I am Rogue [Book 1]

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

               “Alright, alright, quiet you mutts, there’s plenty of pizza to go around curtesy to the sale of the West Point pack Alpha’s beautiful Lamborghini we seized last month,” Rune hollered out as Nyx and I returned to camp to find the poor man swarmed by children and teenagers of all ages seeking out such a prized dinner.

               Living the life of a rogue could be a hard life, but we tried to make it easy on anyone who came to us seeking sanctuary. The raids we performed weren’t just to satisfy some twisted sense of revenge, they were used to satisfy a justified sense of revenge and to help us care for all those who came to us. We aren’t the bloody-thirsty monsters Alphas make us out to be. We don’t slaughter women and children, we don’t kill unless we have to for that matter. We do what we can, we who have no territory to call our own, to take care of those who depend on us.

               Looking at all those children, some born within the pack I call family after their parents joined while others were runaways who couldn’t handle the abuse any longer, and some were orphans from pack wars where Alphas had fought over the slightest insult, or over a juicy strip of territory like two wolves fighting over a prime piece of dear. These had been the deemed unnecessary members of such packs, forgotten or thrown away. But each of them were important to me, each of them meant something to me. They were my home, and I would take on the world to make sure they stayed a safe home.

               “Come on, Aim, better get a few slices before those teens decimate the pizza to nothing but licked clean cardboard boxes,” Nyx whispered, tugging me towards the horde of junior werewolves.

               Snorting, I waded into the masses quicker than Nyx, Rune grinning at me with his big baby blues as he handed me an entire extra-large pizza box that had teenagers all around complaining about special treatment. I only rolled my eyes and mouthed a ‘Thank-you’, before heading off to Nyx’s tent area, sure the man was going to be on my heels as soon as Rune told him he had handed me a meat lovers supreme. I barely got to sit down on an old dug up stump before I felt a tug on my pants, my eyes looking down to see a pair of light brown doe eyes peering back.

               “Hello Rosie,” I smiled down at the little girl. She tended to stay close to Nyx’s tent, unless she was sleeping, then the little four year old always found her way into mine. We had found her on one of our raids half a year ago, poor thing had been locked in a cage in the Alpha’s basement.

               She had been pretty feral at first, shifting back and forth between her small pup form and her human one, always growling at us. Nyx and I figured she had never had a lot of warm contact before. It took us over three months to get her to trust us enough to stop trying to run away. After that, she just seemed to grab hold of us and never let go. I’d named her Rosie because she looked like a flower with her cuteness, however she could give a nasty bite like thorns on a rose bush.

               “Why, miss Rosie, are you trying to steal that pizza before I can get a slice of it?”

               Glancing away from Rosie, I raised an eyebrow at Nyx who sauntered over and sat down on a stump across from me, his eyes focused on the little girl currently attempting to climb into the pizza box. She seemed to simply ignore his presence as she finally got the lid flipped over, her grimy hands reaching in-

               “Rosie, we don’t touch food with such dirty hands. We may be living in the woods and sprout fur every once in a while, but we aren’t complete animals.”

               Snapping the lid closed again before she could take a slice, I gave Nyx a pointed look in which he grumbled under his breath and went into his tent, coming out with a container of baby wipes to clean Rosie’s hands off with.

               “Hey, don’t complain! I just saved the pizza from who knows what kind of bacteria.”

               “I think I saved it, since I did all the work,” Nyx grumbled again under his breath.

               Rolling my eyes, I inspected Rosie’s hands before lifting the pizza box lid and handing her a slice. The bright smile she made after sniffing the pizza and taking a bite warmed my heart. I smiled as I took a couple slices and handed the box over to Nyx. “Try not to eat it all, though it may be tempting. I’m sure we will have visitors seeking a few bites in a bit,” I spoke out after swallowing my first bite of meaty tomato goodness. 

               “There’s plenty of pizza to go around for our troupe, Aim. We didn’t just sell that car, a few of the guys who actually have trust fund connections after their parents died chipped in to make sure we would have pizza for everyone and resources for the next few months.”

               “That was really kind of them,” I said a moment, pausing to eat my pizza to say a quick thanks through the mental connection everyone had with one another. After my thanks rolled out, many more came to follow, and I could almost feel the pride and embarrassment from the minds of the men who had aided in the financial predicament we always found ourselves in. Nyx doesn’t force payments or contribute along the lines of money. All he asks is for loyalty to the pack.

               Finishing up my third slice, I checked on Rosie to see her curled up in a pile of leaves sleeping, tomato sauce all over her face and hands. “I’ll clean her up this time and lay her down on your bedrolls. I swear the kid can fall asleep anywhere at the drop of a hat.”

               Hearing Nyx chuckle as I picked the sleeping child up and carried her into his tent, I couldn’t help but smile all over again. This little girl had really captured my heart as well as my best friend’s.   

[Image of Nyx in Media (Imagine the hair.)]