The Rogue's Fate

by Missy De Graff

  "Yeah, it's not a regular headache. I'm foggy and there's a slight throbbing." I gulp down a glass of water.

  "Is Caiden back yet?" I ask, reaching for more water.

  "I haven't seen him," Mia says.

  "He's probably still in the woods on one of his runs," Dylan says.

  "Shouldn't he be back by now?" I look at the clock, it's lunch time.

  "He goes off a lot. Hard to tell when he'll be back," Gavin says with a mouth full of food.

  "Did you two have a fight last night?" Mia doesn't wait for a response. "He usually runs off when he's upset, it helps him cool down."

  "No, I don't think so." I push aside the uneasy feeling I still have and remember back to last night. We talked. We didn't argue. He stayed with me. Maybe he's thinking about...

  "Do you hear that?" I pull my eyebrows tight together and close my eyes to concentrate.

  "Hear what?" Gavin asks.

  "Shh!" I snap, opening my eyes to glare at him.

  "Lux, why don't you lay down," Dylan says, walking toward me.

  "No, wait." I hold up my hand and close my eyes again.

  "Cody?" I whine as my eyes widen in alarm. I hate this mindlink I still have with Felix' pack. But today, in this moment, I am grateful beyond words.

  "Felix has Caiden!" The words burst out of my mouth in a jumble. I run to the back door and jump off the porch, shifting before my feet hit the grass. I take off running into the woods.

  "Cody, tell me everything!" I holler through the mindlink.

  "Where've you been?" Cody yells back. "I've been trying to reach you all morning!"

  "I was sleeping?!" I snap back. Hearing branches snap behind me, I turn to take a look, Dylan's wolf is charging up behind me.

  "Felix made his move; we hit the border just before sunrise this morning," Cody says. "We encountered a border guard, he must've alerted your Alpha, because within a few minutes he arrived."

  "What happened to the guard?" I ask, carefully dodging a fallen tree that blocked my path.

  "What do you think?" Cody says in his cool and casual tone. I snarl and drool seeps from my lips.

  I have always appreciated Cody's laid-back and easy-going attitude, though it took a while for his dry sense of humor to grow on me. I look to him as a big brother; he watches out for me. He is the one that helped me escape the first time I ran from Felix.

  Slowing my pace, Dylan follows my lead and stops within a few feet of me. Felix steps out from behind a tree in human form. I let lose a lone howl into the sky, and soon more howls join. Glancing behind me, wolves approach, flanking Dylan and I. He must have alerted the pack. Why didn't Caiden mindlink anyone?

  "Ah, Lucinda dear. How nice of you to join us," Felix says out loud for all to hear. "I was just having the most wonderful conversation with the Alpha."

  "Where is Caiden?" I ask Felix, unblocking him from the mindlink.

  "He's fine," Felix says out loud for all to hear. "For now," he adds through the mindlink. I snarl with bared teeth.

  "Your Alpha is a very caring man, he puts his pack before his own life," Felix says to the mob of angry wolves. "We came to an agreement. He comes with me, and we won't kill everyone in your pack."

  There is a choir of growls echoing through the forest.

  "I want to see him," I demand through the mindlink. Felix waves his hand to his left and Cody brings Caiden into our view.

  Upon seeing Caiden, my ears lay flat against my head and I bare my sharp canines. I crouch low to the ground, ready to pounce if needed. The fur on my back stands erect and I snarl; saliva drips from my mouth as I deepen my growl.

  Caiden shuffles with short steps, his ankles and wrists bound by chains, connected to another around his neck. They must be coated in silver because deep red welts peek out from where it makes contact on his skin. It’s more than just chaffing. Caiden winces with each step. Silver. A cruel form of punishment–it burns the skin on contact. And now I know why he didn't mindlink Dylan—silver blocks the mindlink ability.

  "Stand down," Caiden says. His face is calm as he addresses the pack of angry wolves before him. "This man, Alpha Felix, is correct. We made a deal and I trust him to honor his part of the bargain."

  Felix places his palms together at mid chest and does a slight bow with his shoulders and head. Another growl slips from my teeth. He'll never hold true to his word.

