Running with Rogues

HELLO! I'm early for once! You might notice that a little star has appeared beside my name. It's good for my ego, but I don't think it'll affect your reading experience very much! I do have to behave myself now. No more pretending to kill off the entire cast of characters for a laugh :(

"We've got two options for this afternoon, ladies," Lilah said. "Option One - tequila, chocolate and a movie. Option Two - eavesdrop on my mate's top secret meeting."

"Option Two," I said, without a second's hesitation. "Please."

Lilah pushed herself off the sofa and gave me a knowing smile. Both of us turned expectantly to Lin, waiting for her vote. I was trying to play nice with her - honestly, I was. I didn't want to upset Lilah.

"I'm all for Option Two," Lin told us. "But there's no reason we can't make use of the Option One refreshments, is there?"

"Lin makes an excellent point," Lilah said, beaming from ear to ear. "Let's go. They'll be in the executive lounge."

I carried the orange juice and the bottle of tequila, Lilah carried the glasses, and Lin carried the chocolate. She walked behind us, so it was safe to say she was nibbling it the entire way.

Lilah was leading us to the bottom floor of the pack house, and she ducked under the rope that blocked off the private wing of the pack house without a second thought. There was a guard posted there, given the nature of the meeting being held within those corridors, but he just nodded at Lilah as she passed him. I followed her after only the slightest of hesitations.

"I thought you weren't allowed out without guards," I murmured to Lilah.

"I'm not," she snorted. "But what Mason doesn't know won't hurt him."

She turned into a small room filled with boxes. Lin and I hovered in the doorway, not bothering to hide our confusion, until Lilah ever-so-carefully dragged a box out of the way to reveal a small grate in the wall. She pressed a finger to her lips and beckoned us.

I sat cross-legged on the floor beside her. It wasn't difficult to hear the voices of the men in the next room. They were all so loud. I supposed it was a common trait for Alphas, and there were five of them in that room. Mason had invited them all here today for an informal packmeet. I'd seen them all arrive that morning in their respective SUVs.

"-found him yesterday," Mason was saying. "He had been torn to pieces. If they'd known he was my half-brother, they'd have done far worse."

I tried to keep my face blank. They were talking about the sleeper we'd executed, and that meant the topic was rogues. And of course it was. This entire meeting was probably being held so they could discuss the best way to wipe us out.

For Lilah and Lin, this was a bit of fun. For me, it might be life and death.

"I just don't understand how they caught him so soon," another voice murmured. It was rough and husky and not one I recognised. "He only informed on one raid."

"Jaden Lloyd," Lilah told us through the link. "He's from Riverside. Bit grumpy, if you ask me, but he's always been a close ally."

I nodded my thanks. Most of the Alphas were interchangeable in my eyes, because they were all basically the same person. Old, white, dumb and hateful. Mason was the youngest of them by far - only twenty-five - but he seemed to be the ringleader, if only because the rest of them seemed to share a single braincell between them.

"Maybe you've got a leak, Mason," someone else said. "I don't mean to offend you, of course, but I think it's a more likely scenario than the rogues figuring it out by themselves."