#9 The Lonely Rogue

Caspian

“Moonhaven was attacked again last night, sire, and several of the women and children were kidnapped.” Curtis reported once Jett and I were settled in my office.

“I’m going to Moonhaven myself.” I stood up abruptly, “Get my mother down here.” I added. Curtis’ eyes went black as he mindlinked my mother’s guards.

“Alpha, you don’t have a Gamma to stay behind as leadership.” Jett said delicately.

“My mother is more than capable of running things in our absence.” I said and Jett nodded, knowing better than to argue any further.

“Son?” Lydia eyed me with concern as she entered the office. I explained to her the situation and she immediately put on her game face.

“I’m happy to take up the role again while you’re gone.” She agreed.

“Thanks, Mom.” I kissed her cheek, “I think Alice could be helpful. She seems to be taking an interest in the realm.” I said, recalling my conversation with her earlier. Mother nodded thoughtfully while I went to address her guards.

My father’s Gamma and Beta were loyal to my mother even after my father passed. She ran the realm, without an Alpha King, for fifteen years with those two as her top advisors. Now, they served as her guards.

Gamma Nickoli was Cole’s adoptive father who mated and married his mother, Marleigh Valentine, when he was a toddler. They never had any other children and Nickoli raised Cole like his own son, naming him as his successor when the time came. Due to the pedigree that came with the Valentine name, Cole kept it instead of taking his adoptive father’s last name.

Beta Homer’s mate died in the same attack that took my father, they never had any children. That was fine with me, since I already knew I wanted Jett as my Beta regardless of the bloodline he came from. Homer became a very close friend and comfort for my mother since they both lost their mates in the attack.

“Your titles are restored in my absence.” I told the Beta and Gamma who nodded dutifully.

“As always, we will serve with honor and loyalty.” Gamma Nickoli replied.

“Thank you. Jett, let’s go.” I addressed my Beta before exiting the office. He and Curtis followed after me. Curtis was explaining the situational details of Moonhaven while we walked towards the parking garage.

“All our warriors are still there, none were lost in the last raid.” Curtis said.

“And Blood Moon’s support?” I asked.

“The Beta is there and a legion of warriors. A few lost their lives.” Curtis said.

We entered the parking garage and there were already two large vans fueled up and waiting. Two dozen warriors were waiting with their go bags.

“Thank you all for volunteering.” I addressed the wolves proudly.

Since this was a mission that required the wolves to leave our territory and come to another pack’s aid, it was volunteer only, which was the same for the first round of warriors who left for Moonhaven weeks ago. I was beyond proud of my pack for selflessly agreeing to help a pack in need. The wolves all grunted a reply before loading into the vans.

“Curtis, you stay here and look over everything while I’m gone.” I said to my advisor, “Follow my mother’s lead.”

“Yes, sire.” Curtis bowed his head until I shut the van door and our drivers took off.

“What’s the game plan, Alpha?” Jett asked as we started the trek to the drive through portal.

It was about a thirty minute drive to reach the center of the realm where the largest portal was heavily guarded. The portal kicked out somewhere in Texas, the center of the country, so we could easily drive to either the west or east coast. Moonhaven was in Louisiana, an eight hour drive from Texas. We would drive straight through, switching drivers to stay alert.

“I’m going to give the Alpha of Moonhaven a call in a few hours and get the details from her. But, our main objective is to establish the weaknesses in the pack to stop what has already happened from happening again, and to help set up a taskforce to find the missing women and children.” I explained.

“Sounds like a plan, boss.” Jett and the rest of the warriors in the van nodded in agreement.

We drove through the sparkling portal and popped out in a guarded parking garage inside Texas. After confirming our identities, we left the garage and started the long journey to Louisiana.

The entire trip, Jess was a whimpering mess thinking about how far away we were from Junie. He was worried we wouldn’t be able to get back quick enough if her brother or father tried to do anything stupid. I argued that she had Cole, Simon, and Jake at her disposal and, if necessary, we could take the portal at the Blood Moon pack in New Orleans straight back to the castle. He was inconsolable.

I hated how weak I felt being away from Junie, the matebond straining between us. It was made even worse with our relationship being in limbo. She wasn’t marked nor was she rejected, it was a sticky situation to be in and I was completely to blame.

