The Blacklisted Rogue
Chapter 17

Joe POV

I was tasked with replaceing Sally and bringing her back to the Blue Eclipse Pack. As the pack's head warrior I put together a team to go with me. I had heard a lot of gruesome stories about the Midnight Pack, and I feared that the only thing I'd take home with me was Sally's dead body. George and Alpha Jordan had told me what she had been through, and I have to say that I pitied her. She was 18 years old, convicted of a crime she didn't commit and sentenced to a punishment worse than death.

The journey to the Midnight Pack didn't take long. After all, we shared a border between our pack lands. When we reached the pack border the border patrol waved us through. They knew we were coming. The Midnight pack was located in the middle of a dense forest and the only road in and out by car was long and narrow with tight curves and many hills. When we reached the packhouse I almost felt a little carsick. Alpha Richard greeted us at the front door and showed us to his office.

"I was surprised when I got Alpha Jordan's message. What can I do for you?"

I wanted to avoid talking about our intentions with Sally at any cost. Alpha Richard was known for bargaining for anything and even stooped so low that he had blackmailed other packs to bend to his will. He would without a doubt use Sally against us if he saw an opportunity for it.

"You requested information about a Sally Freeman on the Blacklist a few days ago. Is she here?"

Alpha Richard stiffened.

"Yes. A Rogue named Sally Freeman was indeed captured and we wanted to know if she was registered on the blacklist."

"Is she here?" I asked.

"Why? What makes you so interested in a blacklisted Rogue?"

Oh Goddess, just drop this i***t off a cliff or something.

I couldn't exactly say it out loud, but this guy was really a hate at first sight and I couldn't help but think it to myself.

"There are people out looking for her." I said cryptically, hoping that he would just drop the subject.

Alpha Richard pursed his lips and remained silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but after we received information that the girl was a convicted murderer we didn't take any chances. We executed her yesterday."

My blood ran cold, but I didn't want to show that to Alpha Richard.

"Do you have her body here?" I asked, trying my best to keep my voice steady.

Alpha Richard shrugged.

"We burned it, along with any belongings she had when she came here."

I didn't know what else to say.

"Then I guess we'll thank you for your time." I said quietly and got up to leave.

"I did what is in my right. A Rogue criminal has no place in my pack." Alpha Richard shouted after me.

I turned around.

"So you executed a young girl without questions?"

I shook my head and left the office.

As I left the packhouse, my stomach dropped at the thought of telling George. The kid would be crushed. After all, it was his fault that she became a Rogue. How do you even recover from something like that? When I got back out to the cars, I was about to take my phone out to call Alpha Jordan. I stopped myself when I was approached by a male Omega.

"Are you gentlemen leaving so soon?" He asked, worried.

"Yeah, we didn't really get what we came here for." I said gently. It seemed like Alpha Richard and his pack members really did a number on their Omegas for him to behave to timidly around me. "Were you here about Elijah? Have you found him?" He whispered.

I frowned.

"No. We were looking for a Rogue girl. About 5'6, dark hair, pale skin and green eyes." I said. "She was trespassing here, but the Alpha said that he executed her."

The Omega shook his head.

"Rogue executions are usually public, and there had been no Rogue executions recently. I heard rumors that a Rogue has escaped from the dungeon, but the Alpha has tried his best to silence those rumors." I narrowed my eyes.

"So you're saying that the Alpha lied?"

The Omega shrugged.

"I don't know. All I know is that my roommate Elijah disappeared the same time a group of warriors were sent out to locate a Rogue that escaped. I overheard the warriors saying that they picked up their trail in the closest town west of here and they were heading south from there."

I stared at him.

"Are you thinking that Elijah escaped with her?" I asked.

"Just before he disappeared, Elijah asked me to cover his chores. He said that he found his mate. The same night they both go missing."

"And you're thinking that Elijah helped the Rogue girl escape because they're mates?" I finished.

The Omega nodded.

"Whatever you do, don't let them come back here. The punishment for escaping like that is really severe." He said with a worried expression on his face.

In that moment, I promised myself that neither of the would come back here ever again.

"Thank you." I said. "What's your name?"

"Lucas."

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" I asked.

Lucas shook his head.

"Just please replace him before the Midnight warriors do." He whispered.

Then he turned around and left.

I got in the car and told the driver to get out of there.

Once we crossed the border, I called Alpha Jordan.

Now that I knew that there might still be a possibility that Sally is alive, the phone call didn't feel that daunting anymore.

"I have good news, bad news and weird news." I said when Alpha Jordan answered. "Which one would you like to hear first?"

"Tell them any way you'd like, Joe." George said and I realized that I was on speaker.

"Well, the good news is that Sally is alive." I started. "The bad news is that she managed to escape their dungeon and a group of warriors from Midnight Pack is out there trying to hunt her down as we speak. The weird news is that she seems to have been aided in her escape by an Omega from the Midnight pack that disappeared along with her."

There was silence on the other end of the line and I waited for them to register what I had just said.

"Thank the goddess that she's alive!" George exclaimed. "Do you know where she could have gone? We have to replace her before they do."

"I got a hint about which direction we should look. Do you guys have a map?"

I heard shuffling on the phone while I pulled out a map of my own.

"Yeah, we've got the map out." I heard Alpha Jordan say.

"Okay. So apparently the warriors had picked up her trail in the town closest to the pack on the west side of the border. Do you see it?" I said. "We've got it." I heard Barry say.

"According to an Omega I talked to, the warriors followed her south."

"George, you're Sally's brother. Where do you think she would go if she went south from there? Where is she heading?" Alpha Jordan asked.

George was quiet for a while before he almost squealed.

"Caroville Science Park. It's a huge research center and she always talked about wanting to go there. If she went south from the Midnight Pack, she's probably headed there!"

I quickly told the driver to head south while I studied the map again. It was a long journey and they would have to stop several times on the way to rest.

I was just praying that we got to them before the Midnight warriors did.