Luna of Rogues

Part 76 - The Price of Peace

One of them I knew personally — Zach, Alpha Asshole of the Asshole Pack. In reality, he led the least prejudiced pack I had ever met. But he was glaring at me now, and not in his normal, friendly way.

His cousin, Jaden, was also looking suitably pissed off. I remembered the names of all the rest: Cornell from Lowland, Jackson from Ember, Chris from Pine Forest and—

"You tried to kill me," I snarled at Keith.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He was a tall, lean man with dark eyes. Cowardly, but sly about it.

"Yes, you do," Jace sighed. "She knows it, I know it, the whole damn army knows it."

Keith took a second to decide if he should remain incredulous or admit to everything. Fortunately, he settled on the latter. "Fine. It's true. Jace had been making excuses for months, trying to shirk out of our deal, and I got tired of it. I'm just sorry that my man failed."

"And was it you who imprisoned those hunters?" I asked, with a sneaking glance at Cassidy. She was scowling next to her mate.

"Well ... yes. The ransom for Malcolm's men was your head. Then you mucked it all up by freeing them."

"Which is when Jace finally decided to keep his promise," I finished. It was all starting to make sense.

The other Alphas weren't looking terribly pleased with this conversation — their kind really can't stand being ignored. When Jaden started tapping his foot impatiently, I spat at his feet.

"As for the lot of you lying cowards, you didn't even have the guts to fight me openly — hiding behind a pack war to disguise what you were doing. Are we really so terrifying?"

Keith scowled. "You have no morals, no inhibitions. Need I mention what happened with the ferals?"

"I won't apologise for that. I would have set the whole world on fire if it meant my family was safe." It took every ounce of my willpower to smirk at them all. "Maybe I still will."

"You lost, Skye," Jace said, not ungently. "It's over."

"It will never be over. We're still breathing and free — and you won't get away with this. What's a fitting punishment for destroying my home and killing my people without provocation?"

"You were a danger to us. A threat that needed to be removed. When rogues gather in such large numbers, they put every lawful pack at risk," another of the Alphas argued.

I rounded on him. "Bullshit. We're not hurting anyone. You want to know what I think? You hear the word rogue and you stop listening."

"That's because the definition of the word rogue is dishonest and unprincipled. There's a reason we kick you out of our packs. How many murderers have you got in that castle, Skye?" Jace asked.

"A few," I admitted. "But more who did nothing wrong. We all have a story — a reason we went rogue. I was half-starved and outcast in your world."

I hadn't noticed my family arrive until Fion spoke up. "My parents beat me every day. No one lifted a finger to stop it until Rhodric showed up."

"I was a miserable kid. You've met my parents," Leo said by way of explanation.

"Ollie and his mother had to leave their pack when he was only a few weeks old," Fion continued, "because she refused to sleep with the Alpha, and he wasn't taking it very well."

She gave Keith a very pointed look. I didn't fail to notice when he coughed and averted his eyes.

"Ryker and Emmett, whom you tortured, were beaten within an inch of their lives for being gay." That had actually been a rogue group, but I saw no reason to disclose that to the douchebag Alphas. "Sammy was born into this life — and lost both of his parents to pack justice when they wandered over a border."