CHAPTER 6 – THE ROGUE’S PROMISE
Sleep doesn’t come.
Not really.
I drift in and out of something shallow and restless, my body still tense from earlier, my mind replaying everything I shouldn’t be thinking about.
Daniel’s voice.
The weight of his grip.
The word cage echoing in my head like a mistake I can’t take back.
And beneath all of it—
Him.
Ryan.
I turn onto my side, pressing my face into the pillow, but it doesn’t help. His scent isn’t here, not like before, but I remember it too clearly. Clean. Wild. Alive.
My wolf stirs immediately, lifting her head like she’s been waiting.
Go.
The urge hits fast and sharp.
“No,” I whisper into the dark. “Not tonight.”
But my body doesn’t listen.
It never does when it comes to him.
I sit up slowly, the room quiet around me, the Alpha house settled into that heavy silence that comes late at night.
No footsteps.
No voices.
Just the faint hum of something watchful beneath it all.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed.
“Just outside,” I tell myself. “Just air.”
It’s the same lie as before.
And I know it.
The hallway is empty when I step out. Shadows stretch long across the floor, broken only by the low glow of wall lights. I move carefully, out of habit more than fear.
No one stops me.
No one ever does.
The door opens with a soft click, and the night air hits my skin, cool and sharp.
I inhale deeply.
Freedom.
Or something close to it.
My feet carry me forward before I can second-guess it.
Across the courtyard.
Past the edges of the pack’s control.
Toward the forest.
The pull is stronger tonight.
Not distant. Not faint.
Close.
Waiting.
My heart starts to race.
“He won’t be there,” I murmur.
But I don’t believe it.
I cross the border.
And everything inside me goes still.
He’s already there.
Leaning against a tree like he never left.
Like he knew I would come.
Ryan lifts his head as soon as I step into the clearing.
Our eyes meet.
And the world narrows again.
The pull between us snaps tight, stronger than before, sharper, undeniable.
My breath catches.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I say.
The words sound weaker this time.
Less certain.
He pushes off the tree, straightening slowly. There’s no rush in his movements, no hesitation.
“I could say the same to you,” he replies.
His voice is quieter tonight.
But it still settles under my skin like heat.
I take a step forward before I realize it.
Then stop.
“You’re inside pack territory,” I say. “If Daniel finds you—”
“He won’t,” Ryan cuts in.
The certainty in his tone makes something in me falter.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
He steps closer.
Not fast.
Not threatening.
Just enough to close the space between us.
“You came anyway,” he adds.
I swallow.
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“It means something,” he says.
His gaze holds mine, steady and unyielding.
“Why are you here, Emma?”
The question lands heavier than it should.
Because I don’t have an answer I can say out loud.
“I needed air,” I say again.
His mouth twitches slightly, like he doesn’t believe me.
“You’ve got a whole territory full of it,” he says. “And you came all the way out here for it?”
I don’t respond.
Because he’s right.
Because I don’t know how to explain the pull that dragged me here.
My wolf shifts, restless, drawn to him in a way that feels almost painful now.
Ryan notices.
Of course he does.
His expression changes, something softer breaking through the edge of tension.
“Easy,” he murmurs.
The word isn’t for me.
It’s for the part of me that keeps reaching for him.
“I’m fine,” I say.
“You’re not,” he answers.
I lift my chin, trying to hold onto something solid. “You don’t know me.”
“I know what I feel,” he says.
The words land low and steady.
“And I know what you feel.”
“You don’t,” I snap.
His gaze sharpens. “Then walk away.”
The challenge is quiet.
Simple.
My body doesn’t move.
Seconds pass.
Too many.
Ryan exhales slowly, like he expected that.
“Yeah,” he says under his breath. “That’s what I thought.”
Something in me tightens.
“I can leave,” I insist.
“Then do it.”
I try.
I really do.
I shift my weight, turning slightly toward the trees.
My feet don’t follow.
My wolf presses forward, refusing.
Stay.
The word is stronger than anything else.
I close my eyes briefly, fighting it.
When I open them again, Ryan is closer.
Too close.
I hadn’t even seen him move.
“You don’t have to fight it,” he says.
“I do,” I answer immediately.
“Why?”
“Because everything about this is wrong.”
He studies me, searching my face.
“Is it?” he asks quietly.
“Yes.”
“Or is it just inconvenient?”
The question hits harder than I expect.
“This isn’t a game,” I say.
“I know that.”
“Then stop acting like it is.”
“I’m not.”
His voice drops slightly.
“I’m standing in another Alpha’s territory, looking at a woman who’s carrying his child, and I’m telling you I feel something I can’t ignore.”
My breath catches.
“That doesn’t sound like a game to me.”
Silence stretches between us.
Heavy.
Real.
“Then what is it?” I ask.
He holds my gaze.
“A choice,” he says.
I freeze.
The word feels unfamiliar.
Dangerous.
“I don’t get choices,” I say.
“Everyone gets a choice.”
“Not in a pack like this.”
His jaw tightens slightly.
“Then your pack is broken.”
The bluntness of it stings.
Because part of me knows he’s not wrong.
“You don’t understand,” I say.
“Then explain it to me.”
I shake my head. “It’s not that simple.”
“It could be.”
“No,” I snap. “It can’t.”
He goes quiet for a moment, watching me.
Then he takes another step closer.
Close enough that I can feel the heat of him again.
Close enough that my pulse jumps.
“I’m not here to take anything from you,” he says.
His voice is steady.
Controlled.
“I don’t take what isn’t given.”
Something in my chest tightens at that.
“Then why are you here?” I ask.
His gaze doesn’t waver.
“Because if you ask me to,” he says, “I’ll fight for you.”
The words hit deep.
Too deep.
No one has ever said something like that to me before.
Not as a command.
Not as an expectation.
As an offer.
My throat tightens.
“Fight who?” I ask, even though I already know.
“You know who.”
Daniel.
The name hangs unspoken between us.
“That would start a war,” I say.
“Maybe.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
His expression hardens slightly.
“I’m okay with not walking away from something that matters.”
My heart stutters.
Because he’s looking at me when he says it.
My wolf surges forward, stronger than ever now, drawn to him in a way that feels inevitable.
The bond pulses between us, alive and undeniable.
It’s not just instinct anymore.
It’s something deeper.
Something that feels like it’s been waiting.
“Why me?” I ask.
The question slips out before I can stop it.
Ryan’s expression softens, just slightly.
“I don’t know,” he admits. “I just know it’s you.”
The honesty in that hits harder than anything else he’s said.
No control.
No claim.
Just truth.
I take a step closer.
I don’t mean to.
But I do.
The space between us disappears.
My hand lifts slightly, like I’m about to reach for him.
His gaze drops to it, then back to my face.
He doesn’t move.
Doesn’t touch me.
He’s waiting.
Giving me the choice he talked about.
My fingers hover in the air between us.
So close.
If I close that distance—
Everything changes.
My chest tightens.
My stomach twists.
The weight of everything crashes back in.
Daniel.
The pack.
The child growing inside me.
The consequences.
My hand trembles.
Then stops.
I pull it back slowly, like it burns.
Ryan’s jaw tightens, but he doesn’t step forward.
Doesn’t force it.
“Emma,” he says quietly.
I shake my head, taking a step back.
“I can’t.”
The words come out broken.
Barely more than a whisper.
“I can’t.”