The Rogues

SELENA'S P.O.V.

I blinked up, my chest heaving hard. I could smell a bit of smoke and an accompanying woody scent, very far from the exotic scents that I was used to around Alpha Cole and his palace.

Alpha Cole.

The thought came back unbidden. The night of passion that we had shared, the way he had betrayed me right after. The soldiers... the rain, the smell of blood.

I sat up, my eyes flying open as I grabbed the first thing in front of me.

A yelp came out, and my eyes came to a slow focus. My hand was wrapped solidly around the neck of a man.

He was watching me, a little surprised, but mostly just relieved. Almost happy.

I looked around me. The cottage, or whatever it was, was shabby at best, with a door that was holding on to its hinges by more will than anything else.

There were herbs all around, a few clothes strewn around, a small incense pot letting out smoke.

"Where... where am I?"

The man gave a small smile, brought his hand to his neck and gently pried my fingers from around his neck, and then brought it to rest on my side on the thin bed.

"You are safe, Selena. This is a rogue settlement. I found you after you were left for dead, hunted by some soldiers from Blackmoon. You have been out for three weeks."

My eyes widened. Three weeks? I was unconscious for three weeks? That night... that betrayal... it was three weeks ago?

I swallowed hard and turned to the man. He looked kind enough, his eyes shining with relief and something else.

"How do you know my name?" I asked, my voice low. "You said you saved me. I remember leaving the pack. I remember running far. How do you know my name?"

He smiled again, and I realized that smile unnerved me more than it made me feel safe. My eyes thinned.

"Answer me."

"Your guard is still up. I mean, what do I expect? You used to protect the most important alpha in the alpha council."

I swallowed hard, my eyes darting around the room. Something about the man in front of me did not agree with my nerves.

My eyes settled on the small knife discarded next to a bunch of herbs.

He opened his mouth to talk again, when I pushed to my feet, ignoring the wave of dizziness that crashed over me, and feeble weakness in my legs. Before he could make sense of what was happening, I grabbed him by the neck, his back hitting my chest, and I brought the knife to rest on his throat.

"Tell me. Are you one of those soldiers? Did Isaac or Alpha Cole send you? Tell me how the fuck you know my name!"

"Selena, I was..."

The door suddenly creaked open. I turned, still holding him tight, getting ready to face whoever his accomplice was.

Two women I have never seen walked in. They were middle aged, carrying a tray of food and a few other items.

It took them a moment to understand what was happening.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice low.

"You are awake," the first one said, walking forward. "We are rogues. His name is Alan, I am Lily, and this is my sister, Mila. We are the ones who found you. How do you feel?"

My grip on Alan loosened, and I slowly lowered the knife. "You... are rogues?"

"Yes," Lily affirmed, and Mila nodded.

"Not soldiers? You were not making sure I am alive so you can hand me over to Blackmoon?"

Mila gave a small, disbelieving laugh. "Oh please. We hate Blackmoon. And even if we didn't, how would we possibly be heartless enough to hand a pregnant woman over to those lawless soldiers?"

My brows furrowed, my eyes darting between the three of them. "What pregnant woman?"

Mila and Lily exchanged glances. "You. You didn't know? You are pregnant. Giving how it seems to be a powerful cub, it is developing fast. It even has a scent that my wolf can pick up already."

I took a step back, my chest heaving hard. I have never been with a man. No, I have. But it was one night. Just one. Would that one night really be enough... am I really...?

The knife left my hand and clattered to the floor, and my fingers gently wrapped around my stomach.

"I... I am pregnant?"

"Yes!" Mila said, excitedly. She stepped forward, dropping the tray of food she was holding. "The cub has a very beautiful scent. Like ice and vanilla, and even a hint of roses. Very delicate and perfect."

Tears immediately stung the back of my eyes. Vanilla, ice and roses. Just like Alpha Cole.

My legs gave way under me, and I slowly went to the floor, my vision blurring with tears. My hands wrapped tighter around my stomach, my body shaking hard with tears.

What sort of cruel joke is this? What do I even do now? Do I take this child as a blessing that Alpha Cole never was to me, or would it simply be a nagging reminder of how its father tried to kill me amd abandoned us for another woman?

