Just a Rogue

Beta Nolan

“You okay?” I whisper to Evan as we sit down at the conference room table. He has dark circles under his eyes.

He shrugs. “Just tired,” he says.

The new mates come in together, glowing with happiness. I continue to be amazed that Dom somehow kept this quiet while we were driving all over northern California marking caves. I’m surprised to see that they have the rogue with them, who sits nervously in the seat between Evan and Amelia.

Once the entire group is assembled, Alpha Kanen starts the meeting. “Luna Janine has put together a plan, and it has my support,” he says, already setting the tone. It lets us all know that unless something changes, whatever her plan is will take place.

Janine takes over. “Corinne has volunteered to return to the rogues, to infiltrate their group and allow us to gather enough information to form a plan of attack.”

I’m impressed with the boldness of the idea, but before anyone has the chance to start discussing the details, Evan reacts almost violently.

“No!” he shouts, staring at the rogue sitting next to him. “What? No! You can’t!”

Alpha Ross leans over with a frown, and barks a stern, “Evan,” at him.

Evan falls silent, but I can sense the dismay pouring from him. The rogue had glanced at him with wide eyes, but she looks away, staring down at her fingers twisting together in her lap.

I don’t admonish my assistant, getting scolded by the Alpha was punishment enough. He clearly feels strongly about this, and when he calms down perhaps he can add something sensible to the discussion.

Janine continues, after glancing somewhat warily at Evan following his outburst. “We’re going to do everything to keep her safe,” she assures the group, but clearly directing her words to Corinne’s friends. “We’re going to operate on the assumption that the rogues will be returning soon to the cave near Arcata, so Corinne is going to go and wait for them there. I’ll be doing some shopping later to get some tech gear. We can track her, and even try to keep our eyes on the cave area with hidden webcams.”

Evan is boiling with frustration, having been silenced by the Alpha, but Amelia speaks up, looking at him with concern. “We’ve tried to think of everything,” she adds. “We’ll have to make sure she isn’t wearing anything from us, and hasn’t touched any of us, before we leave to take her back to Arcata, or else our scent might be detected on her. We’re planning for her to go to a homeless shelter in Arcata for a night or two, so that she can get some clothes there, before she makes her way up to the cave. That way just in case the rogues are watching out for her, they’ll see her there. They wouldn’t have any reason to suspect that she’s been here in our packhouse.”

“What is the purpose of this subterfuge, though?” Gamma Michael asks. “Why not just keep the cave under surveillance and attack as soon as the rogues arrive? We don’t need a spy for that.”

Luna Darlene nods. “If our only goal was to destroy the rogues, that would be the easiest way, yes. But we also want to try to rescue the females that they are holding captive if we can.”

Michael looks at the other River Moon leaders as though looking for support, seeming to feel that this plan is a pointless waste of resources. But Malcolm simply shrugs, and Alpha Kanen comments, “As I said, the plan has my support.”

Darlene says, “Corinne has been very helpful to us, and she wants to ensure the safety of her friends. The ladies with the rogues are there involuntarily, and it would be barbaric to simply slaughter them along with their captors.”

Ross puts his hand to his chin, thinking, then adds, “Our pack alliance agreement has as one of its stated purposes the bringing of justice to the wolves in our region, including the rogues. But justice has more than one meaning. It isn’t necessarily restricted to revenge against the rogues who harmed us. It can also mean protection for their victims. Saving the women would also be just, wouldn’t it?”

There’s a moment of silence as his profound statement sinks it. We are wolves, but we are not animals. We can be fair, and moral, and just.

Ross is a strong leader, a gigantic man, ferocious in his wolf form. But in his heart, he is a philosopher. We’ve had many discussions late into the night about our role as leaders, as wolves, as men.

The issue is settled. Both of the Alphas support the plan. There will obviously be no vote, and there is no need for further discussion about whether the plan will be implemented. We need only finalize the details about how it will be carried out.

Janine continues, now that it is settled that this will happen. “I believe that the sooner we get everything into place, the better. From the metadata on the phone, it seems that the rogues never stay in one place for very long, and I expect them to be moving south from Oregon soon. They might already be on the move. We should be ready before they arrive.”

“All right,” I say, “what do we do?”

Dominic

“Poor Evan, man,” I mind-link to Amelia, “he looks like he’s about ready to cry.”

I feel the sympathy that she holds for him. “How would you feel if I was about to go risk my life to save other people?” she silently responds.

