The Rogue's Luna

Distance

She was everywhere, and that was the problem. When she had been unconscious, bleeding out in my bed, I could pretend she was temporary. A body I had saved out of principle. A life I kept breathing because I could. But now? Now she was awake. Alive. Walking. Breathing. Reading my books. Eating my food. Asking quiet, cautious questions. And being in my space. The cabin wasn’t made for two. It was barely made for one. Every corner felt smaller now. The fire felt warmer. The air felt tighter. To make it worse, her scent clung to the walls, soft and electric, burning through my head like smoke. I couldn’t think straight. Not with her here. I found her sitting cross-legged on the couch this morning, flipping through Hunted by the Moon, a new book I had just finished reading. She was reading it like it mattered. Like the pages were made of something more than dust and fiction. She looked up at me like she could feel my thoughts clawing against the inside of my skull.

“Hope you don’t mind,” she had said. I did mind. It bothered me a lot. More than I cared to admit. But I grunted and went outside. Now, hours later, I stood by the river with my boots buried in the mud and a sack strapped over my shoulder. The note I had left her was tucked under her mug:

Gone for supplies. Back tomorrow. Don’t open the door. – Thorne.

She had fallen asleep, and I had seen that as an opportunity to take a little break. It was probably an excuse, but I didn’t care. And of course, Ace wasn’t happy.

“You ran,” he accused, and I rolled my eyes.

“I walked,” I muttered.

“You ran emotionally,” he corrected himself. I scowled and pushed deeper into the trees, farther from the cabin, from her, from the scent that had soaked into every corner of my life like she owned it. “You like having her there,” he added, and a small part of me wished I could leave him behind as well.

“No, I don’t,”

“Liar,” he stated, but I didn’t answer. The walk was long, it always was. The main road sat over a day away on foot if I didn’t shift. But I didn’t want Ace to take control. Not today. I didn’t want him near the surface with her scent still clinging to us. I needed distance. Space. Breath. Peace. I stopped when the trees thinned and leaned against a moss-covered boulder, stretching the muscles in my back and rolling my shoulders until they cracked. The pack used to laugh about how I carried tension like armor. They didn’t understand. Not that they ever would. Not that I ever expected anyone to understand. I did wonder if Liora would understand. She was built differently. The way she carried herself. The way she talked and acted. I shook my head.

“Stop,” I scolded myself. I had left her to get some time alone. I shouldn’t even be thinking about her.

“She belongs to us,” Ace said, and I groaned.

“No,”

“You know what she is,”

“She is a complication,”

“She is our mate,”

“Shut it,” I snapped as I stopped and closed my eyes for a moment. After a long moment of silence, I continued on my journey. The silence that followed was louder than the voices. After a few more miles, I reached the edge of the forest. The road split the trees like a scar. Wide and cracked, unused by most unless they were running from something or trying not to be found. I crossed the road and continued for another few more miles. It was getting late, but I pushed on. I made sure to leave no tracks as I approached my well-hidden secret. Buried under a curtain of hanging branches and overgrown vines was the rusting outline of my truck. Still where I left it. I brushed back the leaves and slipped into the driver’s side. The seat springs groaned under my weight, and the inside still smelled like old leather and damp earth. The windows were foggy from the cold, but I didn’t bother clearing them. I just leaned back and shut my eyes. Normally, I would let Ace do the work, but with Liora and her f*****g scent, I hadn’t wanted to take the chance. Now I wasn’t only tired, but it was far too late for me to go into town now.

“We shouldn’t have left her,” Ace said, and I groaned as my eyes snapped out.

“Can we just drop it?”

“She could be scared,”

“I doubt that,” I muttered as I got comfortable. Or at least as comfortable as I could. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the silence. I could tell that Ace wanted to argue, but I wasn’t interested. Unfortunately, the last thing I saw before sleep pulled me under was her face. Great, just great.

I woke up stiff, hungry, and annoyed. I climbed out of the truck and used the water I kept in the back to clean myself as best as I could. I then changed into a clean shirt, jeans, and sneakers before I pulled on a jacket. Once I was behind the wheel, I started the engine and listened to it rumble for a moment. Gravel crunched under the tires as I used the dirt path to get to the main road. As soon as I hit the road, I floored it. The drive was short and painless. And the town was the same as always. An old gas station. A broken café sign. I parked in the parking lot in front of the only grocery store in town.

“Morning,” a local greeted me as I entered the store. I grunted in response. No one else paid me any attention. I grabbed some tinned food, some pasta, and rice. I also headed down the meat aisle and grabbed some frozen chicken and beef. I sighed softly when I went down the snack aisle. I hated the stuff, but I had a guest. An unwanted guest. I threw in quite a few different snack options before I grabbed some boxed milk and coffee, as well as some sugar. It was a lot more than what I normally bought, but I didn’t have much of a choice. I also grabbed some extra toilet paper, and some other toiletries I figured she might need. As I headed toward the checkout section of the grocery store, I spotted a small clothing section. I paused as I considered it. Liora had been wearing my clothes, which was a massive inconvenience. I sighed loudly as I headed over.

“Can I help you?” a woman asked as I thumbed through some pants.

“Um…” I wasn’t sure what to say, so I lied. “My girlfriend needs some stuff,”

“Ok, what sort of stuff?” she asked.

“Clothes and s**t,” I grumbled.

“Ok…can you tell me about her?” I spent the next five minutes describing Liora as best as I could. I didn’t know her size, and I blushed when the woman asked if I wanted to get some underwear. I politely declined, even though I was pretty sure Liora needed it. Still, the woman picked out a few items, and eventually I was able to pay and leave. When I was finally back in the truck, I couldn’t help but wonder how the hell I was going to get everything back to the cabin. I decided to drive the truck back as far as I could. I sighed as I finally left the small town.