Chapter 195: OUTCAST

VINCE

This was hell. It had to be. I'm being burned by the heat from the fire, and my bones are aching from the torture.

It's no surprise a man like me would be here. Where else would I be?

"Is he awake?" The calm, familiar voice yanked at my illusion of hell. Not that he couldn't be in hell with me but he sounded normal. He wasn't in pain.

So I guess he wasn't in hell. Neither was I.

I forced my eyes open and was greeted by the blinding white lights hanging above me. I winced, trying to block the light from hitting my face but the attempt to lift my hand sent a sharp pain through my nerves.

Fuck!

I shut my eyes with a groan and squirmed at the pain.

"He's awake!" The voice came louder now.

I turned my head to the side and gradually opened my eyes. This time, I wasn't staring at any damned light. I was staring at the owner of the voice.

Luke.

He was beaming. "You're awake, man. Finally."

For a man who's very obsessed with always looking impeccably neat, he looks completely shitty right now. Those hair strands look like they haven't been combed in ages which also means we haven't gone home.

"Where...are we?" I groaned out. The pain in my voice was a reflection of the pain I was feeling in my joints and veins.

"The old man's place."

The old man? Right. The sorcerer.

"Don't you recall what happened?" He asked, assessing me with his eyes. My hesitation made his eyes widen. "You really don't recall?"

It took a nanosecond, and then the memories came flooding back into my head.

The screams. The howls. The bodies. Her face. The dread in those eyes. Her ear-piercing shrieks when Declan's sidekick dragged her away.

"Where's...Elena?" I asked, attempting to sit up but failing miserably. I groaned as a new set of pain awakened inside of me. "What happened to me?"

"You were badly injured. Those rogues went really brutal on you. I brought you here. The sorcerer is healing you. He sealed your open wounds and started some magical heat inside your body. He said it was for your overly stretched out bones."

Right. No wonder I feel like I'm in hell.

"Where's...Elena?" I reiterated with a groan. He didn't answer that part. And I needed an answer.

"Where do you think? Of course, they took her."

I tried getting up again. My bones were fighting me down. The pain was fucking agonizing but my stubborn ass was hell-bent on sitting up.

"Take it easy," Luke held me, trying to help, but his hands touched my gut, and the pain tripled.

"Fuck, man!"

"Sorry!" He let me go instantly. I was midway to sitting up, but letting me go with no heads-up gave me zero time to balance myself, so I fell back on the mattress.

"You're a piece of shit!" I groaned aggressively at the pain eating me up.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm not sure where to hold you. You're hurting everywhere."

Fuck!!!

"Where's the old man? He needs to turn off this fire he started inside me."

"He stepped out. He'll be back soon. Try to stay calm."

I took deep breaths. Deep, fucking breaths. The brief moment of silence had me recalling every beastly detail of what I did hours ago.

I tore those men apart and fed on them like they were meat. That's the most roguish thing ever. I'm a fucking rogue. A dog. I can't believe it! I feel disgusted with myself.

I hate that I can recall everything accurately. They're too gruesome. I'd like to forget them. Especially the part where she was looking at me with horror-filled eyes. I'd really love to forget that part.

But she's not the only one who saw me. Luke did too. And he might seem okay but I can feel his fear. It's loud in the silence existing between us right now.

"You know I'm not gonna hurt you, right?" I asked. It came out croaky, stealing the silence.

He chuckled nervously. "I know that. I'm reminding myself every two minutes."

Right. He doesn't believe I won't hurt him. I guess he's traumatized by what he saw. Then God knows how Elena feels right now. I wanna speak to her as soon as possible. I wanna get rid of every nasty, heartbreaking thought she's having at the moment. Especially any part that has to do with unloving me.

I can handle the guys being scared of me. But not her.

"But you know what, man? I'm not exactly shocked. Nah, I am shocked. But what I'm trying to say is, after thinking about it from a clearer perspective, it's not exactly shocking that you're not one of us."

I shot him a look. "What do you mean?"

"Vince, man. Let's be honest. You've never acted like pure blood. You're darker. You're twisted. You're vicious. You're insane. You're dangerously obsessive. And maybe your buddies never dared to confront you about your anomalies. Hell, I didn't have the courage either. But I thought about it every once in a while and I bet they did too. You're obviously different from us. So it kinda makes sense."

"So is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"It's a Vince thing." He shrugged. "And boy, I'm terrified. I'd be lying if I said I'm not. But I think I'll eventually get used to it. So don't beat yourself much."

I shut my eyes in pain. But yeah, his words were very soothing.

"Do you think Elena is gonna ever get used to it? She detests rogues. Will she ever forgive me for being one?"

"I'm sure you're not asking that to get an answer from me. Because I got none. I don't know her well enough to answer that."

Right. Nevermind.

"I need to go get her. I need to speak to her."

"You need to heal, man."

"Your friend's right." The old man's voice interrupted as he walked into the room. "Your bones were severely wounded. You need to rest and heal."

"I'm not that injured-"

"Don't lie to yourself." The man scoffed, dropping some leaves beside me. This is one hell of a scruffy bedroom, I just realized.

"Besides, dangerous men are looking for you in those woods. If you go out there, you'll be dead."

"What men?"

"Prince Declan's men."

"Does it even make sense that he's still hunting down Vince? Ain't they all supposed to be rogues?" Luke asked.

"I hate to break it to you, but Vince would never be accepted by the existing rogues right now. And neither will he be accepted by pure bloods when they all find out about his real roots."

"Are you saying Vince might become a lonewolf?"

"Not a lone wolf. An outcast."

"What?!" Luke gasped.

"OUTCAST."

A huge lump formed in my throat at that word and I swallowed it forcefully.

As if being a rogue was devastating and derogatory enough. I'm also gonna become an outcast?

So much for being the almighty Vince Walker, huh? My ego and pride are in hell right now, burning to ashes. I've been brought to nothing. And God, it fucking hurts.

"How is that possible? He's Vince Walker. Why would he be banished?" Luke was determined to argue my case.

"If the people find out his roots, they wouldn't be comfortable with him still being their Alpha. Now, he can't join these rogues. They hate him for what his Father did to their ancestors. So what choice does he have left? He'll have to go far away from here."

"And leave his Pack? His people? His family? That's insane!"

"Wait, both of you, shut up. Where's my son?" It fucking just dawned on me that I saw him in that chaos. I saw him get involved in that fight. I don't know what happened afterwards. "Where's Trent?"

I didn't expect the icy silence that followed. Why? What happened?