"What was it like for you living as a rogue?" I asked Joseph when we hit the road."It was fine, Alpha."I didn't push for more. I drove in silence along the highway."We nearly starved. At first."I wasn't surprised to hear that. It was sick that they threw pups out of the pack solely due to the actions of a parent."But we figured it out." It was true. Joseph had proven himself a far better hunter than anyone. He might not be comfortable in packs or the human world, but the wolf was a survivor.There was another silence between us, and to my surprise, Joseph broke it again."Alpha, there's a group of rogues I think you could talk to."I briefly looked at him while manoeuvring the car. “Are you sure?”“Yes, Alpha. Some of them love moving from another place from time to time. I might ask them of they saw Luna Carrie along the way,” he said.“Where are they? Where can we meet them?""Usually they're in the wild lands south of Creek lands. And if not, someone there'll know where. I t
Gramps's good eye was focused on me with rapt interest, curious to hear my tale. Sympathy surged for the isolated old man sitting in the dirt beside me in spite of how little I wanted to expose my suffering."I met my mate when I was still building my pack. A mate was the last thing on my mind. At first, she was so rebellious and I wasn't interested but eventually, we accepted each other.""Sounds like a fairy tale," he commented with a sardonic smile on his weatherworn face."It was like one considering we met a little bit late. We were happy. We were both working to make the pack stable. Had a son. Grow old together." My chest tightened at the dreams that now seemed so far away."Guessing it wasn't that easy.""No. I made a mistake that led her to leave the pack.""I see. Your mate is dead now?"His words made my chest constrict more tightly."No, at least that was what the man she’s with told me. The vampire took her somewhere.”There was bitterness in the words. If only I didn’t h
A few hours later, after a desperate run to civilization, I returned with the withdrawn cash in hand. The gym was even more empty than when I had first seen it, only Joseph sitting with a couple of guards, which was much better odds if Waren tried to double cross me. I didn't think he would from my impression, although I still didn't let down my guard. I passed the money over to one of the men who had been with Waren, and Joseph was shoved roughly forward towards me. He stumbled before righting himself. His face was blank and he kept his eyes down, but he followed me as we left the building without further opposition.We shifted and left the Red Wolves territory as quickly as we could, not stopping for a break until we had put as much distance as we could between us and them.Joseph was even more quiet and subdued than usual, and I didn't interrupt him, because now that the crisis was over, I was lost in my own thoughts about what I'd heard from the Red Wolves.Between Evant and Arte
"Mad, so good to see you again," the dean said. I leaned on the crutches as we shook hands before taking the proffered seats by her desk."Likewise, Dean Jordan. This is Joseph, a pack mate of mine."She nodded her greeting and then we went on to speak of my current search about my mate who happened to be with a vampire. I politely inquire about the state of the school, and she responded in kind, before she got to the tricky part of the visit. “So this mate of yours, do you have any pictures of her so I'll know if she’s been here?” she asked.I took Carrie’s picture from my pocket and showed it to her. “Hmmm.”“Did you see her here?”“Yes,” she said and looked at me. “Her name was Carnation and she’s a vampire wife named Lucas. Is she your mate?” I nodded at her. “She has changed her hair color and her name but she is Carrie, my name. It has been long since she left me and our pack to help search for the Queen of Vampire’s grandson. Sadly, the prince was retrieved but my mate didn
I had a system for checking every new non-mundane place I searched, carved by long practice. The first step was to go wherever the most action was happening.This time I was in luck because the man who I first approached in front of the cave had been eyeing us. Since his complexion was pale, he was probably a vampire."You’re not from here. Do you have any business here?" he told me as he dragged me into his cave. Joseph trailing behind us like a skulking shadow."We were trailing someone and we have been told that they might pass here," I said as he led us to the deepest part of his cave. “I’m Madoka and this one is my pack member, Joseph.”“I see. You two didn’t smell like rogues. Figures. I’m Damon,” he said and lit up a cigarette. “There’s no one passing here that I didn’t notice. Name? Or maybe do you have some pictures?” I showed her Carrie’s picture and almost immediately, the cigarette in his mouth dropped and his eyes widened in shock.“This woman,” he said. “Even though she
I followed Joseph around the wilds around the no man's land staying well away from pack territories, for two days. With Joseph as my guide, I knew we could reach there before Carrie would go too far away from me.Occasionally, he would comment about something he remembered, some recollection of an abandoned pup, and I kept the pointlessness of what we were doing to myself."We stayed here the first winter, Alpha. This place usually has a harsh snowstorm. We can’t continue our trip without letting the surge pass," Joseph told me. "Pretty good hunting and I shifted so we didn't freeze." We passed a roughly constructed structure that could barely be considered a shelter, built from refuse and branches, and nearly falling to the ground while nature swallowed it up from all directions.The idea of children shivering out in this hovel in the middle of the wilderness pissed me off.A snap caught my ear. I wasn't the only one, Joseph looking in the same direction as the sound. "Pretend you d
It was past time to know what Joseph was hiding. I would have preferred if he had told me voluntarily, but maybe that was asking too much. The wolf with the knife to his throat began to speak."He made a deal with our alpha, but ran off with the money. Alpha wasn't happy about that.""What was the deal?""Information."I looked towards my pack mate and decided to give him one final chance. "Want to confess?"Joseph’s shoulders slumped, but he kept his teeth in the leg of the unconscious wolf beside him and just watched what was unfolding.It was a convoluted situation that he was helping me threaten answers that exposed his own wrongdoing out of these enemies. But even with exposure looming over him, he didn't say anything.I turned back to the wolf and he asked, "If I tell you what you want to know, will you let him go?""Sounds a fair trade to me.""He was supposed to spy on Sakura and report back, I think."Joseph’s flinch confirmed that this wolf was telling the truth."Just repo
I knelt on the side of the road, numb with despair."Alpha." Joseph was tense and cautious like he was approaching a wild animal. Had he witnessed everything?Had he seen my mate leave me? After almost a year, did she forget me? No, I think. Maybe the potion’s work. Her memories were messing up or at least I presume.It hurt. It hurt so unbelievably badly.Joseph nudged me with his foot. "Get off the road before someone sideswipes you, Alpha."That sounded like a positive outcome. Maybe if they hit me hard enough, this pain would be over. I just knelt where I was, ignoring him. Nothing he could say would change anything.Joseph just stood and watched me for a long moment."So, uh, what are we going to do, Alpha?"I don't know.As the months had stretched to almost a year, I finally met her again. For the first time in that time, he was pushing me with all his strength for control, and I wasn't sure I wanted to just let go and give it to him. I could try more. I had tried for so long.