#9 The Lonely Rogue

Caspian

“Son of a bitch, that shit hurts!” I shouted as the doctor yanked the arrow out of my stomach.

“Well yeah, that’s what happens when you get shot by silver arrows.” Dr. Riley cocked an attitude with me.

I guess I wasn’t being the best patient, but I had just been riddled with silver arrows looking for a bunch of rogue werewolves in a foreign pack’s territory. Six arrows, that’s how many they’ve yanked out of me so far. I still had one in my shoulder and another in my arm.

“You doing okay, Alpha?” Jett was standing a few feet away from me, careful not to get too close so I wouldn’t rip his head off while the doctor was yanking the arrows out.

“Shut up.” I snarled and Jett clamped his mouth shut.

“What happened, Caspian?” Cole mindlinked me sharply.

“What?” I snapped back, grinding my teeth together as Dr. Riley cleaned out the wound.

“You’re hurt.” he said, it wasn’t a question.

“How did you know…..” Fuck, “Junie.”

“She’s convulsing on the ground, she’s in a lot of pain.” Cole’s words made my heart sink to the floor.

“Is she…..Ow! Mother fucker!” I couldn’t help screaming out in pain as the doctor ripped out another arrow.

“What is going on?” Cole shouts.

“I was shot with a bunch of silver arrows, the doctor is taking them out now. Would’ve killed a normal wolf for sure.” I said.

“Junie’s in bad shape. Is the doctor going to be done soon?” Cole asks urgently.

“One more arrow to go, hold on.” I pause the mindlink.

“Rip it out, now.” I ordered the doctor.

“I need to finish cleaning...” I didn’t let her finish, I grabbed the arrow myself and yanked it out, cursing loudly.

“Excellent, you want to be a doctor now, too?” She scoffs.

“My mate is feeling my pain, we need to get this finished so she’s better.” I snarled at her. Her eyes go wide and she pales,

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I’ll finish cleaning them quickly. You’ll heal faster that way.” She says in a small voice, finally shutting up.

“Your mate?” Jett cocked an eyebrow at me but I ignored him.

“How is she now?” I asked Cole.

“Better. She’s sore but not in agony anymore.” Cole said.

“All the arrows are out. The doctor is going to clean the wounds so they heal faster, so she might feel pain for a little while longer then it should stop.” I explained.

Cole was silent for a minute or two.

“You’re not….worried about her, are you?” Cole sounded smug.

“Just take care of her.” I grumbled.

I couldn’t help but worry about Junie for the next few hours. For once, I actually listened to the doctor’s orders and rested for two hours after she fixed me up. I figured if I rested, it would relax Junie and make me heal faster. I must’ve been right, because I felt worlds better after I woke up. Cole reported that Junie was doing okay, as well.

Thankfully, some good came out of all of this. We were able to locate half of the rogues in a camp north of Moonhaven. The rogues had split up to avoid being compromised completely, and they did the same with the wolves they kidnapped. We found all the taken children, alive and well, in the camp. The women were still missing. What rogues weren’t killed, were captured and put into Moonhaven’s dungeon.

The packhouse was completely secured now thanks to the security package I acquired for them. They even reworked the dungeon so it was more functional, guarded, and secretive. One thing Alpha Dana didn’t need help with were her integration strategies. She was a pro. She managed to get the location of the other camp out of them while I was resting. The task forces we assembled were getting ready to head out.

“Alpha King, you doing better?” Alpha Dana asked, eyeing me curiously.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Where are we going?” I looked around to make sure all the wolves were following protocol.

“Are you sure you want to come along?” Jett asked and I glared at him, shutting him up.

“The other camp is to the west.” Alpha Dana said, ignoring our squabble.

“Let’s go.” I said, but Jett grabbed my arm. He whispered in my ear,

“Are you sure you want to risk it? If you get hurt, so does Junie.”

I looked sideways at him in surprise. I didn’t expect to hear that from him, more so, I didn’t expect to actually consider what he was saying.

“I can’t not go just for her.” I replied sharply.

