I pressed myself closer to Shayne as I listened to him talk more about his sister. The more he talked the more I felt a stone weighing down at the pit of my stomach. He talked about everything. He talked about how she had the purest heart and the kindest soul. How was I supposed to feel after he told me that?

"She sounds nice." I commented after he finally paused.

"It was hard not to love her. I know you would have gotten along with her."

"I don't know," I said unsure. "I never really got along with anyone from my pack. I was never one to socialize with others."

Shayne was running his fingers up and down my arm in light strokes. It was doing wonders to me. At any other time I would encouraged him and take advantage of the opportunity to get closer to him. But with the new information I was frozen in place.

"You never talk about your old pack." He said.

I shrugged. In reality, I never talked about anything. Any conversation I had with Shayne was about my day. He would want to know every detail of my day. Apparently he didn't trust Sam and Jake completely. He didn't trust Sam because he didn't have a mate and he didn't trust Jake because he would always joke around playfully.

I liked that Shayne cared so much even when I felt he was smothering. He never tried anything on me either and I appreciated that. In his own way he was taking care of me. He was letting me settle in and take this at my own pace.

"I was thrown out of my own pack and rejected before I even turned sixteen." I said in a shaky breath.

As soon as the words left my mouth Shayne tightened his hold on me and a low rumbling sounded deep in his chest. I pressed myself closer to Shayne and ran my hand up and down his chest. I felt him relax a bit but he was still tense.

"Who were they?" Shayne demanded.

"It doesn't matter anymore. It was a long time ago and I don't like talking about it. I was always used to being on my own and then Jake came along." I smiled at the many memories I had with Jake.

"You love your brother, don't you?" He said.

I nodded and smiled up at him. Jake was my bodyguard, best friend, and brother. I owed everything I had because of him. He taught me how to fight. He was there by my side every time I needed him. My wolf had also grown fond of him. He was our family.

"Yeah, I do." I sighed.

"Why did he decide to join you?" Shayne asked.

Here was my chance to come clean. All I had to do was tell him that Jake wasn't my brother. I could tell him everything, but then I would have to tell him about the incident that happened six years ago. I didn't want to think that maybe....no, it just couldn't be.

"Jake is my big brother. He likes protecting me."

Shayne shifted to his side so he was facing me now. His hand ran down the side of my face and ended under my chin where he tilted it up.

"I can protect you." Shayne said, frowning.

"I know, but there's a lot you can't protect me from."

"I won't let anyone lay a finger on me. You're mine." He growled out.

A smile tugged at my lips. Yes, I was his mate. I belonged to Shayne. But would he still want me if I told him the truth? Even if it wasn't his sister, I had still done a horrible thing. There was no forgiveness for that.

"I know you won't and Jake wouldn't let anyone hurt me. He has made sure that we are always safe. There are rogues that are dangerous but there are others that are worse."

I believed pack wolves were of the worst kind. Many pack wolves would frown upon Rogues because they thought we were dangerous. Rogues had it hard. No one realized how hard it was to keep running. We could never have a normal life.

"Rogues are dangerous and I'm surprised you've survived for so long." Shayne said. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-one." I said. "

"You were so young when you became a rogue, why?" He asked. "Rogues are uncontrollable, unpredictable, dangerous, vicious, a danger to all wolves-"

"They aren't so bad." I defended. I didn't like where his comments were going.

"Are you kidding? Rogues should be wiped out."

"Why? Because pack wolves are better than rogues?" I said sarcastically.

"Yes, we are better than them."

How could he say something like that? I knew some rogues weren't that great, but most were peaceful. The reason why rogues caused so much trouble was because they held resentment towards Alpha's. Alpha's thought they had the right to run their packs without caring about other wolves in the pack. Some were selfish and dangerous. Rogues....they stuck by each other and some became like family.

"You shouldn't feel too safe around them." Shayne said.

I couldn't take it anymore. I hated how he was attacking innocent people he didn't even know. I sat up in bed and scooted away from him. Shayne wasn't too happy with my actions. He tried to get me back in his arms but I pushed him away.

"Is that how you feel me?" I was hurt by his words.

"Of course not," Shayne said. "you're my mate."

"But that's how you feel about Jake."

"I know he's your brother so he would never hurt you." Shayne explained. "But rogues are the most dangerous wolves."

"Jake isn't dangerous." I scowled.

"It's logical for you to think that. He's your brother. I don't think he would hurt you intentionally, but if he loses control then it could happen. I'd hate to think what would actually happen if he hurt you. Rogues can be vicious."

"You don't know anything about rogues. Have you forgotten that I used to be one?"

I started making my way out of the room but Shayne was quick to stop me. It wasn't his comment that had gotten to me because it was a possibility. Jake could lose control of his wolf at any time and could hurt me unintentionally. It was the denial of having something to do with his sisters death that upsetting me.

"Sage, I didn't mean to upset you." Shayne said.

I tried to sidestep Shayne but he kept blocking me. My wolf was stirring inside of me, begging me to come out.

"I'm going for a walk." I told Shayne.

"I'll go with you." He offered quickly.

"Alone." I shook me head and then added, "With my brother."

I quickly sent a message through our mind link to Jake. I needed to talk to him about this.

"I can go with you." He said, frowning.

"I said I'm going with Jake."

