Chapter 29
Drake, Gamma Peter and twelve other warriors raced down the eastern boundary of their pack lands. They were tracking eight rogues down the boundary. It was so good to get out of the apartment and into the forest. Every wolf needed to run. Tracking rogues made it funner.
Beta Tim was on the western border tracking a group of seven. Drake’s eight rogues were in front of him but they weren’t engaging. It was like they were on a mission and only moving through.
Rouges didn’t operate in groups together. They were solitary creatures that would rather kill than care. Wolves needed packs to stay mentally stable. One could go rogue for a period of time and still join a new pack, mentally sound. The problem was the long term.
At some point, a lone wolf couldn’t handle their existence anymore. They slid into a feral state. After that, no one seemed to be able to reach the human in the wolf. For some wolves, being able to go rogue was a survival tactic. Sometimes a wolf couldn’t stay in a pack and didn’t know where to go.
The Blood Moon Pack didn’t assume all rogues were bad. If the rogue wolf attacked, they’d be put down. If the rogue wolf wanted to talk, they’d be heard. If the rogue wolves were moving through, the Alpha would contact the Alpha in the pack they were headed towards.
Most of the time, those two packs would join together to take care of the rogues. Once a rogue was to the point they couldn’t shift back to human, even at Alpha or Beta command, they were put down. Those wolves were a serious threat, even if they weren’t at that moment.
Healers had searched for a millennia on how to reconnect feral wolves to their humans. Debates raged on whether the human died, was sleeping or actively participating. There was no way to tell.
The Bastion Pack was to the east. Blood Moon Pack had always had good relations with them.
They were smaller and more secluded in the foothills of the Charbaneau Mountain Range.
Blood Moon was big enough to essentially be a block from the rest of the world.
They wanted to keep it that way. More than a few rogues had ended up settling there and never wanted to be found by their old pack again.
Sometimes, they just needed a new bastion to catch them.
Their main principle was that anyone could start over again under the right circumstance.
Drake mind-linked Alpha Roger, We’ve got rogues coming your way. What’s your pleasure?
Let’s corral ‘em and see who talks. Mt. Celeste. Drive ‘em there. Got an ETA?
See ya in 30.
Warriors fanned out to herd the rogues towards Mt.
Celeste. It was a natural corral to deal with this group.
Just the fact that these rogues were moving as a group set Drake on edge.
The behavior was completely abnormal. To top it off, they didn’t want to fight.
One of his guys had provoked and the rogue moved away. All of them did.
Right now, they were falling to the pressure of being herded. Alpha Roger and his men were already in place, ready to receive. Snapping and growling in the distance showed the protest but the plan was still working.
Beta Tim, Drake mind-linked, are they fighting? Any acting feral?
Nothing, just passing through. We’ve been asked to stop them.
Can you get them to Mt. Celeste?
On it.
Drake and his men neared the canyon at Mt.
Celeste. The rogues were getting more combative.
Their fight lacked any enthusiasm, though.
Rogues were usually up for a fight. They didn’t care who they fought, only whether or not they won.
The females in the group were just as ferocious as the males.
It was easy to see they were fierce fighters, too.
They were just not interested in Drake and his men.
Drake could see Alpha Roger and his men ringing around them. They were putting pressure on the rogues to get them in the enclosure. One dusty red little wolf was desperate to escape the closer they got to capture. She fought the most, almost breaking the leg of one of his warriors.
Don’t let her go, Alpha Roger yelled through the mind-link.
Drake and the warrior she almost injured flanked her, getting all the rogues in the enclosure. The rogues snapped and snarled their frustration. The dusty red wolf leaped over wolves, trying to get out of the entrance.
“Shift!” Alpha Roger’s command rolled over the rogues, forcing them back into human form. The little dusty red she-wolf was young, couldn’t have been over twenty. She lay curled in a ball, trembling, and crying. “Clothes, now!”
Alpha Roger grabbed the long shirt and sweat pants from his pack member and knelt beside the trembling girl. “Mate, sh, mate. It’s okay, you’re safe now.”
She quickly snatched the clothes from him and dressed, edging away as he tried to soothe her. Drake couldn’t help but have a sappy little smile at the dance. It reminded him of meeting Jaxom, so sure he’d met and lost his mate in a matter of moments.
“Hey, girl,” one of Alpha Roger’s female fighters swaggered over in all her naked glory. “You’re safe. Alpha Roger is the kindest to us rogues. Relax.” She winked at her Alpha and pulled clothes on as she went to help soothe, if one wanted to call it that, the next nervous wolf.