“I just thought it’s something you should consider.” Jett mumbled, but there was something about his tone of voice.

“Because you’re considering the same thing, with your mate, Vivian.” I cocked an eyebrow. He nodded, looking down at his feet, “This mate business isn’t for the light hearted.” I joked lamely and Jett grunted in agreement.

“Let’s go, I’ve got your back.” Jett said louder, clapping me on the back.

“We both suck at being mates, but we can at least go out there and kick some ass.” I agreed.

“Caspian, we don’t suck at being mates, we aren’t being mates.” Jett stated plainly before walking ahead of me and leaving me alone with my thoughts.

“He ain’t wrong.” Jess deadpanned.

We went to the camp on foot, or rather, on paws. The two units, with 20 wolves per team, all shifted into their wolves to hunt down the second camp. From ten miles away we could sniff out the vile scent of the feral rogues.

I had no idea why the thought came to me then, but I realized that I was way out of line when it came to grouping all rogues into one category. Junie was nothing like these scumbags, she didn’t smell or look like they did. Even her father and brother weren’t as unhinged. They were far less tamed than Junie’s packless status, but nowhere near the level of these rogues. I misjudged her and every other rogue I judged simply because they weren’t a part of a pack.

“Alpha, focus.” Jett’s wolf, Gage, barked at me, sensing my wandering mind.

“I’m with you.” I growled, lunging forward.

We ravigid the camp, taking the rogues by surprise. We were able to slaughter half of them before they even had the chance to shift. When we started entering their makeshift homes and tents, we realized that the kidnaped women were inside. They were being used as slaves for purposes I didn’t even want to imagine. Many of them were already dead, piled up behind the camp in a foul smelling pit.

Jess snarled and snapped at the three rogues who were attacking us. He bit down on the neck of one of the rogues, snapping it in his hard jaw. The second rogue swung his large paw at Jess and managed to clip us under the belly. Junie’s face immediately flashed in mind, intensifying my rage. Jess jumped on the rogue’s back and literally ripped him in half. The third rogue ran away crying, but Gage killed him before he managed to go too far.

Jess protected his underbelly for the rest of the battle, making sure not to take any more damage for his mate’s sake more than ours. In less than an hour, the entire ordeal was done; the camp was destroyed and the rogues were dead or imprisoned. The women were loaded into a van that was trailing us and taken ahead of us to the packhouse hospital, with a dozen guard wolves accompanying them.

“Cole, is Junie okay?” I mindlinked him the second the battle was done.

“You got hurt again, didn’t you?” He responded back immediately.

“Yes, a swipe to Jess’ stomach.”

“She’s okay. She felt it, said it stung a little, and then she was fine after a glass or two of her favorite red.” Cole chuckled, “Viv’s another story though.” He added, shocking me.

I looked around quickly and spotted Gage. He was limping, his front paw held close to his chest. I shifted into my human form before running over to check on him.

“Jett, Gage, you good?” I asked. Gage looked up at me and I saw his eyes flash. He shifted back into Jett.

“Fine, bastard managed to get a piece of my leg, but I’ll be fine.” He grumbled, holding up his bleeding wrist.

“Viv felt it.” I said and his face drained of color.

“Damn it, I forgot about her.” He said, looking guilty, “Again.” He mumbled.

“Let me check back in with Cole.” I said.

“Jett is fine, just a bite to the leg. How’s Vivian?” I asked Cole.

“It’s more so that she’s shocked and overwhelmed from the feeling of it than in actual pain. She says it doesn’t hurt much, but it’s hard to wrap her head around. She’s in shock.” Cole explained.

“Is she with Junie?” I asked.

“Yeah, they’ll be fine. But, do you two even think about your mates when you’re out there?” Cole snapped.

“Actually, Cole, yes. We did before we went into battle. We both contemplated not going just to keep them safe.” I admitted and Cole was stunned into silence.

“Well….good.” He sounded dumbfounded.

“Let me know if anything else happens.” I ordered before ending the link.