Chapter Five - The Unknown

Jake sat in his truck watching the house where his mate lived. The girl appeared to live there alone with an elderly woman. Both smelled like wolves, though there was something different about their scent. It was almost like that of a young one who was on the verge of finding their wolf but had not yet turned. That couldn’t be the reason though, they were both well past the age… or did neither of them know they were werewolves? Could that happen? Wouldn’t they just change anyways during a full moon? Certainly, during a wolf moon, the goddess would have changed them at least that one night of the year.

He had almost gone up to the house to introduce himself, but he wasn’t sure what to say if they didn’t know they were werewolves. Before he’d worked that out, the pair had left. That had been about three hours ago. He’d thought about following them, but decided against it and stayed by their house to check out the area and see what he could learn. It seemed safe enough, except for the one neighbor, and in human form with all these houses nearby he should be safe from the hunter. He’d gotten out and walked around a bit. To his surprise, he could actually scent several wolves in the area, some still pups. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. A couple of the males had scented him too, but they’d given him a wide berth, avoiding him rather than challenging him for being near their home. That was odd behavior, even for rogues. A couple of playful pups had stopped their bikes when they’d caught his scent, they’d sniffed the air as though they weren’t sure what to make of it, then turned tail and sped off in the other direction, probably back home.

Jack leaned back in his chair, pretending to be reading something on his phone as he watched the girl and old woman coming up behind his truck. The girl didn’t seem to notice him watching her at all, which was more than a little disappointing. Earlier in the day, the old woman had straightened up as she passed the truck and looked carefully into the cab. On her way back she had looked again, trying not to look like she was looking. She was doing the same now. When she glanced up into the cab she caught his eyes briefly, scowled, and moved more quickly towards the house, hurrying his mate along beside her. He caught sight of her again in the window, pulling the curtains tightly closed.

So the old woman knew, but the girl didn’t? Or did she not know he was a werewolf at all and was just uncomfortable with a stranger sitting outside her house in a truck? That was a more appealing idea.

He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in aggravation. It had been obvious from her expression that the old woman would not be welcoming if he were to knock on the door and introduce himself and he certainly wouldn’t be able to state his intentions. How else could he meet his mate? If he just sat here waiting, would she come outside? No. Not now that the old woman knew he was here. So far her reaction would seem to lead in the opposite direction. If he left for the night, would they still be here in the morning? Rogues didn’t tend to sit and wait for possible trouble to catch up with them. Had they been rogue long? It was a rough life, many wolves died soon after being banished, but this pair seemed to be well settled. They might stay if he hadn’t spooked them too much.

But this wasn’t a typical rogue situation either. There were many wolf families here. Had a bunch of rogues banned together to form a new pack? If so, how strong was it? Or was it actually one of the other packs in the area trying to expand their territory, using women and children to draw less attention to the growth?

Jake looked into his rearview mirror as a black jeep pulled in behind him. A tall man with broad shoulders and slightly greying hair got out and started to walk towards his truck. Was this a neighborhood watch? Had the old woman called someone to come and remove him? The man stopped by the driver’s window and looked right at Jake. His grey eyes bore into Jake’s brown ones.

“She won’t know what you are,” a voice said in his head. Jake gave a start and focused more of his attention on the werewolf. Normally, werewolves could only mind link clearly with members of their own pack. This man….this werewolf, was unknown to him. Unwilling to communicate mentally with a stranger, Jake rolled down his window. Now he could smell the wolf in him. It was not a familiar werewolf, but a strong one.

“Who are you,” he demanded.

“My name is David Rogue,” the man said, his face remaining serious. “The women who live here are friends of mine. Now, who are you.”

“Jake Lycanis. Alpha of the Cloud Lake pack.”

“An Alpha,” David mumbled as he ran a hand through his slightly unkempt curls. “And a Lycanis to boot. Why are you interested in these women.”

Jake said nothing but raised an eyebrow at the stranger.

“It was you Liana saw last night in the garden, wasn’t it?” David asked. Jake, didn’t answer. He was an alpha and wasn’t in the habit of conversing with rogue wolves. But now he knew his mate’s name. Liana.

How much more could he learn from this wolf? “She told my daughters about you. A big black wolf this close to so many houses would draw a lot of attention if one of the humans in the area were to report you. We don’t need the extra attention here. It’s dangerous. But I assume you know that.”

