Rogue Disaster

CHAPTER II

I bet everyone has been through this before.

You know, when you are left completely frozen in one place as a result of a shocking turn of events. Well, it is safe to say that I am having mine right now.

Lowering his gaze to look at the situation behind me, I saw a slight glint of satisfaction in his eyes.

He uttered, “Daughter, I must say, I raised you very well.”

I continued to stand there, gaping in disbelief. Not even once did I think of someone rescuing me, much less of it being my father.

Finally snapping out of my trance, I moved to straighten up, letting go of his arms, which had been supporting me the whole time.

“What are you doing here, Father?” I stated in a hoarse voice, perfecting my posture. I did not mind that my body was about to give

up; all I could think about was looking composed in front of him.

There he stood, towering over me. His eyes, which are a swirl of silver and grey, narrowed completely, giving him a stern look. My eyes traveled to the noticeable scar across his face, which goes all the way up to his forehead, down to the middle of his left eye, and finally stops on his cheek.

“Isn't it obvious, my darling? Your dear Father is here to save you.” He answered and was very calm about it.

That sentence was like pure bliss in my ears; I was not able to hold it anymore, and tears sprung into my eyes. I was practically shaking when I leaped into his arms, engulfing him in a hug, grateful for what he did.

“Thank you so much, Father. I never thought that you would come and save me.” I cried. I felt his hand patting my back as if to comfort me.

It was true; my father is composed of many things, but wasting his time and effort on something is not one of them. He executed things that only benefited him, and for him to do this meant that I was worth something to him. Maybe I am being dramatic—that me being his daughter is a good enough reason for him to save me—except that it was not. It was a known fact to me that my father may have raised me as his own, but I did not come from his own flesh and blood.

I am adopted.

My brother, however, is not. He was destined to be my father’s successor, the heir that would rule after his regime. Roger. A pinch of guilt struck me, and it made me grip my father more. I remember it again. His eyes, that night, everything—I had never been this vulnerable before, but seeing my father, I just burst.

I pulled away and was about to open my mouth and apologize for failing to protect Roger and the fallen rogues who were spared that night, but someone cut me off.

“My king, we must go; the Enigma has alerted the Lycans; they are on the way now, as we speak.” One guard practically came down to alert us. I have never seen him before; he must be a new recruit. He is quite young, standing six feet tall with auburn-colored hair, tanned skin, and brown eyes. His face was rid of any emotions, almost stoic.

“Follow me, child.”

My father grabbed my wrist rather roughly, guiding me out of this prison in a complete rush.

It was all a blur to me; coming out of that dungeon was like a total breath of fresh air. On my way out, I saw Enigmas fighting one of our soldiers; some of their people were falling, and constant bangs were erupting all over the area. I scanned the place and realized that we were, somewhat, in some sort of palace.

Damn, Enigmas.

I smirked, rather satisfied with the scene before me. I feel alive, and as much as I want to join in the battle, it hurts to admit it, but I am way too weak. I was on the verge of collapsing, but something caught my attention.

What is she doing here?

There, several feet before us, was a crying little girl, hugging her doll tightly against her chest. She is looking around frantically. She looks so confused and terrified in her surroundings, and it had an effect on me; I feel bad for her. She is too young to witness all this; unlike anyone in this room, she is still innocent.

“Papa!” Her voice yelled in grief, searching for her father.

The child, who was the only kid that I spotted in this area, began to wander toward us; she also caught my father’s attention, making him turn to the young guard who was escorting us and order, “Make it quick.”

He nodded and walked toward the child. Knowing what he was about to do, I blurted out words that surprised me, which clearly brought the same reaction from my father.

“No, stop!”

Wow, have I gotten soft?

My father raised a questioning eyebrow, and I mustered something up. “I suggest that we spare her instead, Father. After all, that kid is not even a threat to us. The Lycans are coming; we must hurry.”

My father remained silent, but his posture changed, and I could see that he was not pleased with what I did. I grew up being trained to not have sympathy, as it is considered a weakness, especially to us, Rogues, but I have always had a soft spot for children, and he is clearly not happy about it.

He gestured for the guard to withdraw, and we continued on our way out. As we took our last step inside the castle, we were greeted by guards, which led to a chopper.

By then, Vasily, my father’s most trusted soldier, and the chief walked towards us. “My king, we figured that it was better for you to take the chopper; the Lycans have come by foot, and they are getting closer now. We must hurry.”

