The Rogue Alpha

Chapter Four

Moving swiftly, Archer raced through no man’s land, knowing he had limited time before his father sent out wolves to track him down and return him to the pack.

Reaching a stream, he quickly stripped, stuffing his clothes into his bag before shifting into his huge black Alpha wolf. Rolling his body in the water, he grabbed his bag with his jaws and raced down the middle of the stream hoping that the wash of his fur would help dilute his scent, throwing off any trackers that came after him.

Axel raced for over a mile through the freezing water before cutting inland and pushing his way through the wilderness, running as fast as he could, long after he could no longer hear the howls of his former pack mates, which gave him a faint hope that they had given up the pursuit.

Running at full speed for four hours, the exhaustion finally began to catch up with the wolf, taking its toll as Axel’s feet slowed reluctantly, his muscles screaming in protest. Looking around, he spotted a large bush. Making his way toward it, he pushed and shoved his large body in between the branches, rolling side to side until he had managed to create himself a small den, barely large enough for his massive frame.

Curling up in a ball, Axel connected to his human tiredly, ‘I need to sleep man, running like that on a couple of hours sleep has pushed me to my limits.’

Archer nodded in his wolf’s mind, ‘no problem, mate’ he murmured, ‘ let's get some sleep and shift back in the morning so we can keep moving but you can rest some more.’

Humming in agreement, Axel shut his eyes, sleep taking him quickly though his ears remained perked, listening for danger.

A few hours later, Axel’s eyes snapped open, his nose sniffing in earnest as a low rumble built in his throat.

‘Axel? What is it?’ Archer asked through their link.

‘Wolves’ Axel replied, his haunches rising, ‘Rogue wolves.’

Laying low, the pair listened carefully for the sounds of a group approaching hesitantly. Concentrating, they could just make out four sets of footsteps, two heavier than the others.

Inching out of his hiding spot, Axel stood up, growling warningly as a small family halted in front of him, the father, roughly twenty six years of age, pushing his wife and children behind him, his arms outstretched.

‘We don’t want any trouble’ he said tentatively, slowly moving one hand toward the large black wolf, his palm facing forward as if to hold him at bay. ‘Please, we don’t have any food or money, I beg you, please don’t hurt them.’

Axel eyed the group warily before he shivered, morphing back into Archer, who reached quickly under the bush and pulled out his rucksack, rummaging for his clothes and getting dressed.

‘I’m not looking for trouble either’ Archer replied warily. If you are peaceful, then so am I.’

The man nodded, obviously relieved as he dropped his arm, his children peeking around his ragged coat curiously.

‘Alpha, you are a long way into the wilderness, are you lost?’ the man asked worriedly as he looked around, obviously expecting a pack of wolves to appear at any moment.

Archer growled low, making the man flinch, ‘I am not an Alpha’ he muttered, ‘the name is Archer and I’m a Rogue just like you.’

The man watched him sceptically but refrained from arguing as he gestured to himself, Archer taking in his tall stature, dark brown hair, and fair skinned, muscular form. ‘My name is Kurt, and this is my wife Anya.’ He waved hishandtoward the female behind him, as-way of introduction. The black haired, brown skinned woman gave a small nod of acknowledgement. 'Our son Levi, who is six, and our daughter Alyona aged four’ he added, indicating each in turn, the little boy who was an image of his father waving shyly whilst his sister, who was a perfect blend of both parents with her black hair and sun kissed skin hid behind her father’s coat again. ‘And this’ he added happily as his wife undid her coat to reveal a newborn baby, ‘is baby Georgio.’

Archer waved to each person as they were introduced, a small smile playing around his lips when the little girl, in a rush of courage, stepped out and waved back at him enthusiastically before being scolded quietly by her mother.

‘I was just about to have some breakfast; would you care to join me?’ Archer asked slowly, pretending not to notice the wary look that passed between the adults as the two children gazed up at their parents hopefully.

‘You should save your food Alp . . Archer’ Kurt replied quietly, ‘there is very sparse food out here, you will need it if your journey is a long one.'

Archer shook his head with a frown, ‘I can always buy more food, Kurt, what I cannot buy is the company of what seems to be good people and that is something that I would like very much.’

‘Please daddy, I am hungry’ the little girl whispered as her stomach rumbled, causing pain to flash across her father’s face.

‘Well . . if you are sure that you wish to share’ he wavered reluctantly.

‘I’m positive’ Archer replied firmly, ‘though is this a safe area to camp? I’m afraid I don’t know this territory at all.’

Kurt nodded, ‘it does get frequented by Ferals’ he said nervously, ‘it would probably be better to move back to our camp, it would be slightly safer.’

Wondering what a Feral was, Archer agreed and slung his bag over his shoulder, preparing to follow the family as they walked west, careful to cross areas that had ways to hide their scent.

It took over an hour but finally they came up to a small cave built into the side of a hill. Bending down, Anya led the way inside, calling out after a few seconds for her children to follow with Kurt bringing up the rear. Following the family, Archer had to almost crawl on hands and knees to get through the small opening with his large body, but once down the small incline he found himself in a large room that was tall enough for him to stand.

‘Um it’s not much but it keeps us dry’ Kurt mumbled, struggling to look up at Archer for any length of time due to his wolf wanting to submit to the powerful Alpha in front of him.

Archer grinned, ‘it’s a lovely home’ he replied gruffly, nodding to the werewolf’s wife, who flushed, ‘you have excellent taste in furniture, Anya’ he added, as he glanced around at the mismatched chairs and table that seemed to somehow still work together.

