The Rogue Attack

Quinn

Rogues.

The word was new to me, but the fear it inspired was as old as time. The panic in everyone’s eyes told me all I needed to know. This was serious.

And Jax’s suggestion that the attacks might be connected to me? That just added a whole new level of worry. Was I really the cause of all this?

What was it about me that they wanted?

~I’m just an ordinary girl.~

Harper came sprinting towards us. “Alpha, they’ve broken through the border defenses! We’re under attack!”

Jax paused, thinking. I watched, fascinated, as he began to issue orders to the pack. “Everyone, defensive positions. Non-fighters, get to the bunkers. We’re going on lockdown!”

The pack sprang into action.

People scattered in every direction.

Doors and windows were sealed. Lights were turned off to hide our presence, while outside, stadium lights lit up the fields and trees around the perimeter. Anyone outside the castle walls had to find shelter elsewhere.

It was chaos, but it was organized.

I felt a deep connection to my people, a sympathy for their fear. I was touched by the way the strong looked after the old and the young, and how the warriors threw themselves into danger without a second thought.

I cared about my pack’s safety. It was as if I could feel what they were feeling—a bond like I’d never experienced before.

Sky had once told me that my maternal instincts would start to show the more I embraced my new role. Was this what it felt like to become Luna?

Alex and Raphael ran up to us, each armed with some kind of crossbow rifle. I hadn’t trained with those before.

“Alpha, the premises are secured,” Alex reported.

“Good. Take positions in the north tower. I’ll be at the wall above the main door. You can cover me from there.”

He started for the wall, leaving me standing there, unsure of what to do.

“Alpha,” Raphael called, “we should get our Luna to one of the bunkers. She’ll be safer there.”

Jax looked at me and smirked. “No. She’s coming with me,” he said, reaching out his hand. “She deserves to be by my side.”

My heart fluttered.

I was stunned.

The fact that he wanted me by his side—even in a time like this—showed me how seriously he took treating me as his equal. He had kept his promise.

“But Alpha—” Raphael started to protest.

“It’s not up for debate,” he said firmly. “Now, go!”

And they were gone.

“Well?” he said, his hand still outstretched.

I took it without hesitation. The moment our hands touched, I felt a spark between us.

We were off.

***

My mate led me up a narrow spiral staircase until we emerged just above the main door.

I’d never been up here before. Our position between the battlements gave us a clear view for miles around.

Jax grabbed a crossbow rifle and kept it close as he scanned the area with binoculars.

When I asked why they didn’t just use real guns, he told me, “If it were that easy to kill a werewolf, we’d have been extinct long ago.”

His walkie-talkie crackled. “Jax, we’ve got incoming. Ten o’clock.”

We looked. At first, I didn’t see anything, but then a shadowy figure emerged from the trees.

It was running towards us, half-shifted—more human than wolf. It was flailing its arms, slashing the air with its claws.

Its half-wolf, half-human scream was chilling.

“I got ’em,” Jax said, as he loaded a crossbow bolt and pulled back. He aimed, and SNAP! The bolt flew out and hit it in the chest, but it kept running.

Jax loaded and fired again.

Another hit, but it still kept running.

“For the love of—” SNAP! A direct hit to the forehead. The beast went down.

I was both impressed and horrified. I’d never seen anyone killed before. But its monstrous features made it easier to bear.

“We got more incoming!” the radio crackled.

Then, three more emerged from the woods. One was fully shifted while the other two were only partially. Their red eyes were terrifying, and their features were just as ugly.

A series of crossbow snaps from various points of the castle rang out until the three stopped moving.

Another two fully shifted rogues came running towards us, and were just as easily taken down.

I couldn’t believe they would throw their lives away like that. I knew they were crazy, but this was madness.

“Why are they doing that?” I asked, thoroughly confused.

“They’re testing our defenses—probing us.”

“Have they done this before?”

He shook his head. “They’re never this coordinated.”

“Alpha! Look!” the radio crackled.

And there, not far down the road, was a large cargo truck barreling towards us with its lights off. It easily crashed through one of the wooden road barriers.

“Oh, shit!” Jax exclaimed.