  "Dylan is a good Alpha," Caiden continues. "He's been there for you when I haven't. Give him your respect and your allegiance." Whines and whimpers fill the silence.

  "Dylan, take care of them. All of them." He looks at me. His blue eyes burn deep into my soul. My tail tucks between my hind legs as I let loose a series of small barks.

  Caiden lowers his eyes to the ground and motions to Felix.

  "I'll watch out for him," Cody says through the mindlink, as his parting words.

  I stand frozen, watching Caiden shuffles away with Felix and his men.

  Chapter 28

  Lucinda

  Dylan nudges me with his muzzle. My eyes focus on the black strip of silky fur that covers his back, mixing into his tan and cream-colored coat. A small whine escapes him and I whimper in response. He nuzzles my neck and I allow him to lead me back to the pack house.

  We walk through the woods, careful to make no sound beneath our heavy paws. Dylan stays alert and cautious of all movement in the forest. Every so often I glance behind us, hoping to see a beautiful white wolf charging through the woods. I sniff the air; I crave a rush of the tantalizing bergamot scent, but it's faded away on the light breeze.

  I stop just outside the back door of the Pack House to collect my composure. How am I going to tell Mia? Dylan leaves me and walks inside. After a few minutes, I enter the back door and shift, grabbing a spare robe from the hook to cover my bare skin. Turning the corner into the living room, I see Gavin kneeling over Mia, who's lying on the floor.

  "What happened?" I ask, rushing to her side.

  "I don't know." Gavin scratches his head.

  "What do you mean you don't know?!" I say as I listen for a pulse.

  "We heard the news," Gavin says, "about Caiden." His eyes flash up to mine.

  "How?"

  "It came through the mindlink. Everyone knows," Gavin says, directing his gaze back down to Mia. "She said she didn't feel well, so I told her to sit down while I went to get her a glass of water, and when I came back she was on the floor."

  Keeping my knees bent, I lean back and lie on the floor next to Mia. Reaching my hands to my head, I close my eyes and try to slow my pulse and steady my breathing.

  "Okay, let's move her up to her bed," I say, sitting back up. "Let's put an ice pack on the back of her neck; hopefully she'll wake up soon."

  Gavin picks her up as if she were a rag doll and starts upstairs, while I head into the kitchen to grab an ice pack.

  "Hey Lucinda," Sammy's voice startles me. “Who’s the ice for?”

  "Mia. I think she fainted." I walk past him and head up to her room.

  "Is she okay?" Sammy asks, following behind me.

  "I hope so. I guess we'll see," I stop in front of her door and give Sammy a weak smile.

  Sammy opens his arms for a hug, and I collapse into his chest. Willing myself to stay strong and to not shed a tear, I let him pull me close and hold me in a tight comforting embrace. The warmth this small gesture brings is exactly what I need to settle my racing nerves.

  "Caiden will be fine. He can take care of himself," Sammy coos in my ear.

  Someone clears their throat behind us.

  "Am I interrupting something?" Dylan asks.

  Sammy releases me and I step away, squaring my shoulders to face Dylan.

  "Mia's unconscious. I think she fainted," I say matter of factly and enter Mia's room without waiting for a response.

  Gavin's sitting next to her on the bed, holding her hand. Dampness on the back of her hand glistens in the afternoon
sunlight.

  "What are we going to do?" Gavin asks Dylan as he wipes his eyes.

  "We can call the pack doctor if you think she's sick or injured," Dylan offers.

  "No. What are we going to do about Caiden?" Gavin says.

  After several minutes of awkward silence, Dylan says, "Nothing."

  I blink back tears that threaten to fall and bite my lip, tasting metal. I walk across the room in silence. I place the ice pack under Mia's neck and squeeze her hand before turning to walk out the door.

  "Lux," Dylan whispers as I walk past. He reaches for my hand, brushing my palm with his fingertips.

  "Lux, stop." He follows me into the hall.

  "Lux! Will you look at me?" Dylan demands as he walks into my room.

  I pull my tote bag from the closet and toss it on the bed. Folding my arms over my chest, I stand to face him.

  "What are you doing?" Dylan asks, eyeing the tote bag.