“How old is she?”

“Not my place to say,” David answered, then he countered with a question of his own. “How did you find them?”

“My nose, “he growled without hesitation. That was an obvious one. Was he really going to answer this rogue werewolf’s questions? A conversation did seem the quickest way to get the answers he needed, but the idea of it irked him.

“They aren’t part of any of the local packs,” David continued. “They aren’t a threat to you. None of the werewolves here are a threat to you or your pack. Surely you can sense that. I’ve been told that you walked the area this afternoon. Nobody challenged you. None of the adults have marked in your part of the bush, though I expect some of the pups have forgotten themselves now and then. By the time they’re of age they have better control.”

Jake could smell that the rogue was being honest with him. He was volunteering some information, but not the important points that Jake needed answers to.

“How many of you are here?” Jake asked.

“I can’t tell you that either. I can assure you though that none of us mean you any harm, we just want to live near the woods. We don’t want to create a pack, we don’t want to join a pack, we don’t plan to attack or acquire any of your space, we just want to live away from the city and be able to go for a run now and then. Especially the young ones, they get...itchy feet when the moon is full.”

Jake’s hands balled into fists as he tried to control his anger. He was quickly losing patience with this rogue and with this situation. Nothing about this day was going well. “How. Many. Rogue. Wolves. Are. Here.” He spat out between clenched teeth.

“None.” Jake’s head snapped back. The man didn’t smell or sound like he was lying. How could that be?”

“I smell many werewolves here, and you called yourself a rogue. Explain.”

“My last name is Rogue because I chose that name when I left my pack,” he explained with a shrug, “It seemed to fit at the time as I was packless and knew no other name for a wolf without a pack. I left of my own free will though, I wasn’t banished. Some of the werewolves here probably were, but they don’t talk about it and it wouldn’t be my story to share even if I knew it. None of us want revenge on anyone though, and none of us are planning a coup. I don’t even think any of us were originally from packs in this area. We came here specifically because there weren’t supposed to be any wolves in the entire province, so you can imagine our surprise when we settled by crown land only to find three packs nearby. We call ourselves lone wolves, not rogue wolves, and just want to live in peace. Our relationships with each other follow more along the human definitions than the wolf ones. We are all friends and most of us are mated with have pups. We just don’t fit in with pack life, preferring to make lives for ourselves outside of the pack structure.”

This is why a rogue would question an alpha and expect an answer Jake realized. Traditional pack structures didn’t apply to these wolves. The social situation was new to him, there were no rules he knew of to guide him in this. Would he be better off sticking to what he knew and treating this werewolf as a rogue, treating him as a human, or treating him as a wolf from a different pack? Maybe some other relationship altogether. Jake drummed his fingers on the steering wheel trying to decide how to act, knowing that what he chose could have repercussions, not only on how his pack interacted with these lone wolves but on how he would get along with his mate who must count herself among them.

“Who are they,” he pointed to the cabin, his voice more controlled than aggressive. “I need to know who she is.”

David sighed and shook his head. “They’ve lived here more than ten years. The old woman probably won’t survive another run. Can’t you just leave them be? They’re harmless. Really.” Jake’s scowl deepened.

“We just want to live out our lives in peace. Humans don’t think there are wolves here and we’d rather keep it that way so we are careful with when and where we let our wolves run. We had hoped the werewolf packs wouldn’t notice us either, but as our population grew I knew that was only a matter of time. We don’t tend to draw attention to ourselves on your lands though. Sometimes a young one will head around the country looking for a mate. Sometimes they come back with a mate and stay, sometimes they pledge to the alpha and only return for short visits. Once they’re of age it’s their choice. Obviously, it can be a little more difficult if the parent was banished from the same pack they want to join, but most packs won’t hold that against a child who sometimes hadn’t even been conceived when the parent left their pack.”

“And this pair,” he pointed to the house, “Were they banished.”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I need to know.”

“Do you really Alpha? I don’t mean any disrespect, but after more than ten years, why do you need to know now? Neither is strong enough to be of any sort of threat. Why can’t you just let them be?”

Jake’s scowl deepened and he growled slightly. “I don’t want to leave them be, as you put it. And even if I did, my wolf won’t let me.” David sucked in a breath between his teeth.

“She’s your mate?”