Escaping Rogue

twenty six

I stumbled out of the trees as a piercing howl erupted. All fighting ceased at the harsh noise, and Theo, who now lay in his human form, gripped his chest.

Christian ran to my side, his left temple and shoulder soaked in blood. The panic subdued as the wounds I saw were already healing, but it didn't keep my attention for long.

"I told you to leave, Lena." He whispered, grabbing my stomach and my cheek. He feared for both of our lives—mine and the baby. But I feared for all three. Baby, Alpha, and Luna.

"Is that really what you're gonna say to me right now?"

I looked past him, nodding to the now frozen battlefield of our pack land. Both our people and Theo's stood still, unsure of what exactly would happen. With the "Rogue King" on the ground and bleeding out, there was no point in fighting. Not for a lost cause; they of all people knew that.

Christian sighed, walking back to my father. Theo whimpered, hissing as he tried to pull himself away.

"Any minute you'll be dead." My mate told him. His voice was neither commanding nor terrifying. He wasn't addressing the entirety of the wolves. Just Theo. "Any second now, your pathetic heart will stop. And what will you have done? Wasted you life destroying the one you gave to another. You could have had a family." Christian stood, Theo now limp on the floor. His eyes flickering slightly was the only sighs he was still alive. "And instead, you forced your daughter to kill you. You've lost, mutt."

I forced my feet towards the dying man, now on the brink of death. Slowly, I crouched beside him, my lips close enough to his ear.

"In the end, you always lost, dad."

I heard a pathetic wheeze of a breath before the silence. Theo's chest froze in place, his dead eyes now empty and lifeless in place of the rage and hatred that always lit them up.

Christian grabbed my arm, pulling me away from the corpse and back to his side.

"You saw what became of your leader. You see the wrong he fought for, the evil he tried to spread among his own family." Christian announced. The alpha voice was on now, booming across the field. "You chose to follow the wrong leader, and for that, you have lost."

I grabbed his hand. All those days ago, the first night I spent on this land. The wretched cell I was stuck in along with other "rogues" who had no other fault that the wrong place at the wrong time. I promised myself I'd get them out. I got too distracted and forgot.

But this time I won't.

Give them a second chance. Be a merciful alpha.

Christian glanced my way, the stony silver unreadable for the first time since I've met the man. What was he planning? The alpha who allowed his own mate to be reprimanded for the same thing as these people. The same werewolf notorious for his ruthlessness, known for showing no mercy. Would he finally give them another shot?

The packs both stared in silence, on edge for his decision. I was too. If there was anything that could go wrong, it was this. It was me wishing he would change his ways, his reputation at the snap of a finger. I knew it was a longshot, but after everything? After finding me in a cell amongst the rogues, surely he could have a change of heart. 

I watched Chris turn back, his hand tightening around mine now. "But you are not your mistakes. You chose wrong and that was your mistake, however, we all deserve one more chance."

The sigh I was holding suddenly let loose, and it seemed everyone's breath released at once. The notorious Christian Bade was giving second chances, well, a second chance. I grinned, grabbing my torso. 

He looked at me, and the smile I wore grew on his face before quickly disappearing again. "Those of you who can accept the defeat of today and wish to have a place to stay, submit to me and my pack and you will be welcome. Those of you who wish to remain as you are, will leave and never return nor bother me again."

People began to fall instantly on their knees, bowing heads as a sign of respect and submission. Christian watched as both old and new pack members fell to the ground one by one. He was a brand new person. He was finally the Christian Bade I knew he was all along.