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For the next week, it seemed like we were in the movie Groundhog Day. Every day seemed like a repeat of the last one. Check with Alvara, have her tell me the spell is still in the works, meet with Jason, Quinn, and Cade, discuss plans, agree to keep the plans the same, hang out with Carrie while Cade does some pack stuff, eat at mealtimes, go to bed that night, get back up the next morning, repeat. Finally, I got a break from the monotony when I got a text from Michael one day.

"Hey buddy! You busy?"

I immediately sent a reply. "Not a bit. What's up?"

"Clint and I were thinking we might be ready to move on to the next place. You still at Cold Waters?"

"Yep, sure am."

"Awesome sauce! Would you mind a couple of visitors?" 

"Sure thing, dude. I'll have to clear it with the Alpha, but I doubt he'll care. When are you going to head this way?" 

"Tomorrow? Is that too soon?" 

"Nope. I'll let him know now and let you know what he says."     "Cool beans. Hopefully we'll see you tomorrow." 

"Can't wait!" 

I immediately turned to Jason, since I was already in his office, and asked if it would be ok if a couple of my friends came to visit. I explained to him that they were fellow rogues and told him what they'd done for me. I also explained why they were rogues and that they were just a couple of nomads looking for their mates.

 "Sure thing," was his answer. "Tell them they can park their RV beside the packhouse if they want, or pick another spot on our territory. Or they can have a couple rooms here. Whatever they want to do."

I thanked him and sent Michael a text to let him know. He texted back and said they'd park beside the packhouse and see how that worked out, and told me to give Jason his thanks, which I did.     I was excited. I was looking forward to seeing them. They may not have been friends of mine for a long time, but they'd become important to me pretty quickly.

The next morning, I woke up to a text, this time from Clint, letting me know that they were on their way and would be there sometime mid-afternoon. Apparently they had left really early that morning, to avoid rush hour traffic. 

It was only around eight when I got the message, so after sending back a quick message acknowledging the text, I decided to take myself out to breakfast for once. There was a McDonald's not too far away, and I was craving some sausage biscuits and hash browns. I let Jason know I would be back in a couple of hours, then headed off. After breakfast, I figured I'd let Dion out for a run. It had been a few days, and he was getting antsy.

I was waiting in line inside McDonald's when I sensed a couple of other werewolves getting in line behind me. I could tell by their scents that they weren't rogues. I casually turned my head and realized that it was a couple of the younger warriors from Cold Waters. I'd seen them around but hadn't actually spoken to them. I lifted my chin in a wordless greeting, then turned back around. But I didn't miss the ugly sneers they gave me back in reply. I inwardly rolled my eyes. They were obviously two of those pack wolves that hated rogues. I didn't pay them any mind, though. I knew Jason wasn't about to let any of his pack members bother me, and these two would be no exception. I took note of their appearances in case I needed to describe them to Jason later. Both were about my height - 6'0 - and one had short, spiky blonde hair, and green eyes that seemed to be glittering with hatred, while the other had long jet black hair and piercing blue eyes that were filled with just as much hate as his friend's.      Behind me, I started hearing them talking to each other in whispers so low that human ears wouldn't have been able to hear them.      "Filthy rogue," I heard one mutter - I was pretty sure that was the blonde headed one that was standing closest to me.      I ignored him, but couldn't help but overhear his buddy's response. "Right? And to think our pitiful excuse for an Alpha allows his kind onto our territory."     "H**l, he even lets them into our d**n house."     By this point, I had nicknamed them in my head. Blondie and Blackie. I briefly considered Dumb and Dumber but figured it was a neck and neck race to see which one of them was Dumber.      "Hey, rogue," Blackie hissed. "What makes you think you're good enough to be on our territory?"     Sensing what was coming, I covertly sent Jason a quick text letting him know two of his warriors had an a** kicking coming their way. I got an immediate two word response. "S**t. Where?" I told him where, then hit the record button before I slid my phone back into my pocket. I continued facing forward, steadily ignoring them. There were still two couples ahead of me in line, and the poor cashier was having to reboot the register, so I knew it was going to be a few minutes of having to deal with them.     "Hey, filthy rogue," Blondie whispered fiercely. "You deaf? I know you can hear us. Why does our pitiful Alpha let your stupid, ugly a** self onto our territory and into our d**n house?"     I turned, gave them an amused look, then turned back around with a snort. Their "pitiful Alpha" would be interested to hear that part of the recording.      'Let me out!' Dion demanded. 'I'm going to demolish them!'     'Just wait, my friend,' I told him. 'They're about to f**k up, then you can give them the a** kicking they have coming.'      I had known the reaction I gave them would only serve to p**s them off more, and I was right.      "Hey!" Blondie jabbed a finger into the back of my head. "We're talking - "     He didn't get to finish his sentence, as Dion roared to the surface and seized control. He spun and grabbed Blondie's finger in one swift motion, and I heard the c***k as he broke it.      "Don't. Ever. Touch. Me!!" he roared in his deep, guttural voice, twisting Blondie's broken finger more with every word, making him scream in pain.     Blackie leapt onto my back, pummeling my neck and shoulders as he tried to pull us off of his friend. Dion roared again, reaching over our shoulder to jab the fingers of our free hand into Blackie's eyes, nearly shoving them back into his head. Blackie roared in response, his own wolf coming to the surface. I saw Blondie's eyes turning black, signifying that his wolf was surfacing as well. All three of us were on the verge of shifting in the middle of McDonald's when Jason stormed through the doors, with Alvara, Quinn, and Cade hot on his heels. I saw Alvara fling a hand out, slinging sparks all over the restaurant like a toddler slings sand at a beach. Everyone except the three of us and the four of them seemed to freeze.     "Jeremiah! Alex!" Jason roared. "What the h**l do you think you're doing?!"     Quinn marched over and got in Blackie's face, seeing his eyes still swirling black and blue. "Lucas!" he snarled. "Stand down and hand control back to Jeremiah! NOW!"     I saw Blackie's - I mean, Jeremiah's - eyes turn back to blue, but now instead of anger and hatred, I saw fear. 

