6

Gravel on the dirty sidewalk crunched under their feet as the Alpha and Gamma slinked down the road.

It wasn't hard to track the scents of seven rogues, and Savannah kept a keen ear and alert eyes on her surroundings as they followed the trail down the street and around a corner. The buildings were like nothing she had seen before, the masonry and architecture completely different to what she'd grown up with.

But now was not the time to sightsee. She had a rogue mate to find.

"Psst. Down there. By the docks. You see that big warehouse? I think it's empty. The rogues must be hiding out and waiting for something. I don't see any movement," Cale informed her as he peered around a large bin that smelled like it contained three week's worth of food scraps and other putrid things she'd rather not identify.

"Then let's check it out."

The Alpha took the lead, walking down between stacks of crates as they approached the warehouse. Shadows surrounded them, light coming only from a single street lamp up on the main road. But the wolves' strong eyesight dismissed the darkness and allowed them to see even on the blackest nights.

"Come on, show yourselves," she called out when she heard seven heartbeats nearby. "I know you're here."

A hand reached out from the darkness, snaked around her waist, and yanked her into the shadows.

"What on ea—!"

"Are you trying to get us all killed?" a deep voice rasped in her ear after she fell into a lap.

Her face crushed against a chest, a very hard and warm chest. The tropical scent of peaches nearly overwhelmed her, and from up this close she also detected the very masculine scents of cypress forests. Savannah blinked up into the angry face of her mate. "So you can be killed? Ah ha!" she crowed.

"You do have a vulnerability!"

"You're our vulnerability right now if you don't shut up!" Zion hissed, shoving his hand over her mouth and peering out from his hiding place behind a shipping container.

"Mmm mmm," she squirmed against his firm grip, the strong Alpha unused to being manhandled against her will. "Let me go!" she snapped after biting his hand and tumbling from his lap. She threw him a glare, then averted her attention when footsteps approached from the other side of the warehouse.

"Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" an unfamiliar voice echoed in the silence of the docks.

Besides the lapping of a river or sea beyond the edge of a long row of warehouses, the only other sound was the heavy breathing of Zion's rogues, and now the new group that had arrived at the scene.

Savannah watched as Chayton stepped out from behind a container opposite her, and walked into the warehouse confidently. Zion waited until Willow and Tas joined him before following behind closely. When Savannah shadowed him, he whirled around and whispered harshly, "Don't do anything stupid. They can't know we're wolves."

"What's that supposed to mean? Can't they tell you're rogues? Aren't they rogues, too? Is this some shady deal going on—"

"They're humans," Phoenix interrupted her rapid fire questioning, silencing her momentarily.

"Hu—humans?"

Phoenix rolled his eyes, "Are all Alphas this ignorant?"

Zion shot him a dark look, then walked forward to join his men. Chayton had greeted the other party, and as Savannah surveyed them, she instantly felt her skin crawl. Eight men faced them, ranging from skinny to overweight, all dressed in street gear that reeked of alcohol and cigarette smoke, greasy hair slicked back to impress, and gold chains that glimmered in the dull lighting.

"Let me see the goods," their leader said, jerking his chin at the bags Tas and Willow held.

"Show us the cash," Chayton ordered, crossing his arms and assuming his most intimidating stance. Even Savannah shivered from his deadly tone and glare.

One of the men cracked open a briefcase, revealing rolls of bills.

Chayton angled his head, and Savannah noticed Zion give him a subtle nod. "Is it clean?" he then asked, to which the human chuckled.

"It will be after tonight."

"Fair enough." Chayton signalled, and Willow approached with the weapons while Tas reached for the briefcase. Savannah felt her gut tighten as she witnessed the illegal trade of arms, the transfer of laundered money, and her mate overseeing it all with a subtle yet satisfied grin on his handsome face.

He was the Silver Rogue. What else did she expect? That he'd become a saint the moment he met her, an upright and lawful Alpha?

Sirens sounded in the distance, an awful high-pitched whine that had her and the rogues clutching their hands to their ears.

"Dirty mutts. Too stupid for your own good," the human laughed again, the sound even more grating than the whine in her ears.

Savannah looked up to see him snatch the weapons and hurry away with his men on his tail. Then a gunshot rang out, causing the human to drop and scream like he was being murdered.

"You foolish traitor!"

She heard Zion shout, and looked up in time to see him holding a smoking gun, before bullets began whizzing past at deadly speeds.

With reflexes faster than a cat's, she ducked and dodged the bullets that she figured were silver tipped. If the humans knew they were wolves, they had probably come prepared.

