“They were attacked yesterday. Apparently, the rogues set fire to the trees around their settlement then when they ran out trying to put out the fires, they were slaughtered and managed to escape with what was left of their numbers to hide in a safe house.”
“The rogues whose instincts are just to kill indiscriminately had enough consciousness of mind to smoke them out?” Ava sounded incredulous. Not that Adrian could blame her. It was crazy but crazy was fast becoming their new normal.
“That’s not even the strange part. After they escaped, they sent back a scout to check if the wolves had left so that they could return to bury their dead. The scout returned and said that the rogue wolves had moved into their settlements.”
Ava’s mouth fell open.
“Adrian. What exactly is going on?”
“That’s what I intend to find out. This is all pointing towards something. All these activities are happening in this short time frame. Until we know exactly what is going on, we and other packs around us will continue to be at risk.”
Rogues, former members of packs that had been cast out for one reason or another other became feral and lost all sense of reason. They preyed on each other, humans, and anything. They became like rabid wolves. The loss of the pack structure did that to them.
If they could think far enough as to smoke out the Primo pack from their homes then they had evolved far more than what they used to be. At this point could they even be called rogue wolves?
“Can I help out with anything?” Ava said and Adrian almost smiled. She was dressed up for her run but to her, nothing was more important than being of assistance. Every day that passed by Adrian found himself longing for Ava.
Not just her body though that was also exceedingly high on his list as well. He longed to hold her, to listen to her thoughts for hours on end. He wanted all of her. He wanted to lose himself in her. Yet Adrian was forced to keep himself apart from Ava because the moment he tried to engage with her, she pulled away or shut off.
Adrian knew she liked him. At least he was almost certain. Gabrielle was now cool with their relationship but that didn’t seem to affect Ava’s attitude. So Adrian took what he could, the friendship-partnership and shared responsibilities they shared as Alpha and Luna of the Mountain Coast pack.
“So can I?” Ava inquired again and Adrian’s mind returned to the conversation instead of how he wanted to let her ponytail down and taste her lips.
“Sorry, it’s been a busy morning. We need to get them a place to stay while they are here. They won’t fit into the pack house unless we clear out the pack warriors living there and leave only a skeletal staff which we can’t afford right now.”
“We also don’t want to divide them among pack members’ homes because we barely know these people and they have a very different culture from ours.”
Ava scrunched up her brows. “Adrian, it can’t be that bad. Surely their accommodation is more important than any hangups they might have.”
“Surely.”
******
“We can sleep outside. The houses are too constraining and unnatural. We live the way the goddess wanted us to. In tune with nature. Besides, we don’t intend to stay here for long. We must go and reclaim our lands.”
Ava took back what she said to Adrian, there was no possible way they could coexist with each other.
The Primo pack was headed by a no-nonsense leader Adelaide. She was around Ava’s height but managed to seem even taller than Adrian. Her hair was coal black like most of her people and done up in neat complex braids that were adorned with what looked like bones and multicoloured threads.
Ava was surprised they even wore clothes because of how seriously they took ‘staying in tune with nature’. Their clothes were clean -if a little roughed up from their journey there- and threadbare.
Adelaide had no Beta or Delta. She held supreme power over her pack having won it through a fight to the death against the former Alpha of the Primo pack. Theirs was a primitive pack that had Ava wondering how they could remain the way they were in a modernized era. It was mind-boggling.
“Perhaps. But you would still need hammocks and other outdoor equipment we don’t have on hand currently. Since you won’t be staying here for very long, it would be easier on your people to stay with us in our houses for now.” Gabrielle spoke without batting an eyelid like it was normal for Adelaide to have described their spacious houses as ‘constraining’. Ava envied her poker face.
“We can divide your people into two. Half will stay with us at the pack house and the others can stay at the new hospital wing.” Ava said as the idea occurred to her.
Adelaide opened her mouth to oppose or agree but Adrian cut her off.
“Brilliant idea, Ava. Adelaide, you asked for refuge. Allow us to give that to you. Please.”
Adelaide contemplated for a minute locking gazes with Adrian then nodded as though pained by this concession.
The rest was surprisingly easy to take care of.
Adelaide’s people were divided up so that the children and elderly were to be taken to the hospital by Gabrielle while the others would be taken to the pack house by Adrian and Ava.
Gabrielle flashed her a private smile before moving away with the people under her supervision. Adelaide went on to assign some of her warriors to accompany them to the hospital then they were off to the pack house.
As they walked, Ava felt grateful for the rogue incident for giving her Gabrielle back even if it was in bits and pieces. She knew that a day would come when they would be able to hold each other’s gazes without any animosity between them. That she would embrace her parents again.
Adrian mind linked Calvin and Alex to get the quarters ready for the incoming wolves.
“You have a strong body.” Adelaide informed Adrian. “You would make a good copulation partner.”
Ava nearly choked on her breath. A young she-wolf moving next to her in what looked like a sackcloth shook with silent laughter. “Alpha can be very…direct.”
“What?” Ava was still processing while fighting the urge to hide Adrian away from Adelaide.
“She is looking for a strong male to father a daughter for her. Your Alpha might just have signed up for that.”
“Yeah, that is never happening.” Ava retorted. It was their fault perhaps for not outlining the fact that she was the Luna of the Mountain Coast Pack. She would have thought it obvious from the mixing of their scents and their marks… right, Adrian’s was mostly covered by his sleeveless shirt.
The she-wolf looked at her in askance but they were already at the house and Ava was about to move forward to meet Reeece. It wasn’t like she was jealous, she just wanted to clarify the issue.
“Please excuse me.”
Ava could already hear Alex giving Adrian an impersonal briefing on the wings of the pack house that had been cleared out for the wolves.
“… the rooms should fit around three wolves if we forgo the fact that–”
Ava reached the front and Alex stopped mid-sentence.
“Alex?” Adrian looked at him then at Ava in askance. Alex visibly inhaled then walked past Ava to the girl in the sackcloth who stared at him as though star-struck.
“Mate.”