  "I'm going after Caiden," I say, point-blank, staring him in the eye, challenging him.

  "No, you're not."

  "Says who? You?" I quip. His fists flex into tight balls and he broadens his shoulders.

  "YES!" he roars. I flinch at the surge of power he ripples through the room.

  "Then it's a good thing I never joined this pack, Alpha," I say as I turn and begin to fill the tote bag with spare clothes.

  "Lux," Dylan says as Gavin and Sammy walk into the room behind him, "please don't do this." He sounds exhausted; a final plea for me to obey.

  "Do what?" Gavin asks.

  "I'm going to get him." I throw my tote bag over my shoulder.

  "Lux, let's talk about this." Dylan steps closer and his eye soften as he tucks a wisp of hair behind my ear.

  "You don't understand," I whisper, "there isn't much time."

  "Dylan?" Sabrina's silky voice calls from downstairs, interrupting our conversation.

  Dylan rolls his eyes and I smirk. We all walk downstairs.

  "The entire pack got the message, Alpha," Sabrina says as she drapes her arms around Dylan in a one-sided embrace. "You remember my cousins." She points to a group of men lounging in the living room. The group from the cookout. Including the kid that charged Caiden. A growl escapes me.

  "Oh, I didn't see you there. What's your name again?" Sabrina says to me with a smirk. "Oh, it doesn't matter." She dismisses me with the wave of her hand.

  "As I was saying, now that you're Alpha you'll need a strong and reliable Beta," Sabrina says.

  "That can wait," Sammy interrupts. "He doesn't need to decide anything right now."

  "Oh, we disagree." She motions to her cousins.

  Gavin returns from the kitchen and slips power bars into my tote bag.

  "Are you leaving us?" Sabrina asks with a devilish grin.

  "We're going to get Caiden," Gavin says.

  "No," I say, "we are not." I motion between us. "I am."

  "What? You can't!" Sabrina says with wide eyes, batting her long lashes at Dylan.

  "If you break the peace treaty they'll attack!" One of her cousins says.

  "Whoever said anything about a peace treaty? Felix doesn't know what the word peace means." Realizing they don't know Felix as well as I do, I add, "He's going to attack regardless of what you think."

  "And how do you know that?" Sabrina challenges.

  "I know Felix, and he's not a man of his word."

  "Then what does he want Caiden for?" The cousin that charged Caiden at the cookout asks.

  "Torture," I say. Dylan tenses at my words. "He'll restrain Caiden and make him witness the slaughter of his pack, before being killed himself."

  "You lie," Sabrina accuses, pointing her finger in my face.

  I turn and walk to Dylan. Looking down at his hands, I grab one with both of mine and rub my thumbs across his rough skin.

  "Dylan, you need to prepare to defend this pack," I whisper. "I fear it'll be bloodier than the fate of our parents."

  A fire burns behind his eyes, flames dancing at the edges. His pupils dilate, retract to a pinpoint, and return to normal.

  "What do you have in mind?" he asks.

  "Do you have a map of the territory?" I ask.

  "Yup, in here," Sammy says, motioning us to the Alpha's office.

  Gavin, Dylan, and I follow Sammy into the room. Sabrina and her cousins follow us. I growl at their presence.

  "Easy now," Dylan says. "We may need their help."

  Sammy rolls out an old map on the desk. The edges are torn and the paper has faded over the years, but the territory markings are still visible.

  "We're here." He points to our location on the map.

  It's the first time I've seen a map of Caiden's territory, and it's massive. Biting my lip, I run my fingertips over the map, hoping it will talk to me. Instead, a light scent of bergamot swirls in the air and my heart skips a beat.

  "You need to draw your battle line," I say. "This territory is too large to defend the entire border." Dylan nods, his eyes focused on the map.

  "Felix will probably come from here." I point to the northwest area where we met them earlier.

  "Here," Dylan says, running his finger across the map, just below the forest. "This is the battle line."

  "That will be good. Keep the fight in the woods," I say. "It will give plenty of cover and obstacles."

  "If there IS a fight, wouldn't it be easier on the clear plain?" Sabrina asks.

  "Normally, yes," I say.

