Harley clenched onto his fists tightly as he could feel Hope’s sharp gaze on him. She was completely taken aback at how heavy his words sounded, almost making her believe he wasn’t just saying it, but that he really meant every word.
And if he really did mean it, would he really be considering her as a potential mate?
She thought.
She pressed her lips together as she stared at him a bit more, hearing nothing but the blueness of everything around her, trying to take light of what he said, but it was nearly impossible when she felt the strength of his words.
Was he just being nice? Supportive? Being a best friend?
“Harley…” The name slipped out of her mouth, grabbing almost his attention and also the attention of the two bystanders, Gabriel and Penelope. “You ARE my best friend right?”
“Uh…. Yeah?” Harley chuckled out awkwardly at the question and she nodded slowly before leaning back.
She suddenly laughed out as she ran her fingers along her face, startling everyone.
“Gosh….” Hope sighed out as she smiled at Harley. “For a moment there it almost sounded as though you were confessing to me, I nearly convinced myself you were.” She sighed out with a small laugh as Harley slightly frowned at her. “It sounded… Really strong.”
“What if-”
“Hope!” Lily, her younger sister barged into the dining hall with a heavy sigh as she marched towards the table. “I’ve finally found you. Dad says you need to go to the gate, something about Rogues stealing our animals?” Lily said questioningly as she looked at Hope who raised her brows in confusion, only to remember the old grumpy man from the morning.
“Oh yeah, right.” Hope sighed out as she stood up and stretched herself. “We promised to help him later.”
“Dad says you need to fix it urgently.” She explained as she shifted her gaze to Harley who simply frowned at her froe interrupting him earlier. “He told me and I quote ‘tell Hope that she needs to deal with the Rogues right now, they have infiltrated the grounds and are somehow finding their way into the walls without detection, tell her to find them and bring them as part of the pack or they will stand as threats to enemies who will use them to find our weakest points’. That’s it.” Lily shrugged her shoulders as Harley stood up as well.
“Wow… It’s more serious than I thought…” Hope clicked her tongue with a nod. “Alright, thanks for the news Lily, Harley, let’s be on our way!” She chuckled as she began to walk towards the door. “And goodbye to the rest of you!”
“Bye!” Penelope chimed out as Hope ran out the door with Harley.
The moment they made it out of the mansion, Hope couldn’t help but take in a sharp breath while Harley sighed out, still feeling the weight on his chest.
“Oh, Harley, you were about to say something back there.” Hope pointed out with a small smile as Harley raised his brows at her in question. “You know, before Lily barged in. Didn’t you want to say something?” She asked, getting him to tense up a bit as his cheeks warmed up all of a sudden.
“W-Well I was just asking what if-”
“Well aren’t I lucky to have found you two on time?” The commander of the army chuckled as he walked up to Hope and Harley. “How have you two been doing lately?”
“Perfect.” Hope smiled out as they began to walk towards the gate with Harley a little behind, a little annoyed that he was interrupted again. “We came by in the morning at the training grounds, didn’t find you there.”
“I was busy with other things.” The man chuckled out. “Your father told me to explain to you about rogues.”
“I know most about them, that they are free spirited and can sometimes be a little hard to control since they don’t really love to take orders from just any one, especially strangers.” Hoped pointed out effortlessly as she shined out her inner school genius. Just to boast about her learning skills just a bit in front of Harley and the commander.
“Excellent.” The commander winked, getting Hope to chuckle out as she clasped her hands together to congratulate herself, getting Harley to roll his eyes with a smile on his face. “But you’re missing a key point here Hope.” The commander said as he raised his finger to express a point. “Rogues also have great judgement skills, great analytical skills and also have a tendency to dominate and persuade. These are very important for you to take note of because if you are going to try to convince them to join us, you need to seem every stronger than you already are. Show your dominance over them and don’t whimper out or they’ll notice you’re somehow afraid of them and they take advantage of you.”
“Taking advantage as in they will continue their thriving?” Harley asked as he fell into pace with them, standing beside Hope who glanced up at him as he asked.
“They’ll continue but they will be even worse. They will know you won’t be able to try and force them to stop because you seem afraid of them. Plus, despite it being your main aim for this mission, I highly recommend you do not seem like you are begging them to join. A Rogue is a Rogue for a reason. Never forget that.” The commander said as they stepped out of the gate and into the open, walking down a small path that lead in to the forest. “Rogues could be banished people from their packs, either those who hate being dominated over or they just have no where to belong, born without a pack, so each vary according to how you talk to them it’s you and Harley’s duty to know what kind of Rogues they are and how you will try to persuade them into becoming members. The easier Rogues to persuade are the ones without packs, they are just simply looking for a pack, so inviting them in is very easy, they might even be begging to become one of us, they are rare to find these days. The hardest are the dominating type, those ones will crush you.” He chuckled as he stopped suddenly, startling Harley and Hope who glanced at him in confusion.
“Anything wrong?” Hope asked as he glanced at the commander who shook his head.
“I’ll stop here. Walk a few more minutes and you’ll find them somewhere. Here is where I stop. Good luck and protect each other. Run if you have no other choice.” The commander smiled as he shook their hands. “Protect each other.” He emphasized before walking back to the gates.