Chased By The Rogue Alpha after My Betrayal

Chapter 4

LEONARD’S

I hadn’t planned on bringing anyone home tonight.

My life is already chaotic, and I didn't need any distractions given my mission.

But when I looked at her sitting in the passenger seat, quiet, staring out the window with eyes that looked too tired to fight anymore, I knew I couldn’t leave her out there.

So I offered to take her home, and here we are now, standing in my living room looking at each other awkwardly while my wolf is dancing around happily whilst urging me to take care of our mate.

Yes, Mate, after leaving my pack, I didn't think I would meet my mate, but here we are.

"Let me show you to the guest room," I said, breaking the awkward silence.

"I don't want to stay alone just yet," she replied in a weak voice.

I nodded and gestured for her to sit on the sofa while I walked to the wine rack on the side and picked up a bottle.

I got two glasses and poured us both before placing the bottle on the coffee table in front of her and sitting beside her.

I handed her a glass and she gulped it down in a second.

I hesitantly handed her mine before filling her previous one again.

I don't know if it is a good idea for her to drink like this, especially since she doesn't seem to drink regularly.

I am afraid she will be really sick in the morning if she continues like this, but I also can't deny her the only source of comfort she has in this state.

“That’s me with my new pack,” I said, nodding toward the framed photo on the wall, a small distraction, but it worked.

Her gaze followed mine, lingering on the faces frozen in time.

“I left my old pack,” I began quietly, “because I couldn’t stand the hierarchy anymore. The way they treated omegas and rogues, like they were less than wolves.”

The memory flickered through my mind, the Alpha’s furious eyes, the gasps that echoed as I turned my back on everything I’d known.

“They said I was foolish. That I was rebelling against tradition.” I gave a soft, humorless laugh. “But how could I keep fighting for a system that broke its own people, that ignored the anguish in their eyes?”

Her fingers traced the rim of her glass, and I found myself watching her instead of the photo.

“So I walked away,” I continued. “A few omegas followed. Then the rogues came, the lost ones, the outcasts. Together, we built something different… a place where no one had to bow to anyone.”

I paused as she took another slow sip, her fifth, maybe her sixth.

“Since then,” I finished softly, “I’ve been taking in anyone the world cast aside.”

For a long moment, neither of us spoke, then suddenly, "Y..you know you are a good guy," she slurred, looking up.

She then stood up and walked two steps towards me. She stood in front of me and gazed deeply into my eyes with an empty wine glass in hand.

Then her body swayed to my side, and I caught her by the waist.

My heart started pounding quickly, and my wolf purred in my head.

She struggled and tried to sit up, but all that did was make her rub against me.

I tightened my grip around her and helped her sit on my lap.

"Let me take you to the guest room, " I suggested roughly whilst trying to stand up.

“No…” she pouted, pushing weakly at my chest. “I don’t want to sleep.”

Then, out of nowhere, she laid her head on my chest and whispered, “He cheated on me… with my sister.”

“My chosen mate,” she added bitterly, “cheated on me before we even marked each other.”

My wolf growled in my mind at the words 'chosen mate,' and I couldn't deny it stung me a little, too.

Thankfully, he didn't mark her, though, or my wolf would go berserk.

Even my adoptive parents knew,” she continued, voice breaking. “They hid it from me. I have no one left.”

Her tears felt hot as they sipped into my shirt, making my heart clench in ways I didn't know were possible.

I picked the half-empty bottle of wine and chugged it as she continued telling me what happened to keep myself from exploding.

I patted her back as I nearly emptied the bottle before she snatched it from me.

She finished the rest in one gulp, then she turned to me and wrapped her hands around my neck and pulled me close.

Her beautiful scent of lilacs and lavender overwhelmed my nostrils, and I inched closer to her, unable to control myself.

My heart skipped a beat as my lips hovered an inch away from her.

“You know what?” she whispered, her voice trembling but defiant. “I’m done crying over him. I saved myself for a man who never deserved me.”

She paused, her eyes flickering to my lips. “So… muah.”

Her kiss was sudden, fierce, tasting of salt and wine and heartbreak.

For a heartbeat, I froze, then my control snapped and I kissed her back, hard.

The world blurred, our pain colliding into something raw and consuming.

But after a few seconds, I pulled back, panting. “This isn’t right,” I said softly.

“Nothing ever is,” she whispered, her eyes glistening. “And we’re mates. So just… kiss me.”

I tried to protest, but the mate scent was so strong that I couldn't help but give in.

I claimed her lips once more, her breath mingled with mine, and my lips moved against hers slowly, deep, inevitable, before I let them travel down her bare neck.