The Alpha's Rogue ✔️

54 | Chase Me

3596 words

"Don't even bother trying to fight him," Savannah said coldly, grasping the shaft of the spear and shoving it back at Ivan. "More than likely, it'll be your head on the end of this spear."

Ivan chuckled, remaining where he stood instead of taking a step back as Savannah hoped he would. "You think we can't handle a rogue?"

"Oh, I don't doubt your competency. But you fail to notice Zion is no longer a rogue."

Ivan took a sniff, leaning in close to Zion. "Smells like one to me."

Savannah crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to let Ivan's disrespect crawl under her skin. She was close to letting loose, to shifting into her wolf to defend her mate, but Zion's gentle touch on the small of her back reminded her of their objective. "He bears the mark of an Alpha."

Ivan scoffed, looking between them incredulously as if what Savannah had said was a funny joke. "I'll believe it when you two make it official."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The pesky guard just wiggled his eyebrows, infuriating her more when his meaning became clear. Surely he couldn't tell they hadn't slept together yet! At the thought, a hot blush rose up her neck and enveloped her face despite the cold air biting her skin.

"Just drop it, Vannah," Zion whispered in her ear. His voice calmed her, the scent of cypress soothing her agitated wolf.

"Whatever." She waved her hand to drop the subject. "He's staying on this side of the boundary line, so there should be no problem."

"Oh sure, no problem," Ivan repeated, eyeing Zion as if sizing him up for a fight. "Assuming he even knows where the line is. Rogues have no regard for boundaries."

"Play nice, boys." Savannah glared at them both before rallying her men and continuing up the mountain.

"You probably don't even know the meaning of nice," she heard Ivan continue to taunt.

"Then I guess I'll have to show you my own definition of nice," Zion replied, a smirk in his voice.

Savannah felt Justin hiding a smile, as if he couldn't wait for Ivan and his men to rip Zion to shreds.

"Alright guys," she commanded, drawing her men's attention as they shifted into their wolves, sniffing for footprints and traces in the rock-littered mountainous region. "Shouldn't take us long to track down Hunter. You all know what he smells like."

Like a smelly garbage bin that hasn't been washed out in a month.

Like my dad's hiking boots.

Like a crate of mangoes left out in the sun.

"You know I can hear you all, right? How rude you've become in your Alpha's absence," she admonished them, though secretly agreeing. Hunter could be pretty careless when it came to bathing, sometimes going weeks without while hunting and camping in their territory's forests. He'd come home with a bear carcass around his shoulders, and sweat and grime from top to toe. Their mum wouldn't allow him back in the house until he'd jumped into the lake five times to wash it all off.

It didn't take long for the search party to track Hunter's scent through the scarcely wooded region, crossing ridges and canyons before coming to a cliff riddled with caves. Some openings were small, barely large enough for even a small wolf to pass through, while others were large enough to swallow a bus. Darkness loomed out of them, and Savannah braced herself for any number of strange creatures that called these caves home as she and her wolves entered a mid-sized mouth into the rocky cliff. The air inside was even cooler, and dropped degrees the deeper they descended into the heart of the mountain. With their keen noses and sharp eyes, they were able to track a couple scents through the twisting tunnels and steep passageways.