Rogue Wolf

Rogue WolfA FOREVER MATES TRILOGYBLACK DIAMOND ALPHABOOK TWO TALA MOORE Contents 1. Luke2. Adeline3. Luke4. Adeline5. Luke6. Adeline7. Luke8. Adeline9. Luke10. Adeline11. Luke12. Adeline13. Luke14. Adeline15. Luke16. Adeline17. Luke18. Adeline19. Luke20. AdelineRedeemed WolfHave you read the Forever Mates Prequel?Also by Tala Moore Chapter 1Luke He’s standing there, alive. Breathing. Blinking. Glaring at me like he did for the first seventeen years of my life. But how is this possible? How is my father, Sean Holland, alive after I’ve spent five years grieving his death? The impossibility of it shreds me, tugging at the threads of everything I believed to be true. Shock hits me in torrents, intent on pulling me under. On drowning me. As I stand in front of him, I’m scared that I don’t know what’s real and what’s not. Is this a dream, my nightmares taunting me by glaring at me with every trace of life in his dark, fierce eyes? My father doesn’t flinch. He regards me with bitterness, raw and piercing. I should be mad that he’s right here and not dead like I believed him to be, but the anger melts under the burn of his disappointment. Five years later, the man still controls me, and I fight the young wolf who always cowed before him. “Dad?” my voice croaks with disbelief. Adeline touches my arm. For a moment, I’d forgotten she’s standing beside me, the woman who added a kaleidoscope of colors to my dull life, the woman I’ve vowed to spend the rest of my life with. Her touch shoots me back to the warmth of what we share, reminding me there’s a sweet side to everything that’s befalling me, even now. Our love is the only spark of life I treasure, even more than the surprising appearance of my father. If only Adeline knew her presence is the reality I’m holding on to. She’s the reason I’m in this pack, in this tent, facing my father. What we thought would turn out to be brief, a warning to the Blood Borns about the High Ridge Pack, has become a pivotal moment I never saw coming. “Your dad?” she whispers. “What’s going on here?” Arthur demands, eyes darting from me to my father. He bows to my father, his forehead touching his knee, and adds, “High Wolf, sir. I don’t understand—” “Leave,” Sean booms. Arthur looks up. His lips move, but no sound comes out. This pack leader is almost a reflection of me—a wolf who feels intimidated in the presence of my father, like an insect before a giant. I know he’ll do anything not to see Sean’s wrath. “Yes, High Wolf.” Arthur gives one last bow and hurries out of the tent. Ryan, my neighbor, stays, his smirk refusing to leave his face. He stands, legs slightly apart, like a bodyguard behind my father, and the High Wolf himself has no interest in kicking him out. My father crosses his hands behind him, walks to a chair and sits, sweeping his long jacket over his knees. He still looks the same as the last time I saw him at the gathering—long gray hair settling down his shoulders, tall and slender with prominent shoulders, a dimple on his beardless cheek. And a long history of making lower wolves pee in their pants, including me. He appears older, though, as if the past years have taken their toll. Wrinkles spread across his face, and the bags under his eyes don’t go unnoticed. I consider asking him whether he’s alright and has been getting enough sleep. But if there’s one thing I know will never change about my father, it’s the fact that he hates being reminded of his weakness or the glaring alterations in his body. “How have you been, son?” A smile grazes his lips. “It’s been what? Five years?” “Where have you been?” My voice is hoarse and I swallow. “What happened to you? How did you—” He raises a hand. “One question at a time.” I have so many that I can’t pick one. It’s impossible to wrap my head around this. My father’s calmness deepens my confusion. He’s acting too cool for a man who hasn’t seen his son in five years, for a man whose pack is no more. “Are they alive? The other pack members?” “That’s a good question.” Sean steeples his fingers, and I realize that’s how I think of him. As a name, not a connection. “No, I’m afraid no one survived.” A growl tangles in my throat. I fight the urge not to bark at him. “But you survived,” I say as calmly as I can. “How?” Sean keeps a wide smile on his face and tilts his head to the left. “There are some things you don’t need to know.” “I deserve to know.” “No, you don’t,” my father’s response is firm. Then his dark eyes move to Adeline. “Let’s forget about me and talk about…her. Adeline, right?” Adeline starts to reply behind me, but she squeaks. I turn and see her clutching her neck, those beautiful eyes of hers rendered into dull clouds of fear while she’s almost shrinking into the ground. I’m drawn towards her, to embrace her and banish the fear from her heart, but my legs don’t move. They hold me to the spot, calcified by dread and fear. My father is a dangerous man. And he’s chosen to reveal himself now for a reason. Shame burns me from the inside out as I don’t move. I have no idea how to protect her right now—shield her from this, or tell her to run? “Yes.” Adeline clears her throat to repeat herself. “Yes, my name is Adeline.” “Adeline of High Ridge,” my father continues. “Your father and I were best friends. But then, not all friendships are destined to last. Ryan here has been watching the two of you for a while, and according to him, he thinks what you have is real.” He turns those glacial eyes