag on the roof of the vehicle I stuck my hand in, seeking the source of the rattling.

Finding my target, I gripped the falsely marked pill bottle and pulled it free. Any snoops would find anti-anxiety medication, but the round tablets were my true key to freedom.

Suppressants. Illegal in the wolf world, but incredibly necessary when hiding from them. Two doses a day kept my wolf at bay. As much as I wanted to meet her, I knew my safety and the freedom from my father was worth the price.

With the suppressants I was little more than human, any wolf would know I was wolf-kin, but not that I was a full-wolf. The distinction was important as human wolf-kin could live outside the pack grounds, but wolves were either pack-bound or rogue.

Even being outside the pack for 6 years, I was still pack-bound and if my wolf was set free the scent would be unmistakable. Not only would any wolf in a mile know who I belonged to, but my father would be able to use the bond to find me.

I had been constantly on the move at eighteen until I’d found someone who could provide me the suppressants. My father sent rogues and other unsavory type characters to hunt me down but never looked for me himself. At first I thought he was grateful to be free of me, until I spotted an article on my contact’s table.

“ALPHA’S ONLY HEIR SLAIN BY ROGUES”

He’d faked her death, but to what end? And why was he still hunting her? I didn’t know, but that only fueled my instinct to hide. If he did catch me. . .he could torture me forever and no one even know I was missing. I’d never missed a dose since.

I shook a pill out into my hand and knocked it back quickly. Looking back down into the bottle I rattled around the few remaining pills and gulped. I was running low, very low. Within a week I would be out.

As with anything illegal, pills were expensive, and hard to come by. I had a guy a few states over who’d supplied me for years, but it was my funds that had run dry.

Waitressing in the empty deserts of Nevada wasn’t a lucrative gig to begin with, but after my previous landlord kicked me out to sell the house I’d been renting I was forced to come up with a security deposit and first months rent for a new place. Add in an unexpected car breakdown and my meager savings had been depleted.

I needed money, and fast. My mind floated back to Jay’s request. Doubletime, and Vegas-sized tips. It would be enough, one night would be enough to het her by. But Vegas was beyond dangerous. Not only was it home to a number of wolf-owned businesses, but it drew powerful wolves out in droves for the party-scene. Wolves tended to be more uninhibited creatures than humans and loved to let loose to show of their money and power. Vegas, was the perfect storm.

It was risky, way too risky. . .but being without suppressants was even more so. I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing my fingers to the bridge of my nose and took a few deep breaths. It was one night. Just one.

Before I could overthink my decision, I threw my purse back into the car and strode purposefully toward the back door.

Wrenching it open I leaned in and hollered “Jay!” He whipped his head around in surprise. “What time do you need me at Vega?”

His face split into a grin, “See you at 4 Vee.”