Chapter Five: Because You're Special

Tiberius POV

The pawnshop was a dirty, dingy little place. While Cai worked his magic with the sales clerk- a slim woman with more tattoos than I had teeth- I browsed. Perhaps it was foolish of me, but I thought if I perused long enough, I might find something with her scent on it. Something to take with me and feel closer to the girl- at least until I found her and made her mine, truly.

Cai thanked the woman and met my eye, jerking his head to the door in a silent, ‘let’s go.’

“What’d you find out?” I asked as soon as we were free of the shop.

Cai frowned, and I lost hope for a quick search. “The mailing address they gave is a post office box in Kentucky,” he said. “They said they do a lot of moving around. Equated themselves to American Pickers.”

I frowned. “How long have they been sighted in this area?”

“A month or so,” Cai replied. “Doesn’t mean much. They could be here for a while or gone tomorrow. That’s just how it is with rogues.” He looked at me with worry when I growled at the thought. “Don’t worry, man, I’m sure we’ll find her. I’ve got Kairo pulling some strings, too.”

I nodded but didn’t feel very reassured. When Cai’s phone rang, I hopped in the driver’s seat and shut myself in, starting the car. I didn’t want to hear the other side of Cai’s conversation- it could have been nothing, or it could have been about her. Or her friends. Either way, she was driving me mad without even having the chance to meet her. I rested my head on the steering wheel until Cai joined me in the car.

“That was Kairo,” he said. “He searched for the name that the rogue from last night applied for his contracting job with. He got some hits.”

“What did he find?” I asked, switching into drive. There wasn’t too much of a drive home; only fifteen or twenty minutes.

“I think it’s best you see it,” Cai said with a grimace. “You’re not going to be happy.”

I wasn’t happy regardless. Roughly eighteen minutes in a car with Cai was a miserable affair. He talked about everything under the sun to keep me distracted from thoughts about the mysterious ‘her,’ and it only served to irritate me. When we finally made it to our family home, I opened the door and blew into dad’s office. Dad was busy at the packhouse today, but I knew it was more than likely where Kairo, our eldest brother, had set up.

I was right.

“Ty, congratulations on meeting your mate,” he said, without peeling his eyes from the computer. “Though, the circumstances kind of suck.”

I growled. He chuckled. It only irritated me more. “What did you find on the male?” I asked.

He pulled up a report with a photo. It looked old- he was slimmer in the photo, more pubescent, with scared eyes. It was a still from security camera footage, in which he was using bolt cutters to remove a rather large chain lock from some kind of large chain link fence. The report was titled ‘Case #1123745: Unlawful Trespass onto Tupelo, Mississippi Impound.’ “That’s not all,” he said, pulling up the next report. ‘Case #1278390: Assault and Battery, Armed Robbery, Breaking and Entering.’ Then, the next. ‘Case #4598322: Breaking and Entering, Kidnapping, Armed Robbery, Assault and Battery.’

The name for all three cases was Kyle Tubresco. The attached photos were undoubtedly the man that my mate had carried to their truck.

“I think the worst news of all is that he was too stupid to change his name,” Kairo muttered under his breath.

Cai punched his arm. “Not helpful.” He looked to me with a look of worry, “How you taking this, bro?”

I was seething.

I didn’t know his relation to my mate, but the fact that she was associated with such a despicable character was… a red flag. That was an understatement. It was practically a dealbreaker. She would have to have one hell of a story in order for the pack to overlook this.

“If you need a minute, take one now, Ty,” Kairo said, “Because that’s not all.”

“How much more could there be?” Cai muttered, “That’s already three outstanding warrants.”

“This is arguably worse.” Kairo frowned, tossing me a glance for the first time since I’d entered the room. “I hacked Beta Mateo’s database-”

“Dude, you have got to stop doing that,” Cai said. “Last time Alpha found out, you nearly got skinned alive.”

“Yeah, well, they should stop setting their passwords as their pup’s birthdays,” Kairo replied with a dismissive shrug. “The Alphas and Betas have access to the Alpha Council’s list of Rogue Wolves. Unsurprisingly, our boy Kyle is on there. Surprisingly, he’s not alone.”

“What do you mean? Did you find her?” I asked, grabbing the back of his chair, and leaning forward anxiously.

“No,” Kairo said, pushing me away. “But there’s a flagging system. See these colors out to the side? Green is relatively safe. These are rogues exiled by a disbanded pack, or rogues that left of their own volition. There’s yellow- these are rogues exiled for committing crimes against their alpha. The crimes, in the case of a yellow flag, are usually pretty mild. Theft, adultery, breach of pack confidentiality-”

“Breach of Pack Confidentiality is considered mild?” Cai asked.

“Compared to the red-flag crimes, yes,” Kairo replied. He was already looking like he was tired of being interrupted. “The red flag crimes are worse. s*x crimes, murder, kidnapping, violent acts, things like that. You will see our boy here is black.”

“That’s not on the scale,” I said.

“Yes,” Kairo, “Because he’s on the Alpha Council’s most wanted list.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Is she on there?”

“You are so one-track minded,” Cai said, shooting me a glare. “What put him there?”

