Rogue Rage

Chapter 4 (Maddock)

“f**k,” I sighed. I snapped at her for basically doing what I had come here to do. The façade slipped just then. I didn’t mean to be a d**k, but the day had worn me out. I didn’t think I could stand seeing another girl throw herself at me because of my injured leg. My parents’ legacy was enough to get me attention from females, but after Kate became Luna, they became rabid.

They seemed to think my offspring would be as supernatural as my sister or as strong-willed as our parents. It was fun at first, but it got old fast. All of them used my leg as an excuse to cling to me. I stopped using a crutch and told them I didn’t need it anymore. A vain attempt to get them to back off a little. In reality, they saw it as an excuse to “take care” of me. I wondered for a moment if Gabriel went through this when he returned from training.

Nah, as I recalled, he was mainly surrounded by Ruby, who scared away all the others. Even then, the girl couldn’t hold a conversation unless it was about herself. That also had to get old fast. I took another big gulp of wine before holding up the bottle and examining it. Well, those girls did have their perks. At least they had good taste in wine. I’d feel bad about taking it if I hadn’t declined several times first. I closed my eyes only to see the dark eyes of the little alcoholic.

I grin to myself. At the very least, she wasn’t throwing herself at me. I thought she was here because she knew I came here to be alone. I smirk. To think I kicked her out for doing the same. But if I let her stay, she’d think I was giving her the go-ahead to linger around. I really didn’t have the appetite or energy to entertain anyone out here. It was a mostly abandoned area, far enough from the center that no one came here, but not so close to the walls that it felt dangerous. My very own oasis. I sigh again. I’ll find her tomorrow and apologize.

…

Three days had passed, and I hadn’t seen the mysterious woman at all. I couldn’t even ask around because even though she had a pretty face, she was quite average. I couldn’t exactly describe her as pretty around the pack. Other than that, she was average height with dark hair and brown eyes. That description was incredibly common in this pack. Also, everyone fitting that description would have their mothers down my throat about it.

I stretched, looking through the open doors of the village’s stronghold. I hadn’t shifted since my injury. It was the fastest way to heal, but I had simply enjoyed being catered to. At least, up until I had nowhere to be alone. I jogged a bit farther from the entrance before shifting. My leg felt a bit off, but after a short jog, it felt good as new. I broke into a run after making it to the river. I followed it to the cliffside. I stared down from the brink of the waterfall. I had always loved the view from above, but I also loved showering at the base of the falls.

There was nothing more satisfying than feeling the mountain rain on my skin. I began my trudge down the cliff, taking the steepest path. I could feel Riven relax from within me. He had been tense for weeks now. Not that he told me so. Riven rarely conversed with me. He was a part of me, but there was a gap…distance between him and me. It started when I was young and only grew as I got older. That said, I could still feel his emotions. We didn’t have to speak to understand each other. We knew each other’s minds well enough.

The tension between us had been building since my injury. Because Riven and I rarely spoke, the silence only sharpened the anxiety, leaving neither of us with reassurance nor a clear way back to each other. Shifting was the only connection we still understood. Now that I had shifted, that distance disappeared. For the first time in weeks, we were one again.

My paws sank into the dirt as I reached the base of the mountain. The texture of the earth giving beneath my weight felt incredible, as though I was the master of it and it was making room for each step. I ran up to the base of the falls and stopped short. I shifted back and walked up to the curtain of the falls. I dipped under the crystal water. The icy temperature felt amazing on my heated skin.

Most pack members were uncomfortable venturing farther down the mountain. They were afraid of the unknown. They were afraid of not being able to make it back up once they’d made it down. And more recently, they were afraid of rogues. They had every right to be afraid. Lawless wolves who were exiled. And if that wasn’t enough of a reason, then the attack by the rogues a few months ago would have made them even more cautious and less likely to leave the safety of the fence.

Since people rarely left the cliff, I was never cautious about my nudity down here. It had been about a century since our people found their modesty and preferred to be clothed in front of one another. I didn’t have a problem with it. I simply didn’t feel the need to be modest about nudity. I was a man, after all. I climbed down from the ledge I was showering from and into the pool beneath the waterfall.

The pool narrows dramatically into a stream that feeds into the lake. The lake is great, but nothing beats the coolness of the plunge pool. I float just beneath the surface of the water, with only my face out. I inhale deeply and instantly catch a scent that isn’t my own.

My eyes snapped open and shifted to the smaller body climbing down the cliff in human form and onto the ledge I had just left. She unclothed herself and walked into the water curtain. The innermost primal part of me, that wasn’t Riven, heightened.

She runs her fingers through her hair, shaking the water through it. Her small hands move up and down her arms as the water cleans the dirt from her skin. I swallow when she moves lower. I am thankful for the full submersion of water, but I don’t look away. I give her no privacy. I don’t know if she shares the same philosophy of nudity and modesty that I do, but I have no intention of doing anything about the physical attraction I’m feeling. Not unless she reciprocates it, of course.

I knew there was a good chance she’d feel violated in some way or another. However, if someone was going to bathe where anyone might see, they should be prepared to be seen. At that moment, she turned her head and angled it upward. Her mouth opened as she drank from the curtain. After her drink, she looked down in my direction, and our eyes locked.

Instead of embarrassment or shame, though, she simply looked annoyed. She rolled her eyes and continued cleaning down her long legs. I smiled. Damn, her boldness had turned her from average to a rarity.

She seemed to have finished but instead of collecting her clothes and rushing off, as I expected her to do, she instead faced the plunge and dove in. The pool wasn’t by any means shallow but there were boulders in random places. I rushed to where she disappeared into the water, just in case. Before panic could set in, she reemerged a few feet away from me.

“Are you out of your mind?” I asked, somewhat angry at her impulsiveness.

She glared at me. “Excuse me?”

“You could have hit a boulder beneath the surface! Do you not realize that?”

“There are six boulders in this pool. Two are in the center four feet apart and visible from the ledge. The other four are closer to the edge of the pool and also visible from the ledge. I’m not stupid enough to dive into an unfamiliar body of water.” She turned and swam a few feet away.

I smirked. It was humorous how dumbfounded she made me after every conversation. I cleared my throat. “Hey, Alcohol Girl.”

She whipped her head back at me. “What?” The simple word was dripping with annoyance.

I grinned. It was entertaining to aggravate her. She had a sharp tone and an attitude she couldn’t hide. “What’s your name?”