Alpha Cain

Chapter six - Cain

Chapter six - Cain

"Flame, move your ass, my dead grandma could be up here faster than you." I turn around from the top of the wooden wall and grin at her.

Her beautiful green eyes twinkle as I reach down to help her up.

Never one to be beaten, she jumps at a rope just off to one side and swings herself up and over, tapping my head as she sails past me before landing on the other side.

"Come on, don't want to get beaten by a little girl, do you?" She cackles as she sprints away to the next obstacle and I jump down, landing with a grunt as I push myself to chase after her.

At seventeen, I've grown bulky from endless training, whereas Flame is muscular and lean, making her faster than me initially, but my stamina is greater and it doesn't take me long to catch up with her.

She hits the rope netting and flies up it like it was what she was born to do, I take a run and leap as high as I can, landing right beside her. She clings to the rope as it bounces from the force from my landing, grumbling in frustration as I start to climb ahead of her.

"No chance of that." I call back, but she's already scaling the netting, refusing to let me beat her.

I throw myself off the top rather than climbing down the other side and take off running, hearing her land with an "ooof" noise and heavy breathing as she pushes herself hard to beat me.

We cross the finish line at the exact same time and when I turn to her, she has an easy grin on her face, as though we haven't been racing around here for the last half an hour.

"Come on sweaty, let's get you in the shower." She looks so beautiful all flushed and damp and I can't resist wrapping my arms around her, pulling her into a deep kiss.

"Not sure that's going to help with the sweating." She growls seductively, a little wink just in case I didn't catch her meaning.

My kisses grow more urgent, my body curling around hers as though it's got a mind of its own.

Her body tenses and I know she's going to run, she loves it when I chase her, so each time I pretend I don't know what's about to happen and sure enough, she breaks off the kiss, taking off running as fast as she can, giggling like a lunatic towards the showers her firey hair flowing behind her like a beacon, leading me home.

It takes mere seconds for me to follow, catching her up and grabbing her hips. She squeals when I lift her into the air and carry her into the changing room.

Locking the door behind us, I kisses her again, pushing her under the warm water and somehow managing to strip off both of our drenched clothing whilst not breaking the kiss and barely taking my hands off of her.

"Oi, Alpha Loved Up." Darius bangs on the door as we're getting dressed. "Your dad wants a meeting."

"Urgh." I groan, knowing nothing good comes after that sentence. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I step away, her beautiful, naked form still damp and glistening from the shower, makes me want to ignore the summoning and stay with her longer. "I'll see you soon."

"See you soon." She grins, watching me leave the room

~*~

I wake up from the dream full of vigor and determination to find out what happened, as though her last words to me were some sort of premonition rather than just reliving a memory.

Without stopping for breakfast or to let anyone know where I'm going, I set off in search of the Rogues from the day before.

As Darius predicted, they've been busy since I left them last night and it takes me a little while to track them down but when I finally do find them, they're running alongside the neighbouring territory after searching for other rogue's in the area.

"There's no knowledge of an attack on anyone in your pack." The largest one tells me hesitantly. The other two stand behind him, primed and ready to run the moment I attack him. "There was an unplanned attack on a pack a short distance from here about four or five months ago, they were hungry and got caught hunting on the packlands. But no one would have risked that with your lands, not with your father's reputation. Now yours is even worse, no rogue's want to come anywhere near here."

"That doesn't make sense. Someone must know where she is. Keep looking, let me know as soon as you know anything." I'm about to turn around and run back towards my house, when the smallest one shifts on his feet, getting my attention.

"Have you thought that maybe she just left?" He asks so quietly I'm not sure he even meant to ask the question out loud.

The fury at even considering that has Kade leaping to the forefront, shifting and pinning the guy to the ground. Snarling, his teeth only an inch from the guys neck.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I only thought that it might be the case. For self protection. You know? Everyone knows the Luna's in your pack don't last long, so maybe she thought the same and fled." His eyes are wide and desperate, but he can't seem to stop his mouth from moving.

