Dark Times

Chapter Nineteen

The walking started up again soon after that. Igor and Peter agreed to turn back into their wolf forms under the Alpha's orders. He said it wasn't acceptable for them to walk around in the nude. When Trish sent a knowing look my way, I rolled my eyes and scoffed.

He just didn't want me looking.

There was- of course- an argument before the walking had started up again. The chains previously wrapped around the Alpha's arms had been stashed away in someone else's backpack. For now, he was a free man. His first decree had been carrying me. Naturally, I'd put up a fight, but I hadn't won.

There wasn't much walking I could actually do, considering the state my legs were in.

"See, this isn't so bad, is it?" He asked, his hands holding me with a gentle sort of hardness. I was- not for the first time- held flush against his chest. He held me like a man who was scared I'd slip away at any given minute. "If you agreed to come live with me, every day could be like this."

"You'd carry me everywhere?"

"I'd never put you down."

He drove a hard bargain- alas! An easy life had never been of interest to me. Once, I'd known someone with a Tv. I'd seen the housewives on it. Women that sat around all day doing nothing. They just waited for their man to come home. And when he wasn't around, they thought of nothing but him.

That life had never appealed to me. I needed to be doing something. To feel like I was living.

"Don't the leaders normally take the front?"

"I can't get you alone at the front." He slowed his pace intentionally to keep his distance. Maybe he'd shocked me once or twice since I'd met him. After all, I expected him to kill me when he realised what I was. But he didn't. I still didn't think he'd completely warmed up to us rogues. He was playing civil with me, but that was where the courtesy ended.

"You should give me a chance. I assure you, having an angry Alpha for a mate comes with its fair share of benefits."

"Enlighten me. What kind?"

"Elite bed play."

He was smirking down at me. "Why am I not surprised?"

I knew what he was doing now with all these sexual innuendos. He wasn't trying to see if I was shy or modest. He wanted to keep the conversation normal. To feel like he was speaking to his mate.

I'd been robbing him of everything conventional.

"I'd be good to you as your mate."

"There's more to what I do than killing Alphas, you know. What I do is only just starting."

"Baby, if you whispered in the right ears, a Council takedown wouldn't be so hard. All it takes is one Alpha to trigger a war. You have to consider the alliances and the little things in between."

"You'd be willing to put your entire pack at risk for the sake of four rogues you barely know nothing about?"

"I'm willing to put my pack at risk for one of you. Don't mistake that."

I lifted my chin indifferently. Speaking of how little loyalty I bared for these people was a personal favourite topic of mine. It was weird to have someone on my side for once, ish. He didn't care for these people. He wasn't going to ram thoughts down my throat about loyalty.

When I thought about it, I wasn't so sure what I'd do. I'd ditch Peter in a heartbeat if I truly thought I was going to die. Igor, I'd fake remorse later. Maybe I'd actually feel a stirring if Trish died. Maybe I didn't hate her as much as I hated the others. We'd never gotten along much, but a certain level of respect had blossomed from that mutual loathing.