Never Trust a Rogue
Alpha Martin's POV (new character)
"No matter how hard we throw back the enemy’s attacks, they seem to come out of nowhere!" My beta tries to explain and I nod my head in agreement, leaning back in my chair, running my fingers through my hair in frustration. Looking down at the maps covering the entire surface of my desk. Showing the numerous locations where the enemy pack has invaded our borders and attacked my pack members! I have exhausted every possible idea, strategy and technique and nothing had worked. The enemy keeps coming back harder and harder, tearing down my men like they were plastic toy soldiers. We have managed to have no casualties so far, but it was only a matter of time. Their battle strategy adapted every time they step onto our territory, they were impossible to predict.
"Did any of the other packs agree to our request for assistance?" I ask, glancing down at the stack of printed emails that I had sent out to every pack in reasonable driving or running distance from my pack. Though, so far no one has written back. I looked back up at my beta and he had a grimace on his face, that was the only answer I needed.
"Obviously, no one wanted to help?" I mutter, rubbing my eyes with my hands, feeling like the weight of the world was crashing down around me. I turn to face my son Nathan, he was sitting in the chair across the table, looking over our previous battle plans. He was the next in line for my position as Alpha, and with the recent pack wishing to fight us for our land, he's been put to work. This was definitely not the way I wanted to train him to be Alpha, but desperate times call for desperate measures. He kept his gaze down on his sheet of paper, determined to prove himself to me. I didn't need him to prove himself, as a father I couldn't be anything but proud of him and how he's handled the last few weeks.
"There is one last resort..." My beta breaks the silence and I turn around in my chair and look at him expectantly, waiting for him to get to the point. He sees the look in my eye and nods before grabbing a thick folder of papers and places it on the desk in front of me. I raise my eyebrow at the largest stack of papers that I had never seen before in my life.
"Where is this from?" I ask, opening the folder and staring wide eyed at the title printed on the first page. I look back up at my beta in disbelief.
"You got to be kidding me!?" I yell, standing up from my seat and stare accusingly at my beta. The escalating voices stir my son from his focus on the paperwork, he pauses and takes in the tension in the room and starts to take an interest in our conversation.
"I know it sounds like a completely absurd, risky, idiotic idea, but it just might work." My beta explains, trying to get me to see things from his point of view, but I couldn't even begin to understand how he could even consider going through with his plan, it was insane. Has he learnt nothing from the past, isn’t he aware of the danger that his plan could inflict on us? We are already in enough trouble as it is, I don’t need to add a second round of enemies to the mix.
"Look I know you don't trust rogues, but in the last couple years there has been an extraordinary growth in the number of rogue sightings." He tells me and I shake my head in disbelief. What on earth is my Beta going on about? Rogues have always been a concern, especially when they increasingly have the balls to try and trespass onto my land, stealing my food and killing my pack members.
"What does that have to do with anything?" I ask, getting tired of this game of beating around the bush, I wanted him to tell me exactly what moronic idea he has come up with this time and if it was anything like the few words on the front page of that folder, I'm going to unload a whole lot of rage on him.
"I believe they have formed a rogue pack." He practically whispered, seeming to regret the words he spoke before they even left his mouth. I sat back down in my chair and breathed deeply into my hands. My beta has lost his god dam mind.
"That's not possible, rogues don't listen to anyone how would they uphold a pack monarchy?" I ask and he shrugs his shoulders, obviously not understanding how it would work either. Rogues are notorious for their isolation, those who try and stick together keep their sanity for awhile before going mad and killing each other. There is no way they could stand each other’s presence for so long without a pack bond keeping them connected together.
"All I know is that they have power in strength and numbers and they have an added edge that no other warriors’ possess." He tells me and I lean forward in my chair with interest. What is this added edge, and how can I use it against the attacking packs and the rogues? If it’s something that can be learned, I want to teach it to my warriors so that we have the ultimate advantage on every battlefield.
"They have the purest survival instincts; each day is life or death for them." He explains and I shake my head in disagreement.
"Survival instincts or not, I will never trust rogues." I explain, before turning to my son. I wait for his eyes to meet my own before speaking, wanting to make sure I drive these words deep into his mind.
"If there's one thing you learn about being an Alpha son, is to never trust a rogue." I told him and he nods his head strongly before looking back down at the battle tactics.
“Please Alpha, the rogues are our best chance…and they are the only ones to outright reject our call for assistance.” He pleads, his eyes wide with desperation but he’s not thinking straight. If I let a pack of rogues into my lands, give them access to my home, my men, and my weapons, whose to say they wouldn’t betray us all and use it against us.
“Over my dead body.” I tell him, standing up off my chair and storming towards the door. I grab the handle and open the door, turning back one more time to look at my Beta.
“If you ever suggest an idea like that again, you won’t like what will happen to you.”…