The Blacklisted Rogue
Chapter 34

One week earlier.

*

Alpha Hudson POV

Luke knocked before he entered my office.

"How's things coming?" He asked.

I sighed.

"I have prepared all the necessary documents and my statement. It's probably ready to be presented to the Elders tomorrow." I replied.

"Good." Luke smiled. "I'm kinda nervous, this is the biggest law change in pack history. They have to consider at least some of it. This pack will perish without it. I nodded.

"Thank you for all your help, Luke." I said. "You have been doing an amazing job with the petitions and research. I could never have done this without you." Luke shrugged.

"I lost my family because of this idiocy. No one should ever have to go through that again."

"I'm really sorry that I banished Sally. I didn't want to." I said, looking down in my lap.

"You have nothing to be sorry about."

Luke walked around the desk and patted my back.

"At the end of the day, the Elders are running this pack as they please and are using you and your wolf as a puppet to enforce their own agenda. There was nothing you could have done. At least, you got her off the Blacklist." "Have you heard anything from George if they managed to locate Sally?" I asked.

Luke shook his head.

"We decided not to stay in contact. It might get complicated if someone found out. But I hope they both are okay."

"Alpha, your presence is demanded by the Elders."

The mind-link surprised me.

"I just got a mind-link saying that the Elders want to see me." I said.

Luke frowned.

"But we haven't handed over the motion yet."

I shrugged.

"I'll go check."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Luke asked.

"No, you can go home."

Luke grimaced and I frowned.

"That bad with your parents, huh?"

Luke rubbed his forehead tiredly.

"Yeah, the place doesn't feel like home without George and Sally. Mom and dad just pretend like they never existed and it's driving me crazy."

We walked out of my office together.

"It'll be fine." I tried to reassure him. "I think that once we get the laws in order and people might have a change of views around here, maybe they can see the error of their ways." Luke shrugged.

"I hope so. Anyway, good luck, man!"

I walked to the courtroom where they wanted to meet.

When I opened the door, I felt something hit the back of my neck.

My knees buckled under me and it felt like someone had set my body on fire. I grasped my neck and looked up.

My uncle Rob was standing over me, a syringe in his hand.

The burning feeling spread throughout my body and I realized that I had been injected with Wolfsbane.

"Wh-what are you doing?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"You have failed as an Alpha, Hudson." He smirked.

I looked toward the Elders. A small group of about ten people were kneeling in front of them.

When I saw who they were, I noticed that they had all signed the petition that Luke and I have been preparing.

"Alpha Hudson." One of the Elders spoke. "Is it true what they are saying? Have you been trying to overthrow us?"

I felt my wolf slipping away. Uncle Rob must have injected me with quite a big dose.

"I-I wa-was going to ha-hand over the pe-tition tomorrow." I gasped, desperately trying not to cry out in pain. "Bu-But not to ov-overthrow you. To change this pa-pack and ma-ke it be-tter for ev-everyone." I glanced at the faces of the Elders, they all looked enraged.

"You have failed as an Alpha." One of them declared. "You will be suspended and imprisoned until a full investigation is complete."

Before I could say anything, uncle Rob pulled me up by my arms and dragged me away.

I tried to fight him, but it was hard as the Wolfsbane weakened me.

Rob walked me to the holding cells and pushed me inside one of them.

I flinched at his harsh treatment and glared at him.

"Why are you doing th-this?" I asked.

Rob looked at me with an emotionless expression.

"My son was murdered." He said. "And not only have you tried to change the pack laws into making his actions criminal, you took down his murderer's registration on the Blacklist!"

"I'm sorry about Tommy." I whispered. "But it's not right to-to do what he did."

"HE WAS AN ALPHA!" Rob roared.

"SO AM I!" I roared back. "And I still would never prey on someone smaller and weaker than myself no matter what."

Rob smirked.

"This is why you don't have a mate yet, Hudson." He said. "That way of thinking makes you weak. You have to take what you want, because you are an Alpha and they should respect you." I stared at him.

