Alastair:
“Where is it you last saw them?!” I asked through the pack link as I brushed through the forest to go after the pack of rogues that we had spotted along the city line.
They weren’t like the others. They were uniform and in sync with their movements as they fled. These beasts moved with far more intelligence than the ones that we’d been tracking and killing of late. Had they smartened up as well as strengthened?
Somehow, my gut told me that this was not the case. There was something different about these rogues. Either way, they needed to be put down. If they were strangers to Shadow Veil then they were enemies to Shadow Veil.
“We lost them around the bend, alpha!” Toran finally retorted through the link. “They’re faster than I remember them being.”
“I am beginning to think that these are not rogues at all.” John Minken chimed in. I was glad that he had as he was the mitigator of this thing. With John’s strategic prowess, this thing could be far less messy than it had to be.
Despite my sudden mistrust, It did not shake the confidence that I had in his capacity to perform the role he had as delta of Shadow Veil’s wolf pack.
“We’ll figure out what and who they are when we catch up to them,” I said. “Right now, they’re intruders and we need to dispatch them.”
We pressed forward but I wasn’t done speaking. I needed to speak with my beta one-on-one.
We pressed forward, gradually gaining up on them as we did. I was tired of this game of cat and mouse that we were playing while I connected with my beta.
“Toran,” I called to him and immediately he answered.
“Yes, alpha,” he finally responded.
“I know that we are in the middle of something
“Have you noticed anything….odd of late?” I asked, not wanting to blatantly inquire about such sensitive subjects through the pack link. Sure, I, for the most part, had control over who chimed in but unfortunately, there were the rare times where I left myself open to communication and sometimes. It wasn’t easy shutting out a pack full of wolves. Especially during moments such as this.
“Is there something that I should have noticed, alpha?” Toran asked.
It was a justifiable question. In truth, I wasn’t sure how to answer it. Not completely. And certainly not where my delta was concerned.
“I need to speak with you later,” I told him through the link while my eyes kept forward. “It’s of great importance. So as soon as we are done here, I need you in my study.” I said, expressing how important this was.
“As you wish, alpha.”
Just as the communication between our link cut out, I noticed a glimmer of quick footing darting through the forest roots ahead. I was gaining on them.
“I have eyes on the target!” I announced to the pack through the link.
“Should we redirect our course?” asked the Omega of the pack.
“If we do, the whole pack should not divert from their path, alpha,” answered Minken. “This may be a trap, or diversion. Not to mention that there have been sightings toward the west of Shadow Veil as well as the south. Those on course there should stay on course and those of us heading east and north should reconvene with the alpha. It’s the best form of action.”
John was right. We did not need the pack getting caught with our pants down where this was concerned. These beasts seemed to be far more uniform and sophisticated than any of the others. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for them to be plotting.
“Do as he says,” I finally announced to the pack after considering John’s suggestion.
There were sudden doubts arising about John now but none concerning his dedication to the welfare of our pack.
“Those of you heading towards silent territory head to my location!”
“Yes, alpha!” they all countered in unison.
The line of communication cut out and it was then that I realized how much closer I had become to the end of the group I had been chasing.
Swiftly, me and Aziz dashed forward and clamped my teeth around the ankle of the beast I’d been following.
A yelp sounded through the air as I flung the beast into a nearby tree. The beast was hurt. I approached and immediately was surprised by what I saw.
This…this rogue was nothing like the ones we’d run into in the past. In fact, this beast looked quite normal. It looked like a normal wolf. What was even worse than that, however, was the fact that…this wolf….looked like a child.
I moved even closer and as I did was immediately bombarded by something powerful. Extremely powerful.
The wind was nearly completely knocked out of me. They weren’t strong enough to keep me down, however. As I and Aziz recovered, far angrier than before, we pressed forward to the wolf who stood in front of the child.
It was clearly a female, and she was frightened by the towering stature of me and Aziz. This most certainly was not like any rogue I had ever come across.
She stood there growling and shaking as she stood her ground against me and just as my backup arrived.
“A woman and child?!” John exclaimed. “This is who we’ve been chasing this whole time?!”
“I fear it’s…far more complicated than that, John,” I returned.
And as if on cue, growls emanated from behind the female wolf and the child whom she was trying to protect.
Gradually, shadows began to emerge from the shadows; wolves larger in stature than this she-wolf and her pup. The shadows began to crowd, attempting to surround us.
Hollow, golden eyes peaked around trees, surveying us. With every move we made, another creature surfaced from the shadows. Or…were they the shadows? It was hard to say.
“What would you have us do, alpha?” asked John.
“I know that you’re anxious for a fight,” I said. “And to be honest, so am I.”
“I have your back, whatever your decision, alpha,” said John and I just could not help wondering if he’d feel that way if I killed his sister for murdering my daughter. “But yes, you’re right…I wouldn’t mind releasing some physical tension.” John added that last part, which brought me back to the subject at hand.
“Time to put them down.” I snarled. “Leave the woman and child-and any others that we may come across.
My pack began to press forward when a mist started to form in front of us, and a tingling sensation in the pit of my stomach.
“She’s here,” Aziz said in the back of my mind.
We both knew who he was talking about.
Moments later, Merari appeared, but she wasn’t on our side. She stood facing us, protecting them.
“Merari?” I linked with her as I was still in my wolf form.
“Alastair!” she exclaimed. “Were you about to hurt this she-wolf and her child?”
“I have carried out my orders, Merari,” I said.
I was not going to defend my decisions to her. We were on mission, and that mission would not be derailed because Merari showed up.
“You need to stand down, Alastair,” she said, further surprising me.
“Merari, move. Now.”
“You don’t understand,”
“Then stop playing around with me and tell me!” I growled.
I had had enough of the beating around the bloody bush, holding secrets away just to keep her own. Shadow Veil was at risk and Merari was partly the cause. As unfortunate as it was for me, I could no longer stand by and allow her to get away it.
“Shadow Veil is in crisis!” I said. “Unknowns encroaching on my territory and you are protecting them. I will not stand for it and if you expect me to, you don’t know me at all!”
“They are not here for malice Alastair!” Merari defended.
“Then what do you call this!?” I looked around as the beast of the shadows steadily began to surround us.
“Protecting their own! Just as you are trying to do now?”
“And that is supposed to move me?” I asked incredulously. “Maybe you did not hear me when I said that these bloody ferals are invading our territory. They have no right to be defensive! You bloody well know that!” I snarled at her.
“They are not ferals, Alastair,” she said to me. “We are not ferals.”
“We?” Aziz mirrored my thought as Merari’s remark seemed to confuse him as well.
“We,” she reiterated without hesitation. “We are not ferals. We are not wild beasts with aimless thoughts, and erratic bloodlust. We are a pack…we are the Shadow Rogues.”
“Shadow Rogues?!” Toran exclaimed from behind. “They…Shadow Rogues…don’t exist! It’s a myth…fairytale!”
Merari shook her head. “No, we’re very real,” she said. “And if we are going against Dronnigan, then you are going to need us. You’re going to need all the help you can get.”