The Rogues Who Went Rogue
Chapter 36

Everyone looked at Tate in confusion and disapproval, even Margaret herself. Phelton was ready to shift and attack if Tate decided to help his mate escape.

Tate ignored everyone and uttered in his mate's way, "I appreciate you opening up to me, truly. But I haven't been completely honest with you. The truth is..." Margaret's eyes turned wide as she waited. Tate swallowed a lump in his throat before saying, "The truth is that I knew you were rejected by an Alpha, not because Stella told me, but because I've been listening in on every one of your conversations in the station since the first day." Margaret blinked before she said, "And you're choosing to tell me this right now? You have a serious timing issue, Alpha. I'll deal with you later. Now, if you'll excuse me," she turned to face a dense forest and howled her lungs out.

Tate would worry about how Margaret was going to deal with him later, but the trace of humor he caught in her eyes was not just encouraging, it also made his heart flutter in happiness. She was warming up to him.

He and his animal watched their mate in pride as she howled another two more times across the field. When she was done, the rogues came into view in their wolf forms. The snarling and growling was a declaration that they were ready to attack. The lycan warriors and policemen took their positions. Only Tate seemed confident that everything was going to be fine, and he crossed his arms as he stood casually by Margaret's side, studying the wolves in curiosity rather than with defensiveness.

Margaret's eyes glazed over, and she linked her second-in-command, 'Azalea, we received an offer from the government: there's a new threat against them. If we help them uncover the culprit and get rid of the threat for good, they're pardoning us over all crimes we've committed in the past. I'm going to get everyone to stand down and shift back!

Azalea, the grey wolf leading the rest snarled and said, 'Like hell you are! We didn't know where you went for days! These creatures took you and the others, and now they're forcing us to work for them? And where is Stella?!"

'Stella is fine. She's with the king and queen. And they-'

'SHE'S WHAT?! AND YOU LEFT HER THERE?!'

Margaret lost her patience, and she took a step forward as she growled to remind them who was in-charge. Some of the warriors were beginning to surround her, suspecting that she may be trying to escape.

Margaret linked her people through their pack-link, 'We are boarding this jet and helping the government. In exchange, we're freed from death or any other sort of punishment they can impose for everything we had to do to survive. No more running and hiding. We help them, and they help us. If any of you choose to walk away from this, these creatures around me will kill you. We can't outrun lycans!

Azalea argued, 'That doesn't mean we shouldn't try!' And she received support from a few others around her, but the rest were already siding with Margaret.

Azalea continued to shout through the link, 'They've tried to exterminate us in every possible way for YEARS! And now they're offering us this?! It's stupid to think that they want to help us! How do we know this isn't just some plan to coop us up in some cell before killing all of us at one-go?!'

Margaret yelled back, 'Azalea, shut up! If they wanted to kill us, they would've attacked by now. Do you see any of them attacking?!'

A moment of silence. 'Stand down and shift back. We can't win this. Trying is stupid. Any attempt to run will be futile, not just because these are lycans, but because these lycans have been trained by Gamma Paw!'

A few rogues whimpered and instinctively took steps back at the mention of 'Gamma Paw'. Azalea stood her ground but her voice got softer and unsure when she linked, 'That's not possible. No lycan would ever be trained by a wolf. Their ego forbids it. It always has! Margaret scoffed, then explained, 'Yeah, funny story. It turns out Gamma Paw is a woman and is bonded to the king, which makes her our queen today!

Another rogue, Zane exclaimed in shock, 'Holy shit, that's a major plot twist! Can't believe we've been running from a girl all these years!'

Margaret and Azalea hit back in unison, 'What's that supposed to mean?!'

'Nothing. Nothing. I take that back. It was absolutely nothing!'

Azalea's heart raced, and her mind went through all the people they lost when some of their pack members ran through any wolf pack which Paw had touched. When her eyes returned to Margaret, she noticed Tate. Registering how his soft gaze kept replaceing its way back to Margaret when everyone else's fixed glower was on her and the people with her, Azalea put two-and-two together and linked, 'That's your second-chance mate, isn't it, Margo?'

Her teasing question changed the atmosphere in their link completely. Margaret tried to mask her embarrassment by responding, 'That's not relevant, Az. Wha-'

'So that's why you're so sure this isn't a trap. This one must be different.'

'Az, that's a topic for another time. Tate is jus-'

'Tate, eh?' Azalea chuckled through the link when she noticed how the usually-cold leader said that name with a degree of gentleness. Azalea was the first to go behind a tree to shift back as she linked in the same teasing voice, 'C'mon, people. Let's shift back. Don't want to embarrass our leader in front of her new boyfriend.'

'A bonded mate is not necessarily a boyfriend, Az, Margaret retorted as Azalea and the rest shifted back and dressed up.

Zane, for some reason, saw the need to add, 'This day just gets more and more interesting. I wonder if there'll be more plot twists today. Good plot twists, that is. Can't believe Gamma Paw is a girl. Did you meet her?' He asked as he pulled up his pants. 'Yes,' Margaret entertained one of the earlier friends she made.

'Cool. Is she like how we imagine? Big, scary, kill-on-sight kind of creature?'

'No,' Margaret covered her face in embarrassment for a split second before she pestered, 'Would you guys hurry up?'

'Is she pretty at least?' Zane continued to ask.

Azalea scoffed and stepped out from behind the tree as she said aloud, "Zane, you do know you're talking about a queen? A married woman?"

"Az, it's not like I want to hit on her or anything. And in the midst of all this bad, we've got to talk about some lighter things every once in a while. It keeps any sane creature sane."

Azalea, Zane and a few more senior rogues were more confident in approaching the authorities because they trusted Margaret, and she didn't sound anything less than firm when she ordered them to shift back and step forward. The new ones were still considering running away, but the fact that these were Gamma Paw-trained lycans made them abort their plan to escape.

Once they were all before Margaret, Azalea gave her a hug before she registered Tate's aura. Her eyes went back to her leader and she noted, "Looks like you were destined to be a Luna after all. Good luck, sis. We'll be right here with you." Her grey eyes shifted to the jet as she said, "Ooo...nice ride."

Before she took another step, a straight-faced Dalloway stood in her way and ordered the twenty rogues to raise their right hand for his men to fasten the silver bracelet around their wrists.

Tate was going to ask Dalloway to consider losing the bracelets but Phelton whispered into his ear, "It's a precaution, Alpha Tate. We pledged to the Crown that we'll get these creatures back without harming anyone. We don't want any accidents during the flight. Not only would we never forgive ourselves if we let our guard down, our queen wouldn't be able to forgive herself if lives were lost because of her decision to authorize this extraction."

That definitely made Tate seal his lips. Phelton was right. They couldn't risk everyone's safety, especially when they had just met the rogues. On the plane, most of the rogues were still constantly looking over their shoulders, internally terrified. Azalea and Zane, on the other hand, called dibs on window seats and chatted about the view like they weren't just arrested by the creatures they had been running away from for most of their lives.

Despite already being told that Margaret and Stella had no other family members, what Azalea said earlier made Tate ask, "Is she your sister?"