“Well, bad, obviously, but that’s different. We’re mated. They’re just - I dunno, flirting or whatever.”

She gives me some side-eye, clearly not impressed with my lack of respect for Evan’s feelings.

Then I realize. Her parents aren’t mated. Her dad isn’t a wolf. They just have - whatever this is that Evan has with Corinne.

“Sorry,” I think to her remorsefully, and I can feel her forgive me.

She opens the binder that she has in front of her, ready with the notes that she prepared during her meeting with the Lunas yesterday. Janine waves her hand at Amelia to indicate that she should carry on.

“There are a few phases to the plan,” she starts. “We will be putting together a team of our pack members who own businesses in Arcata, to keep their eyes out for any of the rogues, and to watch over Corinne while she’s there. Our pack runs the homeless shelter, so we’ll make sure that she has everything she needs when she gets there.”

I glance at Evan, and see his tense expression relaxing just a little. I’m sure it’s a relief to hear that at least this plan has been carefully thought out. He probably pictured Corinne just running off to the rogues with no back-up. If I know anything about Amelia, I know that she will have a meticulous plan in place before anything happens. Hopefully once he hears the whole thing he can chill out.

Corinne remains silent, clutching her hands together in her lap, looking down. I wonder what she’s thinking?

Corinne

It’s exactly what I was afraid of. I can calmly listen to the plan described, Amelia reading from her notes, the Lunas adding points here and there. I know all of this, it’s exactly what we talked about yesterday. They have so many good ideas that I never thought of, and I’m incredibly grateful to Evan for stopping me from rushing off and getting myself killed without all this preparation.

But the pain in Evan’s voice, when he protested against me going back to the rogues, felt like it pierced my soul. He hasn’t said another word, he is hunched silently in his chair next to mine, listening. I hope that it is making him feel better to hear how much of a team effort this is going to be. I’m not going to be alone. Not really. They are going to be tracking me, and watching me, as much as possible. If I manage to get any of my friends out with me before the battle, we’ll know exactly where to go for safety.

But I think all Evan cares about is that I am taking a risk, after he has done everything he can to keep me safe. He must feel so betrayed, and so angry. I hope he doesn’t hate me for this. I couldn’t stand knowing that he hates me.

It takes a few hours to go over the plan, and Evan hasn’t spoken or looked at me since the beginning. Amelia is making more lists, of people who will be assigned to different tasks. There will be people in Arcata watching, and people monitoring the listening devices. They will always have somebody within a few miles of the cave in their car.

But they won’t be close enough to protect me from Xavier’s anger. I know he will be filled with violent fury, and he’ll take it out on me. I hope that whatever injuries he inflicts aren’t too severe for me to be able to walk within a couple of days, because Janine thinks they won’t be able to wait longer than two or three days after Xavier and the rogues arrive at the cave to launch the attack. I will have that amount of time to get in, warn the ladies, and either get them out, or at least tell them what to do when the battle starts. All while pretending that I am obedient to Xavier, and totally ignorant of anything else.

It’s going to be hard, but I am completely committed to this. The packs are going to help me help my sisters. This is my only chance.

I just wish that Evan could see that.

Evan

I am so filled with rage that I can barely see straight. I can’t wait for the battle. I’m going to tear into those rogues so hard that they won’t know what hit them.

They’ve got Corinne so tangled up that she’s going to risk her life to help those she-wolves, and despite all the planning that is being done, there is no way to guarantee her safety. And what’s even worse, even more horrifying, is that she knows it. She knows the rogue Alpha is going to punish her, hurt her, possibly even kill her. No amount of listening devices or GPS trackers or webcams will be able to prevent that. But she’s willing to risk it, for her old friends, totally disregarding what this might do to her new friends.

I successfully stopped her before, but now she just plans to go ahead anyway. At least she won’t be completely alone. I mean, she’ll be alone, but we’ll be watching. Will that be enough to keep her safe? Probably not.

It’s going to kill me to watch her go off and prepare to go to the rogues. The only thing I will be allowed to do is support the plan by participating, so that’s what I will do. I’ll sign up for every team, work every rotation, stay up nights watching the monitor, or sitting in a car near the cave, or perching in a damn tree if I have to. If that’s all I can do for her, that’s what I’ll do.

If she doesn’t survive … my heart lurches up into my throat. I can’t even allow that thought to fully form. All I can do is help this terrifying plan unfold. I’ll do it, but I’ll hate every second of it.