The Hunter and the Rogue Workers Union

Chapter 4

Pixies and An Almost lovely Lake

“May I walk with you since we are both going in the same direction?” The Rogue came out of nowhere and looked at Russell like he needed to leave now.

“You left like ten minutes before us.” Snapped Russell, which was very uncharacteristic for him. He then looked at Sally to see if she wanted to be left alone with the Rogue. She loved her friend but they both knew all he could do was yell for help if anything went down.

“Go ahead, Russell, please make sure everything is ready for tomorrow. We have an early start. I will make sure the Rogue Alpha makes it back to his cottage safely.” A flash of distaste crossed the Alpha's eyes but was replaced with ice quickly. Russell started to walk faster and soon he was out of sight.

The rogue seemed almost nervous before speaking. “A lovely evening, is it not?”

Sally addressed the Rogue roughly. “Don’t you have an ill mate to check on?”

“My mate is not ill. The mother of my child mixed too many pills with alcohol again and is passed out at my cottage. She is not my mate. Just my ex-girlfriend that I mainly keep around for my daughter’s sake. We have a deal; she is supposed to be clean for my fighting events so I don’t have to worry about my child while I am fighting. She really is not much of a mother, I am afraid.”

“I do not know much about mates, but I cannot see how your mate would like you to have a live-in girlfriend. Your drug habit is bad enough, but a girlfriend on top of that seems a bit much to me.” He looked at her hard and smiled in a sad way. “I can smell it. I have a wolf’s nose and you almost hid it, but my nose is a little better than most Alphas. Look, I am sure you feel like you have your reasons but there are a lot of us messed up from the war and you still got a kid to raise.” He spun her around with both hands on her shoulders.

“You have no idea what it was like to be a captured Alpha and what they did to us. My wolf howls nonstops now. He is right on the edge of never coming back. I have to do something to calm him down. I thought if I took a mate, it would help, but he would not take her. He only wants his mate. The pup did not even calm him down.”

“So where is this true mate of yours?”

“She is…she is safe. And as long as I can keep her safe, I think it will help him. I know it will help me.”

“Look, I can get you some info on treatments they are working on. Maybe you just need to talk some of this out. We also have groups for that. I can tell you it helps to talk about it. I know I need it too.”

“Maybe we can talk together?” Then, as if a thought suddenly hit him. A sudden smile flashed across his face like a tiny amount of hope had just been seeded deep inside of him. “Follow me. I want to show you something.”

“I don’t know I have a lot of work tomorrow. And just to let you know, I stick to myself. I am not looking for anything.”

“I only want to talk. I have enough relationship problems right now. But someone who might understand me and maybe some of what I have gone through would be nice. It sounds like you might understand. I know… I know about that camp you walked into. It was pain, pain like I had never seen before” He stopped to take a deep breath. “That nightmare, I was held there for a year before I was moved to the capital. To walk in to that must have been hard. I am sorry you had to see it.”

“Yes, it was.” She said, sounding far away. “Thank you. I am not sorry I walked into it. It is just, I wish I could have gotten there sooner, you know. Done more somehow, but some things cannot be undone. But it was the best we could do, I guess. I honestly did not think the rumors were true. But it was real…and there it was, like a nightmare one would have in hell.” She stopped to control herself. File Alpha Siman, Alpha of the…

“May I ask what happened to the guards?” He asked in almost a childlike voice. She went back to the present.

“There were no orders given, but somehow the prisoners ended up with some of our weapons. It was over pretty fast after that.”

“That was too good for them. I had often thought about hunting them down and torturing them for days, but I had never heard of any surviving guards from any of the camps. And I have my baby girl now. It would sometimes calm my wolf to think of what I would let him do to them.”

“If I could raise them up and kill them all over again, I would have. But I can’t and it would not be as sweet as you may think.” Before she knew it, they were at the lake. She did not remember walking there, which made the surprise so more intense. It was breathtaking, but most packs had at least one breathtaking place. It must help to center their beast within. She had often wanted an animal spirit, or any kind of spirit guide, but she was not blessed with anything of that nature. At least, she would have someone to talk to when she could not talk to other people. That would be something special, she thought. But to be locked inside a body with a feral animal must be an unending torture. Hunters were what the strongest beings in this world feared the most. Only the weakest loved them. There was a pride that came with it, but also a fear of failing. “This is beautiful,” she said almost without breath.

“I thought so the moment I first laid eyes upon heaven.” He said softly as tiny pixies dressed in gold, silver and rose dresses danced across the water in the moon light. Their toes were skimming the water, leaving lines behind in the color of the pixies’ clothes. All of this wonder was reflected in Sally’s eyes as they sparkled in delight. “We do like to have a safe haven, a place where our beasts can rest and our souls can find peace.”

“Rogue Alpha, I thought that was one of the main reasons for a mate. Someone to help you calm your other half.”

“Siku, but please I would rather no one else knew my name.”

“Alright Siku, but why are you telling me? I have done nothing to earn your trust.” He seemed to relax after hearing his name.

“I know enough about hunters to know you will go out of your way to protect innocents, even nonhuman children. It is safer for my daughter, Starlit, if no one knows my name. I am an alpha wolf who escaped from the capital city 6 months before the last battle. I was not able to save any of the other alpha wolves. Not all their families understood that there was nothing left to save. I have no idea how I did not go feral. I was the only one in the last stages of the experiments that did not. I would not call myself sane, but I still know my name and I have learned to keep my wolf deep inside of me.”

“He is feral?” Came out with a deep sadness for the man.

“Yes, my brother banished me from my pack and Starlit’s mother is a hardcore drug user. I have only one thing to ask of my mate and I have no right to ask it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I promise, I will fight you with honor but also with everything I have. I am a showman after all. It is all I have left. I want you to take Starlit like she was your own daughter. I know you can protect her. A stunning beauty that can handle four trolls alone. I am the luckiest of men. I should have been the luckiest man on earth.”

“I don’t understand.” Sally said, starting to shake with tears in her eyes. He quickly closed the gap between them, kissing her softly, sweetly. She did not fight him nor the tears escaping her eyes.

“Yes, you do, my heaven.” He kissed her again with more passion and then stepped back, looking deep into her eyes. His eyes switched and she could hear and see his beast inside her head. It was snarling and howling while thrashing at unseen foes. He was feral, but how did he control it? One mistake, one weak moment and an unknown death toll before enough warriors could put him down. “Even with the magic of your touch, he still wants to kill everything around us. I am not even sure if he would spare you or his pup.” With that, he turned and walked off into the forest until she could not even smell the sweet scent of apples any more. Sally sat there and watched the pixies for some time but their magic had lost its appeal. All the beauty was gone. As she started to slip into her sadness, a small fox came up and sat next to her watching her watch the pixies.

“You know I have had better days. It started off well, but now it is not so great. Don’t get me wrong, I have had much worse but this… this has been very painful. I did not even know I could hurt like this. It is a different kind of pain but still a very difficult pain. I have been shot more than one time and I have had my life ripped apart before my eyes so I know pain.” The fox's eyes got really big when she said this and then put its head in her lap, allowing her to pet it. Some very bitter tears came out, tears for her pain, tears for his pain and tears for their loss of what they could have been together. When Sally finally stood up to leave, the fox followed her back to her cottage. It jumped and danced around her in a playful manner. Watching the fox seemed to help her. Soon she was at her cottage door. She looked down at her new friend.

“Thank you for your kindness. Get some rest, I will see you tomorrow.” She told the fox before turning in for the night herself.