HOLDEN: Book Two of The Dark Moon Series

Chapter 5

LUKA'S POV

My wolf is aggravated at the thought of the girls lying to me and rightfully so. There's no reason for them to hide something from me when they know all I care about is their best interest. It's like an odd sting to the chest that won't go away.

"Luka where are you?" Naal asks calmly. I know he's anything but calm though. I can feel it in the link. Gathering my surroundings I realize I've driven into town. Technically I know I'm not allowed to be driving without someone but it's not like I'll actually get in trouble.

"I'm in town right now. Just felt like taking in some different surroundings."

"Taking in different surroundings? Seriously? You need to come back here now there's something you need to hear." The urgency in his voice is all the push I need as I turn the car around and head straight home.

Arriving twenty minutes later I find Naal pacing outside and Yulia biting her finger nails. She never bites her finger nails, she's always called it a disgusting habit.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on with you two?" I ask passing them and heading to my office. A strange scent is in the air and I try to process what it is as I open the door. The sight before me is what makes me pause. Keegan is standing in a corner of my office with his head in his hands while two trackers are covered in dirt and blood with a few leaves poking out of their hair. And they have that peculiar scent on them as well.

"Alright what's going on?" I say sitting down. Naal and Yulia close the door behind them and cross their arms.

"Tell the Alpha what you told me." Yulia says gently. One of the trackers looks back at Keegan and then Yulia and nods.

"We were monitoring the southern border as instructed by head tracker Keegan. There were reports of dead animal corpses littering the area and he wanted us to see if it was a wild animal that we could subdue." I nod my head for him to continue and he glances back at Yulia first before taking another breath.

"At first we didn't or sense anything nearby. Whatever was killing those animals seemed to be long gone. But my wolf wasn't as convinced as I was. So when my partner left to take a break I kept searching. I crossed over three rivers until I picked up a scent. There was something about it that was vaguely familiar which made me continue to pursue it. I told my partner as soon as I smelt it and she was on her way back." He pauses again and I begin to feel irritated.

"And what did you find?" I ask calmly.

"Rogues. Three of them. All with black fur and red eyes. The reason they smelt so familiar was because they had the same scent as the rogues we fought in Blood Moon." I growl low at the confession and refrain from cursing.

"Continue."

"It was so weird. These rogues were much harder to kill than the last ones. They were trained better than before and had a better tact at attacking us. We were able to take them down eventually but one did get away with some minor injuries. I don't know what this means Alpha but I knew it was important for you to know." His hands are shaking and he looks worn and tired. I'm proud of them.

"You two were very brave to take on rogues by yourself and for that you have my gratitude. I am more than happy to know you aren't badly injured and both of you have returned home safely. It took courage to do what you two did." They both light up at my words and stand to shake my hand.

"Wait. Tell the Alpha the rest." Keegan says finally looking up. I've never seen him look so worried before. He's usually carefree and joking around all the time, maybe the maturity of the position has changed him.