Just a Rogue

Theo

We find the Betas just leaving the private dining room where the leaders were all having breakfast. Malcolm greets me with a huge grin and his eyebrows waggling up and down. “Congratulations on your mating!” he tells me.

“Thanks,” I smile, looking down at the floor. If I remember correctly, I very nearly disgraced myself in front of the entire leadership team of both packs the moment that I met Ruby, barely managing to get away from public view before we were fucking like crazed animals.

He laughs. “I understand, Theo, don’t worry about it.”

Evan asks Nolan, “Is it all right if Theo and I take Corinne and Ruby to the hospital? They want to visit the rogue Seth.”

Nolan and Malcolm meet each other’s eyes, surprised. “Um, I suppose,” Nolan answers. “I’m kind of surprised they’d want anything to do with any of the rogues, though.”

I interject, “Apparently this one wasn’t too bad. They just want to see how he’s doing.”

Malcolm shrugs. “Fine with me,” he says.

Then I hear the deep voice of my Alpha from the private dining room. “Alpha Ross and I are just on our way to the hospital now to check on the status of the rogues,” Kanen says. “We’ll come along.”

Oh. All right then. Field trip with Alphas I guess. I hope this doesn’t make Corinne and Ruby uncomfortable.

“We’ll meet you in the garage in five minutes,” Ross tells Evan, and he nods.

We go back to the cafeteria to collect our ladies. How things have changed in the past few days. This is all so sudden that my head hasn’t even had the chance to start spinning yet. I realize that I haven’t even told my parents about any of this. I’m mated. It’s amazing. And, I guess, I have to explain the little thing about destroying the rogue pack. Well, one thing at a time. My mate wants to take a trip, so that’s what we’re doing first.

Ruby takes my hand as we walk out the back door from the packhouse towards the garage, and we see that the Alphas are already there.

The two of them drive one car together, probably having Alpha business to discuss on the way. I get one of our River Moon vehicles and pull it out of its parking spot, then Ruby gets up in the front seat with me, and Evan sits in the back with Corinne.

It’s about a twenty minute drive to the pack hospital in Arcata, and Ruby spends it turned sideways in her seat and chatting with Corinne. I can tell how happy it makes my mate to have her friend to talk to in the midst of all of this gigantic life change that is happening. Whatever happens next, I know that Corinne and the other she-wolves are going to have to continue to be a part of Ruby’s life.

When we get to the hospital, all six of us are greeted in the lobby by Dr. Hughes. Someone must have called to tell her that the Alphas are on the way. She talks to them as she leads us up the stairs to the ward where the rogues are being held. We follow behind, and I hear her tell them, “We have them both in the same room, that way they can be guarded together. We haven’t needed silver to control them, they are both still in very serious condition. Xavier has not regained consciousness following surgery. His most serious injuries are spinal fractures, we were able to insert some rods to hold the spine in place while his wolf healing kicks in.”

“When will he be ready for transport to the jail?” Kanen asks. “He doesn’t need to be fully recovered, we just want to be able to move him to the secure facility pending his trial.”

“Not for several days,” she answers. “When will the trial take place?”

“We’re working on that,” Ross says. “We’ll be putting together a tribunal to try all of the rogues and pass sentence. Even for Xavier, although we’re already pretty sure of the outcome, we have to follow procedures. Everyone is entitled to due process.”

She nods. Honestly, it seems like a lot of effort to heal someone who is just going to be executed anyway. Xavier’s fate is inescapable. Ruby glances up at me, and I wonder if she can sense what I’m thinking. I really think the mate bond is sort of mushing our minds together. I can’t hear her thoughts, but I can feel her emotions, and she’s concerned. Is it about Xavier? About the others? About herself? I squeeze her hand. I don’t know about the other rogues, but my mate will be fine with me by her side.

Dr. Hughes glances back at us, and I know that she sees me walking without my cane. I feel totally fine now. My night with Ruby, even though I shifted a little sooner than the doctor said I was allowed, seems to have completed my healing. I’m down to scars only, no pain.

But the doctor doesn’t mention me. She mostly seems to be taking in the rogue females walking along with me, then she continues her report. “Seth also has spinal injuries, although not as severe, along with some other broken bones. Primarily he has serious facial injuries. Even with wolf healing, his appearance will be permanently altered.”

I think she’s trying to warn the girls. I’ll bet it’s not pretty in there. But these girls are rogues, they’re tough.

