Just a Rogue

Seth

It has happened again, the third damn time we have come to one of our caves marked by the pack. The first one was a shock, the second one twenty miles west was a bitter disappointment, and this third one feels like a fist closing around our necks.

The sun was setting when we got to the second cave, and repeated the experience of the first. We found the marks inside and out, and realized that we couldn’t risk staying here. Who knows where the pack is? Are they just waiting for us to violate their claimed territory?

Despite the fact that there are still some patches of snow on the ground in sheltered spots, from the storm a couple of days ago, Xavier insists that we move on to the next cave. Another ten miles, heading further up into the mountains. It is fully dark by the time we discover another lost cave, another ruined shelter.

“Fuck!” Xavier screams, with so much rage that the trees seem to shudder overhead.

Most of the rogue pack is still in their wolf form, just the four of us are humans. The wolves are warm, we are not. Furthermore, the two girls are starting to fade. There is only so much cold and hunger that a person in human form can withstand before simply losing consciousness, and they are close to that threshold. Lynette is in ever more dire shape, with the silver relentlessly working its poisonous harm upon her system. I’m not sure how much longer she’ll last.

We stand, waiting. Xavier has to find a way to lead us out of this. He’s the rogue leader, he demands absolute obedience from all of us, and we are here because of him. I’m sure he’d rather fly into a rage and start beating people, but even he realizes how dangerous our situation is. There are no towns nearby, and those of us in wolf form couldn’t enter a town right now anyway. We rely on the supplies that we have stocked in each cave, the clothing and food that is waiting inside for us. We have lost access to that, and therefore the wolves can’t shift back to human until we get to one of our stocked caves.

After a few minutes, I can tell that he has made a plan. “There’s a shelter a few miles from here. We haven’t used it before because it’s small, a collapsed cave, full of rubble, but we could get there and use it just for tonight. Then tomorrow we’ll go up the mountain. There’s no fucking way the goddamned pack has claimed that territory. We’ll make a new plan once we’re there.”

He glances around, almost as if challenging anyone to dare to say a word. Nobody does, of course.

“We can get the car a couple of miles closer on the road, then we’ll hike in the rest of the way.” He turns to the wolves. “Follow us along the side of the road. I can’t just give you directions, I’ll have to lead you in.”

We load the girls back into the car, shaking so hard they can barely walk. They curl up against each other in the back seat for warmth. Xavier directs me up the road, then I pull off a short distance and park it in a concealed area. We haven’t seen any people around for quite some time. This is a very remote region.

The wolves gather around, waiting. Xavier and I grab the packs out of the back of the vehicle, make the girls each carry one, and we load the bigger ones onto our backs. We have some food and supplies in the packs, not enough for everyone, and definitely not sufficient for wolves, but it’ll have to suffice until we can get to our mountain cave tomorrow.

We silently follow behind our leader, three humans and ten wolves, through a very tangled area of dense growth and uneven terrain. After another hour passes, I’m starting to despair that he will be able to find the cave again, but I am definitely not going to start questioning him about it. I’m too busy holding Lynette up - she has stopped being able to walk on her own, and I have one arm around her waist and am partially supporting her. Nova walks on her other side, still cuffed together, silent and shaking and miserable, her light blond hair falling into her lowered face.

Finally, we reach the cave. As he said, it’s not much. We have to fight our way through a lot of growth over the entrance, the ceiling is too low for a man to stand upright, and it only goes maybe twenty feet back before a rockfall has sealed off whatever is beyond. But it is out of the wind, and there is enough room for our group to huddle together through the night.

Xavier and I get the food out of the packs and distribute it, bottled water and beef jerky and granola bars. The people still in wolf form get the jerky. Lynette has passed out before she is able to eat her granola bar.

I mumble to Xavier, “We have to take the silver collar off Lynette. She needs to be able to heal, or she might not survive the night.”

He glowers at me, angry to have another problem brought to his attention. “Fine,” he snarls, “take it off, then you can undress and shift to stay warm. I’ll control the girls.”

I’m relieved, but I don’t aggravate him by thanking him. I take the thick gloves out of the backpack and put them on so that I can handle the silver collar without harming myself. I take the key to the little lock out of my pocket, turn it in the lock, and the collar opens with a little clicking noise. I remove it from her throat and put it into the backpack, remove the gloves, and turn to her. There is a wound all around her throat, bleeding and raw.

Her eyes have opened and her wolf healing is trying to kick in, but she is very weak and it will take a while. I don’t think that Xavier will have any trouble controlling her tonight. Hopefully she’ll be better by the morning, but of course then she’ll fight getting the collar back on. I shake my head, realizing that Xavier will enjoy beating her back into submission, probably glad to have the chance to take his anger out on someone.

“Lynette,” I whisper to her, trying to hold a bottle of water to her lips, “here, drink some of this.” Nova watches with sad eyes.

“I told you to shift,” Xavier says, pushing me away.

I don’t sigh. I don’t argue. I do as I’m told. I undress, set the clothes aside, and shift into my wolf, relieved to feel warm finally in my thick fur. I lay down with the other wolves, huddled next to them, and watch as Xavier grabs both Nova and Lynette and lays down with them on either side of him, their cuffed arms lifted up over his head. I close my eyes. I don’t know whether he is planning to just go to sleep, or use one or both of them first, but I don’t want to watch.