Zion and his men returned fire against the remaining humans who had dumped the illegal cash and instead picked up the new weapons. They seemed intent on testing out their latest acquisitions, and Savannah and the rogues had become their targets.

The sirens grew louder, fuzzing Savannah's brain, the sound combining with flashing red and blue lights that spelled disaster in her mind. She pieced together that the humans had called the police, and now she watched as Zion began shooting at them as they threw themselves from their cars, guns blazing.

Chaos ensued, and Savannah pulled her own gun out when she saw Cale take a hit and crumple to the ground. Standing protectively over her Gamma's prone form, she aimed at the nearest threat and fired. Without even getting her hands bloodied, she watched the enemy slump to the ground in a heap, the body ceasing movement.

A rush of adrenaline filled the Alpha's veins, the taste of justice on her tongue and the familiar buzz from a kill hammering in her chest. As Alpha, she lived to protect her men and fight against the enemy in close combat. She heard Zion laugh as bullets bounced off his body, and a piece of his triumph settled over her.

Then everything slowed in motion, her senses becoming keenly aware and zoning out the rapid gunfire to instead pick up a whisper from the humans.

It's the Silver Rogue!

Her eyes swivelled to a policeman on her left, sheltering behind his car door and motioning to his partner in complex hand signals. When the other cop reached in the back seat and pulled out a mean-looking rifle of sorts, propping it on his shoulder before aiming at the wolves.

A sinking feeling overtook the elation she felt moments before. She'd never seen this kind of weaponry before, and could only imagine the damage it inflicted. The small gun she'd learnt to shoot was deadly enough, but this? It looked downright wicked. The tip of the missile loaded in the barrel glinted silver, but she knew it couldn't just be made from the toxic element, or else they wouldn't be so confident in taking on the Silver Rogue. They must know about his immunity to silver, and compensated with something even deadlier.

"Zion, look out!" she screamed as a blast of fire leapt from the back of the launcher, propelling the missile from the weapon. Her gun was raised before she even told her arms to move, the bullets fired and speeding towards the cop before the missile even left the barrel. The bullet plunged into his chest and jerked him backwards, sending the trajectory of the missile away from Zion and his rogues.

All fell silent as it blasted through the roof of the warehouse and continued its misfire into the atmosphere. After it dropped and sank into the water beyond their sight, a collective sigh rang out from the rogues. Then they laughed, slapping each others' backs now that the threat was gone, the humans dead, the policemen quiet and their radios squawking in one way conversations in the squad cars.

Savannah lowered her gun, her hands shaking, her lungs heaving, her eyes smarting from the smoke and gunpowder tainting the air.

Zion walked over and took the weapon from her. "Good shot, babe. Glad to have you on our side," he said, wrapping an arm around her possessively and pulling her in for a kiss. His lips were hot and heavy, mesmerizing and drugging her with the taste of him. He pulled away, winked at her, then knelt to check on her Gamma before she realised what was happening.

"He'll be fine. Just a graze to his temple. The force of the bullet knocked him out, is all," he commented dryly.

The blunt tone of his words snapped her from her daze, and she looked down at him with fury. "You said no killing. I killed a cop. I killed to save you!"

Zion rose, towering over her, his jacket and shirt torn with bullet holes while his body appeared unharmed. His eyes, suddenly flashing, found hers and caught them in a trance. "We were double-crossed. Alfredo and his gang deserved to be killed. As for the cops, they should've learnt long ago to stop hunting me down," he explained without any emotion in his eyes save annoyance at the mess he now had to clean up.

"He was just doing his job! I shot him for doing his job," she argued, thinking of the policeman and his rank in this society of humans. She'd never encountered them up close, but she'd read reports of the way humans lived and their law enforcement structures similar to wolves' pack laws. Like warriors and guards, they ensured the safety of everyone, watching out for threats and neutralising them before anyone could get hurt.

And tonight, she'd been on the wrong side of the law, not only defending the most dangerous rogue alive, but killing to save him.

"You disgust me," she spat on the ground by Zion's feet, then reached down to haul her Gamma up. Putting her shoulder to his, she helped him back up the street to the van, remaining silent the entire way back to the rogues' house.

It was Phoenix who helped her lay Cale on the sofa in the living room, then fetched an icepack for her to place on his forehead. His wary brown eyes found hers, asking silently what she was going to do about the events of tonight. She shook her head, shuttering her anger and refusing to let the rogue read her thoughts. She needed time to think about this.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Zion, Chayton, and Tas began discussing in hushed tones at the dining table. They lounged in their seats, but the grave looks on their faces made it clear they weren't happy about what went down.

