Ares walked to his door and scooted into his seat. Then, without turning back, he started the car and drove out of the driveway and off of my property. I watched my pack disappear in the rearview mirror and didn’t see an ounce of guilt on Mom’s face.
Trees whizzed past us, their leaves rustling together in the wind. I frowned, wanting nothing more than to run through that forest again, to let my wolf free the way I used to before I was hurt, to feel the wind in my fur, to be happy with Jeremy.
Miles ahead, the clouds turned from cotton white to an ominous gray, looming over Sanguine Wilds. I wondered how Jeremy was as he ran with the wolves up in the clouds. He’d always loved the thunderous storms, rain beating down on the leaves, watching the lightning strike trees from our hideout cave deep in the forest.
Was he happy? Would he have exchanged me for his pack?
Tears welled up in my eyes, yet I didn’t let them fall. Jeremy would never have done that. He’d have stood up and fought or traded his life for mine. I balled my hands into fists. Goddess, I missed him.
Ares turned to me, one hand on the steering wheel, the other inching closer and closer to my thigh.
“Don’t even think about it,” I said through clenched teeth.
We came to a stop sign, the road splitting off into two directions. Ares turned right into the fog. Tilted slightly and adorned with large bite marks, a silver stake was stuck into the ground to my right with a sign attached to it, labeled Hound Territory. I tensed and sat up in my seat, gaze flickering across the forest to catch any signs of rogues.
“Talk to me,” Ares said.
“No,” I said, keeping my eyes focused on the windshield.
Leaves blew wildly around us, and little droplets of rain started hitting against the glass. Out of all the ways Ares could go to get back to his property, why’d he take the rogue route?
“Kitten …”
“What?” I snapped, fear and fury rushing through me. “What do you want me to say to you? That you’re a dick for making me leave my family? That I think you’re a complete idiot for destroying packs just for power? That I would rather be at home, continuing my comfortable life without you?”
Okay, that last one was a bit harsh and totally untrue. After last night and earlier in my bedroom, I was more than glad that I had met him. My wolf hadn’t been this excited since Jeremy was alive. She was doing flips in my stomach, jumping up and down, running around in circles, like his scent was some kind of wolf-nip.
She was happy, but part of me wished he weren’t my mate. He was an aggressive asshole who killed people for power, and I didn’t want to lead that kind of life. But now that I was being thrust into that lifestyle of pure violence, I had no other choice.
He growled, his knuckles whitening on the steering wheel. “You know nothing about me,” he said. “Nothing about the reasons I do what I do.”
“I know that you plucked me right out of my home because you wanted me for yourself. I know that you used me to gain access to my pack. I know that you—”
Someone ran right out into the deserted street, and Ares slammed on the brakes, sending me forward. My seat belt cut into my collarbone, and I groaned.
“I know that you’re completely senseless,” I said under my breath.
He gazed at me for a moment, looking me up and down, and then turned back to the woman in front of us. She knelt in the middle of the street, clutching her neck. Blood seeped through her fingers and drenched her raggedy red hair. The woman glanced up through the fog lights at me, and I immediately recognized her as a rogue. Her hair was wild, her stench putrid, her skin cut up with scars only a rogue would have.
Ares parked the car, and my eyes widened.
“What are you doing?” I asked, clutching my seat belt.
Nobody should ever stop in Hound Territory, not even for an easy-to-kill rogue. Hounds used rogues as bait. Though a type of rogue themselves, hounds were more vicious, stronger, and so much more violent. They didn’t give a damn about anyone.
Ares opened his door. “Stay here.”
I undid my seat belt. “Are you crazy?” I asked, grabbing his forearm. “This is Hound Territory, and you want to go out there to help a rogue you know nothing about. Hounds could be chasing her for all you know.”
“Are you afraid of the hounds?” he asked me, lips curling into the smallest of smirks.
I growled and released his wrist. Fine, if he wanted to go out there and lose his shifting abilities like I’d lost mine to the hounds, I would get a front row seat. I didn’t care anymore. I’d drive off as soon as they attacked him.
“Stay here,” Ares said sternly, a bloodthirsty look crossing his face. There it was again—that look of a god.
He closed the door and approached the woman, saying something to her that I couldn’t quite hear. She shook her head and wiped tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. She motioned to the forest and crouched down, grasping her stomach. Moon Goddess, this was going to take longer than I wanted.
What was supposed to be a few hours’ drive was going to turn into an even longer one.
After glancing around the forest once more to make sure it was clear, I grabbed my backpack from the backseat and unzipped it. Inside, two black eyes gazed up at me, and it meowed. I smiled and pulled Ruffles out along with a bag of Ruffles chips.
She rubbed against me, like she always did when she wanted food or knew I was worried.
“Sorry, girl.”
I tore open the chips, and she stuffed
