Chapter 5: Housewarming

I regained consciousness, my vision blurry and slightly disorientated. I could feel the concrete pressing against my back and looked up to see Miles crouching in front of me, a slight smirk on his face.

I slowly sat up and rubbed my temples, trying to recall what had happened.

'What happened?' I asked, my voice still groggy from the sedative.

"She got you again didn't she?" he says.

I blinked a few times, taking a moment to recall what had happened and it all flooded back to me like a movie. She used a decoy. Idiot. I should have called for backup. Why didn't I? So stupid.

So our mate is a strategic little she-wolf. I am curious to know how she knew we were coming. Kane wondered and so did I.

I cursed under my breath and Miles chuckled at my misfortune. "Looks like you got played again, buddy. I warned you."

I ignored his irritating comment and asked, "Why are we still here?"

"Ahh well..." he rubs his neck with a weak smile.

My eyes flare in rage as I growled, 'What?!" What could have my mate and her little pack of minions possibly done while I was knocked out?

Miles turns to me, his face grim. "She and her little minions slashed our car tyres. We're waiting for a tow truck."

I take a deep breath, trying to steady my anger. I glance behind him to see Ashley and the other pack members, standing in a group. "All of them?!" I ask, my voice shaking.

Miles shakes his head. "No, Tyler's car is fine."

I clench my fists, my heart pounding. I can feel my rage growing, but I know that this isn't the time to act. I have to stay in control and not let Cherry get the better of me. I take a few deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"Let's just wait for the tow truck," I say, my voice cold and steady.

"I sent Tyler to follow the rogues," Miles informs me. "The woman is back at her place of residence. Ben and Tyler were staking the place out."

"I want hourly updates. She doesn't leave the property without me knowing." I ordered and Miles nods his head in agreement.

A white sedan drives into the alleyway and parks a few feet from us. An older woman steps out and walks towards carrying a black bag. The pack doctor, Stephanie.

"Give our Alpha some room to breathe." She says kneeling down beside me.

She reached for my shirt and lifted it, the other packmates had attempted to patch me up the best they could. She pulls back the fabric to see how deep it is.

"You need stitches." she said as soon as she saw the wound, "Miles tells me the rogue sedated you?"

I nodded, "My neck, right after I was stabbed with silver." I pointed to the puncture mark"

"Calen, you have two puncture wounds, from needles,' she said, her voice full of concern. "One near your wound."

I couldn't remember being injected with another substance, but it was possible Cherry may have given me a second injection while I was passed out.

When I mentioned that I had been stabbed by Silver, Miles said in a loud angry manner "We need to kill her before this gets out of hand."

I shouted back, my eyes glowing with authority, "We not killing her.

Miles took a breath, his voice lower than before but still just as hostile, "Why not?"

"Because I said so, now shut up!" I grumbled back.

Stephanie had stepped in then, her voice a little more agitated than usual. "Alpha needs to rest, we should hold off on the rogue talk for now."

I sighed, grateful for Stephanie's level-headedness and compassion.

Miles had grumbled something under his breath before storming off, no doubt angry that I hadn't given the command to execute the woman.

Stephanie had stayed, treating my wound in silence. I can see it in her eyes she was curious as to why I have initiated the order yet.

Stephanie packed away her things after stitching up my wound, and I was thankful for her help. "Thanks, Stephanie." I say with a weak smile.

I receive a mind link from Stephanie, and was probably for was best since it was about the rogue we knew it would only infuriate Miles even further.

Your body shows no sign of silver being in your system. As a precaution, I am going to take some blood to test it. Find out what the rogue gave you.

Do what you need to do.

"So what now?' Miles asks, his voice breaking the silence in the alleyway.

I take a deep breath and say, "We will take Stephanie's car back to the pack house and start planning our next move after I've recovered."

I had opened the front door of the pack house expecting to come home to a peaceful, safe environment. Instead, I was met with a scene of destruction and chaos. I stepped inside and the sound of glass crackling beneath my shoes. The place was trashed.

