The Rogue

III

*Faye*

I assumed it was tradition for all wolves eat together. Even though our apartment had a kitchen, Maxen led me to a Commons building in the middle of the apartment complex. His wolves stared at me everywhere we went. Did I just reek of humanness?

When we entered the kitchen area of the Commons, the mouth-watering aroma of pizza reached my nose. I could go for a nice, big slice of pepperoni right now. There were even more wolves crawling around the kitchen area then the rest of the Commons. I wondered how many of them there were. At least as many as Rian's pack.

Maxen led me to a table and ordered me to sit and wait. Begrudgingly, I obeyed. While he fixed a plate for us, my eyes wandered through the surprisingly clean area. My heart jumped when my gaze locked with another familiar one. Mr. Nick looked back at me for a single, intense moment before turning away.

"Mr. Nick!" I leapt out of the chair and rushed to stop him from leaving. "Wait! I need to talk to you!"

My excitement drew a few curious looks, but everyone mostly continued talking amongst themselves. Mr. Nick reluctantly turned back to face me.

"Listen, kid, we can't—"

"I need to know why my dad sent you and why I never knew you were a wolf before," I said, cutting him off. "Please. Just give me two minutes of your time."

A hand clapped onto my shoulder, startling me. My eyes flickered up to meet Maxen's piercing green ones. His mouth pulled down in a poorly disguised scowl.

"I told you to stay seated," he reminded me, voice portentously low.

"I know, but—"

"Then why did you disobey me?"

My jaw clenched. He was such a jerk. I knew better to respond, so I sent Mr. Nick a firm look. We would finish this conversation later.  Maxen guided me, rather roughly, back to the table, where he proceeded to shove me into one of the plastic chairs.

"Remember," he growled in my ear, "you do what I say or your friend doesn't wake up."

I sighed and picked at the pizza in front of me. It no longer seemed as appetizing. Maxen mostly ate in silence, although some of his wolves would interrupt him with questions every other minute. If I were a good spy, I would've paid more attention to their questions. But I wasn't a good spy and I didn't care about whatever his Rogues were up to. So I spent all of dinner in my own bubble, dreaming about being back in Rian's arms.

As the Commons began to empty, Maxen finally rose from the table. I followed in suit. We left the building and headed back to the apartment. Although I had a million questions to ask about what the Rogues did and how they lived out here, I didn't feel like getting the answers from Maxen. He probably wouldn't answer them anyway.

The moment I stepped into the apartment, Maxen started closing the door, sealing me inside without him. I spun around, torn with confusion and panic.

"I have some things I need to do," he told me, his face an ever sterner scowl. "Stay here. If you leave, I'll pour salt in your shoulder wound."

I flinched at the threat. He would do it without hesitation. If Rian hadn't promised his death, Maxen would probably take my life and not think twice about it. After all, I was just a useless, weak human.

So, unsure of what to do with myself, I began wandering around the apartment. Left to my own devices, I could get a lot of snooping accomplished.