  "If you have the advantage," Dylan adds. We both studied battle tactics and defending strategies under my father. He was a mastermind in the art.

  "Felix has the upper hand, so we need to use anything to our advantage. In this case, the land," I say.

  "We know the forest and they don't," Sammy says.

  "Exactly." I flash a wicked grin.

  "So now what? You've made a battle line, but what's that mean?" One of the cousins asks.

  "You need to get all of the elderly, young, and anyone that can't physically fight below the battle line," I say. "Set your top guards at the line and here," I say pointing to the midsection, "have them begin to curve north to the pack house."

  "Keeping them to the northwest corner of the territory," Dylan says.

  "And then what, we just wait to be attacked? Great plan." Sabrina rolls her eyes.

  "No," Dylan says, "that is our defense. The rest of us will attack."

  "Felix's men will scatter, running rampant throughout the land. They'll be looking for weak targets and individuals they can quickly kill. This pack needs to stay together and show their strength," I say.

  "We can cluster in the center," Dylan says, pointing to the middle of the forest. It is halfway between the battle line and the northwest area. It's also halfway from the pack house and the western border.

  "Don't forget to use the forest to your advantage," I say, adjusting my tote bag on my shoulder.

  "Here's a cluster of boulders. We can use them and keep the element of surprise," Dylan says. I nod.

  "Okay, you know what you need to do. Now I need to get going," I say.

  "I still want to come," Gavin says.

  "No, you and Sammy are strong and loyal. Dylan needs you here." I give Gavin and Sammy a hug.

  "Good luck," I say to Dylan and offer him my hand. He extends his hand into a forearm handshake. My skin burns as it makes contact with his, but his eyes are clear and golden brown. He wraps his arms around me, pulling me into an embrace.

  "Be safe," he whispers into my ear.

  Chapter 29

  Caiden

  Turning my back and walking away, away from her, was the hardest part of this deal. The whimpers and barks that escaped her wolf were almost my undoing; if I saw her face, that would've been the end of me. Why does she have such an effect on me?

  We walk a few miles west, through the thickest part of the forest until it opens into a field. I despise this field. This is
where Elizabeth and I were held. Last time I was here, the grass bled red at my own hands. Crossing the field of death, my head twitches, and I shake that memory from my thoughts.

  Nothing dares to grow here after the brutal events Mother Earth witnessed. This once beautiful field is now nothing more than a barren wasteland. I watch my feet as I walk, not wanting to look at the view any longer.

  My heart skips a beat and I'm brought to my knees. There's a little green speck in the dry dirt. It's a small rosette of soft, fuzzy leaves. Before I can take another look, the chain around my neck tightens, pulling me off balance.

  "Hurry up," the man called Cody says.

  Standing, I take one last look at the small plant growing near my feet. Mullein. A small herb. How did it start growing here?

  Lucinda's face explodes into my thoughts as I climb the small rocky hill that lies beyond the field. Her plump ruby lips and charming smile haunts me.

  At the top of the hill, there's a single tree standing tall, looking down over the valley below. It's in full bloom with small white flowers. As we walk near, I recognize it as a Bradford Pear. Chaining me to its wide trunk, Cody walks away, leaving me alone to be consumed in my thoughts once more.

  I can't stop thinking of that little Mullein plant growing in the dusty soil. Beautiful things can grow from hardened and damaged—what is the horrific smell?

  The odor of dead fish fills the air as a light breeze blows the blossoms of the tree. Turning around, I look at the valley below as my stomach churns and my nostrils flare. Felix has no intention of leaving. His entire pack is below in the valley, and by the looks of it, they have been here a while. My lips turn up into a silent snarl.

  The morning sun crosses high into the sky before Cody comes to unchain my leash from the tree.

  "Why do you support Felix?” I ask Cody when he unchains my leash from the tree.

  He pauses for a moment and then turns to me. “There are things happening in this world that you don’t know about. And right now, Felix is the only one cleaning up the mess.”

  With that, he turns and leads me down the hillside entering their camp. I'm surprised to see such a diverse group; young children, elderly men, and women, in addition to the strong warrior men and women. Walking between their tents, the smell of rotten carcasses and salty death fills the air.