Rogue Queen ➵

➵ XXVIII. After

Saturday, January 13th, 2018, 12:00pm

Rei's POV

Zaine laughs as he finishes the song.

As we run off Redriver lands, the warriors stop chasing us. They watch us disappear, then turn back and walk back to their pack house.

We stop after a few minutes, when we're far enough away from any pack's territory that they won't see us as a threat. Clove hops off me, and Killian lets Zaine down. I look around at everyone. The Killers group lost three or four members, one of them being one of the warlocks. Nearly everyone is sporting a wound or two.

I lick gently at a shallow bite on my side that's probably from when River tackled me. Already it's closing up and is nearly gone.

Clove hisses through clenched teeth, pressing her hand against the claw marks on her thigh. I wonder if someone had tried to rip her knife scabbard away and missed when she dodged the attack. Still in wolf form, I sniff at the wound, looking at her worriedly.

She pats my head reassuringly. "I'm fine, Reina. It's not too deep. I'll live."

Killian appears beside me, holding his claws and Zaine's bat, peering at his sister's leg. Guess he's in worried older brother mode. Zaine leans against me, putting pressure on a bite mark in his forearm.

"Fucking hell, Axel bites hard," he mutters, grimacing as another bolt of pain runs through him. Clove takes his arm gently, examining the wound. Zaine smiles, "what's the verdict, Doctor?"

Clove huffs. It's not the first time Zaine or Killian have used her rarely used nickname in a phrase like that.

"You're gonna die," Clove replies, rolling her eyes.

"No, he's not," Killian says, wrapping one arm around Zaine's shoulders. "But we do need to get you both bandaged, because we don't have amazing healing like the wolves."

We should get home, ASAP, I say. Serena can help.

The witch has the ability to heal. That's why she's part of the Healer rogue group.

Just as we start to slink away, Thatcher's voice shouts out, "Oh no you don't. Come here, Queenie."

I scowl but turn around, shifting back to my human form, my clothes appearing on my body. Thatcher and the rest of the Rulers, except Darcy, stand in human form, thankfully wearing shorts. I hope they freeze out here. The other rogue group disappears through the trees. Lucky bitches.

"That was great," Daring says, grinning and ignoring the claw marks across his chest. "Wasn't it?"

Killian shrugs. " Sure."

"Oh come on," Max says, smirking. "I could tell you enjoyed it. The adrenaline is great. What'd you think, love?"

When Max looks at him, AJ shrugs and predictably remains silent.

"Nice job, Queenie," Thatcher says, grinning, "and you, Telekinetic." Clove rolls her eyes at what he calls her. "That was fun to watch. Poor boys seemed so confused."

Darcy barks, the wolf form version of laughing. The rest of the Rulers only grin and smirk.

I nod stiffly. "Still managed to put up a good fight though. Still doesn't explain why you wanted us to join."

Thatcher shrugs. "It was a good show."

I nod, but I know he's not telling me everything. From his tone, I know he won't tell anything I want to hear, no matter how much I pry.