Rumors Hold A Little Truth

Waking up the next morning, I groan as I stretch. Just as I thought, no real rest was had last night. We all heard Ismael prowling the halls. Ismael has almost always been a bit unhinged and his archaic views of women have cost him alliances with packs in other states. His temper has cost him alliances with international packs. He has always had a superiority complex and has always tried to show dominance over other alphas.

I get up, getting dressed, and head downstairs. I grab a yogurt and a water bottle, going outside and sitting on the front steps to eat in peace. And then my peace is shattered. "So, have you met Kylie," Holly squeals. I chuckle, bowing my head as she sits beside me, tugging another girl I assume to be Kylie beside her. "Holly, you've seen me these past couple of days. Have I appeared to socialize much?" She laughs at my teasing tone. "Anywho, Kylie this is Alpha Dawn. Dawn, this is Alpha Pair Kylie." I smile, offering my hand, only to be met with a stare. I withdraw my hand awkwardly and return to my yogurt.

"You attacked another alpha's Pair Bond." Kylie's voice is flat and cold. Wynter feels the judgement rolling off of her and growls. "There are things that go on that have been for a while. You'll learn it isn't uncommon and it isn't unprovoked." She scoffs, but doesn't argue. "Dawn is right Kylie. Ismael will walk all over anybody that let's him. Everybody seems to think Alphas have to always maintain composure, but they do fight amongst themselves," Holly defends.

"D, you about ready," Julianna asks, joining us. I get up, brushing my jeans off and nodding. "Let's get going, Tigger. Wynter and I have had plenty of time away from our pack for our liking." She chuckles, nodding. Neither of us like being away from the pack and Misty. Our wolves are all bonded and being this far apart causes extreme discomfort. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Alpha Pair Kylie." She nods once before I hug Holly and turn to go back inside to say my goodbyes.

Ismael stands in a corner glowering at everybody and snapping at anyone that gets too close. I say goodbye to all the other alphas, briefly reviewing our plans with Alpha Eric and promising to contact him and Rolando both when we get home. Bear and James are by the car already when Julianna and I get out there. Climbing in, I connect my phone back to the bluetooth and play my music. Ismael's words are echoing in my mind and somehow I get the feeling they mean more than what they seem.

When we get home from the meeting, the tension in the air is palpable. Julianna kept the music playing the whole ride home in an attempt to diffuse the tension, but it didn't help. Ismael's threats hung over all of us like a dark cloud. Ashton sent a text message shortly before we left letting me know that the guards had felt something or someone watching them on their patrols outside the wall. I have a pretty good guess who it is though. I won't say I'm not worried about it, but if it is him, I know my wolves are safe.

I stop the car, turning it off and tucking the keys in my pocket again as I get out. I grab my bags out of the back, slinging my canvas bag over my shoulder as Misty comes out of the house looking more than a little rattled. "What's up, Misty," I ask. She looks at me. "Vlad's mate is asking questions. Bad ones." I stiffen, my jaw ticking as I tense. "I'll deal with her. For now have Ashton handle it until I can get this shit put away and look into the issues with the outer patrols." She nods and hurries off, no doubt to find Ashton and relay the message. "Welcome home," Julianna teases. I roll my eyes and groan. "Next time there's a crisis and I want to save the Rogues, remind me not to," I quip. She laughs and nods, grinning sarcastically. "Absolutely. Will do, alpha." I growl playfully as she laughs and darts off. I head into the house to drop my bags off, taking my clothes off and shifting before I leave the house, taking a bag of clothes with me in my teeth. Kids squeal as I pass them in the streets, reaching out to touch my white fur. I yelp when a couple pull out fistfuls of it, their mothers apologizing profusely while also reprimanding the little monsters. I give them all what I hope to he reassuring wolfish grins and I lope off towards the gate. When the guards see me, they all wave and open it just enough for me to slip through.