"She wouldn't leave." I pull Kade back with promises that he can kill this man once we find Tegwen. Until that happens, we need them to talk to the other Rogues. "Find her."

"Yes, of course. We'll go now." The little one slips out from under me, positioning himself behind both his companions.

Without speaking to them again, I take off along the border, searching for more Rogue's to interrogate.

"Cain. I need to talk to you." Darius calls through the mindlink just as I'm finished with the sole Rogue I managed to find.

She knew nothing, but after a little persuasion, or as she called it, a few overt threats, she agreed to go in search of some other wolves who she thought may have some information.

"On my way back. Where are you?" I ask, splashing through the river to rid myself of mud and blood from my struggle with the previous wolf.

"Meet me by the quarry." He says ominously and I wonder if it's something to do with what he was keeping quiet about last night.

The quarry is a central but empty location within the packlands. My father forbids anyone to go there and even the patrols avoid it, so it makes the perfect place to discuss things in private.

He's already there when I arrive, pacing back and forth while talking to himself, his brow furrowed deep in confusion.

"Darius, what's going on?" He hands me some clothing and waits while I pull it on, his mouth opening, then closing as though he wants to say something but doesn't know how. "Just tell me, you know I won't judge you."

"What? Why would you judge me?" His goldfish impression stops as he looks at me, momentarily distracted by my question.

Maybe it's not a human mate then?

"Nothing. Just tell me what's going on." I lean back against a tree, crossing my arms over my chest and watching as he resumes his pacing and muttering, looking at me then frowning at the floor, over and over again. "Darius, seriously, just spit it out."

"Ok. I don't understand it and I need you to agree to hear me out fully before you go hurtling off." I roll my eyes and he stops, looking me dead in the eye. "I'm serious Cain, if you want me to tell you, you have to swear you'll stay right there until we come up with a plan."

"Ok, fine, I swear I won't go anywhere." He nods, accepting my promise and intriguing me further.

"So earlier little Victor was out running patrol on the Moors. He was on his own when he spotted that rogue we got the call in about yesterday. The one staying with the humans." He's choosing his words carefully, which is raising my suspicions, but I'm not sure yet what he's trying to hide from me. "Well, last night, after she was spotted, I went to check out the house and no one was there."

"Yeah, you've told me this already." I just want him to hurry up and get to the point already, not drag it out the way he is.

"Well, I thought I recognised the scent, it was faint and a little odd, so I told all the patrols to report straight to me if they saw her again." He pauses again and I resist the groan of frustration that is desperate to escape. "Victor came face to face with her when she was out for a run. Instead of calling me, he chased her back to the house. She didn't shift, which he thought was weird, so that's when he called me."

"Why wouldn't she shift?" I ask, my interest peaking.

"Well, to make matters worse, she told the humans she'd been chased by a wolf, she was hysterical and terrified, wanted to call the police." I frown at his words.

Why would she alert humans to a wolf's presence? Why would she involve the police?

"Yeah, Victor overheard, so I took Yogi and convinced the humans it was him. She wouldn't accept it though. Argued about it right in front of them." My frown deepens, even rogues know that humans shouldn't know about us, not unless it's absolutely necessary.

"Did you try to speak to her alone?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"They're going out tonight, I've suggested Jericho's so I can try to speak to her then, but there's something else. I don't think she knows what she is." He looks right at me and I know there's more. "She showed no recognition with me and when I asked about her mate mark, she got angry with me for asking something so personal. I even tried mindlinking with her, but… nothing."

"Why would you try to mindlink her? That only works within the pack." My stomach has started swirling with an emotion I'm not ready to acknowledge yet.

The worry in his eyes is evident.

"She has no idea who or what she is, but it's Tegwen, Cain." I feel like I've been kicked in the stomach, my breath stolen from me as his words register. "The Rogue with the humans, is Tegwen."