20

Soran

Never have I ever seen such a huge horde of Rogues. Never have I ever seen them attack so viciously. Never have I seen them as if they were attacking in a pack. Rogues always attack in groups of two or three at a time.

These Rogues are coming at us in groups of five and six all at once with at least two raging in every ten seconds. I fought with every ounce in my body, making sure that I severely injured them so they couldn't heal right, or, if I really felt like it, I outright killed them. Why capture so many if we're just going to kill them all? Kill the ones who look the weakest and don't know much about who's behind the scheme and save the ones who look like they're in control of the groups.

That's what I've been trained to do. That's how we operate in my pack. That's how we get things done. It's quick, simple, and effective. Why waste countless hours of planning on something so small? Leave that for the more well thought out plans.

I sensed a new body enter the equation. I glanced over my shoulder and huffed. Why is Gaven here?! He could get seriously hurt- Whoa, okay, never mind. He just killed three Rogues within three seconds. He's either got a super boost right now, or he's running on pure adrenaline. This is either really good, or really bad.

On one hand, he can help us take out more Rogues.

On the other, he could get severely injured and not know it until he comes off his high and begins to bleed out.

Yet if he takes down a lot of Rogues, we might lose the more important ones.

Fuck it. Let him do as he wants. After all, he is Alpha and it's his land.

I'm just a visitor who won't become Alpha until I can bring my mate home.

If killing Rogues will help us find Emma faster, then so be it.

We just have to find the end of the Rogues, first. They just keep pouring out of the forest. It's getting harder to fight when you're falling over crippled and dead bodies and slipping in the blood soaked ground. Our attacks are becoming sloppy, both the pack's and the Rogues. We can't land any effective hits, making the battle draw out longer.

A bark near the back sounded and any Rogue that could tried to slip away. I growled. No. Not this time. I ran over to the body of a Rouge, rolled around in the blood a bit, then raced off after them, hoping the smell of blood will make them think I'm one of them, if only temporarily. I have to see where they're going. I can't let them get away again.

As I ran with the Rogues, I happened to catch a glance of a few of my pack members. "Fall back! I shouted to them. Make them think they're getting away! I've got this!" Slowly, they began to come to a stop.

A few Rogues around me rumbled with laughter. They glanced back at me, giving smug glances. I gave the same one, but only for a different reason. 'I've got you guys now...'

Finally, after a while of running, we ended up half way to the border of Northern California and came to a stop. We came to a stop and shifted back. "That was intense!" A Rouge said as he pushed his blood soaked hair out of his eyes. "I thought for certain I was gonna die!"

"You're telling me!" I had to force my eyes to stay above the female Rogue's chest. "Our leader never told us anything about the new guy's attack strategy! I don't think she even studied them!" She? So this Rogue knows something about the mastermind behind all this.

"Does she even know what she's doing?" Another asked. "It almost feels as if she's sending us in for our demise. I had been told she would be rotating the attack formations, but this is the third fight we've seen in a week! We're losing members!"

"And fast..." One huffed as he pulled a bit at his hair. "We can't keep fighting. One of the damn warrior's from Gaven's pack bit me in the same spot three times in a row! What are the odds of that? Three different fights and each time the same wound keeps opening."

"That's some terrible luck." The woman who spoke pushed her raven black hair out of her eyes. "Alright, guys. Enough of this. It's time to clean up and meet back at camp. Izzy will be expecting us before sundown. We've got a long way ahead of us."

"Yes, Alazara." We all shifted back. The group broke off into segments and went for the water source near here. I pretended to head with them, but hung back and watched from the thick brush. The one called Alazara sighed heavily and scratched at her head. She has to be contemplating something. She keeps taking steps towards the Rogues, but stepping back the way she came from.

"Crap... I don't know what to do." She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms tightly around her. "Do I go with them, or...? Gah! I don't know what to do!"

I shifted back and stood from the brush. "You're coming with me."

She gasped and stood, quickly turning her body to shield herself. "I knew you weren't part of our group! I'm surprised no one else could pick up the power you were giving off."

"Then you will do as I say and come with no hassle." I narrowed my eyes at her.

"And if I don't?" She glared at me.

"Then I will have to use force." I growled, watching her shrink back a bit. "And trust me, you will wish you were dead."

She scanned my eyes before looking away and sighing. "Fine. Lead the way." I came up to her, turned her around, and pushed her on the small of her back with my hand. She stumbled forward, but walked.

It felt weird guiding her instead of knocking her out and dragging her back by her tail. I've never actually had someone come willingly. It just... it doesn't feel right.

I glanced around, making sure no one was following us. "There's no one around us for miles." Alazara suddenly said. "They're like mindless sheep. They'll do as their told with no question. Rogues. I hate them all."

I remained silent, not wanting to get involved. I don't care where she came from. I just need information about her leader.

"I used to be a Beta." Where is all this coming from? She probably thinks I'm just going to kill her and leave her body right here. "But my Alpha didn't think I was strong enough to be Beta, so he forced me to go Rogue. Chased me off his land. But I was the lucky one! My brother can't even shift! We're only a quarter Wolf."

I took a quick glanced over her body, noting that the healing process was just a bit faster than the normal healing of a human. Her ankle is swollen and purple. I can't believe she's still walking. I rolled my eyes. Damn it, I can't believe I'm about to do this.

I scooped Alazara up and onto my back piggy-back style. "Hey! Put me down!"

"Would you rather me sling you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes?" She went silent. "That's what I thought. Now hold on." I took off running, going over the rough terrain with ease. Miles were flying behind us.

