0073
Dane
Jenson starts climbing the wooden fence.
I grab his shoulder "You have to wait. We don't know what we are walking into."
"Does it matter? I need to help her, she is running. I can track her."
"Dane is right." Mallory mutters. "You don't know what else is in there."
'What is she talking about?' Aero asks
"Rogue Lycans?" Jenson chuckles. "I've killed enough Lycans already, a couple more won't hurt."
Mallory looks at me. "I didn't tell you everything. When you asked me if there were more. I said a few."
"Is this something to do with the Damien guy you keep mentioning?"
"No." Her eyes scan the corn.
"They hide here, is that what you are trying to say?"
"It's more than that! Look around you Dane, there are not many hiding places out here. But you should know that there are some who stay in Lycan form, almost like they have lost their human side." She looks around her. "How many humans have you seen since you arrived in this town? And no police."
"They killed the humans?"
"They feast on them."
'Fucking gross!' Aero gags
"That's why Damien tried to get rid of us?"
She nods, her dirty blonde hair falling around her face. "Damien keeps the Rogues from moving elsewhere. He brings them bad people. You know, criminals, people that hurt children. Those kind."
"How many are there?" Jenson asks as he continues to stare into the cornfield
"A dozen."
"Damien's the only one like you?" I ask. "One that still shifts between both forms?" She nods.
"Screw it!" Jenson charges into the corn
"Don't!" Mallory grabs my arm again. "You have a mate to go back to. I can't be the reason she gets hurt again."
"Jenson is my brother!" I mutter, pulling my wrist free of her grip. "And Jess is her family."
Quickly hurrying into the corn, I realise I am practically blind.
The tall stems block my view of everything.
Whichever way Jenson had headed, the corn stems had jumped right back up in position.
I would be relying entirely on my nose.
And that was the problem.
Lycans didn't have a scent when they shifted.
Mallory appears next to me. "I will try to help."
We creep forward, inch by inch, following Jenson's scent.
After a few minutes Mallory stops me. A new scent hits me, one that I had not smelled before.
"Damien, I know you are there, watching me! Come out." Mallory demands
I see the corn move close to us. Dark eyes pop out, though the corn still hides the majority of his face. He was taller than me.
"You shouldn't be here, Mallory." His deep voice muttes
Mallory's arms fold up over her chest as she rolls her eyes. "Have you seen a girl with red hair, she's being chased by a Wolf?" "You know I see everything."
"She is one of us, Damien. Cassandra bit her."
He steps through the corn towards us. I could see why he had been chosen to be turned. He is massive.
'Massive is an understatement.' Aero muses.
"Then why are there Wolves after her?" Damien demands
"It's complicated." I mutter.
His dark eyes find mine, his upper lip twitches "Funny coloured eyes you have for a Wolf."
I ignore his comment, "One Wolf kidnapped her as a favour for someone else." I mutter "The other is her mate, and is trying to save her."
"Right, A Wolf mated to a bitten Lycan. Now I have heard it all" He shakes his head dismissively
"It's true." Mallory mutters. She frowns, "Remember what I told you about why I ended up here?"
Damien's head moves up and down but he doesn't break eye contact with me. "What has that got to do with anything?"
"She's alive and she sees the redheaded girl like a sister."
"You told me you killed her, Mallory."
"I thought I did, but she....she somehow survived. And the least I can do to repay her is to help her by making sure that the girl is safe."
I glance over to Mallory, and see more emotion than ever. I see the guilt she feels, the sadness for what she had done. I see that she has been living with her actions for years. "Why isn't she here herself?" Damien asks
"She's on bed rest." I bite my tongue from saying anything more.
Damien narrows his eyes at me, but he doesn't push for more answers. "You are in luck. The Rogues are a few fields over, sleeping."
He leads us through the corn, to both Greg and Jenson who are bound, gagged and out cold.
"Where is Jess?" I ask
"Jess, you can come out." Damien calls, standing over the unconcious men
A few seconds pass and she charges through the corn at me, locking her arms around my waist. "I didn't think I would see you again!" "Which one is the kidnapper?" Damien asks me.
