Rogue Queen

Chapter 12

I rest my head in the palm of my hand listening to the ringing of the phone placed in the middle of the table. Jasper sits to my right and my parents are across from us. Our updated phone conference was supposed to start a half an hour ago, but no one has been able to get a hold of Hank. I can't even begin to imagine the absolute insanity he is dealing with now that he's had the Alpha title thrusted upon him so suddenly and under such devastating circumstances, so we aren't as irritated by his late arrival as others.

Jasper however is pissed, not at Hank or anyone in particular but every minute is another minute longer that we can't bring up our unfortunate situation this morning. His stoic expression gives away nothing, but I can see his knee bouncing anxiously under the table. Reaching for his hand, he doesn't protest as I slip my free hand into his squeezing it reassuringly. Neither of us know what is going to happen after this phone call, but I know that as long as I have him and he has me we can deal with anything head on.

"Can we go to Brooks after this?" I lean over resting my head on Jasper's shoulder. He pulls my chair closer to him so that he can wrap his arm around me comfortably and I don't need to crane my neck to be near him. Catching my mom's gaze she sends me a knowing smile her eyes shining with glee. I'd question it but her gaze quickly snaps back to my father, who is reading up on the reports the warriors wrote up about the incident.

"He's going to need our support. Him and his family." Jasper's breathe fans my face as he watches me with concern. My suspicion is that he's waiting for me to breakdown assuming I'm still in some sort of shock, but I know that I'm lucky for coming out of that fight fairly unscathed. Plus this isn't my first time dealing with an unwanted visitor. "How are you feeling?" He bites down on his lower lip drawing my attention to them, and I curse the bond for flaring up when my parents are in the room.

"Better." I answer honestly my voice horse with desire, and it's not the bond talking either. Having him not shut me out again is a huge step for us, and his mere presence is dulling the pain in my leg. The only aspect he can't help with is the crushing worry weighing on my chest about what's going to happen to our pack after this phone call. Jasper has moved them once already, at least what I know of, and I'm not sure how I feel about us moving away.

"Sorry everyone." Hank's voice resonates through the phone, and I lift my head of Jasper's shoulder in anticipation. It's impossible to predict how the rest of the packs will react to our news, but since the asshole isn't a rogue I'm afraid they may not care. Instead they may only be enraged by our future choices for preventing this to happen again even though we haven't had time to discuss it ourselves. Our pack will always come first.

"How is Martha holding up?" A Luna tentatively asks her voice light with sympathy. I hold my breathe waiting to hear an update on Jonathan's mate's condition.

"She's doing as well as can be expected, but we made the decision last night to bring her to the hospital to monitor her for the next few days." Looking up to my mom, she presses her hand over her heart sighing quietly. It isn't uncommon for someone who just lost their mate to succumb to the physical anguish, which unfortunately can lead to death. As long as people are there to care for her making sure she sleeps, eats, and doesn't hurt herself I have no doubt she'll be fine. I don't want to even begin to think about the earth shattering pain she's experiencing because it would mean putting myself in a situation where I envision losing Jasper and my mind quite frankly refuses to do so.

"Any new information on the rogue?" An older Alpha cuts right to the chase his voice failing to mask the hint of eager hatred. Some of them are dying for an excuse to retaliate, and it's starting to boil my blood.

"Yes, but not everyone is going to be satisfied with what I found." Jasper goes rigid beside me. "Elijah and Jasper were both extremely helpful in relaying resources to aid in tracking down the rogues origins, and we concluded that the rogue didn't have any previous history tied to the council or any other groups that could pose a threat." I didn't realize how much the anticipation was growing inside me over the past two days, but the sheer relief feels like I can actually breathe for the first time since Johnathan was killed.