I catch one of the outer patrols, all three of them shifting and greeting me. "I assume you're here about our stalker," one of them, a young man named Jared, says. I dip my head in a nod and he motions for me to follow him. I do so, trotting beside him towards the northern part of our borders. "We felt someone watching us about here and they followed us on our entire route but everytime we went looking for whoever it was, we couldn't even catch a scent. I'm sorry, alpha." He bows his head, causing me to huff and nudge his leg, letting him know it's forgiven. He relaxes and smiles. "Do you need us to stay here," he asks. I shake my head and watch as he nods before trotting off, probably to rejoin his patrol. I shift, getting dressed quickly before re-tracing the route they would have taken. Sure enough, ten minutes in, I feel eyes watching me. But it isn't the same feeling I get from Mr. Wolf. This feeling sends shivers up my spine, a chill slinking along my skin like a ghostly touch. I can't catch a scent but I can feel them watching me. I hear a low growl from somewhere behind me and I spin, looking around for the source. I see a pair of blazing red eyes in the shadows and I snarl, preparing to attack. Suddenly the bushes rustle and it's gone. I launch myself after it, but without a scent it's difficult to track. When I finally stop, I hear the trees above me rustle. "The sun is going down, Little Red. What are you doing out here so far from home," he asks. I breathe a breath of relief at the familiar voice, relaxing against a tree trunk. "Do you have any friends, Mr. Wolf," I ask. He pauses and I can hear him hum thoughtfully before replying. "I consider you my friend." I chuckle and roll my eyes. "I mean other than me. I mean someone like you; out here and alone." He falls silent again, and this time I can hear him growl softly. "No, Little Red, I don't. But there are Ferals out here that wander aimlessly and kill carelessly." I nod, knowing this is not new information. "Besides them, have you come across anybody," I ask. He only hums a denial. I sigh and shake my head, at a loss for words. Ferals leave a smell. They reek of death and decay and infection. Meaning there is something else out here that clearly isn't friendly.

"You should get home, Little Red. It will be dark soon." I chuckle softly, rolling my eyes. "I haven't been afraid of the dark in years." I hear him laugh quietly to himself. "Then for an old wolf's sake, please go home where I know you are safe." I can hear the concern in his voice this time and I can't find it in myself to argue. So I nod my agreement, saying good bye and shifting before I run back home. I slip back through the gates when they are opened for me and head to the house. Now to deal with Vlad's nosy ass mate.

ASHTON

"Well Vlad said-" I cut her off with a deadly hiss and I can feel Rex pushing for control. This girl has been a constant pain in my ass since she arrived. If she isn't starting fights with my alpha, then she's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. "Vlad would do well to remember why the other alphas pay her when they need a job done," I snap. She pales, but quickly covers it. "And why do they pay her?" She puts an extra emphasis on do, making me lift my lip in a sneer. "Because she's the best at what she does." She opens her mouth to ask more questions but I silence her with a cold glare. "Any other questions can be directed to the alpha herself." She narrows her eyes at my cold tone, stiffening when Dawn and Bear come in, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. He draws her closer to him and, in her five inch boots, they're almost evenly matched in height. Otherwise her five foot five is just short enough compared to his five foot ten to give him teasing rights.

DAWN

"What can be directed to the alpha," I ask. Vlad's mate stiffens as she glares at me. "What is it that you do for the other alphas," she asks grudgingly. Wynter stirs, not liking the clear insinuation in her demanding tone. I growl, glaring back at the stupid girl. "Why don't we take this to my office. It isn't a secret but I don't particularly enjoy broadcasting it either." She opens her mouth to argue but Vlad puts a firm hand on her shoulder. She growls but nods, following Ashton and I up the stairs to my office. "I find and extort people's weaknesses. Comes in handy when someone poses a threat," I say coolly, sitting down behind my desk and folding my hands on top of it.  Ashton chuckles, taking his place on my right. "Why the hell would someone, much less an alpha, pay you to do something like that? What the hell do you even do with that information," she demands, horrified.

I roll my eyes, but indulge her irritating curiosity. "Because I'm the best and in war, weaknesses are to be exploited if you want to win. As for what I do, after I give the information to the primary alpha that requested it, I keep the information for myself. Useful tid bits should I need them. The things I can tell you about all of the Rogues around me would surprise you." She catches the not really veiled threat in my words and snarls. "Stay away from him," she orders. I laugh mockingly and step towards her. "You're on my territory because I will it. Because I allow it, little girl. Remember, I can and will kill you without hesitation if need be. As for Vlad, you can have him. He's of no use or interest to me anymore. But don't mistake me not caring for an inability to have him were I to desire it. I can take him at any time. Alive or dead." She snarls and I can see her fists clench, shaking with rage.