I sighed and leaned my head against the window of the van, closing my eyes to catch a snooze. Junie’s face filled my dreams, her passionate eyes and lushes lips pouting at me. I dreamt about all the things I wanted to do with her, from holding her hand, to stroking her face, to having her naked underneath me. I wanted all of it, from the G rated to the R rated, and, in my dreams, I could let myself have it.

“Wake up, Alpha, we’re stopping for food.” Jett shoved my arm and I fell off my hand, nearly bouncing my head off the window.

“What? Where?” I stammered, dazed and confused. I thought I had only been asleep for a few minutes, but when I looked out the window, I didn’t recognize my surroundings.

“We’re outside of Dallas, another five hours yet to go. The guys were getting hungry.” Jett said, opening the van door.

We were stopped at a small diner that looked to be frequented by truckers. We barely fit inside the retro restaurant, taking up several booths and the attention of all the female waitresses. They were all in a hurry to serve a group of otherworldly looking men, not even the women warriors were spared from their gawking.

It took more than an hour for all of us to get our food and only about 15 minutes for us to consume it. Before we got back on the road, I walked outside and phoned Alpha female Gretchen of Moonhaven.

“Alpha Dana, it’s Alpha King Caspian.” I answered and I heard Alpha Dana stifle a gasp on the other end of the phone.

“Your grace, thank you for helping us.” She said,

“That’s the realm’s job. Have you heard from my advisor, Curtis?” I asked.

“Yes, he said you were sending more warriors.” She replied.

“Twenty-four of us are on the way.” I said,

“Us?” Her voice caught.

“I am coming as well. I want to see what’s going on for myself. We want to assess your pack’s security and offer a plan to help strengthen your borders so the rogues cannot get in again. We also want to strengthen your training programs to help with any future attacks. Lastly, my warriors will help to prepare a taskforce to go after your kidnapped members.” I explained in a diplomatic tone of voice.

“That’s very generous, your highness, thank you so much for your help.” Alpha Dana sounded pleased.

“We should be there in about five hours.” I said in response.

“We will be sure to have a room prepared for you and your warriors.” She assured me.

“Don’t worry about anything fancy, we’re all just here to work.” I replied.

“Thank you, sir.” She said before hanging up.

Five hours later, we were pulling in front of Moonhaven’s packhouse. I noticed there was no gate around the pack’s main territory, no guard towers at the entrances and exits, and several weak points around the borders. And that’s just what I’ve seen from the passenger window of the van.

Alpha Dana was waiting for us at the front door. I recognized her by her romantic looking blue eyes, silky blonde waves, and snow-white skin. Curtis described her as a Disney princess and I had to agree.

“She’s nothing compared to our mate.” Jess purred in my head.

I had to agree.

“Alpha King.” Alpha Dana bowed her head and introduced the others around her.

Her Beta, Tyler and Gamma, Micheal, were at her side as was the Blood Moon pack’s Beta, Cain, who was still on loan from his Alpha.

She ended the introductions with a tall, brute-looking man. He was as tall as me with even bigger muscles, extremely dark hair with matching shadowy features. He was introduced as her Luna, Hank. It was quite the struggle to keep from laughing. Somehow, Alpha females were easier to process than Luna males.

“I’ve noticed some things of concern right off the bat….” I began, diving into all the security breaches I noticed.

“With your permission, Alpha Dana, I’d like to get in contact with a security provider not far from here and get their best package. The kingdom will loan you the money for the package and set up a payment plan that works with your finances.” I said at the end of our tour of the pack’s territory.

“We would be extremely grateful for that, sir.” Alpha Dana smiled.

“I’ll make the call.” I said, pulling out my phone and walking away.

The security company was prepared to come out the next day for an emergency full service package, including a tall metal fence around the packhouse, pack village, and other outbuildings, motion sensors, cameras around the borders, two extensive guard towers for the two major exit and entry points, and new locks and cameras for the packhouse itself.

Next, I ordered a meeting of the minds in Alpha Dana’s office. All of the warriors I loaned previously and those who came with me today, along with Alpha Gretchen’s top ranking officials, joined us, spilling out of the office’s door. We began to discuss a plan for finding the kidnapped pack members.

Three teams were assembled to check out three determined hotspots around the territory. The teams included a mix of my warriors and Moonhaven’s pack members, who were eager to help. Jett, Beta Tyler, and two of my warriors took on the challenge of upgrading the training policies. I decided to tag along with one of the teams to try and track down the rogues.

Whatever it took to distract me from the images of my mate fluttering around in my mind.