Chapter Two

WOLF

After leading us to the furthest corner of the diner, she slides into her seat, gesturing for me to do the same opposite her. Turning my head, I peer over my shoulder and notice wary eyes looking me up and down. To them, I must look like the mountain man, a bum, someone completely unworthy of sitting down with this girl, the princess of Sitka; it must be freaking them all out. I can’t help smirking at the thought.

Shifting my attention towards the window on my left, I’m sure glad we’re sitting in a window seat and not at one stuffed in a dingy corner on the other side of the diner. Something about small spaces typically freaks me out for some reason. Deep-seated shit from my childhood, no doubt, but I don’t want to delve into that mudslide memory bank any time soon; it would only end in tears, of which I have none to spare.

Sasha, fuck, her name alone sounds like it was chosen by the angels, and it instantly has me going hard. Fuck. I have no idea why she would want to sit down with someone like me when, clearly, she could be sitting down and having lunch with any other guy from her own pack.

“So, what do you feel like having?” Lifting a menu to her face, she suddenly pulls me from my own desperate thoughts when I look over at her; she’s studying the menu with keen interest, and I smirk with a shake of my head as I lean in closer, narrowing my eyes teasingly. I speak in a low tone that instantly gets her attention,

“I’m pretty sure you know everything on that menu off by heart, princess, so how about you tell me what you recommend?” Looking up from the menu, her eyes blink in surprise when they meet mine. A teasing little smile spreads across her face, and I notice that same look in her eyes. Something in those green orbs has my wolf standing to attention, and I can’t put my finger on it.

She quickly breaks eye contact and lowers the menu; I notice her chest rising and falling and hear the fluttering beat of her erratic heartbeat. Am I making her feel nervous?

Looking up, just over my shoulder, her attention shifts towards who I can only assume is a waitress standing behind me. It took only two seconds for the waitress to pop up beside our booth like she had been waiting there on bated breath. The whole time, I keep my eyes on Sasha, intrigued by how her scent has my beast getting all excited. I know it’s been a while since I’ve hooked up with a girl, but with how my wolf reacts to Sasha, he could pounce on her right here and now.

Fuck, Wolf, get a grip, man; that’s never going to happen. This girl is way out of you’re league.

“Oh hey honey, you having the usual?” The waitress addresses Sasha with a warm smile before turning to give me a curious look. Whether involuntary or on purpose, she raises a questioning brow at me. This middle-aged woman, whom I don’t even know, suddenly pulls her nose up at me and immediately looks uncomfortable. I expect the alpha of this shitty little town to come barging in at any second and rip me a new one.

It’s probably because I’m dressed like a hobo who hasn’t bathed in a few days and shaven in a week or two; who knows? I needed to catch up on time between spending the last few weeks in a cave and fending off a few specific rogues out for blood, specifically, my blood.

Having an alpha’s daughter seated opposite me in public isn’t something I’ve ever experienced; this is a first for me. I’m still trying to figure out the true agenda behind those beautiful yet mysterious green eyes. Leaning back in my seat, I cross my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes suspiciously as I watch her intently, and then I figure, why the fuck not? Let’s give all these people something to talk about.

“Um, actually, Kathy, I was thinking of having the seared steak with fries, a large chocolate milkshake, and a side salad.” Sasha looks at me, giving me a mischievous little look before tilting her head toward the waitress. “Two of those, please, Kathy.” As she finishes, I have to stop myself from having thoughts about this girl that will only end in me losing my life.

The waitress nods once, giving me another suspicious look, before finally scurrying off in the direction of the kitchen. I can’t help but scoff at the waitress’s reaction. I’m starting to second-guess whether or not this was a good idea. The only problem is, even if this is a bad idea, which it is, my wolf has me rooted in place; there’s no way I’m going anywhere unless it’s with her. Fuck. Furrowing my brows, I immediately dismiss that idea. There’s no way I’m going home with this girl; we are two very different people.

Clearing my throat, I divert my thoughts back to the waitress and how she reacted to me; when I sigh,

“Are all the people in Sitka as pleasant as that waitress?” I smirk, and the moment Sasha’s eyes meet mine, my skin suddenly feels tingly inside. What the fuck? I have to force myself to look away; my wolf is getting ideas that will end badly for me. ‘She’s an alpha’s daughter, dumb ass,’ I scold my beast internally, but it’s not like he’s listening to a single word I’m saying right now. This girl is the worst kind of trouble I could ever get mixed up in.

She doesn’t skip a beat, though; Sasha’s eyes are fixed on mine, her pupils dilating as the green of her eyes begins swirling with something so profound it has my heart skipping a beat.

“Kathy isn’t so bad; she’s just looking out for my well-being. I’m the alpha’s only daughter and constantly under the microscope around here.” She retorts sarcastically, with an eye roll.

“Must be nice having so many people looking out for you all the time,” I scoff, raising a teasing brow in her direction,

“Try suffocating,” She mumbles with a sigh, and at that very moment, I notice the same look in her eyes that I saw outside the diner earlier when I commented about her being daddy’s little princess. I wonder what’s the deal between Sasha and her old man; silence drags out between us while I’m trying to figure her out when I suddenly pipe up with,

“It can’t be all that bad; if one of the perks is free food, how bad can it really be?” I want to punch myself in the face. ‘Seriously, Wolf, one of the perks is free food, real smooth, you idiot,’ I internally scold myself.