"It's clear Alfredo knew more than was good for him," Chayton said.

"He's an idiot for thinking he can tip us off, then make it out alive. Can't believe he called the cops on us. Pathetic humans," Niko swore as he joined them.

"You think everyone's pathetic, don't you?" Savannah interrupted Niko, stalking towards their little group with her own brand of anger written on her face. "You just think you're above the law, and better than anyone else. Your condescension is disgusting."

"Hey, we're not the ones flaunting our superiority over everyone, unlike someone else around here," Talei took a seat beside her brother, leaning back and fixing the Alpha with an accusatory look.

"I am Alpha. We are meant to lead others."

"And how did you become Alpha? Did you fight your way to the top of the food chain, and earn the highest rank because of your strength? Oh wait. I remember now," she snapped her fingers and leaned closer to Savannah, "You're just the firstborn of the mighty Alphas Kaiden and Chesca. You privileged little twit didn't do anything to earn—"

"Talei, that's enough!" Zion silenced her. Aggravated, he glared at the blonde twin until she backed down. "Tonight went south, we know that. We're the lucky ones to make it out alive. You should be thanking Savannah for saving your hide. What I don't understand is how you didn't see the cops coming, and warn us? Weren't you patrolling the perimeter as tasked?"

Savannah nearly chuckled as the shewolf's face paled, her eyes flickering momentarily to Niko. "I was dealing with some punks who were hanging out by the tackle shop. They almost compromised the mission."

"And you didn't?" Zion commented sarcastically before easing his glare, but not the tension in his muscles. He looked like he was ready for a fight, like there was something still bothering him and he wouldn't rest until it was dealt with.

When he shifted his body until facing Savannah, his eyes lifting to meet hers, she felt the weight of his agitation slamming into understanding.

He was worried... about her. About how close she came to being hurt tonight.

"You don't have to worry about me, Zion. I'm an Alpha—"

"And you love to keep reminding us," Talei muttered.

"—and it takes more than silver bullets to put me down," she continued, unfazed. "I'm more worried about you and your band of merry men when I bring you in to be sentenced by the Council. We can now add illegal weapons dealing and cold murder of law enforcement officers to your rap sheet."

"You won't bring me in," was his smug reply. His cocky smirk was enough to remind her who was in control here, and it grated against her.

"You lied to me! You told me there'd be no killing tonight!" she stamped her foot and clenched her fists, surprised that she was feeling so angry about this, and annoyed that the other rogues were witnessing her outburst.

Zion leapt to his feet. "I'm a rogue, Savannah. What did you expect? That I'd be nice to the men who double crossed me?"

"This is our way, our code of rules," Phoenix added. "If you can't handle that, princess, then go back to your perfect pack."

"It's not that!" Savannah snapped. "I understand that betrayal needs punishment and justice to be delivered. But the fact Zion told me that you don't kill anyone is what I'm upset about. You completely lied to me." She was being sensational, she knew. He'd only said they wouldn't be killing anybody tonight. But when it came down to it, wasn't she was glad he defended himself and his men against the threat of being killed?

Kill or be killed was the mantra all wolves lived by.

Zion rolled his eyes and chuckled. "And you think rogues always tell the truth?"

"As my mate, I expected more," Savannah drew herself up to her full height, lifting her chin defiantly as she stared into his hazel eyes. They flickered golden in the warm ceiling lights. "I expected that you'd at least be honest with me. But you hide behind this label of rogue and you think it makes you strong. You can get away with anything because you're an outlaw, and you like to think you have no conscience or accountability. But I know, deep down somewhere, is some decency—"

"Oh, please," Zion stalked towards her and only stopped when the tips of his shoes touched hers, and looked down his nose at her.

His warm breath tickled the fine hairs around her forehead, causing her fingers to ache to run through his own tangled yet silken waves of hair. She dismissed the distracting notion and focused on her anger towards him.

"You can keep looking for decency all you like, but you'll only get a headache." He lifted his hand, tapping her temple before tenderly brushing a finger down her cheek and along her jawline.

Her breath caught as she became trapped in his gaze. Then he brushed past her, his shoulder roughly shoving into hers.

She refused to let it affect her. Clenching her fists, the Alpha pressed her lips together and stopped herself from saying anything hurtful.

While the mate bond called to her, urging her to follow him around like a lost puppy, she watched him walk away, anger simmering under the now calm surface.

Will we ever be on the same side? Or will we remain true to our nature, always fighting until one kills the other?