The Rogues Who Went Rogue
Chapter 35

Margaret answered Tate's question casually, "Blue Crescent slaughtered ten of our elders about nine years ago. A year after that, Blood Eclipse killed about fifteen. We ran into Midnight completely by accident and lost another eight. White Blood killed seven out of eight. The last one came back severely traumatized. And the last run-in we had with a pack was with the wolves from Forest Gloom three years ago. We lost two." Wow. Every alliance member made it to the list. Tate scratched the back of his head and was thinking hard on the best way to respond.

"There's really no hard feelings," Margaret noted when she noticed Tate's uneasiness. After registering Tate's confusion, she explained, "The ones you guys killed were stupid to say the least. They do no research because their ego forbids them to ask around or send a wolf or two to check out the level of danger before striking. They were, by no means, careful when they snuck through packs, running through them like it was their territory. And, the most infuriating thing about them was that they didn't know when to retreat. They'd just stubbornly hold their ground and threaten their followers with punishment if they had the brains to know that retreating was the best way forward. Idiots, really. So, you and your friends have actually helped my pack get rid of a lot of unwanted creatures with unneeded opinions. The downside is that some good ones were also killed in the process because they couldn't escape fast enough. But they were stupid for following in the first place, so...there really is no hard feelings."

Tate let out the breath he had been holding onto. That was a relief to know. But the question was, "Why did you guys attack? What did you want?"

Margaret shifted in her seat and one hand clutched the hem of her shirt when she cleared her throat and uttered, "For our pack, most of the time, it's just supplies. It kind of sucks to just eat sick animals all the time. And we can't touch the healthy ones, of course, becau-" "The hunters would kill you."

"Yeah. That new law never stopped the elders but it sure stopped me. The right that the kingdom gave hunters to hunt down any wolf who feeds on healthy herbivores without contractual agreement?" Margaret shakes her head. "It's like it was put there to sniff us out and get rid of us."

"It was," Tate muttered, recalling the meeting he attended with other Alphas and Gammas several years back in a mediation with the hunters.

"Well, it worked for sometime. Lots of rogue packs we knew were lost," Margaret said.

Tate knew. Everyone knew. It was considered a small victory for non-rogues everywhere. Lucianne and Toby even joked about how they might befriend hunters one day for helping them get rid of a notable part of the rogue population.
Margaret answered Tate's question casually, "Blue Crescent slaughtered ten of our elders about nine years ago. A year after that, Blood Eclipse killed about fifteen. We ran into Midnight completely by accident and lost another eight. White Blood killed seven out of eight. The last one came back severely traumatized. And the last run-in we had with a pack was with the wolves from Forest Gloom three years ago. We lost two."

"I'm really sorry," Tate muttered.

Margaret met his guilty eyes before averting them. She continued pitching the hem of her shirt as she forced a small smile and murmured, "You didn't know. Before I became a rogue, I was also hardwired to hate every wolf who didn't belong to a pack, to look at them in disdain, to show them no sympathy or empathy. I was brought up to believe that, if no one wanted them, there had to be something wrong with them. I was taught that all rogues attacked for the pleasure of destroying our pack and murdering our warriors and pack leaders."

She heaved a sigh, and continued, "But nothing could be further from the truth. I've met a few good ones leading rogue packs throughout the years. They never wanted any trouble. They just wanted to be safe, and to...survive. The more optimistic ones even replace little ways to be content with whatever they have. It's not that no pack would want them, they just...don't see the need to...beg to be taken care of, to be accepted, to plead allegiance to a pack leader who might one day turn against them if an alliance is formed with their former pack leaders."

Margaret took a leap of faith and held Tate's gaze for the first time as she said, "What I'm saying is, if I hadn't left my pack, I would've done whatever you and your allies have been doing, kill rogues on sight. Because we've never been taught the other side of the coin. How would anyone expect us to see it?"

Tate got lost in her rosewood eyes for a moment before he uttered in a pained whisper, "I just wish it didn't take you becoming a rogue for one of us to see it."

Margaret's lips curled up at his sincerity. "But it did. There's no way to change that. Besides...only a rogue would know that side of the coin. I...do mind being tossed out, but I don't mind what it has taught me. I used to be so...reliant on the people around me. I used to think that I wouldn't survive a day without my family and friends, especially friends I trusted with every secret and fear. Only after I was forced to leave did I realize that...I was stronger than I gave myself credit for. And I get stronger each day, driven by nothing more than a sheer will to survive. I thought I wouldn't last a day after the rejection. But I did, and that gave me a little hope. Then I lasted another day, and I began to wonder whether I could last a week. When I did, I saw that I could last a month, then a year, even with a child."

She heaved a sigh and admitted with glistening eyes, "I don't like what happened to me. I really don't. I hate it. I hate that it had to be me. But I can't deny that...it has taught me something, something that, I feel, no other experience could have taught me. I never thought I could lead a pack, that's a given, and I planned to just stand by my first mate's side and look pretty as his Luna. I never saw myself as a leader. Being a rogue changed that."

After trying but failing to swallow a sniffle and wiping away her tears, she chuckled depressingly as she said, "I used to be a sweet, bubbly creature-pleaser. After I got tossed out, let me tell you, I became a Grade A bitch, especially after I had Stella. I wasn't just defensive, I became selfish, even cruel at one point. It wasn't until I met those few good rogues did I change my perception. Just because I was a rogue, it didn't mean I had to behave like the bad batch. Like the good ones, I could choose to be a little different." She shook her head slightly as she reminisced about her childhood and teenage years before she muttered, "If you met me fourteen years ago, you wouldn't recognize me. I'm just...not a nice creature anymore."

Tate gently took her hand and pecked a kiss on the back before he spoke with a wide smile, "I'm glad."

Margaret was too stunned to move. When Tate started stroking her hand lovingly, she was brought out of her daze and slowly retracted her hand, trying not to show how much she enjoyed the feeling when his skin brushed against hers.

She averted her eyes again and hung her head low. Tate admired her slightly pink cheeks as he thought about what a great Luna Margaret would make. A single mother who had to raise her pup all on her own while rising through the ranks as the leader of a rogue pack which was still surviving when other rogues led by males were eliminated throughout the years. She was truly something phenomenal.

The jet landed, and the whole party escorted Margaret out with Tate by her side. Once everyone had stopped on the field, Chief Dalloway repeated a warning as he held a key before her cuffs, "As explained in the station, the sole purpose of temporarily removing the handcuffs is for you to calm your followers, and to ensure that we bring them back to the kingdom without bloodshed. If, at any point in time, you turn against what was agreed, we have full authorization to kill you and your followers on behalf of the Crown." Tate's wolf tried to push forward at the word 'kill', despite knowing that Dalloway was a trusted figure. Margaret nodded with an emotionless face and muttered, "Understood."

The cuffs were off, and right before Margaret howled to summon her people, Tate said, "Wait, Margaret. I need to tell you something."