The truck sped up. It was heading straight for us.

“Aim for the tires!” Jax yelled over the radio.

A volley of arrows hit the vehicle, but they had no effect. The wheels were protected by makeshift armored plates.

The truck’s headlights turned on as it entered the courtyard. The driver revved the engine even more.

“Brace for impact!” Jax yelled.

Jax and I were thrown off our feet when the truck crashed into the main door. When we got up and looked over, we saw that the entrance had been completely smashed in.

The truck backed up and stopped just a few feet away.

To my horror, the back door opened, and a dozen fully shifted wolves came running out. They snarled and howled as they ran for the door and went inside.

“They’re inside! They’re inside!” someone cried over the radio. Even from out here, I could hear screams echoing throughout the castle.

“Fuck!” Jax yelled, as he loaded his crossbow again. He ordered everyone to fall back inside the pack house. “Come on,” he said to me, “we have to get to the bunker.”

I didn’t argue and followed right behind.

The moment we hit the ground floor, the emergency lights had flickered on, throwing everything into a world of shadows. Wolves were darting in and out of the darkness, a blur of movement. Other members of our pack were already locked in combat with the intruders.

Harper was holding her own with a long staff, and Alex was wrestling another intruder to the ground.

SNAP!

Jax took down one that was charging at us.

CRACK!

That was the sound his rifle made when he smashed it over the skull of another.

“Follow me,” he said, leading us through the castle, peering down every hallway before we crossed. I could barely see anything, but Jax had shifted his eyes to see clearly in the dark.

Suddenly, a figure came sprinting towards us from the darkness. Jax almost shot him before recognizing who it was.

“They’ve found the bunker!” Raphael shouted as he neared us. “They’re trying to break in.”

“Oh, my God!” I gasped. “All those people!”

“It’s like they knew exactly where to look!”

Jax paused. “It’s where they’d expect her to be…” he murmured to himself.

My eyes widened.

~Is he talking about me?~

Jax glanced at me, his face filled with worry, then back to Raphael. “Take Quinn deep into the forest.”

“Are you crazy? The woods are swarming with those things!”

“It’s not safe here. They won’t expect it.”

I didn’t like where this was going.

“No! Don’t leave me!” I pleaded.

“I’m not, but I need to secure the bunker. I’ll be right behind you, I promise.”

And then he was gone.

I screamed for Jax not to leave as I tried to follow, but Raphael was too strong. He pulled me out of the pack house and into the forest.

We raced between the trees and through the underbrush. The branches hung over us like dark specters, reminding me of my nightmare.

~Could it be a coincidence?~

I started to shiver.

“What about the people back there?” I whispered, “What’s going to happen to them?”

“Jax and the others will protect them,” he replied. “Don’t worry about it. Your safety is what matters now.”

But how could I not worry? It felt like I was abandoning them—like I was being a coward.

Suddenly, a wolf lunged out and knocked Raphael to the ground.

The rogue, with deadly red eyes, growled and snapped at him, but Raphael was strong and managed to throw the beast off.

They both got back up and stared each other down, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

Then, the wolf’s eyes shifted to me. He’d found a new target.

“Quinn, run!” Raphael ordered.

“But—”

“Just go!”

I did as he said just as the rogue charged at me. I saw Raphael kick the beast into a tree out of the corner of my eye as I ran.

I didn’t stop. I kept running deeper into the forest. Unlike my dream, this was real.

The darkness of the night made it hard to see, and I kept tripping over roots, branches, and anything else the forest threw at me.

I was thirsty. My throat was screaming for water.

Every joint in my body was screaming in pain.

I couldn’t go much further. I needed to find a place to hide.

AR-ROOO-OOO!

A howl echoed from ahead of me.

I froze.

~Have they seen me?~

Then, another howl, followed by another.

The sound of twigs snapping and the rustling of underbrush was coming from all around me. And then I saw the flash of red eyes from every direction.

~Oh, God! They’ve found me!~

They moved in closer. A group of fully and half-shifted rogues had surrounded me. They snarled and bared their teeth as they closed in.

I was paralyzed.

Alone.

There was nowhere to run.

The only thing I could do... was scream.