Cade was in Blondie's face. "Stand down, Alex, and get Scar under control!" he commanded.      I saw Blondie/Alex's eyes go back to green, and there was fear in them too.     "What is the meaning of this?" Jason demanded.      I spoke first. "Your boys here decided that their, and I quote, 'pitiful Alpha' shouldn't be allowing 'filthy rogues' like me onto pack lands and into the packhouse, and they decided to take matters into their own hands by attacking me. Dion took control and probably would've killed them both if you hadn't gotten here when you did."     I saw a storm of fury in Jason's eyes as he faced them. "Is this true?"     "H**l no," Jeremiah scoffed. "We were just waiting to order our food when he attacked - "     "I have it all recorded," I interrupted him. I saw the horror on their faces when I held up my phone, showing that it was still recording. I stopped it and played it back so that Jason could hear everything, including the "pitiful Alpha" comment for himself.      Jason spun and in the blink of an eye, he was holding both of them up by their throats. They were both gasping for air as they tried to free themselves. "Pitiful Alpha?" he snarled. "Who's pitiful now? And you dared attack someone I consider a friend? AND you almost outed yourselves in public?! Dumba**es! Tell me why I shouldn't kill you both here and now!"     Quinn stepped forward. "Alpha," he said calmly, "with all due respect, I know my brother and his friend here are stupid little s**ts, but I'd greatly appreciate if you didn't kill them even though they deserve it."      Wait, did he say brother? I studied them a little closer and it was then that I finally noticed the similarities between Quinn and Jeremiah. "He's your brother?" I asked, pointing towards Jeremiah.     Quinn sighed. "Yeah, unfortunately, I have to claim the little f**khead. Mom makes me."     I had to laugh at that last part.      Quinn turned back to Jason. "Alpha, I'd really prefer not to have to tell my mom her youngest son died of stupidity today, if you don't mind."     Jason looked at him. The fury was still dancing in his eyes, but he slowly lowered the two idiots to their feet and released them. "Both of you, in my truck, now," he growled in his Alpha tone. The two of them had no choice but to follow his orders. Jason looked back at me before following them out the door. "Todd, I apologize for my pack members' stupidity. I can guarantee it will not happen again. If you don't mind, I'd like you to write down what happened when you get a chance and please, send me a copy of that recording."     I nodded. "Not a problem. Thanks for coming so quickly."     He jerked his head in one quick nod. "You're welcome. See you back at the packhouse later." With that, he left.      Alvara looked at me, her eyes showing her concern. "Are you all right?"     "Yeah, I'm fine," I replied. Then I addressed all three of them - Alvara, Cade, and Quinn. "Thank you all for coming."     "No," Quinn replied, "thank you for showing restraint and not killing the dumba**es."

I laughed. "You're welcome." I looked over at Alvara. "I'm assuming once everyone is unfrozen, they won't remember a thing and all security tapes and cameras are fried?"     She grinned. "Got me pegged, don't you?"     I grinned back. "I'm pretty sure I do."     Quinn held up some car keys I'd seen him snag from Jeremiah before he left. "All right, y'all, we have my brother's car, so, all aboard the Adams train back to the house."     "Actually," Alvara told him, "I missed breakfast, so if it's ok with Todd, I'll stay and eat with him."     I grinned at her again. "Why, certainly," I quipped. "So I've gotten to work out some aggression, and now I get to have breakfast with a beautiful woman. How much more perfect can this morning get?"     She laughed as she snapped her fingers. Immediately, the rest of the restaurant was abuzz again as everyone started moving again like nothing had happened. Then, finally, I got the sausage biscuits I'd been craving, and Alvara had her pancakes. We sat and laughed while we ate. I was right - letting out my frustrations then breakfast with a beautiful woman made for a pretty good morning. What a day this was going to be.