Bad Day for a Rogue

Alpha Liam

I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something amiss about Lexi. I knew three things to be certain: she was my mate, she was picked up as a rogue and her wolf was nearly non-existent. There was also the factor in play that she was terrified of her own damn mate.

It didn’t bother me that my name alone stirred fear amongst others, I rather enjoyed it. Mothers and fathers warned their pups of stories about me, the consequences of crossing the notorious Blood Alpha. Alphas even cowered by my very essence. I quickly became the worst nightmare of shifters everywhere. Bloodshed and violent massacres were attached to my reputation. All this kept my pack safe and my pack was the only thing that mattered to me. I didn’t take my position as Alpha lightly; I devoted my blood, sweat and tears to ensure they lived in peace.

My Beta Jax shifted his weight from one foot to another, every muscle in his body seizing up. “What is it now?”, I said, pushing my body back against the chair I was settled in and crossing my arms over my chest.

“With all due respect, Alpha, we still need to ensure that Lexi isn’t a threat to the Crescent Moon Pack. Delta Marcus and I have captured three more rogues during the hunt this afternoon. Two of them had no information about your mate. One, however, claims to know her. He says that she was sent to assess the pack and gather information, just like he was. He is asking for you to spare his life in exchange for further details about her,” Beta Jax replied nervously. His hand brushed across his jaw, like he was deep in thought.

I felt my breathing pick up pace, a ripple of pain shooting through my chest. She was my mate. The thought of her betraying me burned into my chest, making it difficult to breathe. “What else Beta?”, I said in a low growl.

He pressed his lips together tightly into a straight line, “I-I just don’t think it’s true. When we found her by the river, it was like she was lost and didn’t want to be found. Not like she was looking for something. None of this makes sense, Alpha.”

I stood up in my chair, mind linking the pack doctor that she was to return to my mate’s side promptly. I didn’t want my mate to be scared if she woke up alone in my absence. “Show me the rogues”, I demanded, feeling my Alpha aura leaking out and my eyes darkening to an onyx color.

We rushed out of the pack house, my long strides making it difficult for Beta Jax to keep up. My wolf was agitated, defending our mate at all costs. Titus, my wolf, lived for the kill. He found glory in the thrill of ending a rogue's life, disgusted by the very essence of their kind. It was unlike him to be unbothered by a rogue's presence on the pack, scolding me to hurry up so we could return to Lexi’s side, but as Alpha, I needed to know whether the rogue was telling the truth.

Marcus was already waiting for us in front of the pack holding facility, when I noticed his bare chest and beige cargo pants splattered with blood stains. I could see that he had been hard at work, torturing the rogues. “Alpha,” he nodded, “his name is Raul, says someone paid them both off to gather intel on the pack. Doesn’t have a name though.” I continued into the building, my two best men on my tail. The holding facility smelt of scorched skin, the scent of copper burning my nostrils.

I followed the scent of fresh blood down the aisles of cells until I reached one with two dismembered bodies laying on the floor. A younger man, no older than 20, was tied up on a steel chair. His body hanging loosely off the chair, the rope being the only thing holding his battered body upright. His clothes were nearly ripped into shreds. His scent told me that he must have been a rogue for a long time, it was both foul and potent.

“Tough day,” I said with a chuckle, rolling up the sleeves of my button up dress shirt. His head whipped up once the sound of my voice registered in his brain. “Please Alpha, I mean no harm. I swear to the Moon Goddess,” he choked out, spitting a swat of blood down his chest.

His pitiful begging made me break out into a low laugh. Beta Jax and Delta Marcus finally caught up and entered inside the cell. “Now, now pup. So eager to begin, aren’t we?”, I said in a devious tone, “who sent you?”

He shook his head, coughing up more blood onto the concrete floor. I approached the timid rogue, untying his arms from the steel chair and watching his body thud against the ground. I moved to stand directly in front of him, crouching down. “Try that again rogue, let me remind you that you asked for your life to be spared,” I spewed, my impatience becoming dangerously thin.

“Alpha Axton”, he said in a gasp, “he said he’d find me and kill me if I returned with no information. H-his mate has gone missing.” My breathing quickened at the pup’s words, “who was working with you?”, I growled.

“A girl,” he belted out, his body now laying on the concrete floor in a fetal position. “She never told me her name,” *cough*, “he promised us $10,000 each if we returned with his mate’s whereabouts.”

Titus’ ears perked up when he heard the mention of a girl working with the rogue. “No name, huh? Describe her,” I demanded. His eyes slowly lifted, he stood silent like he was deep in thought. “Red hair, tall, a tattoo of a flower on her arm,” he finally spit out.

My canines began to extend, Titus was in no mood to play a rogue’s games today. My mate bore no resemblance to his description and Alpha Axton was a pathetic excuse of an Alpha, his affairs were solely his own. I wrapped my hand around the low life rogue’s neck, lifting his body inches from the floor. I squeezed gently, watching his eyes go bloodshot for a second too soon until I released him. “So you believe your life is worth $10,000. Is that right Raul?”, I asked curiously, “I mean, it would have to be for you to willingly choose to infiltrate my borders.”

I brushed off the fabric of my button down shirt and dress pants, turning on my heels towards Beta Jax and Delta Marcus. “Finish what you started, Axton’s mate died a long time ago,” I said through gritted teeth, closing the cell door behind me. “Another one… a chosen mate…,” he struggled to say in a pathetic attempt. Desperate screams echoed through the facility before I even reached the door to make my exit.

As the minutes turned to hours, the hours turned into days. I spent most nights watching my mate sleep, unable to get my own body to relax; hope slowly dissipating that today would be the day.

I was scrummaging through the endless loads of paperwork, rearranging border patrol schedules with my Beta Jax. I had decided to post additional guards along with Alpha Maddox’s men on the outskirts of our borders, determined to send a clear signal to the rogues roaming nearby that we were on high alert.

I felt the pen snap in half in my hand when Doctor Everly mind linked me that my mate was awake. Black ink seeped down all over my fingertips. “Alpha, our Luna is awake!”, she shrieked. Beta Jax smirked when the pen split open, “good news?”, he said in an exhausted tone.

“I’m on my way,” I responded, pushing my chair back and rushing towards the door. Titus begged to shift, he didn’t want to waste any more time away from our mate. I warned him to settle down. If I wanted any chance with my mate, I knew I needed her to accept me first.