Book 1: Chapter 52

The mind link fizzled for a minute before a voice came through. It had been spotty at best since the potion was still wearing off. I couldn’t shift but I could now mind-link and pick up things that weighed more than seventy pounds without grunting.

*'Beta?'*

*'I can hear you. What up, Mark?'*

I set down the tablet I’d been drawing on for the past forty-five minutes. We were planning a new residential area within the pack territory. It required a rough sketch of the housing layout to see how many homes we could fit without feeling like sardines. As much as we were pack wolves, we still like our space from our neighbors.

*'I wanted to give you a heads up, there was a rogue running close to our borders a moment ago. Came in from the east side, swung down south and then followed the river. Looks like towards the ponds.'*

My eyes narrowed. *'Just one?'*

*'Yeah. They also looked like they were carrying an instrument on their back, or at least of of those hard-shell rectangular cases.'*

We’d seen some rogue activity but never did they step foot on our territory now. Aelia said early on that her presence usually was enough to deter even the most stubborn rogue to stay in line. So they would skirt around the territory line going North or South. But never with backpacks and headed from the East down South.

*'Were they running?'*

*'No Beta. More of a…trot I guess you could say. Definitely not in a hurry.'*

I hummed.* 'Maybe they are headed over to the bar.'*

*'I was thinking that too. But then they turned South. Thought it was weird.'*

Absently, I nodded, my brow pulling together. *'Thanks. I might go check it out. Seems out of the norm.'*

Mark didn’t bother replying or he did and the mind link fizzled out at that point. Getting up, I headed out of my office. Silas was gone until Monday. Sam finally managed to get him to agree to go to one of the meetings with his current alliances. He wasn’t happy about it but there were rumors that couldn’t be ignored. Big changes were happening in a few of the other packs and Sam refused to be out of the loop. It didn’t help that it meant I would take over while he was gone, with my shotty mindlink that only just decided to reconnect. If anyone tried to get ahold of me two days ago, they probably thought I ignored them. The pack didn’t know what transpired so my inability to do normal tasks wasn’t common knowledge.

Sam, right now, was out. He took his shitty sedan and headed into town for some restocking of the supplies. The fact that Mer did all our grocery shopping and even picked up our cleaning supplies and toilet paper, I had no idea what the hell he was talking about but I didn’t push further. Honestly, he’d been more supportive than Silas ever was when it came to my disappearances. Curious when I can back if I found anything new or picked up any new information. I knew he wasn’t actually interested in my fucked up crusade but he’d been more supportive than Silas. Now, there was no need to crusade. She was here, but at the same time Aelia might as well be miles away.

It wasn’t too cool outside when I stepped out the back of the pack house even though the sun had already set. I’d have to jog normally to go south but it would be a nice brisk run. Mark would be headed back to his post on the East side. Only Claude would be in the way of me heading South. Or at least catch me running in this form rather than wolf. I could play it off but I wanted to avoid the confrontation all together. Mark probably alerted him of the rogue and so I had no doubt, Claude being one of our more experienced wolves, would lecture me on going over the border after a rogue in human form. My nose wrinkled at the thought. No thank you.

My hearing, healing, and strength were all back to normal so when I got closer to our border, I was able to adjust slightly, hearing the pacing of Claude further West. Since I didn’t hear anything from him through the link, it was likely he never saw the rogue. Or my mind link was acting up again. Once I crossed the territory line, I followed the river down instead of keeping to the trees of the forest. If they were headed to the ponds, they would have just kept this path as well.

Sighing, the thought crossed my mind that I had no idea what to do if I ran into the rogue. I wasn’t the best at thinking that far ahead. That was Sam’s job. Maybe I’d just tell them to head to the Tap. Aelia probably would help them if they needed it. Looking at my watch it was five minutes to eight. Getting into the ‘way too late to be traipsing outside the borders without being  able shift’ time of night. Still, what Mark said struck me as odd. Too odd to let it go without checking it out.

Rogues being this close made everyone in the pack nervous and on edge. Finn, Noah, and Aelia were slowly getting them to not bare their teeth but with Silas’ hatred running so deep, change the entire packs mind was an uphill battle for them. Alcohol definitely helped. The shifting ceremonies now being catered with “the good stuff” thanks to them, seemed to also help. Silas was also more relaxed lately. He did apologize, kind of, for keeping Aelia’s identity a secret from me. It made sense now why I felt like he was avoiding me. But to go from avoiding, to hovering, to angry avoiding, to hovering again was giving me whiplash. The break had been nice since the only thing Sam hounded me for was paperwork.

I heard voices, two specifically, as I came closer to the ponds. Slowing my jog, I stayed quiet, now opting more to stay behind the large trunks of the trees.

“…for dragging me all the way out here for this bullshit. I should make you pay for my vacation this year.” A voice I didn’t know filtered through the trees.

“I already pay for your vacations, bitch. Don’t give me that. Hell, I had to pay out of my personal account so Noah and Finn wouldn’t see the transaction to get you out here.”

My eyes widened and I froze behind a tree. Aelia was the other person talking.

The other wolf growled, but it was more of a grumble than menacing. “I don’t know why you’re making me do this.”

