Mate Mysteries

Chapter 54

Pip did his best to keep his head down. The longer the Rogues stared the further the panic clawed up his throat. Pip wanted to freak out hours ago. He had wanted to cry and to break down and beg Debra to let him go. By some miraculous miracle, Pip was calm. Well, as calm as he could be, given the extreme circumstances.

He tugged uncomfortably at the chain around his wrist. The metal was icy cold from lying in a pool of seawater, and red with rust, but strong enough for Pip to look like a fool if he tried to break free.

Debra sat on her own by the door, smirking proudly at the many spindly faces. How can she be pleased with this? Every Rogue was skin and bones, dirty, and depressed.

He eyed the Rogue sitting in front of him, the Rogue who had carried him through the woods and away from Francis, the Rogue who held his arm through the tunnel, and the Rogue who had chained him to the cave wall. Words formed, but he didn't voice them. He thought about speaking for almost ten minutes until stuttering, "H-Have you... um-"

The guy lifted his head. Hollow eyes lingered on him, but Pip looked away. "What is it?" he asked glumly.

"Um, have you always been a Rogue?" Pip pursed his lips as others close by looked too.

"I went Rogue fifteen years ago."

"You chose this?" Pip asked, astonished.

The guy nodded weakly. "The freedom," he mumbled.

Pip didn't see freedom, he saw fear, and a whole lot if it was stuffed inside a cold and damp cave. "But this?" He glanced back to Debra, their substitute Alpha. Some wolves thought Krey was a bad leader but this... Pip's heart ached at all the misery.

"I chose freedom," the Rogue repeated.

Pip felt sorry for him and wished he could let the Rogues see that whatever Debra had promised them wasn't worth it. "What's your name?" he asked instead.

"Len," he mumbled. "Short for Lennard."

"H-How long have you been a part of Debra's pack?" Len shuffled away with a sudden frown, and Pip noticed Debra weaving through the wolves. She stopped by the chain, giving it a light kick.

"Don't talk to my Pack," she said before turning to Len. "Don't talk to him. He's a manipulator."

Pip had never been called that before, and he very nearly scoffed. "We were good friends once." Then I abandoned our friendship for Krey. I guess that was for the best. Pip wondered what else would've happened if he had stayed friends. She might've killed me ages ago.

"Once, and then Krey Graymer took you." Debra tilted her head. Shadows fell across her thin face, darkening her eyes. "And you never came back."

Pip sighed. "And you stood by a murderous Beta wolf who had Krey's father killed because he was jealous of the power. You're not innocent." Pip's boldness earned him a slap on the side of the head.

"Shut up or I'll have your tongue removed," she hissed, slapping him again before storming back to her lonely corner.

Pip looked back to Len. He stared hard at the uneven floor. Pip had never seen werewolves so scared of a human before. Well, Pip assumed most of the wolves had been there since Jordan, and maybe stayed out of pity for Debra. Maybe they feared what would happen to them if they tried to leave. But they were Rogues, they belonged to no pack, so why were they together in the first place?

"What did she promise you?" he whispered. Len didn't look up this time.

Len didn't reply, but an older woman to his left said, "she promised us a home."