Chapter 23

**Cole**



When we reach the rouges, I see Winters's wolf Athena standing there with blood on her white fur. We mind link. Dante connects to Athena, “Are you okay? I know this is the first time we have connected. Don’t be frightened. I am Dante. What happened?” She nuzzles close and starts rubbing up on us. With her scent is throwing our thoughts around. I sense Dante is losing focus. He is getting distracted bathing in her sent. I am going to have to shift if he can’t control himself.

As I am trying to fight my inner animal, Athena finally Mind links. “I’ll let Winter explain in a few minutes right now I just want to take you in.” Oh man her wolf is just as turned on as Dante. Rubbing and nuzzling. I’m going to have to shift. I don’t need to have this on full display in front of the warriors. Oh Goddess; I shift.

When I shift Mika limps over and hands me some pants and a shirt. Since he was injured by Winter, he can only help by carrying supplies. He will have to wait until he is healed before he can return to his position as a warrior in the pack. Winter shifts. I can see the other men ogling her as she stands there naked. Does she not care that other people can see her? The women has confidence. I’ll give her that, but I definitely don’t like sharing her with anyone.

“Hey, I know the leader of those rouges and...”

I have to cut her off. I take off my shirt and hand it to her.

“Why are you giving me this?”

“Your naked and the warriors are drooling. Just please put it on.”

“Fine, but there are more important things to focus on than nudity. We are Werewolf’s for goddess’ sake.” She puts on my shirt. It should have been long enough to cover her, but between her large breasts and her big ass it barley covers her up. I can see the men still checking her out. “Come with me. We can discuss this inside my office. As for the rest of you, return to what you were doing. Take that rouge that is passed out to the doctor. Keep him under guard and restrained.”



**Winter**



I sit down in Cole's office. I don’t know why he is so concerned about me being naked. I was a bit self-conscious he first time I saw him in the woods seeing as it was the first time we met, but now I am relaxed around him. I like looking at him just after he shifts, and he is naked. After all he is gorgeous. Maybe he thinks I will lay with someone else if they give me enough attention. I would never do that. I mean they are not my mate. I would never cross that line. They aren’t even appealing to me. Besides, I have been saving myself. I was raised to wait for you mate.

“That little group of rouges is not so little. I can guarantee you there are more.” I say as he looks at me from across his desk.

“What do you mean? How do you know?” He asks with a look of intrigue.

“The wolf in the front was Gerard. He is one bad dude. I came across his weird group a couple of years back. I decided to stay with them for a bit because I had not been around anyone for a while, and I was lonely. They seemed okay at first. Then I found out what they were like. Gerard was a beta in his former pack. He and his brother conspired to kill their Alpha, so Gerard could take control.”

“After they got caught, they were supposed to be executed. They escaped though, and became rouges. They were trying to gather rogues together to form a new pack. When I was with them, they had 7 other wolfs. I don’t know how many there are now. Gerard said his goal was to find a pack strong enough to take on his old one. He said when he found one, he would take it, become Alpha, and then get revenge on his old pack.”

“I don’t really know why he thinks he needs to seek revenge. Maybe he is just a psychotic power-hungry prick. Once I found out just how crazy he was I left. The problem is, he is so revenge driven. I’m sure that he recognized me, and If he did, he will set his sights on trying to take control of this pack.”

Cole looks at me for a moment before he asks, “Why would he want revenge on you? If all you did was leave because you didn’t want to be part of his vendetta; it does not seem like a huge offense.”

I take a deep breath. Just thinking about this makes me uneasy. However, Cole asked so I decide I will just tell him. He needs to know why Gerard is out to kill me. “He wanted to mark me. I was sixteen, and of course at that age you don’t find your mate. He didn’t care about my age though, or that he would rob me of the gift of finding my own Goddess given mate. He figured he could mark me. Then even if I ever found my mate, I would remain his. He said I could provide him pups, and that is what he wanted. I wasn’t going to let that deranged wolf sink his teeth into me and claim me. Let alone even touch me. I ran, and his brother blocked me. So fought him in a frenzy, and I ripped his throat out, killing him as I left.”

From the look on Cole’s face, I think he may be in shock. He snaps out of it though, and says, “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” With deep anguish in his voice.

“It’s not like he had a chance to even try anything I was gone before he could ever lay a finger on me. The only reason I even knew about his plans was because he was blabbing to another rogue about it. I don’t even know if he knew why I ran... Look it doesn’t even bother me. I’m just telling you, so you know why he wants me dead.”