Chapter 25: Near miss

Benjamin’s POV

Before we could take off on all sides of the territory, I made sure to speak to the higher ranked members of my pack one more time. I needed them to split up, as much as possible, and each take command of one garrison. They were the better trained werewolves and they could look out for the others.

“That makes sense!” Sheila approved of my idea.

“Alright, then spread out and stay safe.” From the corner of my eye, I could see Jason on his cellphone, arms flailing about. “What the hell is he doing?” I asked Sheila, perplexed.

She looked back behind her at Jason. “Oh, that? He’s just talking to his mate. Saying goodbye or whatnot. All the mates do that, but in his case it’s pretty funny because we can all hear him.” She laughed at her best friend.

I looked over to Ryan and asked him if he had linked with my sister.

“Yeah, I did. She cursed me and you.”

I chuckled at that as I could very well picture my sister blowing a gasket at Ryan.

“I don’t have Mina’s number. I can’t link her and I can’t call her.”

“Do you want me to send Roxy to talk to her?”

“Nah. I’d rather she just rested. I’ll talk to her after.”

A loud hunting noise filled up the air as Anderson had blown the horn that signal an imminent departure. Werewolves crammed themselves into different cars and headed out to opposite parts of our borders. Those less skillful in the wolf-form combat carried weapons with them to ensure their kills. My truck and its bed was full of warriors, both newer and seasoned. We headed out to the eastern side of our land and I reminded everyone, one last time, to keep their mind-links opened. Once we were close to the borders, we climbed down my truck and shifted into our wolves. **Son, we’re here too!** My father’s voice filled my head. **What? Where are you?** I asked a little panicked. I didn’t want my parents to get hurt. **South perimeter.** My mother’s soft voice peaked through all the chatter. **I didn’t want you guys to be here.** I replied a little vexed. **So you young kids can have all the fun? We don’t think so!** That was uncle Ronan speaking. **Hey! Dad! I’m down south! Where are you?** Ryan replied back when he heard his father’s voice. **Northern end, son! Now let’s go kick some butts!** I sighed in defeat. There was no getting through to the old heads and I had to keep my focus.

My group and I advanced rapidly outside of our borders and I could see many other teams surrounding us. We ran across miles and miles of forest before we finally smelled what we came looking for. A putrid acidic odour invaded our snouts and I could hear in my mind many wolves gagging. For a lot of them, this was to be their first encounter with rogues and nothing could have prepared them for this scent. Once exiled from their packs, werewolves became rogues and overtime, their scent, once pleasurable, began to twist into something vile. It was like a direct reflection of the pain, the anger and the sorrow that most of them held in their hearts. Some even said their hearts had turned black from the very vengeful nature that encompassed them. I was very familiar with that horrible smell as today was nothing new to me. I had been fighting rogues for as long as I could remember. Some sought vengeance, others attacked to survive. I had never lost against a rogue and I did not intend to start losing today.

I picked up my speed and everyone else followed. We needed the element of surprise if our plan was to succeed. We couldn’t let the rogues have enough time to sniff us out and get ready. Within a few seconds, we found ourselves jumping into a basic looking camp full of werewolves. They had not seen us coming and were scrambling to grab their weapons or shift. My canines found their way into a rogue’s neck while he was in the midst of shifting. I ripped into his skin and bit off his jugular. Before I could exult in his death, a large brown wolf slammed me from the side, making me lose balance. In a split second, I pounced on him. We both collided into each other mid air but I managed to sink my claws deep in his right flank. Without it being fatal, the clawing allowed me to gain the upper hand as he fell forcefully on the ground. With one swoop, I slashed his throat and head butted the third rogue coming for me. I tried to reach for his neck but he managed to cut my back. The pain fuelled my anger. I was seeing red. I wanted blood. I wanted death. I wanted more pain, more screams. The rogue sprung into my direction and I shifted in my human form, escaping his assault in a close shave. The rogue was left confused and before he could turn around, I was on top of him, back in my wolf form. I sank both of my clawed paws into his sides and snapped his neck. I ran towards a young warrior of mine who was surrounded by two enemy wolves. I overpowered both of them easily, spitting out their arteries and veins in a fraction of a second. We kept fighting the camp of rogues fervently for a long time and I could hear all of the other teams battling those vicious mutts as well. I could hear the pain of some of my warriors and I hoped no one had died. After countless deaths, the rogues began to understand this was a fight they could not win and they retreated deeper into the forrest. Part of me wanted to run after them for I wanted their complete annihilation. But when I glanced around, I noticed quite a few of my teammates laying on the floor and I knew I couldn’t ask them to keep going. **Team leaders, come in!** I ordered through our open mind-links. **Status report, right now!**

**There were no rogues north of the borders! And we went all the way to the river bank!** Craig and Jason said.

**Yeah, I picked the wrong point!** Ronan complained.

**You’ll get your chance again, old man. Southern perimeter here. We kicked some ass! All the rogues we cornered retreated. We’re headed to help Sheila and Rob’s teams. They had most of the rogues!** Ryan screamed out of breath.

**Nothing out west. It’s fucking dead here! I’m pissed!** Anderson was last to report.

**Alright, we’ve still got some rogues left here in the east. Near the flower fields where Casey’s team is. We’re headed there. Anyone not battling the rogues, help out the wounded. Any rogues left alive are to be questioned by a team leader and then killed. Understood?** I instructed them while helping up my warriors.

**Yes, Alpha!** And the noisy chatter picked back up again and I heard some of the fights remaining.

I gathered all the werewolves who were still able to fight and we charged in the direction of the other group who was still battling. When I arrived, I was proud to see that Casey had handled her team and the rogues very well. She was a very skilled and very tactical warrior and it showed by the way she belted out helpful orders through the link. With the help of my team, it took less than five minutes to force a retreat from the rogues and we had officially won this round. But somehow, I knew this was only the beginning of the battle against them. I had not seen one rogue that could resemble an Alpha and even if I hoped he had been killed by some other warrior of mine, I had a feeling he was still at large.

During the aftermath of our clash, we found one rival wolf wounded but still alive. I shifted back into my human form and commanded him to do the same if he wanted to remain alive. He was hurt but not enough to stop a shift and an older man appeared in front me. He seemed to be around my parent’s age, with greying hair. Without skipping a beat, I started questioning him. I needed to know who was his Alpha and where he was.

“Did your Alpha fight today?” I asked enraged. The rogue remained silent which only insulted me further. I took a knife laying on the ground and slashed away at his skin, enlarging his already opened wounds. “Speak or die. Your choice.” I said threateningly.

“No, he didn’t. He wasn’t here!” He yelled out in pain.

“He left his men?” I asked putting more pressure into his wounds.

“Nooo!” He kept shrieking. “You don’t understand! He wasn’t here at all. He’s been gone since last night! Please, stop! I’m begging you!”

“What’s his name? Huh? What does he look like?” I demanded to know, but the man remained silent, crying out in pain. “Answer me!”