Running with Rogues

CHAPTER 10 - BIRDS OF A FEATHER

"They broke pack law," Aunt Fion said without hesitation. "Bryn doesn't have a tattoo, he wasn't trespassing, and he didn't pick a fight. They broke pack law, and they risked exposing our species."

"Yes, they did, but none of the other Alphas will give a shit," I muttered.

We were in the ward, and it was quite crowded. My mam, my aunt and my uncle had all gathered to hear the story. They were a little pissed off about the whole thing. Bryn's mam, Cassidy, was back from treating a collapsed lung, and she had him sat on the table while she glued the cut on the back of his head shut.

"Jace will," Mam said. "We'll tip him off and see if he doesn't give Zach a hiding."

"Why? We can raid Shadowless as payback," I grumbled. "We don't need help from no flockie."

"Of course we'll raid Shadowless, but I'm playing the long game here."

I raised an eyebrow, and Mam waved a hand at Fion, which meant she couldn't be arsed explaining.

"Next month, the packmeet are going to vote on an amendment which will let them execute trespassers as young as fourteen, kill Haven wolves on sight, and most worryingly, round up anyone who does not belong to a pack and detain them indefinitely," Fion said.

"What?" I demanded. That would include lones, who had done no harm to anyone. How could they make it illegal to not be a part of their society?

"They want to drive us extinct once and for all, Eva," Mam sighed. "At the moment, we have three definite votes for and two definite votes against. Shadowless and Riverside are undecided. If Jace manages to talk some sense into his cousin, we might stand a chance of getting the majority. If not ... well, I've already heard Riverside is leaning."

Huh? Most of that had gone in one ear and out the other. I had a really horrible habit of zoning out when people were talking to me.

"Jaden listens to Jace," Rhys said firmly. "Always has, always will."

"Not so much lately," she countered. "He's been siding with Lowland and pushing the anti-rogue legislation. He and Cornell have had seven phone calls in the last two days alone."

I had never taken much interest in the packmeet politics, to be honest, so I was a little bit lost. We had some of the old ones recorded on tape, but once the Alphas had wised up to our shit, they'd moved from an old church into human venues that were a lot harder to bug. I had listened to some of the tapes just to laugh at what was said, but had I paid attention beyond that? No.

"Which three are for the amendment?" I asked, trying to bring the topic back into my narrow realm of understanding.

"Silver Lake, Lowland and Ember," Fion said.

Silver Lake had always despised us, and that was fair, since rogues had killed their last three Alphas. The other two were just pricks, as far as I knew.

Cassidy had finished with Bryn, and she came for me next. I hopped up onto one of the benches and pulled off Sam's shirt. There was an impressive bruise stretching across my ribcage — dark red and yellow mottled together.

"These are broken," she said. "Not much I can do ... unless you want pain relief?"

"Nah," I laughed.

"There's a surprise," Cassidy sighed. She was eyeing the grazes on my arms now — the ones that hadn't healed because they were grimy. "I'll clean these up, and then you're free to go."

An alcohol wipe and tweezers were produced. I sat still and chewed on my lip while she disinfected the raw skin, which kinda stung, and picked out the pieces of gravel. Mam came over to watch, and I could feel her wolf taking an interest in proceedings. Someone had hurt her pups — she was royally pissed off.