Chapter 915 Chapter 915
She hurried behind Cassius to get to the truck. Putting the box in the back, she quickly climbed into the passenger’s seat.
Marie touched the side of her neck and looked at Cassius. “He saw it.” She was mortified. She hated anyone looking at it, but with him, it seemed worse.
He started the truck before looking at her. “It’s okay. No one will think anything of it.”
She lowered her hand and tugged her collar up over the hideous mark. “Should I explain?” She wanted to. Meeting Webb had felt exciting, and now she knew he would avoid her because of the mark on her neck.
Cassius navigated out of the gate and didn’t answer her until he got the truck up the steep incline. “No.” He sighed and glanced her way. “I know it was awful, and I blame myself. We shouldn’t have left you behind…”
She shook her head. “I understand why you did. You needed to make sure the offer was legitimate, so you left us behind.” He had left the women and children behind. The males were needed to secure their protection with the Alliance, and the few that stayed back had done their best. They hadn’t been the strongest, and she didn’t want to tell him that he’d left the wrong males because he had to know that already. What happened was proof of that.
“You’re safe here, Mar—Rhogue.” He grinned when he used the name she had given herself. “They’re not going to come anywhere near here.”
She kept her eyes on the ditches and beyond, checking, always checking. Marie had been a happy, trusting, optimistic girl. That was gone, so she chose Rhogue as her new name. Most of the others picked their name, as they did their new family. It was normal for a shifter with no clan.
“There are too many of us here, and we have the Alliance protection now.”
She nodded and took a shaky breath. “I know, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop looking over my shoulder.”
Cassius sighed. “None of us will, kid. None of us will.”
Turning back, she looked out the window. She had been with Cassius’ family since she was a baby. Rogue groups weren’t like clans, people came and went, but Cassius had taken over watching out for her after his parents were gone. She’d never asked him why his family wasn’t part of a clan. Most times, you didn’t ask; you just accepted that they needed the security of numbers, just like you, and carried on.
She had been so excited when he told everyone the news. All of the others were, too, even if they tried not to show it. Finally, after living in complete uncertainty from day to day, they would have a home and a place in the shifter society.
Now, after what had happened to her, she was just happy to be alive and free. Some of the others still looked at her with sympathetic eyes, but she ignored them. This was a new chapter in her life, and she was going to get through it and start the next one—one day at a time.
“When we get back, can you make a few packs up? I need to get them to the guys and then go check on Marauder and River.”
Marie nodded. “Yes. What do they do there? They can’t just stand around. People would notice.”
“Devin Addison set them up to appear like they’re surveyors. We have about another week of that, and then we’ll have to swap out those two and come up with another story.”
“That's really smart.”
Cassius laughed. “The Alliance has figured out a lot of shortcuts.”
There was only one way to reach the factory by road, so they had some of theirs in the closest town, which was an hour away, keeping watch for anyone sniffing around for its location. The only other way was through hours and hours of bush or by air, and that’s what her people did; cover that area to keep watch. “What are they going to do about hunting once all the snow is gone?”
He glanced at her. “The land is a protected area. I’m sure the King has probably got someone on the inside to look after hunters.”
She nodded. “That’s good. I always worried about ours being shot at.”
He snorted. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“I know. I just worry.”
“I feel like you’ve taken that on as your title. The official worrier of the group.”
She laughed. “I’m pretty sure all of us worry. I just voice it more than the others.” She gripped the dash as they turned into the lane where their house was. They had three, but this was the biggest one so Cassius stayed at it, along with the women and children.
The truck slid to a stop, and she breathed a sigh of relief. A warm home that they were meant to have. That was a first in her life.