Moonlight Rogue

Chapter Three: The Prisoner

I got the kind of greeting I expected to from the pack. The kids clung to my calves, the women looked at me with doe eyes, begging me as they always did. “I’m sorry, I don’t do packs.” I shuddered at just the thought of it. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“Why have you come back, Morgan?” One of the younger women approached me and nodded to show her respect. “You freed us, but now we’re adrift out here, we’re barely making ends meet. Now you’re bringing us another?” Her tone was a mixture of annoyance and sadness.

“It’s not my intention to get involved with you guys. Emma here is in real trouble. You’ve heard of Mason’s group, right?”

The crowd around me went silent. Of course, they had heard of Mason he was the biggest pack in the land. Finally, the woman in front of me nodded, her eyes guarded. “This child comes from there?” Her frown deepened. “I’ve never met anyone that has made it out of their clutches alive. He always tracks down and kills those that abandon him. Always.” She nodded at the girl. “Are you sure this isn’t a trap? You’re not setting us up to be wiped out are you, Morgan?”

As if that was her cue, Emma started to cry, great. That’s exactly what I needed. “If you’re talking about the hunting party that’s sent, I already took care of one. She had a pack of five after her, they’re all dealt with now. I didn’t leave a trail here, no one will find you guys. The seasons will change again soon and it won’t be so hard to survive, I know you guys can do it. Look where you all came from, but I can’t lead.”

She sighed and pulled herself to her full height. “Very well, Morgan. We’ll take care of your waif, but you’re not taking Mason on by yourself, are you? His pack is countless, even someone like you is going to be killed.”

I shrugged. “I’ll find a way, you know I always do. I can’t let someone as evil as that roam on this earth any longer. He must pay.”

She tapped a long finger to her lips. “Very well, take some of the older boys. They can go with you, you can form a pack with them and-”

I cut her off with a raised hand. “No, I didn’t save them, I didn’t save any of you to just waste your lives by running you back into the same messes you’ve escaped. No, I go alone. Besides the bigger the pack, the easier it should be to infiltrate, I just have to find the right role.”

She scowled at me. “You’re going to your death, Morgan.”

My lip came up in a half-smirk. “I’ve been half-dead all these years already, if my body finally joins my heart, so be it. Anyway, you guys watch over her for me. I’m going to take that bastard out and make it safe.”

Emma shoved the other kids away to hug me tight. “Do you have to go? I wanna stay with you.”

“Sorry, kid. I’m used to working alone, and you promised, remember?”

She screwed up her little face as tears started to shimmer. That wasn’t about to move me. “Fine, but you have to keep your promise too, okay?”

I sighed. Her little promise was likely to get me killed. “Sure, I promise, now go with the others. Go play, be a kid. I’ll be back before you know it letting you know it’s safe to go home.”

She hugged me tightly before taking a few stumbling steps away and running into one of the houses where I couldn’t see her. The leader nodded once more to me. “We’ll protect her, Morgan, good luck.”

I nodded, I would need more than luck but it wouldn’t hurt. I adjusted my weapons my back as I trekked away from the small group, careful to not leave any signs of my visit, I wasn’t a pack type, but I wasn’t about to invite trouble to their door either.

I continued my careful steps until I had made it back to the spot I had first met Emma. The area was still a mess with all the corpses just scattered around. Some of the animals had come to feed, but their bellies would be full before they even made a dent on the five wolves. I gathered the bodies up the best I could and dropped them off in a pit, the animals could still have access, but it wasn’t a direct calling card I was leaving behind. The sky was already traced with bright pinks, I was losing the last of the day hours.

Checking out a strange pack in the middle of the night would have been fine if I knew where they patrolled, but going in without that information was too much of a risk. I used the rest of the daylight hour to set a number of traps in the area. Nothing that would kill, but enough to trap anyone that even tried to come through my territory.

