Rogues are getting Bold

(Kennedy's POV)

The woods smelled damp from the morning dew, the faint aroma of pine and earth mingling with something sharper—a metallic tang carried by the wind. I didn't need to smell it to know it was blood. Faint traces lingered in the air, old enough to dull its freshness but recent enough to remind me that rogues had passed through.

My grip tightened on the reins as my steed snorted uneasily, ears flicking at invisible dangers. The stillness of the woods was unnatural; it felt forced, the kind one experienced before a storm or the ambush of an enemy.

"Alpha," Dean called out softly, his voice low and to my right as he flanked me. "Signs of movement ahead. Inconsistent tracks, but they're moving deeper into the woods.

I didn't turn to him; my eyes stayed fixed on the shadowed expanse before us. "Scattered patterns," I said, my voice listless. "They're rogues. Sloppy, disorganized. They don't even know what they're running toward."

Dan, riding just behind me, let out a low chuckle. "Toward their graves, if they're stupid enough to stay."

"Enough," I commanded, cold and sharp. Silence followed forthwith, the men moving into step with practiced precision.

The path had quickly started to narrow, the branches overhead weaving together like a jagged ceiling. My senses came alive, my wolf alert but steady. I wasn't afraid of rogues. They weren't dangerous, not to me, not to my men.

But their presence here, so close to our territory, was a pain in my butt. And pains in the butt needed to be handled.

We dismounted when trees became too thick for horses to push through. The earth was soft beneath my boots, the undergrowth thick with vines and brambles. I moved ahead without hesitation, the rest of the group falling into a loose formation around me.

Jerry was ever the cautious one and spoke up first as we pushed deeper into the forest. "Alpha, it's weird. These tracks… they're deliberate. Like they wanted us to find them."

I paused, crouching to examine the ground. The footprints were erratic, some barely visible while others were too obvious to miss. Jerry was right. This wasn't normal rogue behavior.

"They're trying to bait us," I said flatly, rising to my full height. My voice carried no concern, only disdain. "They think they're clever."

Dean frowned. "Should we keep going, Alpha? If it's a trap—"

"If it's a trap," I cut in, icy, "then let them spring it. They'll be sorry."

It wasn't so long before we came into some sort of clearing, the sun barely fighting its way through the thick canopy high above. The tracks just ceased to exist, as if the rogues had vanished into the air.

Jerry's hand hung over the hilt of his axe. "Something's not right."

"Of course not," I replied, my eyes scanning the clearing. "They're watching us. Hiding. They think they have the high ground.

Dan growled low in his throat. "Cowards."

A snapped twig to our left brought my head around. My hand went to the hilt of my blade but didn't draw it. Not yet.

"Come out," I commanded, my voice slicing through the silence like a blade. A demand, not a request-a demand for immediate obedience.

For a moment, there was silence. Then, slowly, figures emerged from the darkness. Rogues. At least a dozen, their forms hunched and their eyes wild.

One stepped forward, a lanky man with matted hair and a cruel grin. "Well, well," he sneered, his voice dripping with mockery. "If it isn't the mighty Alpha Kennedy. What an honor."

I didn't respond, my gaze cold and unwavering.

The rogue's grin faltered a little under my stare, but he recovered quickly. "You've got quite the reputation, you know. Thought we'd see for ourselves if the stories were true."

"Is that why you've been skulking around my territory?" I asked, toneless. "To waste my time?"

The rogue bristled, his grin turning into a snarl. "You're cocky, aren't you? Let's see if you're still so smug when—

I moved before he could finish, my blade flashing as I closed the space between us in a heartbeat. His words ended in a gurgled choke as he fell, blood pooling beneath him.

The clearing erupted into chaos.

The rogues dived at us, their movements wild and uncoordinated. I fought with finesse, my every strike calculated and deadly. Around me, my men held their ground, their weapons slicing through the attackers with practiced ease.

"Pathetic," I muttered, my voice low as I cut down another rogue. "This is what they thought would challenge me?”

One of the larger rogues charged at me, claws bared, teeth shining. I did nothing until the last moment, dodging his attack with a little sidestep that sent him into a tumble. My blade found his neck a few seconds later, cleaving it clean.

Jerry, fighting a few feet off, burst out laughing. "You make it too easy, Alpha!”

It is, I said coldly, cleaning the blood off my blade as the last of the rogues fell.

The fight was quick, and afterward, the ground was riddled with bodies. My men closed in around me, faces marked by a mix of triumph and wariness.

"This wasn't an attack," Dean said, furrowing his brow. "It was a distraction.

I nodded, my gaze not breaking from the woods. "They wanted to stall us. Distract us."

"But why?" Dan said, frustration hard in his voice. "What are they after?"

"That's what we're going to find out," I said and sheathed my blade.

We continued, tracking the faint scent left behind by the rogues. It took us deeper into the forest, the ground growing rockier, steeper, with every step.

In a moment, the earth beneath our feet gave a strange lurch. Instantly, my instincts flared to life.

"Trap!" I yelled, but it was too late.

The ground gave way beneath us, and a hidden pit yawned open like an open-mouthed chasm. I jumped back in time, my heart racing as several of my men fell into the darkness below.

"Alpha!" Jerry yelled, scrambling to the side of the pit.

I looked down, my jaw clenching with a mixture of anger and disgust at the sight of the men below them. They were alive, though shaken, their fall softened by a heap of rubble.

"Rogues are getting bold," I said quietly.

"What do we do now?" Dean asked, his face grave.

I straightened, eyes narrowing as I scanned the woods around us. "We go. They think this will make a difference. They're wrong.

As we worked to retrieve the fallen men, the faint sound of laughter echoed through the trees. It was distant, mocking, and it set my teeth on edge.

"They're watching us," I said quietly, my voice in a low tone, laced with quiet fury. "Let them watch. When we find them, they'll regret it."

My wolf growled in agreement hunger for vengeance that fitted my own. This wasn't over. Not by a long shot.