The Rogue

XVII

*Faye*

The flood of my bedroom light blinded me as I stirred. Maxen was barking orders at someone—probably me—but I was too sleepy to comprehend them. While I struggled to sit up in the bed, a pair of arms scooped me up and hauled me out.

"What is go—"

"I knew this would happen," Maxen hissed in my ear. "I hope you made peace with your father. He won't be alive much longer."

"W-what?"

The townhouse was completely dark, but Maxen navigated it with ease. I wondered what time it was. He hurriedly placed me on the floor and dashed off. A moment later, I heard the front door open. Someone muttered a low oath. Then those burly arms were picking me up again.

"Maxen," I demanded, "tell me what is going on. Where is my dad?"

"He's here." That was all he said.

"What do you mean? He came back?"

"Yes! Now be quiet!"

Scowling, I stared into the darkness as we raced through the house. When Maxen threw the front door open, a gust of warm air poured over us. He carried me outside and to the street, where his wolves were bustling about. They were all in their animal forms. Their fur shined under the crescent moon's radiance. It was truly fascinating to watch.

"I'm taking you somewhere safe," Maxen told me, drawing me out of my thoughts. "First, I need you to put this on."

I still didn't anticipate him to rip his shirt off. His bare, muscled body trembled in the moonlight. He shoved the shirt into my arms.

"Put it on," he ordered.

"Why are you always tearing your clothes off? That's a bad habit."

"Faye!"

Although I wanted to do nothing less than wear this demanding man's clothes, I did it anyway. The t-shirt hung loosely off my shoulders and skirted my knees like a dress.

"Now, I'm going to turn. You are going to climb on and hold tight. Got it?"

"Wait, I'm—"

Too late. Maxen's human shell exploded into a mass of fur and claws. He snarled at me when I just stood there, gawking. Maybe I would never get used to seeing that. I took a deep breath and grabbed the fur between his shoulders. Because I was short, this would be no easy task. Kind of like mounting a tall pony without a mounting block.

Impatient, he snarled again. I jumped up and tried to swing my leg over his back. Fail. I tried again and got closer but still didn't make it. This time, he turned his head to the side and used his nose to push my butt up onto his spine. My cheeks warmed. He just touched my butt.

Maxen was in motion before I was ready. My fingers twisted into his long fur and my legs squeezed his ribs. Once he assumed I was ready, he quickened to a slow lope. It was terrifying. There was no fat on him, so I felt like I would teeter off at any moment. This was nothing like riding a pony.

Another wolf drew up alongside of us while we sped down the city. He looked directly into my eyes, and I got the feeling I knew him. Then I realized his eyes were the same color as Mr. Nick's. Knowing Mr. Nick was here made me feel better about whatever was going on. And, clearly, there was something going on. Something not good.

A chorus of howls sounded in the distance. My body rattled in a terrified shiver. I wanted to know what was happening and why Maxen seemed to think my dad was going to die, but I understood I wouldn't be getting any answers at the moment.

We ducked off to the left at the end of the townhouses and bolted into the desert. Mr. Nick began falling behind, unable to keep up with Maxen's pace. The faster he ran, the tighter I squeezed his sides. He probably didn't appreciate that, but he didn't have the chance to complain.

Soon, the desert had completely enveloped us. Maxen raced down into a little valley, so the cacti and sandy mounds towered all around us. The valley narrowed into a small, shallow canyon with many twists and turns. At one of the switchbacks, we snuck into a narrow crevice. It was even darker in here than in the house.

Maxen stopped and, turning his head, licked one of my bare feet. Squealing, I slid off of him and onto the uneven, dusty floor. Mr. Nick then found us. His pants echoed off the crevice walls. This place must be huge.

Soft fur brushed against my arm as Maxen stood by me. Mr. Nick padded towards us, known only by the sound of his claws scratching the floor. Maxen growled at him, though not in an aggressive way. It was a warning. For what, I didn't know.

Maxen suddenly rushed out of the crevice. Mr. Nick took his place beside me and sunk to the floor. I did the same. We sat in silence for a minute before I decided to speak up.

"Can you transition back into a human?" I asked. "I need to talk to you."

He whined and nestled his wet nose against my hand. I took that as a no.

"Why not? I have no idea what's happening. Besides, I can't see you in the dark."

A disgruntled snort blew out of his nostrils. After crawling away from me, I heard the sound of his bones and flesh rearranging. His tired sigh told me he was human again.

"Mr. Nick, what's going on?" My voice was quiet with timidity.

"Bad things, Faye. Bad things."

"Like, what? What bad things?"

There was a moment of uncomfortable quiet before he replied, "Your father's soldiers were spotted heading in this direction about two miles out. Considering the way our last encounter went, they can only be here for one thing."

"War?"

I recalled the unsatisfactory conversation I had with Maxen about how dramatic it would be for a war to take place. The idea was no longer so unbelievable.

"Yes," Mr. Nick answered sadly. "They are going to be slaughtered. Maxen has nearly three hundred Rogues."

"Slaughtered? So they're actually going to die?" My voice rose higher and higher. "Maybe I can stop them. Maybe if I just talk to them, I can stop all of this from happening."

"Faye—"

"I can't let this happen!" I cried, leaping to my feet.

Except my flame of courage was extinguished by the utter darkness around me. I couldn't even see the way out, so I just tripped over a rock and fell to my knees.

"Stay down," Mr. Nick said firmly. "You're only going to hurt yourself."

Hissing out a sigh, I sat back on my rump. "You're starting to sound like your Alpha."

"My Alpha? I don't have one."

"You take orders from Maxen, don't you? That sounds like an Alpha to me."

"It's a choice. I have a choice in whether or not I obey. Pack wolves don't get a choice."

My lips pressed together in a scowl. Really, it was silly. These Rogues liked to believe they were so different from normal wolves, but they weren't. They lived together, took orders from one person, and moved as one unit. That seemed just like pack to me.

"Consider taking a nap," Mr. Nick remarked when I remained silent. "We might be waiting awhile."

Angry, I curled up into a ball and closed my eyes. My father's face was burned into my mind. I hoped he wasn't involved in the fighting. If he got himself hurt, I wouldn't know how to handle it. If he got himself killed...I couldn't begin to even comprehend that.