Satisfied with my work I climbed up in my tree again, got comfortable and prepared to sleep for the night. The trees weren’t comfortable, but they were safer than sleeping on the ground by myself. And they had the benefit of being the last place anyone would look for enemies. I always enjoy their eyes bulging as they saw me flying out of a tree at them. I closed my eyes and let my exhaustion overtake me.

Muffled curses forced my eyes open. I didn’t know how much time had passed or if even any had passed. I shifted from my perch and looked down. The moon had made her ascent all the way into the sky now almost directly overhead, so I had got some rest. It also gave me the light to see just what I had caught. A dark stranger flopped in my rope net as he tried to free himself. Instead he hung like a giant pinata waiting for me to bust it open.

I waited several moments more, just watching him hang and curse to himself. I used the trees to traverse and hopped into the one he was hanging from, too high for him to see me, but I could hear him better now.

“Great job, Cya. Some rogue you are, you can’t even break out of this trap. Who knows what’s going to come to decide to eat you for dinner. You brought this on yourself you dumb ass. Traveling through unknown territory in the dark is just asking for trouble. Well, I hope whoever caught me makes it fast. A fast death is better than a slow one. I don’t want to be chewed alive or anything, or skinned.”

I blinked at this strange creature. I wasn’t used to men prattling on like this. Curious I leaned a bit closer to get a better look. The branch I was holding onto snapped and I plummeted out of the tree. I grabbed the net to break my fall and came face to face with a startled pair of pure green eyes. My stone heart gave a thump at the sight of those but I ignored the damn thing.

“Who are you?” he demanded as he stared right back at me. Our hands were almost touching from where I was clinging to his net.

“Your knight in shining armor,” I responded as I pulled out my dagger and cut the rope holding him.

I jumped away as the rope gave, and he dropped to the ground with a meaty thump and a groan. “Ow.”

“Okay, ow, what are you doing out here in the middle of the night?” I waved my dagger beneath his nose. He’s lucky I had made that stupid promise or I’d have rammed it through those gorgeous eyes of his. Damn it, Morgan, stop it.

“Woah, woah woah,” he held his hands up in surrender. “Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not a bad guy. I’m just a loner.”

I snorted. “You can’t be, someone as soft looking as you wouldn’t last a day by themselves as a rogue.”

He gave me a sheepish grin. “Ha, it’s funny you mention that. I actually just left my pack yesterday. There was a misunderstanding that this girl thought I liked her and her brothers weren’t happy with that and they promised to skin me alive and feed me to some wild dogs if I came near her again.”

I c****d an eyebrow. “Oh really, and you did nothing to make this girl believe that?”

His eyes widened. “No! Of course not.”

Uh-huh, like I believed that. “Well, you’re lucky I made a promise to not kill, now who are you? What’s your name and what pack did you come from?”

He swallowed hard, he didn’t like my threat I guessed. “My name is Cya, I’m from this really big pack, the alpha’s name is Mason, but if I go back there those guys are going to kill me, you won't’ make me will you?”

Okay, now this was too good to be true. I’d have to think about this for a bit before I made a decision. “Well, Cya, I don’t know you, I don’t trust you, and I’m not leaving you free to murder me in my sleep. If you want to stay alive, you’ll let me tie you up to a branch up the tree.”

He tilted his head back and stared at the tree I had come from before pointing with one finger. “Up there?” His voice was like a squeak.

“Oh yeah.”

“I’m scared of heights, can’t you just tie me to the trunk or something?”

I chuckled at his pale skin. If he was telling the truth about this I’d be a bit of a monster, but that was okay. Sometimes you had to be one to save the day. “Nope, come on, Cya. I’ll help you up and everything, or would you prefer death?”

Those perfect eyes of his misted over with fear tears but he nodded causing his wild black hair to flop in front of those eyes I was enjoying so much. Damn it, Morgan, stop obsessing. “Please don’t let me fall,” he begged with his hands clasped in front of him.

I smirked as I wound the rope around his wrists. I was going to try not to enjoy this too much, but having a man squirm like this around me was a heady sensation. Maybe this whole talk to them before straight out killing them thing would work out for me after all.