I am Rogue [Book 1]

Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

            “She’s fucking crazy.”

            “She’s just confused, and hush, none of that language here. The poor girl has probably been through a lot. Just look at her, having come out of a strong and painful Heat without the aid of a mate to ease it away. And for what, to awaken to strange men coming into her cell? Not to mention she has been living as a rogue, and god only knows what that was like for her.”

            “So it’s perfectly alright to go nuts and kill two people?”

            I had been moved into a new cell, and the woman from before had come with her mate to give me a mild sedative. She was examining me under the watchful eye of her mate after I had showed no violent compulsions towards her, however had growled when he had come near me.

            Several people were actually in my new cell, but I was trying hard to tune them out, my mind going numb not from the sedative but from the emptiness I was feeling. Without Nyx, it seemed the connection to my pack was gone. I couldn’t even connect with others who may also be sitting in cells such as the one I found myself in.

            I just wanted to curl into myself and disappear, but I knew it wouldn’t be possible. They weren’t going away, and if from the clothing I saw placed on a table near the door, I would be leaving my cell soon to get cleaned up for my meeting with the werewolf council. No doubt I would only have a few more hours of life left.

            Perhaps that was something good in the end. The knowledge that I would meet the Goddess and hopefully she would shine mercy upon me and allow me to spend my afterlife with the souls of those I loved. I only wish that for the sake of my remaining pack, for the sake of my sweet little Rosie, someone kind would find them all and take them in. I would still try to watch over her, even in death, as I had promised.

            “Come on girly, time to go bathe and dress. You’ve caused quite the stir, but don’t fret, you’re just confused is all. The council will do what is best for you, what is best for everyone.”

            Stumbling off the mattress to follow her, my eyes caught the strange looks the others were giving me, but I wasn’t all there to dissect them. Some just looked sad while others looked on with pity. I couldn’t even begin to understand them, and continued to follow the old woman as she picked up the clothes and led me down a hallway to where a locker room seemed to be.

            Not even bothering to waste time trying to understand how a locker room was located in a dungeon, I stepped under the warming spray the woman had started fully clothed. A sigh escaped my lips as the water hit my face and neck. Only then, as the water rolled across me, did the feel of dried blood begin to agitate me and the feel of my soaked nasty smelling clothing have me pulling them away from my body and dropping them at my feet where the water whirled about tinted copper red.

            “Here you go girl, wash all the grime of the past away. Today you will find yourself being led to the future…”

            “Maria!”

            “What, can’t I reassure her a little?”

            “No. You do not know the minds of the council. Do not make promises that may be broken, love.”

            The woman, whose name I now knew, gave me a saddened look as I took the washcloth she had offered me and scrubbed at my skin. I had never doubted that others would follow and see me in the bare flesh, that they would be worried I may turn feral. I couldn’t blame them either, for I had been feral, and could become feral once more even now if my depression turned to violent rage.

            For the most part, the rest of my shower had been in silence. It had been soothing, not having to hear what others were thinking as they watched me scrub the blood and grime from my skin. But as it would seem, my life was never still for long, and soon I heard voices I never thought I would hear again, my head jerking to the locker room doorway.

            “Get your mangy paws off me!”

            “Yeah, get the hell off before you lose one of those ogling eyes, you overbearing pervert!”

            A whimper came from my throat as I watched Cold and Max struggle with the men that held them, shoving them towards the unused showerheads to my right. As they fought, they both looked up to see me, their eyes first glazing over in joy then shifting to horror as they noticed the state of my water-soaked clothing at my feet and took in my still slightly grimy and blood splattered appearance.

            “Aim,” Cold shouted, trying to get to me, however my own guards growled at her and closed rank around me to where I could barely see her face anymore.

            “Get off me, get the hell off me you lowlife mutt! Aim! Aim are you alright?”

            I swallowed hard, tears falling from my eyes, both from joy that they had survived and from grief that I could not help them, the mild sedative given to me earlier before the shower still keeping my body in a slight numb blanket that hindered my movement speed.

            Opening my mouth to answer, I clamped it back shut as Max started growling and the sound of clothing being shredded came to my ears.

            “I could have removed them myself you bloody animal-“

            “Wash up, both of you are to be delivered to the West Ridge Pack Alpha by orders of the council.”

            “Who the hell is that? I’ve never heard of that pack.”

            Cold took the question right out of my mind, as I stayed focused on what was happening a short way away from me.

            “It’s relatively new,” growled whoever the hell was talking to them.

            “What about the rest of us?”

            “Yes, what about the others in the dungeon, or Aim even, what are you planning to do with her?”

            I didn’t hear the reply, my mind stuck on the fact that others had survived, that others were in the dungeon. Could it be? Was Nyx…?”

            “Cold,” I called out, “Is Nyx still… still alive?”