2. ROGUES ATTACK?

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"Jax was being a pain in the a** as usual." Maxwell said while removing his cloak and tossing it on the arm of a chair close by.

"Again with the false allegations?" Craig his childhood best friend and beta asked.

"un-hum" he answered, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.

"The nerve" Craig sneered.

"You care for some?" he asked, lifting the little whiskey glass.

"Nah, I'll pass this time." Craig declined.

Maxwell gulped the first glass, going for the second when Craig spoke. "I really wish I was there. I would have loved to put him in his place." He gritted out.

Arching an eyebrow, Maxwell dropped the glass on the table. "Blessed moon goddess! Don't say such. It's only natural you stayed beside Skylar when she was delivering your pup."

"You are right." Craig flushed in embarrassment as he rubbed his face with both hands and then dragged them down. "I wouldn't leave Sky in such a vulnerable state, even if I'm the biggest a**hole to walk the planet."

He slouched on the chair wide enough to serve as a couch. "I just feel so useless because I wasn't there to defend you."

Maxwell subconsciously began to spin the glass on the table, lost in thought. After awhile, he said. "Look at me." Craig shook his head. "Look at me Craig!" he growled loudly, accidentally using the alpha command.

Craig immediately looked at him. "Your wish is my command, Alpha."

He clenched his jaw. "Do you also think I'm weak? The truth Craig!"

"No Alpha" he replied, bowing his head in shame and submission.

"Then, why do you think I can't handle Jax? Even thinking that when you should be celebrating the birth of your new pup makes me see red. In the end, you're just like the others" He fumed.

"I'm sorry Alpha–" Craig pleaded. "I wasn't in the right frame of mind. I ignored your teachings and momentarily allowed sentiment cloud my reasoning."

"All is forgiven" he said, softening his gaze. "I also shouldn't have used the command on you. I just kinda lost control."

They went for the one-sided bro hug, with Maxwell patting the shoulder of Craig. "Enough of pack business, how is your new pup faring?" he asked genuinely.

All traces of humor returning as Craig broke into a full smile. "She's so adorable–" he cooed, smiling from ear to ear.

"Sky and I have decided to call her Lily after my mom." He said with a proud grin.

"I'm happy for you. You deserve every bit of happiness." Filling two empty glasses and offering one to Craig who reluctantly accepted.

He gave a toast. "To more happiness, to Lily and to more pups."

Clinking their glasses together, they took huge gulp of the drink with Craig squeezing his face as the strong liquor burns through his throat.

"I'll come see both mother and pup soon." He said, pouring more whiskey in his now empty glass.

Having stayed there for quite awhile now, Craig who was usually a keen observer when it involved his loved ones didn't fail to notice that Maxwell has been chugging down quite a lot of whiskey under the span of just a few minutes. His mood seemed to have darkened a bit when he mentioned Skylar. He knows his friend was happy for him but he also knows more than anyone else about the great loss Max was unlucky to suffer. But he was clueless on how to make him feel better, neither was he willing to breach the subject since it was a very sensitive one for Max.

As much as he tried to hide it, he could still see it in the way he has that far away look when he thought no one was paying close attention, or in the way the smile didn't enter his eyes each time he attempts one. And he could still see it in the way his hand that was wrapped around the glass subtly shook when he asked about his mate and newborn pup.

"Are you okay? You have been drinking for quite sometime now which is kinda unusual for you. Should I be worried?" Craig asked with a frown marring his face.

"No, I'm good" he waved him off, downing the last of his drink at a go.

"You don't seem fine though." Craig pressed, with concern visibly written on his face.

He bent his head in both hands and when he raised it back up, he had that look in his eyes, the one that tells he was fighting with himself whether to open up or not. Luckily for Craig his other side won as he release a strained breath.

"It's just that sometimes I can't help but go down memory lane–" he pinched the bridge of his nose, in hopes of distracting himself from the pain that was stuck in his heart.

As Maxwell poured more drink in his cup, Craig goes over to stop him. "I know it's almost impossible for our kind to get drunk, but you just have to take it easy with the liquor." He said while trying to extract the glass from his hands.

"I mixed a little bit of Wolfsbane, it helps." Maxwell revealed.

"Christ, Max!" Craig exclaimed with his eyes nearly bulging out of it's socket and his mouth widely ajar.

Lowering his voice like the walls would hear him, he asked.

"Isn't it like a contraband in Oregon? A...nd y...you even offered me some." Craig stuttered, struggling to get his bearing.

"I got it a long time ago. And don't ask me how–" he warned filling his glass again.

Maxwell rubbed the little stubble growing underneath his sharp jawline as he continued. "I didn't want to waste it. A little won't kill you Craig." He said, giving him a knowing look as Craig swallowed.

"Seeing you so happy with Skylar, and now with the birth of little Lily just made me feel...a bit."

Gulping half of his drink, he cleaned his mouth with the back of his hands as he stood up almost losing his grip. The wolfsbane was beginning to kick in as he found himself becoming a bit drowsy.

"Forget I said that."

