Chapter 23 – part 2
The packs couldn’t care less for rogues, which only made us more nervous. They didn’t care but had tightened patrols; it was no good for anyone in the city if they could get in. Another thing I thought odd was the reports of forsaken wolves going missing. Some that stuck close to the city borders and turned feral had suddenly vanished.
Those that kept monitoring them hadn’t seen them, and one thing this city was good at was talking. Rumor spread, yet the missing forsaken wolves are never mentioned in the news. It’s like they don’t exist. But I know they exist, we have all heard the rumors, yet no warning was ever given to us rogues to steer clear of the reserve.
Those living in packs were given alternative options for going on runs and extra patrols. None of those options were offered to us. So, even though the rogue community was small, when rouges or forsaken went missing we knew; not that the city cared.
One of the missing rogues was a cleaner here at the hotel. She had twin girls. Those poor girls. Luckily, their grandmother took them in, and we have still been paying her wage and would continue to do so, despite her missing. We would continue to help her mother with the twins; we didn’t forget her.
All rogues have been on edge. With eleven missing in the last
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Chapter 23 – part 2
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year and numerous forsaken sightings and three forsaken also vanished, it made no sense. It was the first time this many had gone missing. The world was going mad, and it scared
- me.
“Not today, sweetie, next time I promise,” I tell him, and Valarian pouts.
“None of that; your mother has her reasons,” Zoe scolds when he glares at the table and slams his pencil down.
“All she does is work,” Valarian mutters, and my heart twists painfully at his words.
“I promise next time, it isn’t safe right now,” I tell him, and he looks at me as I sit on the couch, putting my sneakers on.
“If it isn’t safe, why are you going then?”
“Because I have to, I need to shift you know that we have spoken of this before. Sometimes mommy needs to.”
“Fine,” Valarian says, straightening his pencils before reaching over and doing the same with Casey’s. She frowns at his compulsive behavior.
“You promise next time I can go to?” Valarian asks. I sigh and nod my head.
Chapter 23–part 2
“I promise,” I tell him.
“Pinky promise,” he asks, holding up his little pinky. I chuckle, getting up and capturing his pinky with mine.
“I pinkie promise,” I tell him, kissing his cheek.
“Now behave for Aunty Zoe, and I will be back soon. We can watch that dinosaur movie tonight if you like after dinner,”
“Ooh, and I can make caramelized popcorn,” Zoe tells the kids, who nod excitedly.
“Stay away from the fence line,” Zoe says, concerned. I look at the clock and nod.
“Two hours max,” I say.
“Any longer, I send a search party,” she replies. I knew she would too. Anxiety amongst us rogues was at an all–time high.
Giving one last glance at Valarian, I walk to the front door and hurry down the steps. Turning down the path at the bottom, I head for the back of the large property toward the fence line. The back of the hotel backs onto the reserve. A large hole had been cut in the mesh fence. It made it easier for those working here to sneak into the back of the reserve.
The reserve was a wetland off closer to the city’s border
Chapter 23–part 2
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fences. It was also neutral territory, and the only place considered safe for us rogues to shift without causing disturbance to the packs, which to me made no sense. Shifting is natural to werewolves, yet we were restricted on where we could go because packs didn’t want to share any of their safe, protected land with us.
We were considered the undeserving, the nuisances of the city. So we got this one place and one place only, and it had to be the most dangerous part of the city. The “rogue- approved” territory was on the most extensive stretch of the border fence line. It was also the weakest, least monitored, and easiest to breakthrough spot of the border.
I planned to steer clear of those fences; we all avoided them, carefully avoiding attention from those on patrol and not wanting the unwanted attention of any possible forsaken wolves that may be lurking and looking for a way into the city.
I was yet to see a forsaken one and didn’t want to. The rumors were enough to make me want to avoid them at all costs. Cannibalistic, rabid and crazed, the parts of them that once had humanity were gone, forever stuck in their shifted state, forever the monsters humans once painted us to be.
Slipping amongst the trees, I look around before pulling my clothes off and tucking them into a hollow log before kneeling. I had been finding it difficult to shift the longer I went without my mate. It took more concentration and felt forced, unnatural. My body no longer agreed to do as it was told, no longer strong enough to change on demand.
Chapter 22 part 2.
It was a battle made harder each time. I shudder when I feel my bones start breaking, the process painful, and it shouldn’t be. It was like my first shift all over again, and I curse that I ever met Valen as I morph into my wolf, hands becoming paws, two legs traded for four. My vision changed and adapted following the shift. But all I wanted was rest. I was exhausted already, but I forced myself to run.
I run for about an hour before I can barely move. I collapse on the ground next to my clothes before shifting back and changing into my clothes. I walk slowly back to my apartment, feeling a strange mix of exhaustion, sadness, and anger. I turn the corner and smack into a wall that should not have been there. I knew this place like the back of my hand. I stumble backward, having bounced off the firm body. Disoriented, I feel a warm hand grip my arm, pulling me back before I land on my ass on the pavement.
A gasp escapes me when sparks rush up my arm before my nostrils are filled with that familiar, intoxicating scent. His breath is warm and heavy in my ear. “I was looking for you, and the cleaner said your apartment was…” He looks around before looking up at the stairs and pointing to mine and Zoe’s apartment.
“This one,” Valen says, and I brush his hand away that held my arm, my heart thudding in my chest when I hear the kids. playing. Valen looks up at the apartment.
“You live with someone?” he asks, cocking his head to the side.
Chapter 23–part 2
“Yes, Zoe and her kids,” I tell him needing him away from my apartment before Valarian realizes I am home and rushes out.
“Well, are we going to stand here?” he asks, and I glance at my apartment. “I just want to talk. Please just hear me out.”
“We already spoke,” I trailed off, stopping suddenly. Valarian is pulling the curtain back to stare out, and Zoe quickly closes it, her mouth opening and closing like a fish before she pulls Valarian away just as Valen turns to look up. He waves to Zoe briefly, and she smiles awkwardly.
“Ah yeah, fine, but my office,” I tell him walking off to the central part of the hotel before he could argu
