11. Missing Rogues

**The Pack**
Shawn, the Alpha of Oakheart's pack, felt the sudden urge to rip the rogue in front of him limb from limb. Man's insolence only fueled his rage. Other pack members stood in the middle of woods surrounding the man that only an hour ago gave them the chase of their lifetime. Some of Shawn's men were still panting.

Alpha's anger soothed down a little when he felt familiar warm tingles on his shoulder. He turned around to face his mate, her right hand on his shoulder. She stood there silently signaling him with her eyes to be more cautious of his actions. He took a deep breath and again turned his gaze on the rogue.

When Lilian, Shawn's mate, had been made aware of the trespasser in their territory, she rushed out of her house to accompany her mate in the interrogation. She knew she will be needed to calm him.

"You filthy rogues, you think you could bring us down if you work together. Tell us what you are up to and I might consider killing you... less painfully." Her mate spat, his voice laced with venom.

"Alpha Shawn, we both know rogues are too independent to work with another of their kind. Did you miss your alpha lessons while you were running around with your little mate?" The rogue replied in a mocking tone.

By then, Shawn was gritting his teeth, barely holding himself from ripping the man's heart out of his chest. The woman behind him noted her mate's tensed state and knew that the rogue will be slaughtered before they could get him to spill his intentions. It was no news that Shawn had short temper, the only fault to his otherwise perfect personality.

"Maybe you should let Hunter continue with the interrogation." Lilian said cautiously.

"No." Shawn replied immediately.

"We both know this is not going to end well, if we continued like this." Her hands were now rubbing his back.

Shawn knew his mate was right. He would not be able to hold himself back from strangling the rogue if he continued with his rebellious conduct. The alpha in him couldn't tolerate disrespect, more so from a rogue.

"Take him to the cellars." He ordered his men, who followed as their Alpha commanded.

"By the way, I am Cole." The man spoke as he was being dragged away by two men. Shawn gave him a glare. "Just telling. It will be nice to be addressed as Cole rather than the filthy rogue."

A threatening growl escaped from Shawn's throat.

**********

Hunter strolled through the dark hallways, devising his questions which will get the rogue to spill his secrets. The only source of light through these passages were bulbs that glowed dimly letting no person see beyond their five steps. Had it not for his werewolf sight, he would have tripped over nothing. This building stood as a sore sight among others in the pack. Hunter never understood why cellars needed to look like some haunted mansion, when all they were meant to do were contain some rabid wolves. This creepy aura might scare a feeble human but it was not fooling any werewolf.

Being the beta of the pack was no easy task, especially when your alpha was a short tempered imbecile. Even though Hunter was two years younger, Shawn and he had been together ever since they were cubs. He had watched Shawn grow and turn into a fine alpha and lead their pack to become one of the strongest in the world. Shawn's mate, Lilian, was a perfect match for his alpha. With time she acquired the ability to calm his rage and make him see reason. No other wolf had ever mastered that skill and it is highly doubtful if some other wolf ever will. They both were strong wolves but together they were unstoppable. Hunter only hoped that he and his mate could be like that.

He turned around the corner and was faced with the guard, who stood in front of a heavy metal gate. The guard bowed down, allowing the seventeen-year-old beta through those doors. Inside those doors were three cellars, their front guarded by heavy metal bars. Out of those three, only one contained a muscular figure who was hidden in the shadow, rest were empty.

He stood in front of cellar barring the rogue, or Cole as he liked to be called.

"Hello, Cole." Hunter began. "Enjoying your time here?"

"Could have been better, if I had the company like yours." Cole walked out enabling Hunter to study his face. His grey eyes showed the glint of wickedness. He was little less muscular compared to other wolves, which was a no surprise as he was a rogue. A scar ran along from the corner of his forehead to his left ear. "I am actually very happy. You are the first one to call me Cole. "

A smirk appeared on Hunter's face. "Well, since you are happy with me why don't you tell me why you trespassed into our territory."

"Could be an accident?" Came his cold reply.

"Oh please. You rogues might be insane but not stupid. Your kind knows very well that you invite death once you enter our lands." Hunter scoffed. "So I kindly ask you to cut the bullshit."

Cole just shrugged.

"The only reason you are alive is because you were alone. We all know a single rogue in our lands cannot even hurt a fly."

"Rogues always remain alone." Cole replied rolling his eyes.

"Am I here to give you history lessons?" Hunter snorted. "Rogues cannot live under authority but they do come together temporarily to raid pack lands and after completing their task, they part their ways merrily, jumping on their asses."

"Well, I didn't come with anyone else so you could see I had no plans of 'raiding' your precious pack."

"You do know for the past few months there have been no attacks from the rogues. It is kind of unsettling. You see no matter how many times we whip your asses, you all come back because it is simply in your nature." Hunter noted Cole's tightened jaw, nevertheless continued. "So you know we are kind of missing you guys."

Cole just glared at Hunter.

"So like are you guys planning something? I mean you could tell me, I won't tell anyone... Pinky swear." Hunter mocked but he made sure his underlying message was clear.

"We are not planning anything."

"Then why are you not doing something that is simply in your nature?" Hunter asked curiously.

Cole took a deep breath. "We are being hunted."

"Hunted? I didn't hear about any pack that is hunting the rogues."

"I don't know by whom but we are being hunted. I highly doubt that any pack could do this much damage. It's something else that is bringing us down." Cole glared at Hunter. "You see the reason we are not raiding is because we are not enough to put the plan into motion. I've already lost many friends."

"You know I am having a really hard time in believing your bullshit." Hunter raised his eyebrows.

"I don't care what you believe." Cole spat angrily.

"This all still doesn't explain why you are here."

"I was with others when we heard this deadly growl. That sound couldn't belong to any wolf. It was something else. We all knew it was here to kill us. So we ran away. As you might ask your alpha, I am pretty fast. So, I got away but I could hear those deadly growls and whimpering of wolves. In all that chaos, I ended up here unknowingly. I never meant to come here." He wasn't looking at Hunter anymore, his eyes stared at nothing in particular as he recalled the incident. Hunter saw the sincerity in his eyes while he narrated his story. Cole's heartbeat also didn't give him away, and Hunter knew he was telling the truth.

"Did you see what it was that killed your friends?" Hunter's sober voice echoed through the empty space, surprising Cole with its graveness.

Cole shook his head. "I might be a curious wolf but still my life is my number one priority. I didn't want to stick around their any longer than necessary. I ran as soon as I heard that growl."

"What a mighty wolf you are." Hunter returned to his nonchalant state.

Cole just shrugged.