Having stayed with Maxwell long enough, practically since the time of diapers, Craig knew that he has reached his limit. For someone like him who rarely shows emotions, let alone opening up to someone.

He couldn't align with Maxwell's pain since he's still got his mate by his side. For him sky was everything. He wouldn't want to go a day without her; she completes him, made him fill whole and happy all the time so he could at the very least understand his grief. He believed the moon goddess made mates this special that his heart ached for his friend since he would never experience the feeling again. The overwhelming feeling of holding the love of your life in your arms and making sure she was the last thing you see before closing your eyes.

Looking at him with sympathy, he began.

"I'm sorry about–" Craig was saying when a knock was heard at the door.

"Alpha" a voice called. Maxwell quickly discarded his drink, sobering up. while Craig stood at alert as they recognized the voice to be Michael's, the pack's gamma.

Maxwell's eyes found the clock pinned on the wall and it read 10:00pm.

What brought Michael to his place at this time of the night? It's late. He was supposed to have rounded up his shift. They have been on parole shift ever since they found a dead werewolf close to the boundary separating their pack from the others. The neighbouring packs denied knowing the cause of his death which made them become vigilant for extra measures.

Michael's coming at a time like this signified nothing good and his insides churn with anxiety.

"Come in Michael." He ordered as Michael strode inside, closing the door behind him as he walked towards Maxwell. Respectfully bowing his head to his superiors, he kept mute.

"What brought you here at such hour?" He impatiently inquired.

"We found two dead bodies close to the lake. One identified to be a female's, while the other, a pup." He said, keeping a stoic face.

"You what?!!" Maxwell growled, slugging the table in a fit of rage and shattering the fragile glasses in the process.

"Who did it? Who was responsible this time?!" He demanded, with green veins spurting all over his body.

"My guess is the rogues. The degree of lesion found on their bodies could only be caused by one."

"Damn rogues! Damn those bastards to hades!" he cursed, "Take me there at once."

"I'll also come with you." Craig said from behind.

"No! It's late. I want you to station guards around the pack house. Then, go back home to your mate. she will need you." Maxwell said over his shoulder.

"But–" he tried to object.

"That's an order Craig. I know you'd like to tag along, but I want you here in my absence. I won't be long gone." Craig nodded, going about his task as Maxwell leaves with Michael.

<<<<<<>>>>>>

"They will surely pay for this." Maxwell howled when he saw the bodies of the victims.

After Michael's report, Maxwell took a few soldiers with them as they went to the clearing by the lake.

On arrival, they shifted back to their human forms. Swiftly putting on the clothes that were carried on their snouts as they went closer to inspect the bodies.

The one who's believed to be a female was lying face down in the mud, closer to the lake. While the pup was lying further away from the female. It's upturn body was thrown haphazardly on the footpath close to the bushes.

"Alpha_" Michael called his attention. "Look at this" he said as he showed him the claw marks on their bodies.

Both bodies had horrendous gashes on their backs, thighs, arms and torsos. But what was peculiar about both injuries, was the pattern of the cuts. Six long diagonal claw marks on their backs and other areas of their bodies.

"Why are there six instead of five?" Maxwell asked, bewildered.

"I have no idea." Came Michael's surprised response.

Maxwell went closer to the dead female, crouching down beside her. He deep his hand beneath her head and on the surface of her lifeless body. "There is no blood on her body." He said sniffing.

"Maybe she bled out." Michael suggested, sounding unsure himself.

"No, she cannot lose all that blood in less than 24hrs. The body still feels warm. Something doesn't seem right." He said, looking around.

"What doesn't?"

"This–" he replied, pointing at the bodies as he stood up. "On first glance, it looks like the work of rogues. Damn! It even smells like one–" He spat, scrunching his nose in disgust. "But on second thought, this looks like the doing of something else. How did you come across the bodies?"

"I got a call from one of the parole guards."

"And what did he say happened here?" he questioned further.

"He said they just changed shift when he discovered the bodies and raised an alarm." Michael supplied.

"Who was supposed to be on duty before him?"

"Give me a minute,"

Michael said as he mind linked someone.

"Oliver, he was the one on duty before the switch." He told Maxwell.

"Then, this Oliver must know something, or have seen something either way." He said as he called the soldiers over.

"Let's wrap up here. I want you to take the bodies to the infirmary. I would like Layla to have a look at them before a funeral rite is held."

"Alpha, there's a problem." Michael said, drawing Maxwell's attention.

"What is the problem?" he asked impatiently as his wolf became tensed. Something was probing him to leave this place and return back to the pack, but he wasn't sure what.

"I can't reach the parole guards stationed at the border. I was talking to one of them when the link got cut off." He said looking at Maxwell with worry etched on his naturally Impassive face, and understanding flashes across his face.

"Where are you now?" Maxwell mind linked Craig who said he was just about to leave the pack house and head back home.

"Don't leave yet! Make sure all doors and windows are firmly closed. This might be a trap to lure us out."

"I'll do as you say Alpha." Craig replied through the link.

He gave Craig more instructions before closing the link.

"I just pray to the moon goddess that my instinct is wrong this time." He thought aloud.

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A/N: Thanks for reading