Within thirty minutes, we made it near the pack boundary. I slowed to a walk and set her back down. Almost instantly my men came out from their posts. "I see you brought one back." He looked Alazara up and swallowed. She looked away.

"She's the leader of the group that attacked us." I stated.

"Second leader," She corrected, causing a couple of growls from my men. She shut up.

"Anyway, I pulled her from the group for questioning." I continued. "First, we need to find her clothes. Then we need to take her to Gaven." My men nodded and soon a shirt and shorts were provided for Alazara and I. We slipped on our attire. I went in one direction while she went in another, my men flanking her.

I made my way through the pack house to where I knew Gaven would be. I opened the door to the infirmary to see a few wires sticking out both his arms. "And what happened here?"

"Doc is running a few tests." Gaven rolled his eyes. "It's stupid. I feel fine! Ouch! Easy there, Doc. You stuck those needles in pretty far."

"You shouldn't be moving around so easily after that attack." The doctor said. "You took a few hits and they healed rather fast, at the normal speed, but that doesn't mean you're Wolf is healed."

"He just told you to fuck off and leave us alone." Gaven said bluntly. The doctor simply ignored him and wrote a few things on a clipboard.

"So, anything interesting happen after you ran off?" Gaven asked me.

"I caught one of the leaders of the Rogues." I pulled up a chair. "She's in a holding cell, waiting for you to come question her."

"It's a girl?" Emily asked from beside Gaven.

"Yes," I confirmed. "But after we question, we won't go through the traditional method of getting rid of Rogues."

Gaven scrunched his eyes up a bit. "But don't you and your pack always get rid of them?"

"Well..." I grumbled.

"Yes?" He prompted.

I shook my head, "Look, it's nothing, okay? I'll let you know more about it when I get more details."

"No, I want to know now. Hey! Get back here! I didn't say you could leave! Get back here! OW! Damn needles! Soran! Get back here!" I simply ignored him. I don't even understand it.

I need to confront my Beta about it. He'll know something about it.

-------------

Emma

"Let me out..." I sighed. "I'm bored... The metal is cold... My nose itches..." They have me strapped to a steel table spread eagle, my arms above my head. The table is at a slight angle and is positioned to where I can't see who's coming in to my new holding cell.

"I think one of my arms fell asleep..." I rolled my head a bit to try and scratch my nose with my arm. Sadly I couldn't reach. "My ankle hurts... I have to pee... I'll go right now. Don't think I won't!" Of course, I'm lying. I hope this plan I have to make someone come into the room and let me down to fix something will give me my chance to escape. Hell, I'd settle with someone coming to pour some more of that burning liquid back on my ankle. And yes, they still have something digging into the open wound, refusing to let it heal.

As much as it will hurt, I'm hopefully gonna kick them hard enough to make them release the key, catch it in my toes, toss it up my hand, unlock my restraint, then get me off this table and escape. Yeah, it's a long shot, but it's something.

The door opened and I sighed. "Ugh, finally! My ankle hurts really bad and I feel like my bladder is about to burst."

"Ankle first." A male voice said. I just barely watched him as he pulled a dark bottle out of a small bag. Huh. It's only peroxide. Odd... I watched him pull out the key to unlock my ankle and stick it in his mouth once it opened. It sat there between his teeth loosely. Only got one shot at this...

I snapped my leg up and out, landing a solid kick to his jaw. He grunted and fell back, the key popping from his mouth. Well, would you look at that! I caught the key between my toes. I tossed it up to my left hand and quickly unlocked my wrist. Well, I knew it was a ridiculous idea, but it's working! I quickly got myself off the table and grimaced as my left ankle nearly gave out from under me. Yeah, it hurts a lot... I'll be surprised if I can get two feet from the room before someone comes for me.

Before I left I scratched at my nose like I've been wanting to for a while, then left the man knocked out on the floor. I hobbled out of the room, hoping my ankle would begin to heal soon, and fast. I softly groaned to myself as I favored my leg and found myself in a clean room. Interesting change of events from my pitch black room.

I looked through some of the cupboards, finding many instruments of torture. Well, now I know why I was strapped like I- is that a... oh god, it is. I quickly shut that cupboard and went for another one. I tried to keep from thinking if that item was going to be shoved inside of me before or after the torture. I shuddered and opened a closet.

Ah-ha! Scrubs! I can wear these for now until I can actually find some real clothes. I chose a pale blue pair of scrubs, put them on, then left the room.

Okay, now which way do I go to get out? Left or right? Left... or right? Left or... right? Left or right...? Left or- I'm going right. I turned to my right and started down the hallway that seemed to never end. Of course, it seemed to go on forever because I'm walking slow with a limp.

I passed so many different doors, each of them open. I couldn't really see much since the lights are off and there are no windows in any of the rooms. I don't want to know what's in there. I just want to get out of here, kill everyone in sight, then head home.

"Stop!" Well, hello, victim number one. I spun around, ready to face whoever was there. The man who came into my room to let me out stood before me. He held a syringe in his left hand and a knife in the other. "You're not supposed to be out of your room! Either come quietly, or I'll be forced to bring you down!"

I rolled my eyes. "Bring it on." He charged at me, growling. I acted on instinct. I dodged his attack, grabbed his right arm, then took his knife from him. In that next instance, he went to stab me with the syringe full of whatever liquid that is. I used his own knife against him to disable him, then grab the syringe and stab him with it, pushing the plunger all the way down. Instantly, his eyes shut and he slumped to a heap on the ground.

I have no idea what this stuff is, but I hope it killed him. I stuck the knife in the pocket of my scrubs, dropped the syringe on the ground, then walked off.

Time to find victim number two. And get out of this damn place.