We are all sitting around the cramped living room. Osiston isnt the only one who showed up today. That’s how I know this is bigger than we thought, Jorge, Alyssa and William are all here and I guess there is a team of five running the perimeter around our place.
“What have you guys come up with? Anything?” Osiston asks, sounding more irritated than I have heard him before.
“Right now, we just know that the male wolf population is growing each week. Many registered for college for this semester. We haven’t seen or heard anything more unusual than that. I haven’t heard of any girls being taken or reported missing either.” I tell him, honestly. I have no idea what’s going on, but I also feel like we aren’t doing enough.
“Sky did get us an invite to run with some of the guys on Thursday though. t’sthe first time the wolves have interacted with us.” Mina adds.
All heads turn towards me and I’m not sure I like the looks in their eyes. It’s the kind of look that says I’m about to be pulled from this for my safety. I can’t help the growl that rumbles in my chest, my wolf doesn’t want to be sidelined any more than I do, especially now that someone we know has been taken.
“Relax Little One, no one is going to stop you from helping.”
He reads my mind. You’re too deep into this now, but you can’t fault us for being concerned. The rogues started increasing when you got here and didn’t approach until you and Mina were on campus. There’s something to be said for their timing.”
Osiston calms me. ‘We do know that there has been no rogue presence near Blue Crescent in the last five months, and two smaller packs have been attacked and completely wiped out from what we can tell. I anyone got away, we have not found them yet.
When we did a search of the destruction though, only male bodies were found. No females, no children. So there is a spark of hope that some were able to escape. We did find both the Alpha and Luna for both packs amongst the dead though.” He finishes sadly.
“So, are they here? The Rogue King and his minions. Do we have any confirmation of that? Do we know where to look or where to start?” I’m frustrated now. It feels like these rogues are several steps ahead o us all the time. “It’s like chasing a ghost or a fairy tale.
“The only confirmation is the increase in the population here, with no pack to speak of, it’s suspicious. This, like most prominently human public places, is neutral territory for us. No packs lay claim to areas like this. The Alpha King offers protection if there are wolves on campus, but no one group occupies the space.”
He turns to me. “You got an invite to run with these rogues?” I nod. “On your first day of classes with them?” I nod again. I feel like this is a trap waiting to happen.
“Yeah, Thursday night. How do we want to play this? They all have a scent, so while on campus at least, they aren’t trying to hide. Where will you guys be?” He smiles at me, both of us coming to the agreement that I am going and he is going to be there to follow. “We need a reason for Royal Pack warriors to be running on the grounds. Nickolas is going to have to stay behind. He is on a ‘leave of absence to take care of us. So he can’t be on duty.”
“We can put it out there that we will be running a training op near here. We do things like that all the time when we are forming teams with new recruits. We have a few people placed in leadership on campus, they can do their thing and spread the word.
It will give us cover for our scent being all over the woods and we don’t have to explain ourselves any further than that. If we do meet up with you for any reason, you and Mina have to pretend not to know us. Copy reactions from the rogues and blend in. We’ll try not to engage unless we have to.” Jorge comes up with a plan on the fly.