I pushed on his chest and walked out of our room. I headed down the stairs and straight to the door. When I opened it, Jake was only a Jew feet away. I was starting to take a step out, but Shayne caught my elbow and pulled me back. It didn't go unnoticed by Jake how I stumbled back.

"Jake, I'm fine." I said when I saw the cold look he was giving Shayne. A low growl rumbled deep in his chest.. "Go, I'll catch up."

Jake seemed reluctant to go but did as I asked. When I turned to look at Shayne his eyes were dark and he looked tense. I sighed and wrapped my arms around his waist. I could tell he wasn't expecting that since he didn't react immediately. I was being mean to him and he didn't deserve that- not after tonight's revelation.

"I'll be back," I quietly said. "I just want to talk to Jake."

"Take Sam with you."

I shook my head. I didn't need Sam there trying to listen to what we were talking about. He already knew enough and he didn't need to know this. I was really starting to regret my decision to stay.

"I need some alone time with my brother."

"This was supposed to be our alone time." Shayne said frowning. "We need to talk about a lot of things and get things prepared. Jace is coming for his visit and I need to present you to the pack. My parents want to meet you."

"I-I-" I sighed. "I won't be long. After I get back I promise we can talk about it."

Shayne looked down at me for a long moment before nodding. "Be careful."

I nodded and gave him a smile. Shayne quickly pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth and it made my stomach twist. My wolf gave a small purr and was just aching to reach for him. Before I could do something stupid I ran off after Jake. He was far ahead but I knew he was close enough that he heard most of what was said.

"Are you actually going to go through with that?" Jake asked when I reached him.

"Of course, he's my mate." I said.

We continued walking and once I was sure we were out of hearing range I sighed. Jake was mostly rambling about unimportant things and I knew he was just doing it for Shayne's prying ears. I could practically see him digging holes on my back as he starred at us. I knew he wasn't too happy with me going with Jake instead of staying with him.

"Of course I'm not going to go through with that." I said in a low whisper.

I didn't trust that we were completely alone. I had to whisper low enough so only he could hear me. I scanned my surroundings to see if we were being followed. I could see Jake tense and he was trying to sense other wolves around.

Jake used to be a tracker in his old pack and apparently he was really good at it. Jake told me the reason he left his pack was because they wanted to use him. He had to track down wolves and when he did they were put down. He didn't like that all of those people he had to track down were killed soon after. It was mostly people who decided to go to a different pack.

"Good, I was beginning to think you were losing it." Jake said. "You're a good actress, did you know that? Good enough to win an Oscar if you ask me."

"I want to be with him, Jake." I said. "I really do."

"Sage, you can't be serious about this." Jake said.

"We should run away now."

Jake stopped walking and looked at me confused. He continued to look around to make sure we weren't being followed. I knew Shayne didn't trust Jake and he wouldn't willingly leave me alone with him. I heard shuffling in the trees and that confirmed my suspicions.

I knew they were probably following us for a while now but we were talking too low that we couldn't be over heard. Jake took my hand and led me to the trees. We went deeper into the trees and tried to get as far away as we could. Both of us didn't know the area at all and I had a feeling we would somehow end up lost.

"Okay, what the hell is going on with you?" Jake practically hissed.

"We can't stay here any longer." I said, feeling the pain my wolf felt as I said those words. "I do want to stay, Jake, he's my mate. He wants to claim me and mate with me sometime in the next two weeks. He's been nothing but patient with me."

"So, why do you want to leave? I mean, if I found my mate I wouldn't want to leave her. I'm surprised Shayne hasn't claimed you yet. I can imagine how his wolf might feel right now. I don't really like the guy, but I can imagine how much pain he's going through right now. Didn't you know that the longer its avoided the more his wolf will go crazy? You shouldn't do that."

I was looking at Jake incredulously and I was shaking my head. Not even moments ago he was wanted to kill Shayne and now he was sympathizing?

"Jake, I killed his sister." My voice shook as I spoke.

Jake's eyes widened and his face seemed to pale. As I said those words out loud I felt a pin in my heart. I didn't realize I had started crying until Jake wiped my tears away and held me in his arms. I hadn't realized I was holding all of that in until I couldn't stop crying.

"I'm so sorry, Sage." Jake said rubbing small circles on my back. "Are you sure it's his sister?"

"He said she was killed six years ago." I said. "Jake, six years ago I had killed..."

I tried to tell myself it wasn't my fault but I knew that it was a stupid thing to do. I could have said no and had taken any punishment but I didn't. I went along with the plan and in the process I did a terrible thing.

"I told you that it's not your fault." Jake repeated the same thing he always told me when I broke down crying about it. No matter how many times he said it, it wouldn't change the fact that I had done it willingly.

"We have to leave, Jake." I pleaded. "Shayne can't know what I did. When he finds out he's going to hate me. I can't let that happen."

"I know this is a bad time to bring this up, but Randy called today and he had some bad news. We have to stay here. At least until I know it's safe."

"What? Why?" I asked, confused.

"Randy said he overheard a couple of rogues talking about you. That poor excuse of an Alpha is willing to buy anyone in order to find you. If that Alpha comes here and word gets out that you're Alpha Shayne's mate then things will get pretty bad."

I looked at him in disbelief. This couldn't be happening to me.