Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Kent walked ahead of the council members as they went to his office for a meeting. It had been an interesting breakfast, watching his new mate interact with Wesley and Leo. It was clear that they were all friends. Riley had talked about the issues at Silver Stream and he had found himself entranced as she spoke. She loved her job, that much he could tell, and if her reputation was true, she was excellent at it. When he opened the door to his office, he was relieved to find Patrick and Max already waiting for them. Once everyone got situated, Patrick gave a quick rundown of patrol schedules and information that scouts had gotten about rogues in the forest northwest of pack grounds. "It appears that they are setting up camp there, but we haven't sent our scouts to determine how many there are," he concluded. "Any idea why they are banding together like this?" Riley asked. Patrick shrugged. "We've found camps as large as fifteen in twenty before, but nothing at the sizes we are seeing now. Previously they banded together for survival. The woods can be brutal, especially in the winter. We're used to rogue attacks, but nothing like we've seen in the last two years." "Tell me more about what's happening," Riley said, leaning back in her chair. "We're no strangers to rogue attacks," Patrick explained. "Maybe one or two every couple months. Never more than six to eight a year. Usually just one or two rogues attacking, hoping to steal food or supplies. Sometimes we get feral rogues that attack anything that moves. Occasionally we might get a group of five or six, but that was so rare before. The woods around the pack are vast and enticing for many rogues because there aren't a lot of packs around. They can roam freely without worrying about accidentally running into a pack's territory. We've always taken a live and let live approach with the rogues. As long as they stay off our territory and don't harm our people or animals, we have no reason to bother them. "But about two years ago we noticed there were rogues that weren't attacking but running close to the borders. We started to suspect that they were planning an attack and were tracking our patrols, so we started mixing up routes and schedules to throw them off. There was a sizable attack anyway. About ten rogues overpowered and killed three of our warriors, making it close to town before we drove them back. After that, the attacks became more frequent and their numbers grew. We were still managing the issue but about six months ago, everything changed. "There were two simultaneous attacks, each with a large amount of rogues. Our warriors weren't prepared for it and multiple warriors were killed. Some of the rogues made it as far as town and killed several innocent people before we were able to drive them out. After that, we started requiring all citizens to take some type of basic warrior training to be prepared and we started requesting assistance from the council. The attacks haven't stopped though, and they are only getting worse." "We're worried that the rogues may overpower us at some point," Kent added, his stomach twisting at the admission. "We've never had an issue like this before." "You've never launched any type of attack against the rogues outside of your territory previously?" Riley asked. "Just once." Kent couldn't look at her. He couldn't admit what he had done. 1/3 < Chapter 10 "It was when the Luna was killed," Max explained for him. "Lily, the Luna, was out on patrols when she was involved in an attack and killed. We hunted down the rogues that killed her." "Your Luna ran patrols?" Wesley asked. "Of course she did," Patrick snapped. "She was a warrior. She was the daughter of the previous gamma and my sister. She was raised to be a warrior and she was excellent." "She was one of our best warriors," Kent explained calmly to Wesley, "right along with Patrick and Max. She didn't want being a Luna to interfere with her duties as a warrior so she ran patrols and trained and did all those things in addition to her Luna duties." "She was on patrol with a new warrior that day," Max added. "She was training him to run the patrols when the attack happened. The warrior was gravely injured and Lily tried to run the rogues off, but there were two of them. They were bigger than her, they overpowered her. By the time we got there, she was..." Max turned his head, looking up towards the ceiling, his face twisting with the memory. Kent closed his eyes, trying to chase away the memories that rose up. Max covered in Lily's blood, grabbing Kent's shoulder, trying to steer him away. The sight of her in the grass, her face ghost white. And the blood. So much blood. "Max got there first," Patrick explained quietly. "He's the one who found Lily. The warrior only lived long enough to describe what happened and give us an idea of where the rogues went. After he died, we went looking for the rogues. We found their encampment about five miles outside the pack territory to the northwest. There were ten rogues and... Kent... we..." He ran his fingers down the arm of the couch, his face punched and tight. Kent still remembered the way the encampment had smelled. It had been putrid. He still remembered their faces as he charged in, the smell of his mate's blood still about him. He could still feel the way Pax's teeth had sunk into their soft flesh. He could still hear the way they screamed. "They killed your Luna." It was Leo's soft voice that broke him from his memories. "They killed someone's mate and someone's sister. You did what you thought was just." "We're not proud of what we did that day," Max murmured, his voice hoarse. "There were mistakes." "You killed someone you didn't think you should?" Riley asked. Kent flinched even though her question was delivered kindly. It wasn't just the people they killed that day, but the one who survived. "Grief is powerful," Patrick finally said. "It can blind you." "Do you think the attacks now could have any connection to what happened with the Luna?" Wesley asked. Max shrugged. "I don't know but it could be possible." "Are there any other reasons the rogues might be attacking?" Riley asked, looking at Kent. "Are they after something?" Kent hesitated. His stomach twisted. She would know if he lied. "Not that we're aware of." Patrick jumped in, saving Kent from responding. Riley turned to watch Patrick and Kent bit his lip. Mates could feel strong emotions in one another. Surely she could sense his unease. He forced himself to take a deep breath, willing himself to calm down. 2/3 Chapter TU "We have a theory that they want to clear the pack to have more free space to move," Leo said, oblivious to the tension. "This pack is the only thing that interrupts the woods." Wesley jumped in, going on to list the nearest packs and the amount of land that the rogues stood to gain, while Kent tried to ignore Riley's eyes on him. "I suppose that's a possibility," she murmured after a moment. "We shouldn't be guessing at their motive though. If there is another attack, we should try to capture one of them alive. If we can interrogate a rogue, we might find out more information." "We thought we had one captured during the last attack." Leo sighed heavily. "But apparently his injuries were too much. He died before we could interrogate him." "He didn't even seem badly injured," Wesley lamented, shaking his head, "but he died in the cell." "Let's focus on now," said Kent quickly, eager to change the subject. He looked at Riley. "What do you need? The sooner we figure this out, the better." She hesitated, her hazel eyes watching him intently. "I would like to take a look at your defenses," she finally answered. "I want to look at patrol schedules. I want to hear about how the patrols run and what has happened in the last few attacks." "I can tell you about that," Patrick said, drawing her gaze. "I can tell you what you need to know." She nodded. "That sounds like a good place to start. I want to spend a day or two just getting used to how the pack runs. Then we can really dig into what is driving the attacks and how to stop them." "Sounds like a good plan." Kent leaned back in his chair, eager to end the meeting. "If you need anything else, let me know."