Chapter 109 Rogues
It was dark out and the majority of the pack members were still busy at the party. Serena walked the darkened streets of Night Sky territory without any concern.
The threat was removed, and there had never been any attacks in the village. The hospital was a few blocks away, and the walk was quick enough. There would be plenty of nurses and hospital staff there too. It felt unusually dark that night. Serena shivered a little in the cold. She clutched her shawl around her tighter, but the shiver wasn’t coming from outside. It was something under her skin.
Serena paused in her walking. She listened harder to her surroundings. She couldn’t hear anything but the sound of dead leaves scraping across the pavement in a nighttime breeze. Shivering again, she started walking, faster this time. The noises from the party faded and Serena could see the lights from the hospital just around a corner. She quickened her step again, unable to shake the feeling of someone watching her. Just before turning the corner, she stepped again. She closed her eyes, sniffing the air as the wind swept by. She caught the scent of some wolves. It was unfamiliar to her. Turning around, Serena saw them approaching in the shadows. Three were in wolf form, but two were in human form. Even with her sharp, night vision, she couldn’t see their features as they kept themselves hidden in the darkest shadows out of the beams of light from the hospital. “Hello?” she asked. “Who is there?”
One of the wolves snarled, and Serena’s heart rate picked up. These weren’t wolves she had seen or met at the party. They weren’t members of Night Sky or Starseeker pack. “Don’t move, and we won’t hurt you,” one of the rogues said. Breathing heavily, Serena glanced behind her. If she ran, there was a chance she could still make it to the hospital before the approaching rogues caught her. She looked back at them. They were moving slowly, but she knew she’d never have a chance on two legs. If she could run in the opposite direction, she’d have a chance to shift and get ahead of them, but that was only if she could get enough distance between them when she ran. Already, the rogues in wolf form
were so close they could pounce on her from where she stood. “I don’t want any trouble,” Serena said, holding her hands up to show she wasn’t going to make a scene. “Good” the one who spoke to her first said. “Be smart about this.” Rogues Serena looked around quickly. There wasn’t anything in her immediate area that she could use to her advantage. She wasn’t going to make it easy on them, though. She had to fight, because she had kids waiting for her. “I will,” Serena said. She pulled her shawl off and threw it at the closest rogue in wolf-form. It covered the wolf’s eyes, and Serena ran in a direction that was most advantageous. The closest rogue to her escape route was in human form and he would be slower to react. Serena ran as fast as she could, heart racing in her chest. She tore at her shirt as she ran, ripping it off to free herself so she could shift. On four legs, she was a lot faster. Serena ran back in the direction of the party. The tent would be loud, but if she got close enough, she could call for help. The tatters of her skirt clung to her furred legs. With how fast she was running, the fabric slipped away quickly
Behind her, Serena heard the snarls and growls of her pursuers. All of them were in wolf form now, and they were gaining on her. She had drunk a couple glasses of wine. It wasn’t enough to make her drunk, but it had slowed her down. She could see the event tent ahead. If she could just get close enough, she could let out a howl that would alert the others. Serena raised her head, ready to call out to her pack, but she was struck from the side. A full force tackle knocked her to the ground. Her howl was strangled off as the wind was knocked out of her. Serena fell hard on her side.
Groaning, her lungs kept spasming. She couldn’t breathe. Sputtering and coughing, she couldn’t stand. She couldn’t get a hold on her body or her breathing and the other wolves closed in. There was one still in human form, the one who had spoken to her before. “I thought I told you to be smart about this,” he said, leaning down and staring at her. Serena whimpered, struggling to breathe still. “Bag her, let’s get her far away from here.” Serena got kicked in the face, knocking her out. When she came to, Serena was in her human form. At least her kidnappers had the decency to wrap her in a blanket. Her wrists and ankles were bound and she was being carried by two of the rogues, one at her shoulders, the other at her feet.
“What are you doing?” Serena asked, struggling in their grip. “Stay still, or we’ll drop you,” one of the rogues said. Serena grumbled. She could breathe again, so that was a plus, but she had no idea where she was or where they were taking her. “You’re Damon’s acolytes?” she asked. “Your Alpha is going to pay for hurting ours,” someone hissed. Serena couldn’t see the faces of any of the wolves.
All she knew was that they were carrying her through the woods. She could smell the earth and the trees. She kept catching glimpses of the stars in the sky above. Her mind was still a little groggy, but she couldn’t see any constellations or landmarks that would tell her where they were or even what direction they were going. “I helped Damon,” Serena argued. “I healed him, saved his life when my Alpha wanted to kill him!” “It doesn’t matter,” the rogue told her. “You are our leverage to get him back.” “Are you kidding?” Serena asked. “Out of everyone in the pack, you picked the doctor you defied Alpha Logan’s orders to save Damon as your leverage? That’s not very smart, is it?” “Shut up!” one of the rogues carrying her said, shaking her. Serena grunted. “Wow, I guess I struck a nerve,” she said with a scoff. “A good doctor can do that in the operating room and while being held prisoner.” “She’s talking too much,” one of the rogues complained. “Any patrols in the area will hear her.” “Can we gag her?” one asked. “Yea, yea, I’ve got one,” the apparent leader of the rogues said, the one that had spoken to her first near the hospital. The rogues carrying Serena stopped and their leader shoved a scrap of cloth into her mouth, tying it around her head. Serena growled, chewing at the cloth. It was dirty. She could taste sweat and filth on it, but she wasn’t going to stop trying to chew through it. “We’ll meet up with the rest of the rogues in about another mile,” someone said. Serena stopped chewing on the fabric. Apparently, they would start talking to each other if she stopped interrupting them. She wanted to see if they’d say anything that would be helpful to her later. They didn’t seem too smart and might forget that just because she couldn’t talk didn’t mean she couldn’t hear. “Another mile?” one of the ones carrying her asked. “We need to swap out. She’s dead weight.” They set Serena down and the rogues shifted their positions, two new ones picking her up. “Once we meet up with them, then what?” a rogue asked. “We contact Logan. We tell him that we have his doctor, and we demand Damon’s release for her return,” their leader said.
“You think he’ll go for that?” a rogue asked.
“He has to,” the leader said. “He made so much noise at the trial about protecting everyone in his pack. If he doesn’t, then he’s a hypocrite.” Serena rolled her eyes. They really weren’t that smart. “Are we really going to give her back?” someone asked. “Not a chance,” the leaders said. They stopped, Serena was jostled around and adjusted in their arms again. “They deposed Damon and took his pack from him. There’s no way we make any deals with that insolent Alpha!” Serena struggled in their grasp. It angered her to hear their insults to Logan. But she knew now that they weren’t going to kill her. They would have to give Logan proof that they had her and that she was alive if they were going to use her as leverage. “I said stay still or we’ll drop you!” one of the rogues carrying her snapped. Serena grumbled behind her gag. She had to find a way to get out of there and get back to Logan and the pack.