My Arranged Marriage To The Broken Alpha

inn

-out sweaters went

was good cover. The sound swallowed everything-the frantic beat of my own heart, t

his cabin. Three

as o

feeling I'd learned to trust, the instinct that kept rogues alive when logic failed. My eyes scanned the

feeling

poker. It felt solid in my grasp, a familiar weight. I moved without a sound, melting into the

it

d of wood breaking. The lock groaned, a pained

chaos of the storm. He was a wall of muscle and desperation, bringing the sc

ed to th

him. With a guttural curse, he shoved himself backward, his back hitting the doorframe with a heavy thud.

res, now twisted in pain. His hand came up, shaking, but the black pistol it h

, his voice a gravell

as a mask of calm I did not feel. The po

dripped from a tear in his sleeve, pooling on the clean pine boards I had

fighting to stay conscious, the effort visible in the

thing that made

ed tow

t stop me. I walked until the toes of my

ld and steady as a winter river.

my words breaking through his pain-fogged haze. The p

only openin

rward. Not

. A grunt of pure agony was torn from his throat. At the same time, my other hand clamped a

tning striking the core of my being. My heart didn't just beat; it slammed against my ribs, a fra

a

burying it under layers of ice and survival instinct. This

elt mirroring in their blue depths. His inner wolf, I c

r of headlights cut through the forest, their beams sweepin

y voice dropping to a harsh wh

in his face drained away. A new kind of tension se

Rogues," h

Right now," I said, each word precise and sharp, "

hand, palm up. An

king from my face to the approaching lights, then back again. The distant, faint soun

e was alr

he released his grip. The heavy

ng the magazine, clearing the chamber. The smooth, efficient motion m

orboard near the hearth, hidden by a w

and the woman who would disarm a man one moment and save him the next. But there was no time. He dragg

a cloth and the bottle of turpentine I used for cleaning brushes. The harsh, piney smell filled the cabin,

ng from the fumes, when a heavy fis

ou're in there!" a

ying breath. Then, I