"Be careful," Lily said as she moved closer, her hand gently resting on my shoulder. "The child smells like a blessing. Your distress will affect the cub and it will think it is unwelcome. Don't cry."

I looked up to her, my chest heaving. The gravity of my situation dawned on me even worse now. I had no home. No pack. No money. Nothing to my name except who I used to be.

"I.... I have nowhere to go."

Lily smiled, gently cupping my face. "That is exactly what each and every one of us here said when we came here. And then this became our place. No one is forcing you to leave, especially not with a child."

"I..." I said again, fighting the lump that rose in my throat. "I have nothing to pay you with. I..."

"Oh please. You paid us enough by responding to treatment. If it weren't for Alan who knows you from your former pack, no one here would care about any of that. Just stay. You will be fine in a few more weeks. The settlement is not much, but it is a place to go. I hope you wil be fine with it and us."

I sniffed hard, my chest heaving hard. My lips trembled with the force of my emotions. I am going to be a mother. I am going to give birth to Alpha Cole's child. Some time ago, it would have been the dream.

Now I am not even sure what it is.

Lily helped me up to the bed, and she brought the tray of food closer.

"We originally brought this for Alan who has been watching you day and night, but he can have another serving."

I forced a smile, my eyes darting to Alan who was simply standing behind, an unreadable expression in his eyes. He was watching me keenly, his eyes unblinking, his hands clasped tightly behind him.

I offered him a small, grateful smile, even though the initial feeling of my nerves unsettling around him did not disappear.

He smiled at me too, but didn't look away. I turned away, my heart racing.

"Were you also from Blackmoon?" I asked, my eyes darting across three of them, but I really intended to find out about Alan first.

He knew me as Alpha Cole's bodyguard. He knew my name. I needed a logical answer as to how he did.

"No," Mila said, moving closer. "Me and Lily are from grey fangs. We were kicked out for being useless old hags with no real healing powers even after serving in the pack's healing facility for thirty years since I was eighteen and she sixteen."

My eyes widened. "That is awful."

"It is," Lily agreed, bringing a spoonful to my lips. "But it isn't as awful as listening to her call me an old hag when I am two years younger."

I laughed now, as Mila cackled too, almost as if she had done it on purpose.

"Excuse me, you look older than me. And fatter."

Lily met my eyes. "Tell her the truth, Selena."

I laughed. "You are both very beautiful. I almost thought I was in heaven."

They both chuckled, with Mila doing an exaggerated blushing face, her smile big.

"I like her already," Lily said, and Mila immediately agreed.

I turned to Alan, who was still silent, his eyes crinkled with amusement.

"You?" I asked finally, making sure I did not sound half as skeptical as I felt.

Alan gave a small shrug, but Mila spoke before he could.

"Oh, Alan here is a little shy. He has been dedicated to taking care of you, however. Maybe because he knows you from the old pack."

I turned to him again. "So he is from Blackmoon?""

"Yes," Alan said finally. "I am from Blackmoon."

My brows raised. "I don't remember you."

Mila and Lily exchanged glances, and Mila leaned forward.

"He was a servant. Even below the omegas. He served in the palace and that's why he knew you."

I met Alan's eyes again. The name rang a bell somewhere in a very distant part of my mind, but not the face. Not the way he was looking at me.

I nodded slowly and turned away, my brows furrowed as I remembered one more thing.

"Before I went unconscious, there was a man. He had the scent of mint and..."

"You were alone," Alan said immediately, before I could even finish.

I raised a brow. "I am sure I heard his voice. I am sure I smelled him."

"Probably a soldier," Mila said with a shrug. "They were still looking for you even when we took you. We had to stay in hiding for a bit."

I turned back to Alan. Something was off. Maybe it was my senses misleading me because I got betrayed by the last person I expected to betray me. Maybe it was the way he was looking at me and the fact that I knew every palace servant, omega and soldier by name and face to ensure Alpha Cole's safety and I have never heard of this man. But something was off.

"You should rest," Lily said finally, putting the food away even though I could only manage to take a spoonful out of it. "Your child will thank you."

'My child,' I thought as I lay back down, my hands wrapping around my stomach again.

I closed my eyes and hugged my stomach tighter. Maybe... just maybe... this child was my own gift. My own compensation for the mate bond that never was.