Chapter Eight

Roan Roan took a bite of his barbeque sandwich while imagining the pissed look on Sullen’s face. He chuckled, catching a piece of meat from sliding down his chin. He’d spread his scent all over her place, her pillow, her bed, and even her shower. He hadn’t expected to get so much joy from it, but boy did he. When she walked to work the next morning, she looked over her shoulder and hurried into the building as if something was chasing her. Well, someone was chasing her alright, with every intention of catching her. If she would have just given in, she’d realized that she was running away from nothing. She could have at least spoken to him that night. Roan knew why she didn’t, because it would have been too hard for her to resist him. The mate bond with an alpha was strong. Paying for his food, he jogged toward her apartment, knowing she was on her way home. Her schedule was like clockwork. It was almost comical to him that she enjoyed this life more so than a pack life. She hadn’t let her wolf out since her run back home, and he didn’t see a place to do it. How could she enjoy this more? Roan took his place in the alleyway across from her apartment building and waited. He caught her scent in the air, and a shiver raced through his body. Go get her, his wolf whined. I’m tired of playing this game. Roan clutched his fingers into fists at his sides. It wouldn’t last long, but for the moment, he enjoyed taunting her. Knowing she smelled him, and he’d disappear before she made it to him. When she finally rounded the corner, a girl was with her. She was blonde, really skinny, and dressed similarly to Sullen. They walked into her apartment together, and Roan’s curiosity spiked. What are you going to do? Break in with her friend there? his wolf chuckled. Roan slid his tongue out against his bottom lip and leaned against the brick. “I’m going to wait because they’re going out.” You don’t know that, his wolf countered. “I just heard the blonde say it. If you’d shut up, I could hear more.” His wolf huffed but went back into hiding where Roan wished he would stay, along with his commentary. **** Two miserable hours later, the building's front door opened, and Roan’s blood turned ice cold. The way she was dressed was … outlandish. It was tempting. It was on purpose. The way she glanced around, swaying her hips down toward a taxi that waited on the two of them. Her toned legs in that dress, the casual glance around the street, looking for him. His wolf chuckled, and Roan fought the urge to go drag her out of the car. She was testing him, tempting him, he could sense it. Following the taxi down the crowded street, Roan picked up his step. Where are we going? his wolf asked. “Wherever they’re going,” he said. The closer they grew to downtown, the more antsy Roan became. The clubs and bars were packed, which would be easy to hide in, but it made him worried about the number of men Sullen would be around. He’d just met her, and technically she wasn’t his—yet—but that didn’t mean he wanted to watch her get hit on by other men. They stopped at a club nestled in between a lingerie store and a gas station. Roan didn’t like it immediately. He hated the way the bouncer let Sullen in like she knew him, and the way he followed her with his eyes. Roan’s wolf chuckled. “What’s so funny?” Roan asked, sliding his palms into his pockets to keep from pushing his way through the line. You look so stupid, his wolf said. Now you’re stuck out here while she’s in there dancing in that dress. Roan cursed under his breath. Walking past the line, he made his way into the alleyway between the two buildings. Dance music thumped from inside the building, spilling out around him. The back doors to the club were locked tight, not that he needed a key. He waited for the next song to start, and a roar of applause, before he kicked the doors inward, watching as they swung open, the chain holding them together from the outside lying broken on the ground. You’re going to get arrested, his wolf said. We aren’t at the pack house anymore. There are cameras around here. He snorted. “There aren’t any cameras in a place like this.” The music pounded against his head the closer he grew to the main floor of the club. Walking down the hallway attached to the back, he maneuvered passed a couple of drunken girls walking toward the bathroom. The heavy smell of liquor and cigarettes hung in the air. Even though the place was packed, he made out her scent amongst everyone else. The pleasure of being in the same room as here shot through him like electricity. Stalking her scent, he walked to the second floor, and leaned against the railing, staring out at the dance floor. There were plenty of dark-haired girls, but none of them stuck out as she did. The way she moved. Her hands were above her head. And her gaze settled right on his. His wolf whined at the distance between the two of them. Roan’s fingers curled around the edge of the railing, and his gaze ate her alive. Sullen, nonchalantly, turned her back to him, avoiding his stare and pissing Roan’s wolf off. Now you’ve done it, he said. She’s not affected by us. Roan chuckled. “Yes, she is. This is her way of trying to run us off. She’s trying to seem uninterested. She’s interested.” I’m not sure we should listen to your advice, his wolf countered. She’s been running from you for almost three days. Roan wanted to reach inside and strangle the wolf. He had better felt lucky he couldn’t hit him without knocking himself out. Watching her move her way around the crowd, Roan pushed from the railing and stalked toward the dance floor. The music wasn’t his type of music, and he hated the way the girls tossed themselves at him as he pushed a path through the crowd. Roan finally made it to Sullen, and his world tilted on its axis. She smelled like cotton candy and vanilla spice. She looked like a walking sin. That dress bunched around her upper thighs as she danced with her friend. Ran knew Sullen knew he was near, but it wasn’t until her friend stopped moving that Sullen followed her line of sight. She looked over her shoulder at him and stopped breathing altogether. “Hello, little fox,” he whispered. “I think we have some things we need to talk about.”