The Blacklisted Rogue
Chapter 30

Elijah POV

I had done my research and discovered that on this night, there was a Fall festival in town that started at 7 in the evening.

The center of the Fall festival was in a park just a few blocks from the restaurant and Sally and I walked there hand in hand.

There were market stands lining the pathway through the park and decorative lights in the trees and bushes. Sally looked around her with wide eyes. "This is so cute!" She squealed.

She took my hand and we strolled through the park together.

When I saw a stand with cotton candy I pulled Sally aside.

"You like cotton candy?" I asked.

Sally nodded eagerly.

"Oh, I haven't had it in a long time."

When we continued walking with a fluffy sugary cloud each, I glanced at Sally. She was beaming.

I noticed that since we came to the Blue Eclipse pack, Sally had become happier. Her eyes glowed and her hair glistened in the lights. She looked breathtakingly beautiful from the moment I laid eyes on her, but I could tell that Rogue life had taken a toll on her. If you stayed Rogue for too long, your wolf could go feral and the animalistic urges that were normally tamed by our human side would take over completely.

I was happy that it never came to that for us. Even though we were technically still Rogues, we were at least surrounded by pack wolves. I could tell that my wolf definitely preferred it.

The sound of music became louder the further into the park we went, and after a while we spotted a stage where a band was playing. Several people were dancing in front of the stage. We stood by the side and watched them while we finished our cotton candy. Sally tapped her foot on the ground. I figured that she wanted to dance and I instantly became a little anxious.

I couldn't say that I was a good dancer.

What if I stepped on her toes?

What if I bumped into someone else?

What if I stumbled and fell and made a fool out of myself?

My dark thoughts were interrupted when Sally took my hand and pulled me out to the dancefloor.

Screw it! It doesn't matter if I made a fool out of myself.

Sally is not my father.

No one here is my father.

Let them judge. I don't care.

I mentally patted myself on the back because I didn't let my thoughts become so destructive and I focused on Sally.

Soon, everything around us melted away and the only people existing were us.

At first, the music was quicker and we spun around so much that I became dizzy. We tried different twirls to the point where our arms became entangled in each other, causing us both to laugh out loud.

When the music slowed down, we slowly swayed together. Her small hand in mine. My other hand on her waist. Her hand on my chest.

I was surprised that I didn't step on her toes. At least, not that much.

The band played 'Hero' by Enrique Iglesias and it just felt like a perfect moment.

I can be your hero, baby.

I can kiss away the pain.

I will stand by you forever.

You can take my very breath away.

I made a silent promise. To myself and the Moon Goddess. I would be Sally's hero. I would never let anyone hurt her. I would fight until my last breath for her to be safe. I would be the mate she deserved. "Thank you for this." Sally said softly, smiling up at me.

I pressed a kiss on her forehead and relished her scent.

"I love you." I whispered.

"I love you too." She replied.

We stayed at the Fall festival until midnight, then we walked back to the car.

I felt amazing. It was like this weight had been lifted off my chest.

When we danced together, I was completely out of my comfort zone and for the first time in my life, I didn't feel any dread.

It was all Sally. Whenever I stumbled or stepped on her toes, she just laughed and we kept dancing. I felt safe with her. Not just because of the mate bond, but because she never judged me for anything. When I parked the car and opened Sally's door for her, I asked:

"Are you tired?"

Sally shrugged.

"Only a little."

I took her hand.

"Can I show you something?"

She nodded.

I pulled out a flashlight from the trunk of the car and we started walking towards the training grounds.

When we reached the lake, I saw Sally looking at me weirdly. She remembered the last time we were here, I could tell.

"Thank you for not asking about this." I said quietly.

"Of course." Sally said and cupped my cheek. "You asked me not to, so I figured you would just tell me when you're ready."

I gulped.

"I think I'm ready now. It feels like I'm ready to talk about it now. But I want you to decide if I'm going to. I've just had the best night of my life and I don't want to ruin it."

Sally pulled me down and gently pecked my lips.

"Being with someone means sharing both the good and the bad. You are my mate no matter what and nothing could ever ruin the good time we just had. So if you feel like you want to tell me tonight, go ahead. If you want to wait until tomorrow, that's fine with me too."

I smiled.

"Okay."

*

Trigger warning: mentions of domestic violence.

*

Sally POV

We sat down and I patiently waited for Elijah to start.

"So- umm-" Elijah said. "I don't really know where to begin."

I took his hand and gave him an encouraging smile while I waited for him to gather his thoughts.

"Alpha Richard and Beta Rafe are four years older than me." He began. "Our parents were the Alpha Unit and we were supposed to take over their titles one day. When Richard and Rafe's mothers got pregnant, everyone just waited for my mother to get pregnant too. But my parents struggled to get pregnant. It wasn't until three years later that they finally succeeded.

So I was four years behind them, but my father always wanted me to be able to keep up with them. So he started training me early. He taught me how to swim and held my head down under the water until my mother begged him to let me go. He always said that it was part of the training and if I couldn't handle it then I couldn't become Gamma. When she refused to let him train me like that, he took his anger out on her.

It happened more than once that I had to dress my mother's wounds after she had received a beating from my father. He blamed her for me being weak. If she just had gotten pregnant earlier I wouldn't be so far behind.

When I was eleven, there was a Rogue attack. My mother was killed. I wasn't strong enough to protect her. I hadn't shifted yet, so I couldn't fight a wolf in my human form, even if it was a Rogue."

Elijah took a deep breath.

"She died in my arms."

I felt a tear run down my cheek, but I didn't say anything.

"After she died, my father started to train me even harder. But on my thirteenth birthday he really surprised me. He got me a German Shepherd. He told me to teach it how to sit, lie down, roll over and play dead. Every moment I wasn't in training, I spent with my dog. I named her Layla. A lot of people at school made fun of me because of my face, and Richard and Rafe made sure that no one wanted to be friends with me despite my title. So, Layla was my only friend and the greatest gift I've ever been given." I smiled at the memory of Layla for a brief moment before I continued.

"For a moment, I thought that my father was happy with how my training progressed. Maybe he was, because a few months later he told me that he wanted to introduce me to a new challenge. He took me down to the dungeon. A Rogue woman was chained up in one of the cells.

My father gave me a gun and asked me to kill her."