Smirking, she breaks eye contact, mulling over my words as her brows knit together irritably. I can’t help but focus on her delicate and beautiful hands as she sits, fidgeting with them. Something about her body language tells me this conversation makes her uncomfortable; she wants to say something but immediately stops. A wall goes up, quickly covering up her emotions with a forced bright smile; when she looks back up at me,

“So, tell me a bit about you, Wolf. Where exactly are you from?” I instantly grimaced; I did not see this one coming, turning the tables on me in a heartbeat. Gutsy.

Letting out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, I steadily ran my hand through my unruly hair. Looking out the window for a moment, I’m trying desperately to come up with some bullshit reply that will get me off the hook; my mother and father are a couple of badass rogues. I have two brothers and three sisters. How I wish I could paint that perfect picture of the childhood I could have had, but I can’t lie; what would be the point. It is what it is, and my fate has been written in the stars long before I had a choice in deciding differently.

“Well, I’m a rogue, so...” I shrug, my voice trailing off, and that’s where it should end; she shouldn’t want to ask anything beyond that answer, right? Wrong. She sees my casual response as an open invitation to keep prodding. Of course, she does.

“Being a rogue means you don’t have a place to call home, Wolf; it doesn’t mean you didn’t come from somewhere; it’s not like you fell out of the sky,” she emphasizes as she lifts her hand up, before dropping it to the table. I can’t help the dry chuckle reverberating through my chest at that smart mouth of hers; the anticipation of the type of trouble this girl could bring into my life should have me getting up and leaving. But I’m too captivated by her; something about Sasha has my beast in a trance. It’s not just that she’s drop-dead gorgeous, albeit that fact alone is one of the key reasons I can’t keep my eyes off her. I quickly force myself to look back towards the window; nothing good can come of this, I remind myself solemnly,

“Well, I can’t tell you because, truthfully, I don’t know.” There’s a pause, and I turn back to look at her.

“You don’t know where you’re from; how’s that even possible? Did you hit your head and suffer amnesia or something?”

“Or something.” I retort with a smirk. I can see the curious confusion in her eyes; she’s not about to let this go. She’s about to press on when, by some miracle, the waitress arrives with our food. Thank fuck for that.

“Here you go, sweety; the chef made it extra special just for you.” The waitress winks at her with a soft smile.

Sasha nods, thanking her before looking back at me. The energy radiating off her hits me like a tidal wave; it’s catastrophic and intoxicating; it’s drawing me in like a drug. I need more.

Placing our plates down, followed by our chocolate milkshakes, the waitress turns on her heel and leaves. I won’t lie; the moment the smell of the steak hits my nose, my stomach instantly rumbles. I didn’t realize how hungry I truly was until I was presented with something as mouth-watering as this two-inch piece of meat. Fuck.

My mouth starts salivating, and I have to control myself because I want to go utterly savage on this tender piece of meat right now.

“Well, are you just going to sit and stare at it, or are you actually going to dive in?” ‘Interesting choice of words, princess.’ I think with a smirk, but quickly pick up a knife and fork. You don’t have to ask me twice.

“Oh, the rogue knows how to use a knife and fork; all hope can’t be lost then.” She teases; her sharp humour sparks the beast in my irises. I think he likes her a little too much. The thing is, I can’t even blame him; Sasha is... different than other she-wolves I’ve met.

She must see something she likes; the next thing I know, her wolf does the same thing and responds to my beast. Fuck, I’m playing with fire. Specs of gold are dancing across her eyes; it’s almost too painful to look into them. To make matters worse, she suddenly bites down against her bottom lip, which has my eyes zeroed in on her plump pink lips. My dick twitches painfully against the rough fabric of these jeans, and my Adam’s apple bobs up and down when I swallow hard.

I’m the first to break eye contact; looking down at the piece of steak, I begin slicing through it, and as hungry as I am, it’s no longer the meat that has my stomach rumbling; it’s something else. Smiling, I lift a chunk of steak on my fork up to my mouth because, let’s face it, I’m a rogue, I’m nothing, and it’s better I keep my distance from this girl; she’ll only end up getting me killed.

Taking my first bite, I have to physically restrain myself from moaning; it’s that good. The steak is tender, juicy, and damn delicious, a well-appreciated distraction from the girl sitting opposite me. Sasha keeps eyeing me out of the corner of her eye every few seconds, but she doesn’t say a word. Instead, we eat the rest of our meals in silence, and it’s the most peaceful moment I’ve had in a long time.

As luck would have it, the peaceful meal shared between us is suddenly interrupted when two guys pop up beside our booth. I don’t look up; instead, I keep my eyes trained on my plate, but it doesn’t take much for me to realize that the trouble I was hoping to avoid with this girl has just arrived.

