The Cowgirl Rogue

Chapter 7

Xander leaned back in his seat; his whole face a mask. He studied me, wondering what else I was hiding from him and others as well. He was able to find a lot of information out, and I had no idea if he knew what I was hiding, why I wanted to find whoever killed this group in the first place. However, I wasn't going to ask, not wanting my secret known if he didn't know already.

"Did you know this group?" someone asked, and I looked that way. A young boy, maybe around the age of thirteen, stared at me standing from the base of some stairs that lead up to a room I had never been in, that I had never needed to go in. The young male's voice shook, and I had a feeling that he was trying not to cry, especially in front of all of these men.

Hope filled his brown eyes, and the scar underneath his eyes confirmed that I knew him. How he was standing there and not dead was a mystery to me, but I was grateful for him because that meant others could be alive as well, including the one that I was wondering about.

"You should know that I did, Jack," I said, and his bottom lip quivered, and his eyes started to water. I bit back a groan, not wanting the kid to cry. I hated seeing people cry, especially those that I knew. "Come," I added, nodding my head to the side where there was an empty seat beside me.

Jack walked over to me and sat down in that chair. He grabbed my hand, his clammy and shaking. However, his hand was warm, and that was all that I needed to know he was alive and sitting beside me.

"Gimme a beer," I said, and an Omega darted to the back to collect it for me. I squeezed Jack's hand, reassuring him that I was there, and I would protect him from anyone that wanted to cause harm.

"I thought you didn't like to be touched," Xander said, watching as the Omega give me the beer. He glanced at me and raised an eyebrow before scowling when all I did was give him a blank look. "Or drinking."

"I don't," I replied. I grabbed the drink and took a swig of it before putting it back down onto the coaster the Omega had provided me. "But, I am trying not to kill anyone, yet."

There were a couple of loud growls that only subsided when Xander raised his hand. They all glared at me, and I looked at them unimpressed, blinking. They wanted to attack, I knew that they did, but Xander ensured that they didn't with a warning glare.

"I see that you know the kid," he said, not commenting about what I had said. He gestured for me to continue playing the game, and the others started to focus on their cards as well.

"Of course I know the kid," I said, taking my hand from Jack. I picked up my cards and studied them before I placed one in the middle. "Saved his life twice and his father's a couple of times, too."

"You are an interesting female, do you know that?" Xander asked, and I shrugged. "You know what you want and will take it no matter what the cost is."

I shrugged my shoulder. "I don't know about that," I replied coldly. I leaned forward and placed my arms on the table, watching the older male. I was super aware that everyone shifted, ready to protect their "Alpha" if I did decide to attack, which wouldn't happen. Out of all of them, I had not attacked him yet and was not going to do it. "So, what can you tell me about our... mystery, man? I know that you have... met him."

Xander leaned back in his seat and folded his arms across his chest. His cards were placed in a pile on the table, and he didn't care about the game that was still going on around him. His gaze was on me, and I knew that he was trying to read me, trying to figure out what I was hiding.

I kept my gaze on him and my face blank. I wasn't nervous underneath his gaze because I had felt this gaze from others in his position before. I wasn't fazed by it and didn't feel the need to spill my secrets to this man.

Xander wanted to make me feel intimidated, but we both knew that it wouldn't work. However, he still tried and tried to get the information that I possessed and would never share with him.

Finally, Xander chuckled and leaned forward, relaxing his intense gaze with his face as unreadable as mine. "And, who says that I had seen him?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded to the seats that were still empty, deciding that they wouldn't come that day and probably never again. "Those are usually filled with your men," I replied. I watched as he looked at the empty seats before looking at me, his face blank. "I know that they are not late because they won't disobey the orders that you had gotten from the King."

"And, what if they found another pack?" He raised an eyebrow. "That could happen, you know. It had happened before."

"I know," I confirmed. "However, either you or the King contact me, and I make sure that is the case because we don't want a repeat of the last time we couldn't find someone." I gave him a pointed look. "Haven't we had this discussion before when a couple of your men decided to join the Hannise Rogue Group?"

"We have," he confirmed. He looked to the door when it opened and frowned when a new person walked in.

This person, a male with a dark hoodie over his head, strolled in and took a seat at the bar. His back was turned towards us, but I instantly knew who it was because of the forming bond between us.

"Son of a bitch," I growled out, turning back to the table. I took another swig of my beer and looked at Xander to see him staring at me and not at the intruder that didn't belong. "What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Xander shook his head, but I could tell that he was amused. He ignored the male at the bar, but everyone was glancing at him with wary eyes as if he was the one that had done this. "You just amaze me sometimes, Rice," he said, and I scowled. A smirk flickered onto his face, and he nodded his head as if he found something out, something that I wasn't sure I wanted him to know.

Finally, he leaned forward and picked up his cards, signaling that the game was to continue, and raised an eyebrow. "Now, what is it that you want to know?"