“Being related to this man,” Kairo said. After a series of clicks, another image came up on the screen. “Rhyner Stolwort. He’s said to have ended at least three small packs.”

“Ended?” I repeated.

“Wiped out. Destroyed. Obliterated,” Kairo said. “This man kills indiscriminately when people get in his way- and the smallest of infractions can set him off. He’s being held responsible for the disintegration of the Russet Red Wolf Pack, the Harvest Moon Pack, and the Lunar Lycan Pack.”

“Harvest Moon Pack…” Cai muttered. “Why does that sound so familiar?”

“It’s the pack our own Elba Windsor came from,” Kairo replied.

My eyebrows shot up. Elba Windsor was an omega that worked in the packhouse. Not only had she lost her mate alongside her pack, but she also very nearly died that night. Her parents were from our pack, so she returned to us after the fact, but she never really recovered. A lot of buildings had burned down, to my understanding, and she’d been trapped in one for a while. The smoke did irreparable damage to her throat and vocal cords. She was covered in burn scars, and when she talked, she croaked out words. Of course, she’d come to us when I was just a pup, but I remembered being terrified of her when I was younger.

Now, I only pitied the woman. She was just a shell of her former self.

And the man on the screen had done this to her.

“How are you taking this, Ty?” Cai asked.

I shook my head, “It’s… hard to believe.”

“Anyone would have a hard time believing it,” Kairo replied. “This guy, Rhyner, doesn’t have any alpha blood in him, but he goes by Alpha Rhyner, and he leads a rogue pack. They call themselves the Blood Fangs. They’re absolutely vicious. If they’re in the area, we need to act sooner rather than later,” he turned to face me, his expression grim. “We have to take this information to Alpha Servando.”

Amelia POV

Three days passed miserably. Alpha Rhyner hadn’t followed through on getting me a television- I was sure that was long forgotten now- and I finished the books Birdie had just got me by the middle of the second day. That was also when I ran out of food.

My stomach growled. I knew Alpha Rhyner would be stopping in shortly to lecture me one final time before letting me free. I wondered who I would talk to first. I’d decided not to mention the mate thing to Rhyner or Dale, but I could ask Birdie about it. She was the most likely to actually talk to me about it, rather than blowing it off and telling me to get my head out of the clouds.

I checked the fridge again, as if I might have missed something the first couple of checks.

I hadn’t.

I sighed, peering out my kitchen window. The windows on my trailer were tiny, and rarely pointed towards anything interesting. I could see the backside of the trailer behind me, and the central fire area, which was deserted at the moment. I groaned.

Just because Alpha Rhyner had said he would release me after three days, didn’t necessarily mean that was the case either. Sometimes, he forgot. I could only lie there and hope Dale reminded him. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.

I lay down in my bed, and must have dozed off, because I woke with a start to my front door opening. I jerked upright, then bolted to my feet. “Alpha?” I asked, peering out of the bedroom curtain.

He stood examining my bookshelves, then cast me a stare that was clearly displeased. “Amelia. Have I not done well by you? Have I left you wanting in any way?”

“No, Alpha,” the pit of guilt already forming. I left my bedroom to join him in the main body of the trailer, lingering by the kitchenette.

“I’m just trying to wrap my head around why you want to leave this camp so badly,” he said, sitting down.

The words stung. “Of course, you've given me a home... almost anything I could ask for,” I said. “It’s just… I feel like I’m missing out on so much life. Look at Birdie- she gets to go to parties, drink, meet people her age. If she can, why can’t I?”

“You know why,” Alpha said. “Because you’re special.”

“Then I don’t want to be special,” I replied. “I mean, who even outside of this camp knows that I’m special? Can pack wolves smell it on me? If I act like a normal girl, then maybe they’ll just leave me alone.”

“They would never leave you alone,” Rhyner said with a scowl. “Because you’re in with me and mine, and our pack ain’t like other packs. They’ve got generations worth of money and land and connections with humans… and we… well. We’ve got you.”

“And I’m not going anywhere,” I said, softly. “I just want the chance to explore. See the town. Experience life.” I hesitated, then added softly, “If I did, I wouldn’t have to sneak around to do it, you know?”

Rhyner groaned. “You got me there." He ran a hand through his hair, looking defeated. "Fine. One outing a week, supervised by a wolf of my choosing. And if anything happens, you can kiss the privilege goodbye, so you’d better be on your toes.”

I could’ve flown through the roof, I was so elated. “Thank you, Alpha!” I said, approaching him quickly and giving him a peck on the cheek. “If it’s all the same to you, do you think I could go somewhere tomorrow?”

Rhyner stood and groaned again, running a hand through his hair. “Where do you want to go?”

“A bookstore,” I said, without hesitation. I’d always wanted to peruse one on my own, to be able to choose my own books, instead of having someone choose for me. “Just for a bit.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll get with Dale to get you an allowance,” Rhyner said. “And I’ll have Kyle go with you.”

“Thank you, Alpha! I’ll be sure not to disappoint you!”

His expression was almost a glower when he replied, “I’m sure you won’t.”