Sage stares at them curiously, and I can feel how clammy her hand is becoming. Her heart rate is rising, but she remains at my side and keeps staring at the bunch of men before us.
“Did something happen?” She asks and looks up at me. She keeps her gaze on my face as if she can read me like an open book, and if I try to lie, she will see it.
Since I have no reason to lie or hide anything from her now that she’s here, I go for the truth. “Just rogues on the borders, they won’t get in,” I reassure her, and she nods.
Spending even more time out here doesn’t seem like the best idea, especially with how little Sage is wearing, so I turn to the men. “Dismissed,” I tell everyone gathered in front of our house.
Turning my gaze back to Sage, she appears to be too busy staring at the moon. Then tears her eyes away from it and focuses on the pack men, who are already leaving. Some of them move between the houses, and others head back to the borders.
“That boy seems nice,” Sage whispers, still watching how our men disappear into the night.
“His name is Casen, and yes, he is a troublemaker, but he is a good kid. Unfortunately, he tends to speak without thinking. He has no filter, for the most part.” I apologize, and she shrugs.
“It didn’t bother me. I could tell he meant no harm by asking. Besides, if I saw someone like me for the first time, I would be curious too.” she points out as I pull her inside out of the cool breeze and shut the door.
I stay silent and focus on getting her warm, but to my surprise, Sage seems very adamant about talking for once.
“How many are on border patrol tonight? Don’t you think he is a little young to run with them?”
“Twenty men. He likes doing it. The patrol duties keep his mind off everything, his own words. Besides, it is a full moon tonight. All of them hate being locked inside on a full moon.” I explain.
Sage nods and looks at me again. “Were you planning to, or perhaps getting ready to go for a run with them? You can go. I will be fine on my own.”
As those words spill out of Sage, I can hear how truthful she is being. Perhaps I keep getting ahead of myself, but she already proved that she won’t take off, even when given a chance, so I know she’s not saying this just to get a chance to escape me.
She is giving me a moment for myself. I hope Sage doesn’t feel like I stay around her just because I feel obligated to.
“No,” I shake my head and smile. “I was just checking on them. Besides, Malik is probably kicking his ass right now for what he said,” I add with a laugh.
I know, for a fact, that Malik is giving him a tongue-lashing while kicking his ass to the border. After all, he took the twins in, and ever since, he has been acting like their parent. So I fully understand that a punishment here or there is expected if either of the twins misbehaves.
“He wouldn’t hurt him, though?” She asks, biting her lip and glancing at the door, her body tenses as if she’s preparing herself for another fight.
“No,” I chuckle. It’s not that I’m amused because of her worry, it’s the look on her face. My little mate looks like she is ready to kill if anything happens to that boy. “Malik is his caretaker; Malik looks after him and his twin brother. We may be rough around the edges, but we are not child abusers, Sage.” As I emphasize the statement, the worry fades from her features.
She takes a deep breath and walks to the fridge, grabs a bottle of water, and offers me one. I shake my head, and she closes the fridge. I look at the clock on the fridge door and see it is only 3 AM. Damn, Zane, waking me up.
“Are you coming back to bed?” She asks, peering up at me.
Her eyes flicker black for a second, and Sierra observes me too. Donnie instantly reacts to seeing her, lurching forward and making me stumble forward as he fights for control.
He has constantly been pestering me, wanting to speak to Sage, so that he could apologize. I force him back with a growl, and he recedes, whining in my head.
I half expect her to freak out, but she stares at me curiously. So, I grip her hand and tug her back to the bedroom. She removes her dressing gown and climbs into bed. Then she places her bottle of water on the bedside table, easy to reach whenever she needs it.
“Can I ask why you hate rogues so much?” Sage looks a little startled as the question leaves her lips. Perhaps it is something she has been thinking about a lot, and since it’s been weighing her down, she didn’t notice how she spoke.
I wait for a second while she gets comfortable. The initial shock fades from her features as Sage’s eyes return to me as I climb in next to her. I know it is pointless to pretend that I am sleepy or even a bit tired. I won’t be able to fall back asleep, but I will wait until she does before I leave the bedroom to get some work done.
“I don’t hate rogues,” I breathe out the answer and quickly catch myself trying to state a lie, so I quickly add, “not all rogues anyway.”
“Not all rogues?” She asks, rolling to her side and meeting my eyes.
Sadly, I know she still considers herself a rogue, so this question has to do something with her. Maybe Sage assumes I will claim that I don’t hate all of them because she is the only one I couldn’t hate them all since we are mates?
“I used to be a rogue, Sage. I know what it’s like out there. My entire pack, or what’s left of it, were originally rogues. I was born rogue and remained rogue until I was a teen. Only when our pack earned enough money to buy the land and build this place, did we officially drop the rogue lifestyle,” I explain.
“You were born a rogue, yet you kill rogues?” She puzzles as her eyebrows scrunch up.
“Yes, I was a rogue like you. When my father came to the pack when I was eleven, our rogue camp had grown, but we didn’t have a leader or a purpose back then. The elders in our camp asked him to become Alpha,” I whisper the words as I try to recall as many details as I can.