'Will you let that rogue die just like that?' Liseli's voice sounded in Talia's head.
Talia didn't get it. 'What?'
'We can get into his mind and get some information before he self-combusts.'
Talia thought how that made sense.
"Damon, wait! Let me do it."
The rogue's eyes were wide as saucers. Now she wanted to kill him? Were they tagging each other? At this rate, he will die from stress.
"No, kitten…"
"Please. I know what I'm doing."
The rogue hoped they would bicker more, and he would use that chance to escape.
At the sight of Damon yielding to Talia, the rogue swallowed hard. Even the big bad Alpha was listening to her, which told the rogue that Talia was probably the most dangerous out of the four.
An unfamiliar Alpha aura reached them, and they saw two figures approaching. Kalina and Varya.
'I will tell them what happened,' Maya said to Damon through the pack mind-link, to which he nodded, and Maya moved to intercept the newcomers.
"What's going on?" Kalina asked Maya while craning her neck to see where Damon and Talia were looking. Was there something on the ground?
Maya waved like it was not important. "Just a rogue. They will end him in a moment. You might want to look away."
"No…" Varya said under her breath and rushed that way.
Varya's sight was obstructed by bushes, but there was a distinct scent of oranges that didn't belong there, and her wolf was going crazy, which could mean only one thing.
The rogue scrambled to his feet and looked at Talia nervously.
"Wait. Wait," he pleaded. He had no idea what Talia was up to, but he knew it was nothing good. "Can we talk about this?"
Talia had no intention of chatting. She was about to force her way into the rogue's mind when…
"NO!" Varya shouted and threw herself at the male who was quick to catch her.
"Move aside, woman," Damon grumbled at Varya. He knew that was Kalina's sister, but he forgot her name.
Seeing that Varya had no intention of moving, Damon's temper flared. Why did it take so long to kill this bug?
"The thing you are protecting is a rogue, and he is…"
"Varya's mate," Talia ended Damon's sentence, and Damon gaped at Talia.
"What did you say?" Caden asked, wondering if his ears malfunctioned.
It was rare for rogues to be mated, but it was not unheard of. Unfortunately, due to their wild nature, rogues were not known as the most loyal mates. Needless to say that those couples don't find their happy ending as the rogue usually ends up exploiting his (or her) mate.
Caden didn't know much about Varya besides her name and that she was one of five Wilkow sisters, but he already felt sorry for the female. Kalina and Tatiana were mated to Alphas, and Daria and Lidia to established warriors, and what all four had in common were that their mates adored them. As for Varya and this rogue, Caden had a bad feeling.
"They are mates," Talia repeated.
Damon needed a moment to process this information. How he saw this, Kalina's sister and the rogue being mates didn't change a thing. "I'm sorry for your unfortunate destiny, but the sooner you step away from each other, the less painful it will be."
Damon looked at Kalina, who was only a few steps away now with Maya by her side. "How about you get your sister out of here?"
"We can't kill him," Talia said.
Damon couldn't believe this. "What?"
"Look at them," Talia said.
Varya was holding onto the rogue, and he was trying to push her to stand behind him. When that didn't work, he turned his back to Talia and Damon, blocking Varya from their view.
"He is a rogue!" Damon said, believing that this explained how that guy shouldn't be left alive. "Do you know how much trouble they are causing? Do you know how many people they harmed? Just tonight, at least a dozen warriors perished! Lulu is dead!"
Varya's eyes filled with tears. Her heart ached, it really did, but how could she choose between what's right and her other half? Her wolf howled and scratched to come out at the thought of Varya abandoning this orange-infused man.
"Then kill me with him," Varya said.
"Don't harm her! I never killed a person," the rogue said. "I am a messenger, a scout. I'm…"
"Stop talking," Talia said. "If you say too much, if you even think about betraying your leader, you might burst into flames."
The rogue wondered if he heard this right. Were they giving up on killing him, or was the leader-lady with silvery eyes saying that only so his mate doesn't get hurt? He tightened his hold on Varya, just in case.
"Don't try to separate us. If he goes to the dungeon, I will go with him." Varya said in a shaky voice.
Kalina couldn't believe this. She heard plenty of stories about rogues to know that they were trouble. "Let go of my sister, you… you… animal!"
"I'm holding onto him as well," Varya protested.
"Do you know him from before?" Kalina asked.
Varya looked into the rogue's eyes. "My soul knows him. That's enough."
The scene of Varya defending him fiercely made him forget that just a few seconds ago, four people were set on killing him. She was his mate, and she smelled of peanut butter, the one he had loved to eat since he was a child. His favorite part was licking the jar clean, and he knew that he loved her already.
Caden raised his hands toward Varya, palms up, to get her attention. "Varya, I know things in Europe are different, and you didn't grow up in a pack. But rogues are dangerous. They will steal and kill without blinking."
"I can tell he is not dangerous," Varya said stubbornly. How could he be dangerous? He was her other half, and his eyes were full of wonder and affection even though he didn't know her name. "I am Varya."
"Varya." He repeated. "I am Grady."
"Grady," she said dreamily while tracing with her finger his jaw that was covered in a few days old stubble. "It suits you."
Kalina was unsure what to think of the scene in front of her, and she was not the only one.
Varya and Grady stared at each other, they were mates who found their other half, which should be a good thing, but this was different.
"No kissing!" Kalina exclaimed, making Varya and Grady look her way. "If you truly care about my sister, you will control your urge to kiss her, mark her, or mate her until we clarify your status."
Grady nodded right away, and only then Kalina realized that his so-called tight clothes were just bodypaint. He was naked!
"Put some clothes on! And stop clinging to my sister! Scoundrel!" Kalina hissed, releasing some of her Alpha aura that made both Varya and Grady take a step back from Kalina.
Talia smiled sadly at the scene because even when faced with Kalina's Alpha pressure, Grady was quick to stand in front of Varya protectively. Somehow, it told Talia that things were not all bad as there was some good in the world.
