Just a Rogue

Beta Nolan

We have a leaders’ meeting in the private dining room over breakfast. We don’t bother moving into the conference room, or inviting any of our assistants. There are decisions to be made, and this must be done entirely at the leader level.

Besides, our assistants are all busy. They’ve earned a day off. “Heard from Theo?” I ask Malcolm with a smirk.

“Pfsh. Other than what I’m pretty sure was him and the rogue out in the woods howling, no,” he says. “Their mate bond hit them hard!”

The Alphas grin at the Lunas. Everyone here is mated, so we all know how intense it feels. Sometimes, like with Theo and Ruby, it is so overpowering that nothing can be done except to immediately claim each other. And, it seems, sometimes mates can find a way to wait, like Dom and Amelia somehow managed to do. Theo’s reaction was far more typical - I’ve never heard of another case like Dom’s.

None of us, of course, would dream of questioning Theo’s bond. It is not for us to doubt the choice of the Goddess. A rogue, though? I look forward to hearing what the Alphas have decided to do going forward, with all of the rogues.

Ross starts. “We’re returning to Dark Woods tomorrow,” he says. “We have our own business to take care of.”

Kanen nods. “I understand. I’ll be sorry to see you go, though, I have really appreciated our partnership.”

“That isn’t ending,” Ross says, “it’s really only beginning. All of the alliance plans that we had been discussing before the rogue situation took priority are still in the works. We’ll be in touch every day, and I’m sure we’ll be visiting back and forth quite often.”

“We’ll need to establish some joint judicial proceedings for the rogues,” Kanen says. He meets his Luna’s eyes. “We’ve been talking about what to do going forward, and we have some ideas.”

Janine picks up the thread. “We’ll need to have three phases to the rogue proceedings.” Huh, that’s interesting, and I’m glad they’re already making plans. “First, obviously, we need to do an investigation into each rogue. We’ll need to contact their original packs to find out the circumstances under which they were exiled. Meeting Corinne has taught us that not all rogues are criminals, and that many of them were probably dealt with unfairly by their packs in the first place. We can’t make decisions about the disposition of each rogue until we have their individual information. So we’re thinking of establishing a committee to conduct this investigation, with people from each of our packs.”

Ross nods thoughtfully. “I’ve been thinking along the same lines.” He looks over at me. “Nolan, I hate to deprive you of your assistant, but I’m thinking of assigning Evan to the investigation team, and having him stay here at River Moon for now.”

I smile ruefully. “I saw that coming,” I admit, “especially since he is clearly involved with Corinne. He wouldn’t want to leave her, and I’m sure she won’t want to leave this area while her friends are here. That’ll work out, for now at least.”

“What about Dom?” Darlene asks. “Does anyone know what he and Amelia are planning to do?”

Gamma Michael speaks up. “I haven’t had much chance to speak with my assistant since you all arrived,” he says with a wry smile. “Between one thing and another, you’ve all kept her very busy.” We all chuckle. “But, as much as I hate to lose such a competent assistant, I have to recommend her for the committee as well. She has really demonstrated for the past couple of weeks how diligent and organized and selfless she can be. Her focus on the packs’ projects has been nothing short of remarkable in light of her own mating.”

Alpha Kanen nods. “I agree. We’ll assign her to the committee too. She and Evan can co-chair the effort. I think we can assign Dominic and Corinne to be their initial support staff. That should keep everyone happy and get the job done.”

Darlene sighs, and Ross looks at her with concern. “Is that all right?” he asks.

“Yes, it’s the best for everyone,” she says, “but I admit that I had been fantasizing about Amelia moving to Dark Woods and taking a position as my assistant. I’ve really grown so fond of her.”

“Well,” I point out, “maybe after the rogue situation is entirely resolved, she and Dom might decide to move to Dark Woods. I’d be willing to bet they’ll want to come out with us when we return tomorrow, for at least a couple of days, so that she can meet his family.”

“Ah, true,” Darlene says with a smile. “I’ll just cling to my hope for the future.”

Janine goes on. “It’ll still be a while, I’m afraid. We won’t be done with that committee very quickly. After the investigation is complete, the tribunal will have to be held, and I anticipate that process taking quite a bit of time also. With ten defendants, maybe more.”

Kanen gets a hard look on his face. “I don’t expect the decision to take long for at least one of them.”

Ross meets his eyes, and something passes between them, a silent decision of Alphas. “There is no possible outcome for the rogue leader other than death,” he clarifies. But then he sighs. “However, we must demonstrate that we are a just group, and that every defendant will be given the opportunity to present a defense.”

Kanen huffs. “Waste of time,” he grumbles.

“No,” Janine contradicts her mate. “Letting justice unfold in a thorough manner is never a waste of time, even if the conclusion is not in doubt. The people in both of our packs, as well as in other packs, need to be shown that our process is fair and just.”

Kanen’s eyes soften as he looks at his mate. “Of course,” he says. So we’ll let the process unfold, even if we all know at least in Xavier’s case what his sentence will be. He is going to be executed for his long criminal career.

Darlene gets a quizzical look on her face. “Did you say you’re planning three steps for the committee? Won’t they be done after the tribunals? Isn’t that just two steps?”

Kanen and Janine look at each other. “I have an idea for another use for the committee, after the tribunal concludes,” she says. We all wait to hear her plan. “I think that the packs in general don’t seem to do a very good job with their process for exiling rogues. Our two packs each have a procedure that must be followed, but from what we’ve heard from the she-wolves, it seems that a lot of packs are much more arbitrary and in many cases are unfair.”

