Reject (mxm)

Chapter Twenty: Ciaran

It's been two weeks and Ruari's still not wholly himself.

The first few days after the attack Rothe have been the one on the surface. It worried me that Ruari retreated to himself after what happened but Rothe advised me to let him be. I didn't like it but his wolf reasoned Ruari had to figure it out by himself. Rothe reminded me that Ruari's not so weak that he'd break from something like this. In the end, I had to trust his judgment.

Cale was a happy blessing. He had been the one to pull Ruari out of his self-imposed confinement. And after he resurfaced, Ruari sort of unofficially adopted the little boy and spent all his free time with Cale. I was a bit jealous at first, which was ridiculous really, but I figured if Cale's toothy grin and whirlwind like personality calms him then I'd settle for it.

Still, there are nights when he'd wake up from a nightmare, screaming, and won't go back to sleep no matter how much I coax him. Sometimes I wound find him in the morning sitting on the corner of his room, covered with a blanket, with a crazed look in his eyes.

"I want to find him Ciaran." He would say. "I want to find Gideon Loch."

It hurts to see him that way. He want the raids to stop and only the spirits know I'd give anything to grant him whatever he desires. But sometimes I look at him and I feel so helpless, callow.

Gideon Loch. I wasn't surprised when Ruari told me he's linked to the raiders. He was a former member of Moonscape and was to be made pack warrior before I banished him. Gideon and his friends were the ones who gave Ruari a thorough beating and left him for dead five years ago. It wasn't a tough call to make especially after Ruari's disappearance.

It all fits now. How the raiders know that Ruari is my mate and he wasn't living with me. How they seem to understand all our patrol routes no matter how many times we change them per day. And how they could easily exploit the weakness of our security. So far we haven't met any of the banished members but I'm sure our paths would cross soon.

I've been working long hours with the council to figure out where the enemy base could be.  They couldn't be too far to launch a succession of attacks and pull back at crucial moments without leaving a visible trail.

We've felled a lot of wolves from their side but they seem to have more at their disposal. From the reports I've gathered from the survivors of other packs, no one could tell how big the operation is. But if they're recruiting rogues then there could be hundreds of them waiting for an opportunity to strike.

I growled in frustration as I stare at the maps and documents in front of me. I've been studying their pattern of the attacks but they all seem to be random, like they raid a pack that strikes their fancy.

A well-known healer, a powerful elder, a half-breed with special abilities, a pure white wolf...

All wolves they've taken so far were all special in some way.

A collector. I've toyed with the idea of hunters but no hunter has ventured on these lands for over seven decades. And this is the first time I've encountered or heard of a collector. But if the information given to Ruari is correct then he's in more danger now.

Before they only needed him to lure me out. As alpha of the biggest pack in the country and a pure black wolf I could be considered a high-valued commodity. Taking Ruari would induce me to give myself up. But now they'd want Ruari more for being a rare tri-colored wolf and if they get their hands on him, they'd capture me as well.

The compound has been attacked twice since Ruari came back. We haven't suffered many losses but the pack is in a vulnerable state at the moment. I don't think we'd be able to withstand another blow.