The Lesser of 2 Evils

XAVIER, BETA - THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE

For days Scott has been after me to go see the rogue we’re holding in the cells. Every morning he disturbs me from whatever, or whoever I’m preoccupied with to nag me about it and it’s starting to irritate me. I couldn’t care less about one fucking rogue who should have been killed from the get go but I will admit my curiosity is growing, especially after this many days of us keeping it as a damn pet. What else do you call it? We’re feeding it, keeping it on a leash in a cage and half of us don’t want it around – sounds like a pet to me.

Yet Scott insists and persists.

He says his wolf, Maddox, won’t let him harm the rogue. Maddox feels protective of it for some reason – which makes zero sense to Scott and me both. Maddox feels protective of me, as his Alpha and the rest of his pack – but that’s it. He sure as hell doesn’t care about some random rogue who dares to trespass into our territory!

Yet he does.

It isn’t his mate – at least, he doesn’t believe so. It is sometimes hard to pick up a mate’s scent when a wolf or she-wolf is a rogue, the stench of rogue is usually overwhelming and apparently this case is no exception – it reeks. Becoming a rogue is such a final decision for a wolf in so many ways – it is a last resort for a reason. The ones who don’t have a choice and are forced into the life often do so after committing a crime against a pack member or the pack itself and are forced out – but this isn’t always the case. Scott says he has been talking to it and the rogue insists it left voluntarily, opting for the rogue life over whatever it was facing back home. I personally find that hard to believe – a wolf, especially a she-wolf, choosing to live alone and on the run rather than in the safety of the pack. How bad does a situation have to be for life on the run to be the better option?

Whatever.

It is one more rogue in a world full of them – I just have to stroll my border to find them by the handful so hearing the sob story of one in particular does not interest me. I have neither the time nor the interest to spend wasting on someone who ran away from their problems – we all have difficulties and it is how you face them that proves the kind of person you are. I don’t respect running away – I understand standing and fighting for what I want and believe in. That is what I understand, that is the only way I know.

To hell with the rest.

“Alpha Xavier here,” I bark into the speakerphone. The last time we heard from this pack, my father was still in charge and hearing from them again now is no treat. Just like with us, the son there has taken over but he is no improvement.

“Alpha Lincoln here, thank you for taking my call,” he says politely. His voice is cold and distant, professional.

“Congratulations on taking over, Alpha Xavier,” he continues in an empty effort at flattery. I return the sentiment in much the same vein in my attempt to maintain social fronts. Scott, my Beta, watches on from his seat on the other side of my desk.

“The reason for my call, Alpha Xavier, is we have a missing pack member,” he says in a deadly serious tone. His voice is scarcely a whisper.

“She disappeared the night before her wedding and we fear rogues may have gotten her,” he says with a tremble in his voice. The line goes quiet for a moment while Alpha Lincoln gathers his thoughts. He clears his throat before speaking again.

“She’s average height, long brown hair and green eyes and her she-wolf is on the small side, brown with the same beautiful green eyes,” he finishes, trailing off. It is clear he is lost in thought or memory as he thinks of the woman that is missing and that she is more than simply a pack member to Alpha Lincoln.

“I’m sorry, Alpha Lincoln, but I have not seen a woman or she-wolf matching that description,” I tell him honestly, because I haven’t. I don’t tell him that it is possible that same woman is in my cells but based on Scott’s reactions, I’m guessing it is. It is also clear to me that Scott doesn’t want the other Alpha to know that his missing pack member is here – what’s not is why.

Knowing this is fully my own fault for not paying closer attention to the situation, I promise to get in touch with Alpha Lincoln the minute I see or hear anything and hang up the phone. Looking at Scott, I wait impatiently for an explanation. He won’t look me in the eye, which is not a good start, but he stumbles through a reason.

“She ran away but won’t say why, only that it was worth risking the unknown rather than staying there,” he says with a shake of his head. Then his eyes lift and meet mine.

“Alpha Lincoln said she disappeared the night before her wedding… her wedding?! She’s just a kid, Xave! Jesus, what kind of shit show is he running over there?” Now he is shaking his head vehemently, unable or unwilling to understand or wrap his mind around the situation. I, however, am very quickly putting two and two together.

“Scott – I will not get the pack into a war over some girl who ran away because she got cold feet the night before her wedding,” I tell him forcefully, with a pointing finger. I can’t believe this whole thing is over some lover’s tiff.

“It needs to go –back to it’s pack and out of our territory, tomorrow,” my wolf Gunner insists. Mentally, I agree and convey the message to Scott, who tries to protest but is immediately shut down when Gunner and I pull our Alpha rank on him. I tell him to get rid of it and send him on his way.

There’s no time like the present.