I point to Greg.
Damien strides over to him, ripping him up off the ground. He sinks his teeth into Greg's throat and tears it out. Tossing Greg away like he was nothing as he spits out the throat. "The Rogues will find him later."
Damien's eyes scan Jess as she hugs me. "Cassandra really turned someone so young."
I nod, "But old enough to be able to shift."
"She needs shooting."
"She's already dead." I reply
"You killed her?"
"No, my mate. She ripped her heart out."
He chuckles, "Your mate is smart."
"She's the Alpha." Jess whispers from my chest.
Damien suddenly looks up and out into the corn.
"You need to move. They have picked up the scent of fresh blood." His dark eyes move to Mallory.
"Take them to the house. I will meet you there." Damien presses his lips to her forehead before taking off into the corn.
"Jess, go with Mallory. I will get Jenson."
I haul my brother up onto my shoulder. Damien must have hit him with a decent force to knock him out.
By the time we make it back to the car, he is stirring. "Jess." He mumbles.
"Jess is safe. You will see her in a minute." I mutter just as he crashes out again
"Come on!" Mallory shouts. "If they catch your scent, I won't be able to stop them."
The car speeds away, the moment I close the door. Mallory doesn't take us back in the direction we came, but she carries on north.
"He said take us to the house!" I snap
"I heard. He isn't talking about the shit pit you hid out in!"
Jess spins in her seat to look at me. Her soft blue eyes are wide. "He kidnapped me! Alpha Greg took me!"
"I know. I'm sorry. I was so busy protecting Neah, we all were. I didn't think you would be harmed."
"Why? I did nothing to him."
""He kidnapped you for his brother."
"Alpha Roan?"
I nod
Her eyes move to my brother. "He really came to find me?"
"Yes."
"I'm still not accepting his rejection."
"Then don't. Maybe it's time he learned he can't always get what he wants. But if the last two days have taught me anything, he does care for you too. And he will wait." She smiles and slowly turns back around, relaxing into the seat.
Mallory pulls into the drive of a much tidier house than the last place. Freshly planted flowers sit in boxes on the windowsills. A small white picket fence framed the garden. "This is your actual home?"
"The other place is my base. This is my personal home. Just because I'm a beast, it doesn't mean I can't have anything nice. Make yourself comfortable. I need a shower." Jess immediately raids the fridge, muttering about how she was starving as I dump Jenson on to the sofa. His bruises had healed, yet still, he wasn't awake.
The front door swings open and Damien strides in. He laughs when he sees Jenson. "He needs to learn to take a proper punch! Where's Mallory?" "Shower." Jess mumbles with her mouth full
"Right." He takes off his jacket, revealing the tattoos that creep up his neck. "The Rogues know that you are here." He sits on the sofa opposite me "As soon as Jenson wakes, we will be leaving."
He looks towards the stairs, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Take Mallory with you."
"She doesn't want that. She doesn't want to be part of a pack."
"He's right!" Mallory moves down the stairs towards us in a fresh set of clothes. She had tied up her blonde hair too. "This is my home. And I am not leaving without you, Damien"
"I need to stay to make sure the other Rogues stay put. You don't belong here anymore."
"This is my home!" There is so much rage in her eyes. But she softens the longer he stares back at her. "They are getting restless, aren't they?"
He frowns as he nods, "Food is becoming sparse for them, That one wolf won't be enough for all of them. They are turning on each other. Three have died in the last week." Damien tells her. "Really?" Mallory whispers, slowly sitting down. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to worry you. Mallory, they are on the verge of turning on us." Damien tells her.
"You are going to kill them?" I ask
Damien nods. "It needs to be done."
"It was supposed to be a safe place for them. After what she did to us." Mallory groans
"It was, once." He moves over to her. "Go with the Wolf. Go see the female Lycan. Apologise to her. If I survive, I will come find you. If I don't, then you will need help to take the Rogues down."