His comment really stung. I know I hadn't found my mate yet, but I refused to give up hope that she was out there.

"Now, you will pay the price." Rob finished.

Then he walked away and left me writhing in pain on the floor.

After a while, the pain subsided enough for me to sit up and lean again the closest wall by the cell door.

I didn't know how long I had been there when I heard the door open and someone walked down the hall. I tried to peek through the bars of the cell door, but I couldn't see until they came closer. When I saw who it was, I paled.

Two warriors opened the door to the cell opposite to mine and threw Luke inside roughly. He landed on the ground with a groan while the warriors locked the door and walked away.

"Luke." I hissed. "Are you okay?"

"It-It hurts like a b*tch!" He growled.

"Just rest, and it will feel better after a while." I shrugged.

I was a little worried. The petition was in my office. If they got their hands on it, would it mean that they would hurt anyone that had signed their name there? There were a lot of pack members, they couldn't possibly hurt them all. Right?

We sat in silence for a while, just waiting for the pain to subside.

After what seemed like hours, Luke sat up.

"I think we're in trouble, man." He said.

I nodded.

"Yeah, this is bad." I admitted. "If they think they can just throw their own Alpha in prison like some Rogue, Goddess knows what else they could do."

"Do you have a plan?" Luke asked.

I shook my head.

"I'm still working on it, but honestly, I have no idea what we are dealing with right now."

We were interrupted by footsteps approaching.

Luke and I exchanged glances.

When the person stopped outside our cells, I felt my heart sink.

It was my father.

"What are you doing, Hudson?" He asked. "Why did you have to go piss off the Elders like that?"

I crawled up to the bars.

"Because it's the right thing to do." I said, looking up at him.

"You're an Alpha, Hudson. You have the privilege to be a strong wolf. If you don't learn to please the right people, your rank does not matter." My father said.

I shook my head.

"I don'tcare about rank. I swore to protect the members of this pack." I retorted. "Yes, I am an Alpha. That means that I should protect everyone, not use them for my own benefit. How can I be Alpha if I won't fight for what is right? THAT is how you earn respect. A real Alpha doesn't need to demand respect if he has earned it already."

My father was silent for a moment.

"So what is right, Hudson?" He asked. "What do you think is right?"

I thought about his question for a moment.

"I think it's right to recognize everyone's importance in a pack. The Omegas are constantly picked on by everybody, but we still rely on them to make breakfast for us every morning. The warriors are constantly told what to do, ordered like controlled robots. I wonder what kind of tactical ideas we could replace among them if we just cared to listen.

What if we didn't have them? What if they all decided to go somewhere else or set up a pack of their own? What would we be without them? Nothing! So why are we treating our own pack members as sh*t?

An Alpha wolf is killed for taking advantage of a girl. Shouldn't the girl have a right to save herself for her mate? Tommy and Sally were not mates. Who is Tommy to take that opportunity from Sally? He is not the Moon Goddess and still he believed that he could take Sally from her destined mate without her consent. And yet, our pack laws support his actions because he's an Alpha. That's what I want to change."

I glanced at Luke and saw that he smiled at me.

My father reached through the bars and took my hand.

"I'm not going to pretend to ignore the amount of trouble you just got yourself into." He said quietly. "But you should know that I am really proud of you. The Elders have been running the pack for too long. The Alpha has been used as an executioner for generations. I'm glad that you found the strength to stand up to them, because I never did. I was a coward."

I smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

"Thanks dad." I said.

"I will talk to the council about releasing you. I hope you figure out a plan in the meantime."

"Have they searched my office yet?" I asked.

My father shook his head.

"Can you do something for me?" I pleaded. "In the top desk drawer is a file with the petition for changing the pack laws. I'm afraid what will happen if they replace the list of people supporting me." My father nodded.

"I got it. Don't worry, Hudson. They won't get another opportunity to hurt anyone else."

He quickly left and I heaved a sigh of relief, hoping that he wouldn't put himself in danger to help me.