3

"Come on, rogue," Marcus snapped, roughly pulling me to my feet. I stumbled, my legs shaking a bit as I had been forced to sit in that chair for who knows how long.

After Sim threw out the fact we were the Head Alpha's mate, the man practically threatened to rip me limb from limb before he ran out. Shock gripped at me, as I wondered to myself if that had truly happened. Releasing an incredulous chuckle into the air when Sim confirmed it. I sat in the chair I'd been confined to, for who knew how long, chuckling while the threat of death loomed over me.

Three days have passed, at least I think it's been three days, since the whole thing happened. Just when I was beginning to accept the fact that our mate left us to rot in this cell, Marcus showed up. He scowled as he undid my restraints, and so here we are. Marcus dragging me to wherever it was we were going while I struggled to keep up.

Maybe the Alpha finally decided on my punishment for claiming to be his mate. I sighed, the feeling returning to my legs more and my steps grew stronger. We made it to the end of the hall where there was a huge iron door. Anticipation grew inside me as I realized that this would be the first time I was actually stepping outside in three years.

The door clanged open and I winced a bit at the screech of metal. After I had adjusted to the brightness, my eyes widened as I took in the beautiful expanse of nature. I rushed out, Sim's and my excitement fueling me into running out the door. My heart pounded in my chest as I stopped a few feet away, and took a deep breath. The air smelled sweet and the warmth from the sun felt heavenly.

"Sim, are you seeing this?" I asked, voice a whisper. I took in the green of the leaves, the greyish-brown of the trees rough bark and the feel of dirt beneath my bare feet. I laughed, the breeze blowing my hair around, "wait, that was a dumb question. Of course you can, but do you see it? It's so... so..."

'Beautiful.'

"Yeah, beautiful," I breathed, eyes becoming watery but I brushed it away. Now was not the time to be emotional, Simon. Turning back around, I hunched myself to seem smaller. I made my way back to Marcus who wore an unreadable expression on his face.

"Follow me," he huffed, I was surprised at the lack of insult but brushed it away. We made our way to another building and as we drew closer, my eyes almost popped out of my head.

The building in front of me must've been the pack house for two reasons. One, because there were a bunch of people roaming around it and two, it was fucking huge. From adults to pups, the pack seemed joyful and spirited. A pang ran through me and I wiped off any emotion from my face as I looked away from the pack.

A few members stopped what they were doing to watch us but I shrugged off the stares. We came to a stop at a stall of some sorts and I realized it was an outdoor shower. There was a mirror on the side of the stall and I stepped before it, grimacing at the sight before me.

My previously short, shiny and soft black hair was now up to my shoulders, covered with dirt, and matted with stuff I didn't want to think about. Dirt and dried blood was splattered over my face, stubble was growing and the bags under my, used to be bright, hazel eyes were dark. The rags on me did nothing to cover my bony body that was just as dirty as I felt. It's been three years since I got the chance to look at my reflection and it was not pretty. A realization came to me and I groaned. My mate saw this, no wonder he thought I was filth.

"Clean up," Marcus said, gruffly. I looked at him in disbelief and looked back at the stall.

I swallowed, tentatively approaching the stall and put one foot in. My head snapped back to Marcus, expecting him to sneer at me and tell me it was a joke before taking me to our actual destination, but all I managed to do was startle him. Rushing in before Marcus had the chance to change his mind, I stripped off my rags and turned the knob on the right.

I flinched at the spray of ice cold water meeting my skin but pushed the feeling away. I was used to the cold water since Elijah made a habit of using it to wake me whenever he wanted. It's also what I was given to clean my body. Unless I was carrying but even still the water quality sucked.

"There's hot water, you know," I jerked, having forgotten Marcus was there and curled into myself.

I glanced back at him and saw his back facing me. Again, I was surprised at the lack of hostility but turned back and eyed the knob that I hadn't touched. Slowly I reached out and began turning the knob. The water began warming up and I found my body melting.

"Oh gods," I moaned, lowly. I tried my best to huddle my whole body under the glorious heat. Sim sent a pulse of agreement and I wished to stay there forever.

The clearing of a throat reminded me why I couldn't and I grabbed the shampoo, lathering my hair with the unscented product. Next, I grabbed the small towel that was offered and lathered it with soap before getting to work. After practically scrubbing my body raw, I rinsed off and shut the water. My ear caught a swish of something flying toward me and I swiftly turned around, catching the object.

I looked down and realized it was a balled up towel. My eyes trailed to Marcus, the guy continuing to surprise me and felt my heart tug. He reminded me of Peter in a way - now that he wasn't torturing me - and it made me miss him even more.

Shaking my head to clear away my thoughts, I unraveled the towel and dried off before the cool breeze could steal away my heat. I dried my hair the best I could and wished it was gone. Finishing, I looked around and spotted the clothes hung over the side of the stall.

Slinging the towel over the side next to them, I grabbed the clothes and began putting them on. They seemed to fit well though the short sleeved shirt draped over my body and the khaki shorts were a little loose.

'Thanks Elijah for making me so malnourished,' I mentally snarked.

'Don't thank that shithead.'

'I was being sarcastic, Sim.'

'Still, we don't need to be thinking of that bastard.'

'We agree on that.'

"Done, rogue?" Marcus asked, I winced and sighed. There it was.

"Yes," I replied, stepping out of the stall and running my hand through my hair. I was startled at the feel of soft smoothness under my fingertips instead of rough grittiness. My other hand joined my left and I touched my hair in awe.

"Hurry up," a familiar gruff voice said and I spun around.

"Peter, you have to feel..." I trailed off. Marcus' confused, disgust filled brown eyes greeted me instead of bored, baby blues and my throat clogged up. I breathed deeply, squeezing my eyes shut and berated myself. "I'm sorry, I thought you were... sorry."

"Whatever," he growled, I looked away and followed after him as we made our way toward the house. I kept my head facing forward, ignoring the happy sounds of pups playing and the chitter-chatter of the adults.

We entered through the door, stepping into a wide room that had counters, appliances and the word came back to me. This was the kitchen. A few members littered the area, facing us when we entered and still staring until we left the room. I took in everything around me as we made our way down a hall with multiple doors lining either side.

Soon, we stopped before a door which Marcus knocked on and waited a moment before a muffled voice told us to enter. Marcus opened the door and I was assaulted by the smell of my mate's scent mixed with another's. Freezing, I was unsure before I caught sight of my mate with a girl sitting in his lap over Marcus' shoulder.

After that, everything went black.