My father nodded, and then we hurried to get inside our getaway vehicle. It was already operating with a pilot inside, but then it struck me.

As I was putting on the seat belt, I got a whiff of the most captivating scent ever. I felt my wolf awaking, and I couldn’t help but feel relentless as I felt that we were starting to rise from the ground. I fought the urge to get closer and find where the scent was coming from. The Lycans are close by now; it is not the right time to chase after that scent.

I was trying my best to be composed, but my wolf is making it a lot more difficult for me. In the depths of my being, I felt her tugging at me to go to where the scent is; she was never like this before; usually, she is silent, buried deep within me; unlike any other werewolf, I am not bonded with my wolf; I go against everything she wants, and that made her resent me; as a result of that, she rarely speaks to me, and with Wolfsbane still on my system, she is muted. But I couldn’t help but feel worried; she is trying to say something to me, and I don’t know what it is.

As if the situation with my wolf were good enough to distract me, I noticed that we were now far off land, and the scent disappeared, making my wolf calm down, until slowly, it disappeared, and my wolf, once again, vanished.

What was that about?

"Are you okay?" I turned to look at the person beside me, the young guard. He looked a bit concerned. I guess he noticed my state earlier.

I nodded and began to lower my gaze and set it on my lap, not really up for a conversation right now, but he was persistent.

"Here, take this; it helps." I turned to look at the bottle in his outstretched hand. I looked up to stare at him, and he continued, clearly getting my silent question, "It's an antidote; it will wear off the Wolfsbane in your system faster."

His face went back to its emotionless facade, and I reached out to take the bottle from him silently. I nodded in gratitude as I finished the entire bottle in one gulp.

The whole entire ride was a blur; no one spoke a word, and it seemed like everyone was lost in their thoughts. Before I know it, we are all riding in an SUV to get to where my father's kingdom resides, our territory.

I tried not to be bothered by what happened earlier, the scent.

Why did it captivate me? And why did my wolf go all over the place?

All I can think about now is that I need to talk to my wolf right now, ask her the questions, and finally have my mind at peace.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I almost did not notice what was happening before me. My mouth started to drool, my stomach let out a loud groan, and I realized that I was so starving that I could just die on the spot.

My eyes began to moisten and were on the verge of shedding a tear as I stared at the meaty goodness in front of me.

Behold, a cheeseburger.

I watched as the young guard took it out of a bag that was settled beside him, unwrapped the paper around it, and was about to take it up to his mouth to take a bite.

Oh hell, no.

As if acting on my instinct, I wildly grabbed the burger out of his hands and shoved it into my mouth, taking a very generous bite. I sighed in contentment; it was done just the way I liked it. Double patties with tons of caramelized onions wrapped in toasted buns, and within seconds, I finished the entire thing and was left craving more.

I looked up to see the shocked look on the young guard's face and witness it slowly turn into amusement.

"What's funny is, I was about to offer it to you, and you don't even have the right manners to wait."

Does this boy even know who he is talking to?

I raised a brow, slightly pissed. "You don't know what I've been through, so I suggest you better shut that petty mouth of yours and give me another one, or else I will make you regret that you were even born."

That shut him up, but that did not stop him from giving me a nasty look. He proceeded to grab another burger out of his bag, and I happily took it from him.

Then, I noticed.

"Where is Father?" I asked, looking around us. I turned to look at the seat where he had resided earlier but came to realize that he was not there anymore.

I was so distracted earlier that I did not even realize that I was left alone with young guardie over there and the driver.

Looking out the window, he opened his mouth to answer my question, "He went to secure a transaction with some humans."

I nodded, so my father is still keeping this business.

Years ago, we got into this partnership with wealthy businessmen. We were in desperate need of cash and resources, so we turned to doing illegal work for those people and protecting them; in exchange, they paid us tons. Hence, this is the reason we can afford things such as weapons, a nice shelter, and food. Being packless means having no assets whatsoever. My father, out of all the other rogues, stepped into the spotlight and raised all of us out of misery. He did what no other Rogues had done before: he started an alliance and became its leader, the king of the banished. We are not a pack; it was just a union of all Rogues, and they are honored to serve my father.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I decided to break the silence and ask, "What is your name?"

Once again, the boy turned to look at me with a straight face and said, "Elijah."

"Well then, Elijah, fill me in with all of the things that happened while I was gone."