Her wolf is telling her to back down, Wynter mutters. "I would listen to your wolf, little one. She might just keep you alive." I turn on my heel, heading outside to oversee the training. I see Julianna and Misty both shift their weight when they feel me coming. "How's it coming," I ask. I stand with my feet shoulder's width apart and my hands clasped behind my back, firm in my spot should someone get cocky and try to attack me. "They're weak at best. They have potential, no doubt. But they're all untrained and sloppy," Misty replies coolly. I nod absently, watching as the pairs the girls put them in spar with one another. "Make sure they're all whipped into shape. Anyone that can't fight needs to be drilled on what to do should we get blindsided. Nobody slacks off. Nobody does nothing. Children are to be protected." They both nod, Julianna stepping forward to take command. "D, one of the scout groups came back. There's something lurking in the woods," Ashton says urgently as he lopes over to us. I turn to look at him, confusion flitting across my features. "Ferals have been known to be out there, Ash. That's nothing new." He shakes his head before I can even finish speaking. "The boys said it wasn't a Feral. It didn't let them see it, just demanded that you go to the caves on the outskirts." I knit my eyebrows together. "The outskirts are no man's land. Nobody ever ventures out there. Nobody has reason to," I reply. "Dawn, whatever was out there scared one of the men so bad he passed out. They said it radiated power stronger than an alpha's. If there is something out there, stronger than an alpha, demanding to see you, I think it's in our best interest to go." I growl softly and sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Fine. Let me find Bear and then you and I can go." He nods, his face devoid of emotion. He follows me into the house, keeping close on my heels. I find Bear in, of all places, the library. "Hey, babe?" His head shoots up and he's by my side in a flash, looking me over. "What is it? What's wrong," he asks. I chuckle and pull my arm out of his grasp gently. "Nothing. One of our patrols just came back and found something in no man's land. Ash and I are going to go look into it. I'm trusting you to keep the pack safe. Please?" I can see the internal conflict in his eyes, part of him wanting to argue and go with me, but the other part recognizing that, as my mate, he has to protect the pack if something happens to me. Eventually, he finally nods, pressing a tender kiss to my forehead. "Come home safe," he orders. I smile and nod, kissing him softly before turning and heading out with Ash. On the way out, I stop by my room and grab my sword and a couple of knives, sheathing each one in a thigh sheath. We walk in companionable silence to the gate, slipping out when the guards open it just a bit. They're never supposed to open it too wide, lest a Feral come wandering in.

In truth, nobody has been on no man's land since before our pack burned. Mema and papa used to talk about a pack that lived there once but something wiped them out. When their allies went to check on them, they found wild animals feeding on the remains of the pack. What was left anyway. Rumors say body parts were strewn everywhere and the blood of the pack ran so heavily, the soil became oversaturated. Parts of the area are said to be permanently stained crimson from all of the carnage. Nobody has stepped foot here for one of two reason; they're either terrified by the rumors, or they respect the dead pack and recognize the land as theirs forever.

I can feel when we step out of our boundaries and into no man's land. A shudder runs through my body and I can feel Wynter bristle, suddenly alert. The area isn't some stereotypical horror setting. I'm not the stupid blonde with a bad dye job wandering into the eerie black forest calling out hello. No, the sun is streaming through the foliage, casting green light in some places and pure sunlight in others. It doesn't reek of decay and the forest doesn't look like it's been abandoned. The whole area looks like it's thriving. But the deeper in we get, the quieter it becomes. And, somehow, that scares me more than any horror flick. "Dawn, do you hear that," Ash asks quietly. He talks so softly, almost like he's worried if he speaks too loud we'll be ambushed. "I don't hear anything, Ash." He shoots me a look. "That's my point. Even if a pack was here, there should be some sort of sound. Bunnies burrowing or birds chirping. Something to indicate life. But there's nothing. Where are all of the animals?" I stop, furrowing my eyebrows and actually listening. He's right. I can't even hear a terrified heartbeat. I forge on, getting further ahead of Ash than I imagine he'd like until he's not even in sight. I follow my nose, inhaling a foreign scent as I walk. It brings me to a huge clearing and I stop in my tracks. I walk forward, taking in everything around me. The scene before me is like something from a chilling story. The village looks like a mirror reflection of ours before the fire. But ours burned. This one was destroyed. I walk through the square, inhaling the stale scents that all mix together, the most prominent one being blood. All around me, shop windows are shattered, building crumbling. The cobblestone paths, identical to ours at home, are cracked with nature creeping through the cracks. Pieces of roofs are collapsing in and falling off. The whole place looks so desolate, giving off a forlorn and broken vibe. "What the hell happened here," Ashton says in horror when he comes up beside me. "Exactly what everybody says happened. But it would seem they've all been exaggerated." We pick our way through the square, carefully stepping around the debris. "This whole place is so depressing," he mutters. I'm inclined to agree as I move a large piece of debris out of my path. Someone is here, Wynter says. I tense, focusing my senses and sure enough I can feel someone watching us. "Ash, someone is following us. On my count, we're going to grab them," I whisper. He looks at me and grunts but otherwise doesn't acknowledge my words. I silently count through our link. We spin in sync and bolt towards the newcomer.

I hear the foliage rustle as the person, or creature, bolts away. Ash and I tear off after it, following the sound since there's no smell. Ash and I both skid to a stop when we follow the sounds to the mouth of a massive cave. "Dawn..." a soft voice whispers. I shudder and narrow my eyes, trying to look into the darkness. "Come on, Ash. I feel like we need to go in." I grab his wrist, tugging him after me into the darkness.