When we get into the room, we see the two rogues in hospital beds. The unconscious one under the window across the room must be Xavier, and Seth must be here in the closest bed. And damn, Dr. Hughes has a real gift for understatement. This dude’s face is destroyed. He must have faceplanted right onto the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. I’m not sure what he looked like before, but I’m willing to bet that one entire side of his face wasn’t crushed and caved in like this. He’s swollen and bruised and barely looks alive. But, shockingly, his eyes are open, watching as we come in.

Alpha Kanen tells the four guards who are standing along the walls of the room, “You can take a break.” Good, it’s awfully crowded in here now with the six of us and the doctor crowding in. The Alphas go over and stand between the two beds, looking first at Xavier and then at Seth.

Ruby hangs back with me next to the door, staring, but Corinne goes right over to Seth’s bed, and his eyes follow her. Evan comes along, standing right over her shoulder as she reaches out and gently takes one of Seth’s bandaged hands.

His eyes, which are already filled with so much pain, widen with shock to see her here, to feel her holding his hand. “Thank you,” she whispers to him, leaning close, her hair brushing against him. His eyes close for a moment, almost like he is enjoying the feeling of her hair, or her scent.

And I realize in that moment that more is going on here than just visiting a patient in the hospital. I think that Corinne must have some kind of thing going with Seth. Does Evan know? Does Ruby know? I look at Ruby, and she shrugs a little. I feel her at the edge of my mind, and know that she will tell me later whatever it is that she knows about this.

“I know what you tried to do,” Corinne continues telling Seth, in her low, soft voice, “I know you were trying to give me the chance to run away. You saved me, and I want you to know how much that means to me.”

His eyes are full as he tries to nod, then he winces. And somehow, from his twisted mouth, he whispers, barely intelligible. “I had to. For our baby.”

What? Didn’t she tell Xavier it was his baby? Oh, man, so much more was going on than we even realized!

She sucks in a breath. “You knew?”

“Mm-hmm,” he manages to croak out. “I could smell it, I knew it wasn’t his.” His eyes glance over at Xavier’s bed, and then widen in alarm.

I look over there too, wondering what is alarming Seth, and I see that Xavier is awake, staring around himself, and obviously just heard what they said. An expression of deep fury overtakes his features, and I blurt out “Alpha!” to warn them as Xavier bolts upright.

“What did you say?” Xavier says, probably meaning to roar, but it comes out in a little raspy whisper, and I remember that his windpipe was crushed by the collar Seth had slammed onto him before they fell. “I’ll kill you!” he threatens, and starts to burst to his feet.

Corinne spins around in alarm, her long hair swirling around her as she tries to see what Xavier is doing. Evan instantly grabs her and pulls her out of the way, back towards us at the door. Seth starts trying to lean up in bed, and winces, unable to move, unable to protect himself from the coming attack.

But the Alphas are standing right there. Xavier somehow manages to stagger upright despite his injuries, and that’s enough for them. Kanen grabs Xavier’s arms, holding them behind him, disregarding the fact that he is probably rebreaking some bones. Xavier is enraged, struggling against Kanen’s grip, and he rasps out, “Fuck you! I’ll kill you all!”

And Ross has heard enough. He pulls his fist back and punches Xavier straight in the head, presumably planning only to knock him out. But Ross is a huge man who probably doesn’t appreciate his own strength. His fist makes contact with Xavier so powerfully that his skull obviously cracks, and some blood and tissue, probably brain matter, comes spurting out.

Gross.

Xavier immediately slumps down, and the only thing holding him up now is Kanen’s arms. Kanen plops him back down onto the bed. The dude is obviously dead now. His head is broken, his brains are out. It’s over. My eyes must be just about goggling out of my head.

“Oops,” Ross says, not sounding a bit sorry, and Kanen shrugs.

Ruby and Corinne look at each other, and I’m worried they might be scared or grossed out or faint or something, but nope. They’re rogues. Ruby reaches out and grabs Corinne’s hand, and they stand there, hand in hand, staring at the man who had tormented them, realizing that it is unexpectedly and suddenly over. It’s done.

Dr. Hughes is standing there, staring at the scene, at her now dead patient, at the mess that is going to have to be cleaned up. She purses her lips with distaste, and complains, “How unhygienic.”

Kanen points out, “The rogue made additional death threats, attempted to commit assault, and had to be contained.”

The doctor nods briskly. “Yes. I’ll include it in my report.”

Ross shrugs. “Saves us all some effort. That’s always how it was going to end up anyway.”

Kanen nods, and the rest of us just stare, speechlessly. Damn.