“You know damn well why. Noah and Finn wouldn’t be able to do it. You know that. Especially not now.”

“Oh, you mean after you almost died? Twice? What makes you think I can do it when they can’t?”

Aelia sighed. Her voice lower for a moment. “Because you’re like me. You can separate work from personal. You know those two can’t.”

The other wolf sighed as well. “You’re not wrong. But I hate it. I’m not happy about this, Alpha.”

There was a long pause of silence before Aelia spoke. “I know. It was the only way though.”

“Goddess, when was the last time you took a punishment that was actually meant for you and not for someone else?”

Aelia chuckled. “I don’t know. Six years ago? When I caused the entire collapse of the right wing of the castle.”

“And how many times have you been whipped? Can you even count them on your hands?”

She chuckled again. “I’d need my toes too. It’s not that bad.”

Why were they talking about punishments and whipping? What the hell was this rogue doing here and why was Aelia out here? They obviously knew each other, friends even. The wolf has called her Alpha, much like Finn and Noah did when it was just werewolves in the bar.

“Not that bad? Out of what? Fifteen…maybe sixteen times you’ve been punished…been whipped…only one of those times was your own damn fault. You’ve always taken on everyone else’s punishment.”

I closed my eyes so I could listen over the wind blowing through the trees.

“I mean, this time it was meant for me. The old man specifically said for me. Not for…”

The other wolf interrupted and snapped back at Aelia. “Bullshit. You’re covering for that pup. You didn’t want him to take the full fucking brunt of the law. So you agreed to this. This…” There was a pause and a sound of something knocking together. “…these lashes were never meant for you.”

“Keri, for one, you’re not much older than him. Two, I know what I agreed to…”

Again she was interrupted. “In your state? I could kill you tonight. You could be dead in the next half hour. I’d be fucked. All because your idiot ass wanted to save a pup who didn’t deserve it…”

Aelia’s growl rippled through the trees. It felt as though even the wind stilled and the trees held their breath. “That’s the second time you’ve interrupted me, Gamma. I don’t appreciate being talked down to when I’m the Alpha. I know what I’m doing. What you need to do is shut up and do what I say.”

There was a pregnant pause. “I’m sorry, Alpha. It won’t happen again.”

The forest seemed to breathe again, the crackle of anger gone.

“I appreciate you wanting to look out for me, Keri. I really do. Just like Noah and Finn, you’re one of my closest friends. You’re my Gamma for fucks sake. But I need you to trust me as well.”

“I do!” There was a pause before apparently her Gamma spoke again. “I just…I’m tired of seeing you taking on the burdens of everyone without even batting an eyelash. Do Finn or Noah even know?”

Aelia inhaled deeply. “Finn knows about the arrangement. Not that you’re here to do it. Noah doesn’t know. He would have flipped his lid if he knew the extent of the agreement.” Another pause but it was filled with a short harsh exhale. “I know you care. I know it’s just as hard on you as it is on them. But you need to know, I’d still continue to do it, for my brother, for my fated, my Betas, for my army, and for you. Even if I knew it would kill me. I’d still do it. In this case, a measly hundred lashes won’t do shit but…”

I sucked in a breath too harshly. It was too loud and there wasn’t any noise to cover it. The wind had died down and only Aelia was speaking.

“What the…” The wolf Keri called out but she was stopped.

“Nate, come forward please.”

My lips pursed into a thin line and I dug my fists into my jeans pockets. Coming out from behind the tree, Aelia was standing near the edge of the ponds. Her Gamma, Keri, was next to her. She had long blonde hair, pulled up into a high pony tail, wearing jeans that were a size too big and a shirt three sizes too big. Her face was actually very beautiful. She seemed a little older than Silas, age starting to worm its way into the creases next to her eyes and forehead. But she was tall, model material, and pretty damn intimidating for a Gamma. Or maybe I was just used to Sam and his meekness.

“This is the pup? You can’t be serious.” Keri put her hands on her hips, shaking her head.

“Keri, be nice.” Aelia smirked before turning to me. “Nate, this is my Gamma, Keri Summer. I’m assuming she got a little too close to your border?”

I nodded. “The boys informed me that a rogue was running the edge with an instrument case on their back. It seemed odd…so I figured I’d come down to see.”

Her eyebrow rose for a second. “When you can’t shift? At night? Outside your territory? I believe we had this discussion before, after falling asleep on the East side, did we not?”

A red tint crawled across my face when I realized she was right. She had warned me last time she saved my butt from a group of rogues. Then I could shift and I still would have been fucked. Now, I would have just straight died if I was caught in that situation.

“He’s cute but he’s stupid.”

I opened my mouth to argue with Keri’s assessment but the look from Aelia was a challenge to prove her wrong. My head fell a bit.

“We did. I wasn’t thinking. Silas is off territory and Sam wasn’t around. So I thought I would check it out myself. Normally…”

Aelia cut me off. “Normally you’d would be fine but you’re not normal right now. You’re human. Even if you’ve got some strength back, you can’t shift. So you’re human.” Keri snorted at her and Aelia slapped her upside the head. “I choose not to shift anymore. Don’t sass me, Gamma.”

Keri grumbled low. “I didn’t say shit.”