Ross meets my eyes then nods. We’ve actually discussed this in the past, how the leadership of a pack should always be fair to its members, and how disappointing it is to hear stories from other packs about many Alphas not prioritizing fairness or the well-being of the pack members, instead focusing only on their own power.

Kanen continues. “Janine’s idea is to set up a permanent outreach office, to communicate more regularly with other packs. We want to try to see if we can establish some kind of guidelines to be used by any packs that would be willing to sign a compact with us, setting up some commonly used pack laws. It seems that coordinating with other packs, making some consistent regulations, will help all of us be better organizations.”

“And one more thing,” Janine adds. “We want the new outreach office to include a rogue coordinator, so that any rogues who wish to appeal their exile, can request an investigation into the circumstances. We think that there are probably quite a few of them who could have their rogue status be revoked, if they are really only the victim of unfair applications of the law, rather than truly criminals. We might consider establishing a quasi-pack status, where former rogues can be pardoned, and have the opportunity to earn their way into eventual full pack membership.”

So we will be addressing the entire rogue problem at its very root. Even that. Goodness, it sounds like our alliance with River Moon is going to lead to even broader changes than we initially anticipated.

Good changes, I think. I look forward to seeing what will develop. It might not only be River Moon and Dark Woods who benefit from our alliance. If the outreach office is successful, werewolf society might be positively influenced across the entire North American continent. Our trip to River Moon might be the beginning of something truly consequential for all of us.

Evan

I wake up next to Corinne, and the feeling of contentment this brings is the best thing ever. I meant what I said to her last night. I’m never leaving her. I am going to have to talk to Beta Nolan, and apologize to him, but I can’t go back with him to Dark Woods. I have been working as his assistant for years, and I admire him and enjoy my job, but I have to resign. I’ll find a job out in the human community in Arcata if necessary. But I’m staying here. Maybe the alliance of our packs will make it easy to relocate.

She opens her eyes, and I can tell she’s confused for a moment about where she is, waking up in a new place. But I reach over and touch her cheek, gently, and say, “Good morning.”

She focuses on me, and looks very serious as she greets me. I think she’s worried about something.

“What is wrong?” I ask her. Whatever it is, I am determined to help her with it.

“I think we should talk,” she says softly.

Uh-oh. Maybe she’s having second thoughts about me. I nod, anxiously.

“There’s something I haven’t told you,” she says, and I just wait in suspense. “I, um, I’m pregnant,” she says, and her gray eyes watch me worriedly.

I give her a little smile. “I know,” I tell her, “I was listening to the microphones in the cave.”

She looks both relieved and dismayed. “You heard…?”

“Of course I did,” I tell her. “That was the whole set-up, remember? We were all watching, and listening, just waiting for the best time to move in.” I feel my jaw clenching, remembering the moment I learned about this. “So yes, I heard you tell Xavier you’re expecting his baby.” I try to keep my voice calm, casual. I have no intention of inflicting on her the awareness of how my mind exploded when I heard that.

She sighs, and relaxes back down against the pillow, and is silent for a moment. “I am pregnant,” she says, “it’s true, but I was lying to him.”

What? I lift my head and stare down at her.

She bites her lip, then continues, “Um, I’m pretty sure it’s not his baby. I think it’s Seth’s.”

Ohhhhh. My mind might be exploding a little bit again. Was that what they were fighting about on the cliff? I didn’t understand why Seth attacked him, but this would certainly be an explanation. Jealousy? Possessiveness? Corinne is certainly worth fighting for.

When I’m silent, she goes on, her words a bit rushed, “It was only the one time, and we never told anybody else. Xavier would have killed him.” She looks back up at me, and I see tears brushing her eyelashes, and she looks so worried. “I’m sorry, I know that you must think I’m a … slut.” She grits her teeth around the word, barely able to make herself finish the sentence.

“What?” Oh, god, that’s what she’s worried about? “No, Corinne, I know that you never had any choice in the matter. You were a victim, that’s all. It wasn’t your fault if men forced you to….” Now I can’t finish.

She shakes her head, almost reluctantly, and softly says, “Seth didn’t force me. He was always nice to me, and when he got the chance, when we were alone for a little while, I didn’t stop him.”

I keep my arm wrapped around her. “None of it was your fault, Corinne, and it doesn’t matter whether you tried to stop anything. You were doing what it took to survive. I understand that. I don’t blame you for one single thing. I’m just glad that you managed to get through it alive.”

She is silent for a long moment, and I can tell that she is still troubled by something. I don’t press her. In this, as in everything, I want her to move at her own pace. She’s had enough being forced by men to do anything.

Finally, she says, “I do want to be with you, Evan, I really do. But I’m going to have a baby this summer. I know that’s not something you signed up for.”

I wait for a minute, gathering my words. I don’t want this to come out wrong. “I will sign up for it, Corinne, if you’ll let me. If being with you means helping you with your baby, I’m all in. I mean it when I say I’ll never leave you. You or your baby.”

She reaches up and wipes her eyes briefly, and whispers, “Thank you.”

Enough heavy talk. “Ready to go down for breakfast?” I ask her.

She sits up, and my eyes move to her beautiful breasts as the covers fall away. Nodding, she says, “And I… I don’t want to bother you, or anyone in the pack, but I want to try to find out how Seth is doing. He saved me. If I can, I’d like to thank him.”

Even that. I’ll even help her check up on the bastard who got her pregnant while she was being held captive. I’ll do anything she needs.