Pity

Amy Lynn

I walked through the front door, setting my keys down on the side table by the door. Catching a glance of my face on the hallway mirror, I cursed. The damn rogues had gotten me pretty good; the bruise would take a few days to heal. This had been the third fight I had had since moving in with Shirley and Madison.

Three weeks had passed since Drake and his pack had encircled me on the park bench. It seemed like such a long time ago, and each rogue fight brought me right back to that day. The memory of waking up and feeling powerless to save myself. I shook my head to clear it as I heard footsteps start to approach.

"Amy?" Shirley came around the corner catching a look at my face. "What the?"

"I'm fine." I told her as I tried to brush passed. "They caught me on my way home."

"Rogues or a pack?" Shirley asked, her hand moving to the side of my face. My left cheek and eye were already turning a bluish red hue that would only get worse as it healed.

"Rogue. Thought I was poaching their area. The lake is no longer free-range." I replied as I moved into the kitchen, brushing past her. "They had a bat I didn't see coming."

"Maddie is going to worry." Shirley pulled out a bag of peas from the freezer and tossed it to me as I opened the fridge for an iced coffee.

"Maddie worries about everything. If she didn't work at the club, I'd think she would never leave the house." I muttered as I placed the peas to my cheek. The ice-cold bag stinging against the softness of my human flesh. "Also, I'll heal before she sees me next."

"Not the point, Amy." Shirley frowned before going back to her room. I hoped she would just let it go, but I knew better. Shirley was the oldest of the three of us and tended to watch over us. At 21, she was simply hoping to just find her mate and get out of the rogue life, but the Goddess doesn't always work that way.

I sighed as I walked into my own room. The house was small, what the three of us could afford on our own if something were to happen to one of us. We took no chances and always assumed someone could go missing at any time. Rogues die. Easily and quickly when outnumbered or surprised. My room was small, barely big enough to house my bed and desk, but I didn't mind. The two older girls got the bigger rooms, and I never really had a lot anyway.

Work tomorrow is going to SUCK! I thought as I looked in the mirror of my compact. Glancing down at the makeup on my desk with a sigh. Hoping I could cover it before I have to clock in with the humans. A shiver went down my spine at the thought of being equal with the non-shifters. A few hours had passed before I heard the door creak open to Madison coming home. I followed her scent as she made her way to my door before knocking.

"Come in." I chimed as I turned away from my desk, the swivel chair straining against the motion. No hiding it now.

"Shirley said you had a run in on the way home and the lake is no longer safe?" Maddie asked before looking at me. "Holy shit, Amy! That's not just a small fight."

"I'm fine." I repeated, my eyes rolling at her needless concern.

"Alpha Flynn didn't send you to die in a Rogue fight." Her words stung as the Alpha's command flashed back in my mind. Protect the Beta's daughter, unleash her wolf and don't get caught.

"Alpha Flynn doesn't care unless I die.' I spat back. For the Beta's daughter, I figured she would have a better sense on the situation. We were a 3-hour drive from the pack and could be killed by any of the bordering packs we were sent to watch over.

"Don't say that." Maddie whispered as her eyes filled with tears. Her emotions always showing on the surface, no poker face. Almost as if they knew we were talking about them, Maddie's eyes glazed over with the mind-link.

I hated the mind-links. Anywhere we went, Alpha could mind-link with myself or Maddie as long as we were in range of him or Luna and not burdened by silver. However, I had discovered the range was further with me and the other Banes. The Banes had almost everything amplified by the ritual that made us. But Madison wasn't a Bane, and her wolf had yet to surface, so Alpha had to be in her range. My mind began to race as her eyes cleared once again.

"Amy, start packing." She finally said with a small hiccup. Whatever the order was, it didn't sound good. "We are going home."

The look on my face said it all. The worry, the pain of going home. We had very little information to report on. Alpha Arden was barely seen much less Alphas Embry and Colin. Alphas Embry and Colin were almost too loyal to Alpha Arden, their men sometimes helping each other, chatting along the patrolled borders like teammates. But the Alphas themselves hardly did patrols. Their Betas were they only ones either of us had seen and I refused to risk Madison's death upon capture.

"Very well." I told her before my own mind was filled with the Alpha's voice.

"Bane Bailey, report back to the pack immediately and prepare for your next command." Alpha Flynn's rugged and rough voice was dry as he spoke. "Enter the Southern border, do not be seen."

"Understood." I replied through the link. If Alpha thought our information was enough, he had major judgement issues to work out.

"Bane Bailey.." Luna Lyla's cheerful voice surprised me, shocking me for a moment. "Did you succeed in unleashing her wolf?"

"No. Unfortunately, we were not."

"Pity." She said before ending the link. With a sigh, I looked toward Madison's room, fear of the unknown of our return sinking into my skin.