Rogue Rage

Chapter One

“I told those idiots to wait,” Damian said, hunched over the small wooden table with a map laid out on it. “Anyone else besides Marcus and Kain?” The smell of incense burned my nose. One minute in here and that smell would linger. I didn’t know how he managed to live in it.

I stayed leaning against the door frame with crossed arms. “No. Marcus fell that night. Kain was a little more successful in taking down warriors but ultimately failed in his task.”

Damian straightened and scratched the stubble on his chin. “What happened to the pack Marcus attacked?”

I walked over to the table and circled the perimeter of the pack’s territory with my finger. “They finished the perimeter walls a week ago. We had to breach the wall before we could get close. We also have to consider their Luna. Most of Marcus’s warriors didn’t have a bit of flesh under their claws. Rumors came from others that she can manipulate the mind.”

Damian cursed under his breath. “Marcus and Kain set them all on high alert. Keep a close watch, and don’t get caught. Understood?”

I nodded and left the hut. Marcus and his barbarians were never any good to The New World cause that Damian went on about. Marcus was a bloodthirsty, evil son of a b***h. It’s not as though we have many options for warriors, though. Still, good riddance. I walked past a roasting hog and ripped a leg off, ignoring the men surrounding it.

“At least use a plate like a lady.” Archie, an older male, called to me in his thick Irish accent as I walk away. I waved the leg in the air with my back turned, the other males around the hog chortle.

I leaned against a tree, observing the men and women around our camp. All of them were busy sharpening weapons or sparring in the pit, ready for a fight or awaiting orders. I was never a team player in that sense, but I had a sharp eye and was an expert at stealth.

I cleaned the bone and tossed it behind me as I watch Keith approach me. “Ready to head out?”

I nodded. “We’ll be there for a few months this time.”

Keith stood next to me with a look of acceptance on his face. “Did you talk to Damian about—” He gestured with a tilt of his head, to a previous topic.

“Think I’d be heading out with you if I had?”

“A few months with Keith? Who’d say no to that?” Jace, Keith’s very pregnant mate, said while wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.

“Me,” I said lowly and to myself.

“Before you leave again, I have something to show you.” She gave Keith a not so secretive look and begins tugging on his arm. He smiles back and allows himself to be taken.

“Haven’t you two shown each other everything? I can’t imagine there is much left to see.” Jace winked at me as they headed for their hut across the campsite. I shook my head and took my dagger from my hip holster. It took a bit of pressure before it broke my skin as I tested the sharpness with my thumb. Dull. I pulled out a rubbing stone and began running the edge of the blade against it at an angle. There are few things in life that I enjoy. Making and perfecting my armory is at the top of the list. Once the blade pricked at the touch, I put it back in its holster.

I decided to bathe quickly in the stream a bit away from the camp. There were few women there, but I knew that this would be my only chance for a while. I also didn’t want the smell of incense clinging to me.

I sat on a log drying my hair and watched a few females trickle into Damian’s hut. I watched the men around the fire pits, drink until their sorrows become humorous. Then, of course, I watch those who were untrusting as they were untrusted, telling their loved ones not to look anyone in the eye and to keep their heads down. Honestly, how does Damian truly expect to unite this blend of forsaken, unsavory, and weary folk?

Personally, I’d never bring a loved one here. To expose them to this life, away from the protection of a true pack, was selfish. Although, I wonder how much better they’d fare in their home pack after one of them was exiled. I wondered vaguely how different my life would have been if I had stayed in my pack or traveled to another. I shook the thought from my mind. No point in daydreaming about something like that.

A short while later, Keith finally emerges from his hut and made his way over to me. “You ready?” he asked.

“Are you seriously asking me that?”

He laughed and threw a sack over his shoulder. “What can I say, by the time we return, she’ll be ready to give birth.” I strapped my bag across my torso. “What about you, Amara? I heard Jay has taken an interest in you.”

I shook my head in disgust. “Jay is interested in any woman with enough dignity to say ‘no’ but will settle for the ones that open their legs.”

“Ouch.” We made our way out of camp. “I guess I can’t blame you. Most of the available ones around your age are a bunch of misfits.”

“Misfit camp,” I muttered. I understood Keith’s loyalty to Damian, but I thought the expected arrival of his firstborn would make him less likely to continue his mission away. We broke into a jog as I ignored my train of thought. It’s none of my business.