“Sam, what are you doing here, with...” His voice is low; turning his head, he gives me a look of irritation and annoyance when a low growl reverberates up his throat. Hold up, did he just call her Sam? “Who the hell is this guy?” He grumbles when he turns to look back at her, and I slowly look up at his face; I can’t help but notice that he has one of those punch-me faces. The type that just screams I want you to beat the living shit out of me, yet I manage to smile as I swallow the last bit of food in my mouth.

“I’m Wolf,” I respond confidently. “And yes, it’s just Wolf.” I retort with a smug smile; my response must throw him for some reason because the next thing I know, he blinks, turning his attention towards her, he growls. I try not to laugh, but a small chuckle rumbles through my chest. Is he seriously trying to seem intimidating? Yeah, I must have a death wish or something. He glares and growls at me, and I can’t help when I raise my brow in a challenging way. He really is trying to intimidate me. Fuck, okay then. Am I scared of him? Not one bit; what the fuck has gotten into me?

“Well, Wolf, this is my little sister, and she definitely has no business hanging out with someone like you.” He snarls. Grinning, I take a deep breath before looking over at a pair of apologetic green eyes that are staring back at me,

“I would agree with you on that point; I mean, just look at me, but your sister was kind enough to offer a passing stranger a warm meal before he went on his way.” Turning to face her again, he scoffs,

“This true, Sam? You feeding strays now?” And there it is again; he called her Sam. Didn’t she say her name was Sasha?

“Jeez, are you going to always be the big bad wolf, Don? Why does it matter who I sit down and have lunch with?” She snaps at him as she abruptly pushes her plate away in an irritated huff, true alpha princess style; they don’t like being told what to do.

“Yes, Sam. I’ll keep telling you what to do until you get it into your head that you can’t just do whatever the hell you want; you know what you are, and it’s about time you learn to know your goddam place, which is at home, where it’s safe.” She glares at him; don’t ask me why; maybe I really do have a death wish when it comes to this girl or something. But the next thing I know, a low, deep growl reverberates through my chest when I glare back up at this dick. My wolf is right at the forefront, and he’s seriously pissed. Mine.

That thought throws me off guard for a second when I blink, and dick head’s eyes widen in response to me growling at him like it’s the first time something like that’s ever happened to him.

“You would dare growl at me, rogue. You don’t value what little life you have left, do you?” He snorts, and the tension in this diner is suddenly so thick, you could slice through it with a knife; everyone’s gone quiet and is now staring at us. His glare is mirrored by his wolf staring back at me through his eyes. My beast doesn’t back down either; he’s so fucking high on Sasha or Sam, whatever her name is, that he doesn’t know what’s good for him. I’m expecting a showdown in this diner when arms wrap around him, pulling him back; it’s the other guy with him.

“Come on, Don, what are you doing? Are you insane... not here? Take him back to the packhouse and let your father deal with him,” The other guy hisses so only we can hear. And all the while, the girl who dragged me into this mess sits wide-eyed and dead quiet; smart girl, all things considered, her big brother could lose it at any moment, and honestly, I’m not too far behind.

“Don, just let it go, please,” she pleads. The diner is jam-packed; a scene would definitely not go unnoticed. It’s within the rules of our kind to keep a low profile, not to make our kind known to humans, and by the looks of it, there are quite a handful of humans in here right now. To the naked human eye, it only looks like a couple of guys having beef with one another, nothing too out of the ordinary. However, that could all change if we carry on with the trajectory of how things are heading.

Don suddenly takes back control of his wolf, and I do the same. It’s impressive how he’s able to do that; I’ve had years and years of practice. I wouldn’t still be alive if the beast in me could have his way all the time. But Don is an alpha’s son, I’m guessing eldest, firstborn. He’s got this whole entitled thing down to fine art; he was probably brought up thinking he was special. The fact that Don can reign his wolf in so quickly when he’s clearly already that far gone is quite impressive.

“Fine,” Don barks at his sister, “But he comes with us, back to the pack, now.”

Wait, what!?

My eyes dart from her to him and back to her again. She nods solemnly, and I wonder what the fuck just happened.

“Wait, hold up; I’m not going anywhere with you, not either of you.” Narrowing my eyes, I look her dead in the eye when I say it; I knew this girl was trouble, but to be dragged off back to her pack is a nightmare on steroids.

All I wanted was a bit of solitude, to be left alone, maybe get some leftovers thrown out in the trash, not to be led to the slaughterhouse arm in arm with the princess of lies over here.

“Well, Wolf. You don’t really have a choice; you come willingly, or we drag your ass all the way there kicking and screaming.” Glaring at him, I want to tell him to go fuck himself. But when my eyes shift to hers, something in them has me swallowing those words. I scoff at the irony of the whole situation; for all I know, this was a planned setup from the start. Lure the rogue wolf into the diner with a free lunch and then ambush him, only to be slaughtered like some fucking animal back at their packhouse. Nice.

I should have trusted my gut instincts with this girl because she’s nothing but trouble with a capital T.

Narrowing my eyes on the young alpha, I smirk as I grind my molars; I’m fucked either way,

“Well, Don, you lead the way.” My voice is full of disdain and sarcasm as I shove my plate forward; at least I was able to have one last good meal before I died, I think to myself before lifting up onto my feet.

Time to die, I guess.