Hurrying to a small barrel, Anya filled a dented metal jug with water and carried it over to the table along with some glasses as the children went to a nearby bucket and washed their hands.

Kurt ushered Archer to the table, offering him the sturdiest of their chairs before sitting down at his left, Anya placing plates on the table before she sat down facing the Alpha, the children arguing in hushed tones over who would sit next to the big werewolf.

‘Children, you can both sit on the floor’ Kurt said firmly, handing each a plate as Archer reached into his bag and pulled out an uncut loaf of bread and some peanut butter along with a knife.

‘It isn’t much’ he said apologetically as Anya pushed back her chair to hurry off and find a knife.

Kurt smiled, ‘Please, this is more than generous Alp . .uh Archer, we are grateful that you would consider sharing with us.’

Archer grinned shyly, unsure how to react to these people who were so obviously thankful for the meagre bit of food he had to offer.

Kurt took the knife from his wife, cutting thin slices off the loaf as she spread the peanut butter over it, placing a slice on each child’s plate, then her husbands, her own and finally Archer’s who noticed that his slice was cut significantly thicker than everyone else’s.

The children devoured their slices ravenously, making little growls of satisfaction as they licked their fingers clean. Anya and Kurt tried to be more restrained in front of their guest, but Archer ate his quickly before standing up and cutting five more slices much thicker than the first, slathering them with the caramel coloured spread and pushing one on to each person’s plate.

‘No Alpha, please this is too much, you need to ration’ Kurt argued, trying to push the bread back toward the man.

Archer shook his head, indicating for the children to eat, ‘it is payment for your hospitality Kurt’ he growled out, staring the man down, making him look away quickly.

‘Yes Alpha’ Kurt replied in submission, reaching for the second slice that sat on his plate.

‘Still not an Alpha’ Archer muttered, but he couldn’t help but smile at the two children who were inching closer to him, their second slice already having disappeared.

The little girl finally spoke up as Archer took a drink of water, ‘Alpha, why are you not with your pack?’ she asked innocently.

‘Alyona, that is not polite!’ her mother scolded, her eyes widening in fear, glancing at Archer and baring her neck. ‘Apologies Alpha, she is very young, she means no disrespect’ she whispered.

Archer waved his hand dismissively, ‘I’m not an Alpha Anya and there is no reason why someone shouldn’t ask a question if they are curious’ he replied warmly. Turning to Alyona, who was waiting uncertainly, Archer smiled down at her as he replied, ‘I don’t have a pack Alyona, I’m a Rogue Wolf, I live out here.’

The little girl tilted her head in confusion, ‘you don’t smell like us, you have a different scent though it’s fading’ she said. Then she frowned further, ‘are you sure you aren’t an Alpha? You have a big wolf like an Alpha, it’s much bigger than daddy’s wolf.’

Archer could see the two adults holding their breath, wondering how long it would take for him to wipe them out due to their daughter’s questions. Bringing his concentration back to the youngster, he replied, ‘I do have a very big wolf, but as I don’t have a pack, I can’t be an Alpha wolf, so I’m just a really big Rogue wolf instead.’

Alyona nodded, satisfied, turning back to her brother who had found some paper and crayons and was drawing pictures on the floor.

Glancing over at Kurt, Archer placed his arms on the table, studying the man beside him as his wife cleared the plates and took the baby to a corner of the room to clean and change him. ‘What is a Feral?’ Archer asked curiously, as he leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands.

Kurt let out a breath, ‘they are the werewolves who have given themselves wholly to their wolf’ he replied sadly. ‘The men and women that they once were, are lost to the mind of their wolf, they only know death, violence and destruction.’

‘Isn’t that just what pack wolves call Rogues?’ Archer asked in confusion, causing Kurt to growl slightly in anger before pulling himself up short, flashing the large werewolf a fearful look.

‘No umm . . Archer, they are only one of the four types of Rogue that we have, they are also the ones most likely to attack a pack as they have no sense of self preservation.’

The Alpha nodded slowly, digesting the other werewolf’s words, ‘so what are the other three types of Rogue?’ he asked, curious that it seemed everything he had been taught about Rogues was wrong.

Kurt perked up at his question, obviously pleased to teach the strong warrior about his family and others like him. ‘We have wolves that just want to live peacefully with friends and family, they have no desire for pack life but still crave the company of their loved ones. These are known in our world as the Insulars’ he started excitedly. ‘Next, we have those that are known as the Lone Wolves, not wanting the companionship of anyone else. They live in complete solitude, avoiding other wolves at all costs. Some go so far as to integrate into the human settlements so that they can live alone.

Finally, you have those that want to join a pack but are unwanted due to their Rogue status. These are known within the Rogue world as the Huntians.’

Archer’s eyes widened as he gazed at the Rogue’s expression, ‘and which one are you, Kurt?’ he asked quietly.

Kurt swallowed as his face dropped a bit, ‘the third type’ he mumbled sadly, ‘I would very much like to find a pack for my family, but so far no pack will entertain us. We have been living here for the last two years. I occasionally set out to a pack to ask for refuge but each has turned me down . . but you never know, maybe one day?’

Archer nodded as he cleared up the remainder of the food, and tied up his rucksack. Standing up, he met the slightly older man’s eyes. ‘I hope you find your pack Kurt’ he said as he held out his hand for the other to shake, 'just stay away from Black Opal pack. It's about four hours east and they are not Rogue friendly’ he warned.

Kurt gazed at Archer’s hand before hesitantly taking it and shaking it, ‘you too Archer, I hope you find whatever it is you are looking for.’