Chapter 4 The Call
898 Words
Zebriks POV
Sitting at my desk, watching Dumb and Dumber argue again. My twin brothers, Romulus and Remus, have to be the most annoying wolves I have ever known, and yet here I am, tasked with being their big brother. When my dad handed me the Blue Rose pack on my 19th birthday, I assigned them as my Beta and Gamma. Truth be told, I would have preferred Rem as my Beta, but my older sister insisted on birth order. Charlotte and her hierarchy—qualifications be damned. They’re less than five minutes apart, but between Charlotte and Rome, Rem might as well be forever twelve in their eyes. Anything he says is treated with the same weight as a kid asking why the sky is blue.
On the bright side, being the Council’s cleanup pack meant a lot of traveling. I put Rome on field duty while Rem held down the pack. Rome is the better fighter, and Rem is the better leader—it balances out perfectly. We had just returned from our last mission when trouble found us again.
This time, it was a Golden Moon warrior who had decided pack life would make a great Hollywood script. Too bad he had a mental crisis and jumped off a Caribbean cruise before his big debut. The Council is strict—Rule Number One: Humans can’t know we exist. Blue Rose got its name for its role in enforcing that rule. Our seal? A wolf with a blue rose, blood dripping from its golden thorns. We make problems disappear.
The buzzing in my pocket pulled me from my temporary reprieve. I glanced at the number and immediately silenced Rome with a hand gesture. The number I had come to both anticipate and loathe was calling. That could only mean one thing—another wolf, another mess, another cover-up.
I answered and put the call on speaker. "Hello, Marty. How can I assist you?"
"Zebrik, we have an issue," Marty’s voice rang out. "It seems a family of three, what we believe to be warp rogues, was photographed in the Sierra Nevada range. We’ve got trackers on them, and they’re about 75 miles from the Nevada state line. The photo was taken near Yosemite, and Alpha Jaxson of Wolf Moon is concerned."
I glanced at my brothers—Rome grinning like a Cheshire cat, Rem looking confused. "Marty, what exactly is the assignment?"
"The pictures won’t be published, but the hiker who took them lives in a populated area. We’re currently wiping his electronics. The problem is the warp rogues. They need to disappear. There’s also something different this time—one of the wolves had an… unusual appearance. They need to be captured and returned to the Council."
Something about Marty’s tone made my wolf uneasy.
"Unusual?" I asked, my gut tightening. "Marty, what do you mean by 'unusual'?"
"The pictures show what appears to be a solid black wolf."
Silence. I looked at Rem and Rome for their reactions. As expected, Rome was clueless. But Rem’s eyes mirrored my confusion.
Solid-colored wolves only appear in royal Alpha bloodlines. Every royal wolf is accounted for—mated, settled, and producing the next generation. There were no missing royals. No rogues.
This didn’t add up.
Marty’s voice pulled me back. "Zebrik, are you there?"
"Yeah. Just… are you sure? A solid-colored warp rogue sounds impossible."
"That’s why we need to question them. If they have royal blood, we need to know how. And more importantly, how they became rogues. How soon can you handle this?"
"Give me three days to get things in order here. Have your trackers send me all their data."
"Understood. I’ll personally come to your pack to escort them to the Council once they’re detained. Thanks, Zebrik."
I ended the call and turned to my brothers. Rome, true to form, missed the significance of the moment entirely.
"So what’s the big deal? It’s just a solid wolf. Why do we have to bring them in? Ugh, warp wolves—do you know how bad they smell? We’ll never get the stench out of the vehicles. They better be giving us rentals. Actually, screw that—new fleet. Hey, can we leave early? Maybe hit Tahoe or Reno first? Fresh air, maybe some—"
"ENOUGH, Rome!" I cut him off. "I can’t even think with you rambling."
Rem sat in stunned silence before finally asking, "How? Only royals are solid-colored. This shouldn’t be possible."
I shook my head. "I don’t know. And honestly, I’m not sure I want to. We don’t get involved in logistics—we do our job, come home, and forget about it. The less we know, the better."
I ran a hand through my hair. "Rome and I leave Thursday morning. We go straight there, we grab them, we come straight back. No detours. No fun stops."
Rome groaned dramatically. "Ugh, you’re no fun. You’re worse than Charlotte."
Rome smirked. "Looks like baby brother is holding down the fort."
Rem rolled his eyes. "Don’t worry, Rem. When I was your age, I dreamed of going on adventures."
Rem scowled. "You were my age five minutes ago."
"Exactly," Rome said, smirking. "And here I am—going on an adventure."
Sometimes, I wondered if Rem actually found Rome’s jokes amusing or if he just walked into them every single time.
- Writer