Alpha Roger got on one knee and offered the frightened girl his hand. She gulped back a sob as she slowly took it. Drake saw her look of surprise the moment she felt the tingles, the sense of home and safety, the moment her skin touched his.
“Mate,” she said softly. “How am I mated to an Alpha again? He said I wasn’t good enough.”
Alpha Roger growled in anger and she jerked her hand away.
“Who dared tell you you’re not good enough? I’ll kill him.”
“You mean he was wrong?”
“Of course, he was wrong,” Alpha Roger roared. “You’re perfect!” If the world hadn’t heard that declaration, they were def.
“You think I’m perfect?” She started to smile, not at all intimidated by his yelling.
“You are everything,” Alpha Roger breathed out, taking her hand again to pull her into a gentle embrace. Her head only came up to his shoulder.
“I think you’re pretty nifty, too,” she peaked up at him, “I’m not too small?”
“I saw your ability to fight. I like a woman who can defend herself. Makes it easier to get to her in a fight. She’s not so vulnerable. How long have you been rogue?”
“He kicked me out at eighteen. I’m twenty now. He said his new Luna wouldn’t tolerate my presence and he couldn’t find a pack to take a useless runt.”
“Well, he was wrong again,” Alpha Roger said with a touch of arrogance. “We do need to ask a few questions. Please try to answer us best you can. Why are the rogues passing through? Moving in groups? Where are they going?”
“We’ve been called, not by an Alpha or a person, we all feel it. We’re gathering outside the capital. Most rogues have been affected in some way by Alpha King Renz. We all hate him. His taint is killing all the realms. Most of these rogues want to see him dead. The rest want to help.”
“How did he affect you?” Alpha Roger asked her gently. For a big guy, he was laying it on thick for his Luna.
“He’s best friends with my former mate. The one that rejected me. Renz was there when we first met. He said I was a nobody and my mate could do better.” The young lady shook her hands out as if flinging tension. “I never would have accepted. A friend of Renz is not a man to be trusted.”
“Here, here,” Alpha Roger cheered her statement.
Alpha Roger stood tall as he looked at the two groups of rogues. “Please stay the night. We have plenty of food, plenty of room. Leave if you must, but eat first. Maybe after we talk one on one, you’ll find security and safety in this pack. We are no lovers of Renz, either.”
“Thank you,” Alpha Roger’s new Luna said as she hugged him. “I know all these wolves. I bet most will stay and be an asset to your pack.”
“Our pack,” Alpha Rogers said. “What’s your name?”
“Gail Inver. I was of the Silver Moon Pack.”
“Barry Sales? He was your fated mate?”
“Not any more. You are. His loss. I just won everything.”
Alpha Roger laughed as he picked his Luna up and swung her around. Drake knew he didn’t care he was Gail’s second chance mate. He had just won the gift wolves searched for from the moment of their 18th birthday.
“Come, Drake. We have new pack members to interview. You can share the info with your Alpha. Thank you for getting my mate home.”
Drake got home late that night. His notes were written up and on Alpha Steven’s desk ready to be read in the morning. Hayden was still crashed out on the couch as Jaxom read a book on mates.
“How’d it go?” Jaxom smiled as Drake kissed him.
“The rogues are being pulled to Ecrin to attack Renz. They are all pretty upset with him. And, it turns out the only packs they’ve been attacking are ones with close ties to him.
That’s why Blood Moon Pack has been left alone.
That bit of news has been repressed to make our little kingling look good. ”
“Rogue attacks have been up around the capital but not to the point of that many rogues gathering.”
“Yep. They’re waiting but they don’t know what the signal will be. It’s all vague. An overwhelming urge to be in place so they can hurt Renz the most at the right time. Not one of the rogues were feral. They all opted to join Roger’s pack. He found his Luna among them.”
“Good for him!” Jaxom cheered. “He’s been looking for years. He thought he was too old for a Luna at 28.”
“They’ll be having pups in next to no time,” Drake said with a lopsided grin. “It may be odd to say, but seeing them together made me feel better. She reminded me of me when I first met you. Scared shitless to be rejected. He’s her second chance mate.”
“Speaking of having some of fun,” Jaxom winked at Drake and gestured to the bedroom.
“I would love to but I think that’s on vacation for a couple weeks,” Drake said with a big sigh of regret. “I think the mate-bond is too deep now. We’ll wake him and he’s not ready yet.”
Jaxom’s eyes got large as he turned red. “Did he feel us last time?”
“I don’t think so. I felt the change with this attack. I’m pretty sure the bond will be almost complete by his birthday. Mating and marking will be a formality.” Drake paused and took Jaxom’s hand. “The first month for us but backwards.”
Jaxom got a slow smile, “Frustrating but a relief at the same time. We are running out of time.”