Everything had been thrown around, books knocked off of shelves, and furniture pushed around. Even the window had been smashed. I surveyed the damage and noticed that some of the pillows had been torn open, their feathers and foam scattered around the room. One would say this was a crime of passion. Pure hatred. This was no random act of vandalism.

"Shit," Miles says.

My mate's scent was everywhere. She had deliberately rubbed her body on everything, leaving her fragrance behind as a way of claiming her territory.

I was filled with rage, but at the same time, I was also filled with admiration. My mate had managed to get past all of my defences and bypass security.

"I thought you said you had eyes on her." I asked, turning to Miles for confirmation.

"We do. Hang on." Miles calls Ben and puts the phone on the loudspeaker.

"Where is she" I growled.

"Here. We're looking at her." Ben said.

"Her face or the back?" I asked.

"Back," Ben answered.

I have dealt with many rogues and none have been this smart.

"The girl you're staring at is a decoy. " I said. "Confirm her identity."

We heard the car door open and shut. A moment later, we hear a woman's voice on the phone.

"Oh hey, boys. What can I do for you?" the woman asked.

'It's not her,' Tyler said.

There was a moment of silence, then we heard the woman speak again "Cherry sends her regards. She hopes you enjoyed your housewarming gift."

We hear her giggling away and Miles hangs up the phone.

"That sly she-wolf," Miles says.

The giant mirror that hung above our fireplace in the living room was vandalised, instead of being smashed to pieces it had graffiti with dozens of red lip imprints and a message which I can only assume was written in her red lipstick.

"Mess with my residence, I'll do the same to yours. Sincerely Cherry."

I did squat shit to her residence.

"Cherry sounds like a stripper name. Who the hell is this girl?"

"She said she was everyone. Contact the local pack members, and see if they've been hit too. Oh, and Miles bring the security rostered on the gate for today's shift to me."

I had called some of the omegas of our pack to come to assist with the cleaning. How Cherry managed to do all this damage within the time frame baffles me. She must have had help but I couldn't smell any other werewolves apart from my own pack members and hers. As the pack mates swept, and tossed the debris in garbage bags, I was scrubbing the lipstick off the mirror.

Miles returned after a while, looking grim. I dumped the sponge into the bucket of water and let out a heavy sigh. More bad news.

"Cherry has been one naughty she-wolf. She's targeted, everyone except for the Red Tide Pack. Theft. Vandalism, grand theft auto with the pack's personal cars. It's not just our region she's targetted, but also the North, East and Western regions."

I pinched my nose rubbed my chin, and ran my fingers through my hair, trying to process the intel I had just received. Miles on the other hand looked like he was withholding information.

"There's more?"

"I'm afraid so." he begins, "We found security, sedated and tied up outside the perimeter walls. Stephanie is doing a check-up on them now."

Again how did one she-wolf manage to take out a team of highly trained soldiers? She's a fucking rogue. Am I not training my pack members correctly is that it or has Leo my chief in security slackened off?

As usual, Kane adds his input.

Our mate is on a rampage. We need to know why before she gets herself in trouble or worse killed.

She's already in trouble.

His worries are also mine. I need to find her fast before something happens.

"Does the council know about this? Why haven't they intervened?" I asked.

"They are aware but they refused to share with me their reasons as to why they haven't gotten involved yet."

She is already on their radar. They probably know about her use of silver. I don't understand why they are allowing this behaviour to continue, she's a problematic rogue using silver. She's probably already broken half a dozen of laws.

The more I thought about it the more I couldn't help but feel that we were missing something. This is way out of the characteristic of a regular rogue.

"Miles, tell Leo to train our security staff better! This is embarrassing."

I was glad I wasn't the only pack targeted. I would have been a laughing stock because I can't seem to protect my territory from one she-wolf, but it seems everyone else has been struggling to deal with her antics as well.