I am Rogue [Book 1]

Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

               Strapping my belt snuggly around my waist, I looked up to see others preparing the same. After returning from my little bathing session, I arrived to see the pack in a flurry of movement. Those going on the raid were either gearing up or shifting into their wolves, those who were staying were tearing down tents, packing bags, and loading the cars in case they needed to make a fast retreat when we got back. Little Rosie was already trailing Ash wherever he went, giving me a little less worry that she would try to follow Nyx and I.

               “It’s a sad day when a werewolf straps a bow to her back rather than shift into her wolf to take down an enemy,” one of Tanner’s wolves grumbled a few feet away from me, stripping his clothing off.

               “Then you’ve never seen nor heard of Aim in a fight. Her wolf is capable of great violence, but we need her skills with her weapons more than we need a violent animal assaulting anything and everything in the heat of bloodlust.”

               The wolf who spoke up just glared at Cold as she finished dropping her clothing right there for anyone to see her bare pale flesh. Replying to the wolf’s glare with a smirk, I watched as she began to shift into her sleek rain cloud grey furred wolf, wincing at her slight cries of pain. Yep, changing was a bitch, which made me happy I did go in packing weapons in human form more than having to change right away. Though the end result was pure ecstasy, the shift was painful as hell and could take from anywhere between two minutes to fifteen depending on how often and how well you took to the change. Cold only took about three minutes to shift, but it wore her out a little in the end to shift that fast. The girl must have had powerful bloodlines somewhere within her.

               Grinning at the wolf who had been glaring at Cold and now looked at her in awe, I stretched my arms out over my head and cracked my neck to one side, trying to loosen up. “Are you shifting or going into battle naked,” I asked as the wolf still just stood there, his eyes snapping to me a moment before he began his own shift. It took him about seven minutes to complete it.

               A howl took up behind me a moment later, sending a shiver up my spine and had my animal instinct clawing to shift my human form and mold it into my wolf. Turning to see Nyx already shifted into his onyx furred wolf, his eyes almost glowing as his inner animal gazed upon all those who stood as his, loyal and dependent. We were his to defend, his to aid, and his to lead. Our instincts told us to bow our heads slightly to the left, exposing a bit of our throats and giving him the respect he had come to earn from each of us. Even Tanner’s wolves who had shifted lowered themselves to the ground in understanding. Nyx was Alpha.

               Slowly, I moved towards Nyx, his eyes flickering to me in his moment of Alpha instinct, his nose taking my scent in. Registering who I was then, Nyx moved to meet me, butting his head against my stomach, his muzzle flicking his tongue out to taste the skin he had managed to expose along my waistline before he stepped back. Smiling, I watched as the Alpha shifted in his mind, and Nyx took control over his animal side.

               “Max is going to meet up with us according to Cold. By the time we get there, the party should already be heavily underway, allowing us a short wait before we advance on them. We are after the Alpha’s four bastard children. This is a rescue mission for them. We go in and get out when we have them. That isn’t to say we won’t be killing some of our brethren along the way. Though this is not something we rejoice in, the deaths of our brethren may be necessary for the survival of the innocent who have no choice but to obey. Remember, these packs are not like ours, they do not hold to the justice that we acknowledge. They follow power in any form and those who hold power will do anything to keep it, even sacrificing their own flesh and blood.”

               I relayed Nyx’s message to Tanner’s wolves, shortening it a bit so that they got the gist of it. The pack enforcers and warriors we would be facing would kill us without care, they would attack to keep what they have worked for by becoming who they are. They would not feel the remorse as we would after slaughtering our friends and family as we were nothing but filthy rogues, criminals who stood against the laws of our great and mighty werewolf council. The knowledge of that made me roll my eyes.

               Wolves who were going in to the raid took up a howl to say farewell to those we all called family. The sound was low, long, and heart wrenching, but we knew some of us would not come back. It was up to every wolf to choose if they would go, knowing the risks. No one was forced into a raid on pack land, especially one were we were guaranteed there would be at least three Alphas on site. Knowing that even I may not come back, I walked over to where little Rosie was, wrapping my arms around her and inhaling her scent deeply.

               “Rosie,” I cooed before looking her in the eyes and placing my hand over her chest where her heart was located. “Remember, my little Rosie, I will always be here with you, no matter if you can see me or touch me. I love you, little Rosie,” a tear slid from the corner of my right eye as I clutched the child I loved to me.

               As I released her, Nyx’s wolf stepped forth, having been by my side the whole time. His tongue flicked across Rosie’s face and he nuzzled her neck, telling her the same thing I had in his own way through the mind link and his affections. Rosie just looked at us, her eyes wide with confusion, however she nodded her head and touched each of the areas where our hearts were located.

               Standing up, I gave Ash a look that meant business. At the first sign of trouble he was to load up the pack members and take off to another unmarked territory. They were to keep in contact on the emergency phones that were only meant to be used when the pack transferred areas and for nothing else, not even communication with our allies. Never knowing when our pack would be found, the phones always had to have full power and time on them for the escape. It would be too obvious if a bunch of cars piled with rogue werewolves followed one another from town to town, so they would have to separate once on the road. The phones were all they had.

               He nodded, understanding my look. I nodded back and joined up with the others who had not shifted into their wolves. Like me, they would be using their weapons in this battle, saving the shift for when they would need it to flee should it come to that. Plus, we would also be driving our beat up shitty cars soon to be packed with furry wolves, the trunks holding medical supplies and food we may need along with some money.

               Clasping Rune on the shoulder, I wished him luck before crawling into the car I was driving. Nyx’s furry face showing up for a second in the passenger window before I leaned over and popped the door open for him to clamber in. once he was settled in, Rune closed the door for me and opened the back ones allowing two werewolves to saunter in, snapping at one another a moment before they figured out how to make room. As the doors shut, I glanced at the wolves, their scents telling me that Ben and Mange were riding with us instead of a wolf from our own pack. Shrugging it off, I started the car and waited till the others linked me, letting me know they were ready.

               Nodding my head to no one, I pulled out with a couple trucks following after me, the wolves in the back beds of those luckier than the ones cramped up in the cars. In total, we had four cars and three trucks loaded up with werewolves in the flesh and in the fur. We weren’t an army, we were bound to be outnumbered, and we were all somehow flushed with excitement at the thought of kicking Winter Falls pack member ass.  

               Only, somehow, I felt something was off about this trip. Something was nagging at me again about Tanner and the wolves riding with me. I didn’t understand the nagging, but it was there in the back of my mind.