Running with Rogues

There's a picture of Hannah up top, thanks again to LittleLone抖阴社区rGirl! Enjoy :)

"I'm tired of trying to explain this to you," Hannah whispered.

Rhodri threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. His eyes had been dark for a while now, betraying his growing frustration with her. It might have spooked a more timid individual, but I honestly wasn't sure whose wolf was stronger - his or hers. And maybe that was half of the problem.

"You haven't explained a damn thing," Rhodri snapped.

They'd been at it for the entirety of the car journey back. And as much as I'd wanted to crawl into a hole and die listening to them, I hadn't taken my chance to run away and get some sleep when we were back at camp. Since she was in handcuffs and Rhodri was going to be shouting at her and it all pertained to a romantic relationship, I didn't think I should leave them alone together. Whatever Rhodri's intentions and however brave Hannah might be, that was not a great power dynamic.

And if I was being honest, I wanted to know her reasoning too. It was still a foreign concept to me - the idea of not being with your soulmate. And to decide that without even trying a relationship ... it was controversial in our world.

Hannah put her head in her hands and loosed a long, irritated breath. "I don't even know why I'm bothering. I don't owe you an explanation. You seem like a dick, and I don't think it'll work out, so I'm turning you down. End of story."

"Oh, I'm the dick?" he spat. "Me? You tear-gassed me the first day we met."

"Yeah, well, you had that coming. And that was the same day, don't forget, that you abducted me and dragged me across half of Snowdonia with a bag over my head. So it's not surprising that we didn't get off to a great start, is it?"

Rhodri's lip curled. I exchanged a bemused look with Liam. For two people who wanted nothing to do with each, they sure bickered like an old mated couple. It made me feel a little bit better about my own situation, in some ways, but it was also making me dread my own birthday more than ever before. It hadn't been a fun evening for Rhodri, what with his mate rejecting him in front of his entire family. It was lucky he wasn't the self-conscious kind of person.

"I need a piss. But don't think that means we're done," Rhodri said after a long pause, running a hand through his hair. And for a moment, he didn't look angry or riled. He just looked a little bit lost. "I'm not ... I'm not trying to force you into anything, okay? I get that you're not going to change your mind. I just want to understand why."

And with that, he levered himself up into a standing position and limped off into the trees. Hannah was left staring after him. Her forehead was furrowed, probably because that was the nicest he'd ever been to her, and I watched her swallow the lump in her throat.

There were a few minutes of exhausted silence. It had been a very long day, and it was now nearly one in the morning. We were surrounded by darkness and tents full of slumbering rogues. The wind was howling through the trees, drawing out groans and tortured creaks, and the fire was gently crackling before us. I stared into the flames for as long as I could bear, wondering why growing up was so shit and why no one had warned me.

"You could have told me, Han. You know that, right?" Hayden murmured eventually. It had definitely been bugging him. He'd looked as blindsided as the rest of us in that pub, and he'd been sitting with a face like a horse's backside ever since.

She put her head in her hands and shook it wearily. "I know. And I wanted to, I guess? I just didn't want you telling me that it'd be fine and that he could join the pack and that we'd live happily ever after."