Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Ch 26 Rogue
A rogue was chasing Thea.
She was alone in the woods.
This wasn’t good. The way the rogue was leering at her, she knew it had bad intentions, and it was gaining on her. He wasn’t far from tackling her. She faced forward and ran faster, as fast as she could. There should be patrols around the border and throughout the woods. With their werewolf hearing, someone should hear her scream. Owned by NôvelDrama.Org.
“Rogue!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.
She heard howls in the distance acknowledging her, and the wolf behind her hesitated then took off in the opposite direction. Within moments she was surrounded by patrol members and part of the Delta team, all in wolf form. She stopped running. Liam shifted to his human form to talk to Thea.
“Where?” Liam said. He was completely focused on Thea, not caring he was naked.
Thea pointed in the direction the wolf ran. The rest of Delta team took off in wolf form.
“What did you see?” Liam said. A few patrol members shifted and handed Liam a pair of basketball shorts they had stashed around. He put them on, and they did the same.
“I was jogging from the gates towards the pack house, heard something, saw a brown wolf chasing me. I didn’t recognize him, and he didn’t have a scent. When he heard your howls, he took off.”
Liam’s eyes glazed over as he mind linked the Delta team, relaying the information.
“If he masked his scent and knew our patrol schedules, that would explain how he got past the borders,” one of the patrolmen said.
Liam nodded. “I’m going to escort the Luna back to the pack house,” he said.
“We’ll talk later when my men come back with a report. In the meanwhile, get everyone out to do a sweep of the entire pack lands. There could be others lying in wait.”
The patrolmen nodded, mind linked, shifted, and took off back to their posts.
Liam and Thea started walking toward the pack house.
“How were you here so quickly? Or at all?” Thea said.
“We were driving down the road to escort you. We heard your scream.”
“How would someone know our patrol schedules?” Thea said.
“That is the question I don’t like the answers to,” Liam said.
“From spies, traitors, to organized surveillance, this is going to be a tricky investigation.” ‘
“We have to investigate our own.”
It wasn’t a question.
“Could it have been simple luck? A dumb rogue stumbled into our territory at the right moment?” She didn’t like thinking any of her pack members would want to hurt the pack.
“One that had the forethought to mask his scent? One that knew who you are? Waited for you.”
“We don’t know that he did.”
Liam side-eyed her.
Thea sighed.
“Why can’t I just be shifted already? I hate being a liability.”
‘If I may say so, Luna, you’re an asset, even unshifted. Let the pack take care of you for once.” She looked at him. Just then, his eyes glazed over, receiving a message in mind link.
“All active patrol members and warriors are sweeping the land,” he said. “And the Alpha is coming for you.”
Uh oh. Thea worried the Alpha would be angry with her. She didn’t ask or even tell him she was leaving the pack lands. Of course, she’d never had to before, but he just lectured her about being unshifted and vulnerable since everyone thought she was the future Luna. She never wanted the Alpha or anyone mad at her. She hated disappointing people.
A few minutes later, a giant black wolf came bounding up, sliding to a stop in front of Thea. Liam bowed his head and stepped to the side. The wolf sniffed around Thea then nuzzled her neck. Thea scratched behind his ears.
“I'm okay, Alpha,” she said. He licked her face and laid down.
“He wants you to get on,” Liam said. “He’s going to get you out of here. He’ll take you back to the pack house.”
“Thanks, Liam.”
“My pleasure, Luna.”
Thea climbed up on the wolf’s back, grabbed hold of his fur. He stood up and took off. Thea leaned close to him to avoid tree branches. She was surprised at his speed and grace. He gave her and the triplets rides when they were kids, but it was never this fast. She realized he never went at his full speed back then. Too cautious, he didn’t want them to fall off and get hurt or scare them.
This was exhilarating. She couldn’t wait until she had her wolf and could run like this.
Before she knew it, they were coming up on the pack house. The triplets were nervously waiting outside. They wouldn’t be part of sweeping the land until they could mind link.
When they saw the big black wolf, they started running toward it. They met in the middle, and the wolf laid down. Conri reached for her, and she slid into his arms. The wolf trotted off to the trees. The triplets surrounded her instantly.
“Are you okay?”
They all looked her body over, making sure there were no injuries.
“I’m fine. Really. Nothing happened.”
“Goddess, you’re not allowed to go anywhere without at least one of us from now on,” Kai said.
“I’m assigning a security detail, sons,” Alpha Ulric said. He walked up to them in a pair of basketball shorts. He didn’t sound angry, just concerned and solemn.
“Someone from Delta team will be with her round the clock. They’re making a schedule. Alright, let me hear it from you, Thea. What happened?”
She told him. He closed his eyes and sighed. “Dad,” Alaric said. “If they’re going to be responsible for Thea—”
“We need to start the investigation with the Delta team,” Alpha Ulric finished. “I’ll handle that before anyone starts their shift. Sons, I want you i non the interviews. You’ll have to do this someday. It’s time you see this part of being Alpha.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thea, since the investigation is centered around you, it will complicate things if you’re involved,” Alpha Ulric said.
She nodded. “Sir? Why do you think that rogue was after me specifically? It wasn’t a planned outing. There’s no way he could’ve known I would be there.”
His eyes glazed over as he mind linked someone. “ Follow me. It’s time to tell you about the report from yesterday.”