Raptio: The Ritual Abductions of Humans by Werewolves

Chapter 22

‘Rogues?’ I asked.

I felt Patrick sigh underneath me before he went on.

‘These are werewolves, Lia, just like us. Except for whatever reason, they lost themselves to insanity.’

‘They reject their human counterpart, psychologically, and almost never morph into their human self again. Too weak. ‘

‘But why? How could they lose themselves?’

‘Trauma. Rejection. Mental Illness. There’s a whole f****** list,’ spat Grayson. He grabbed the wolves paws and began dragging it along the ground, its neck at an odd angle. I shivered in disgust.

‘I’ll take you inside,’ Patrick said softly.

Sitting in the kitchen, eating soup, I watched out the window as everyone, one by one returned. Reynard, Sean, Conlan and Ross all joined Grayson and Patrick, bringing with them dead bodies. Eight of them in total, lay in a heap in the middle of the yard. I was too far away to see, but I knew that the other wolves looked exactly like the two wolves that tried to attack us; malnourished, crazed and in bloody pieces after the pack dealt with them.

Suddenly, Eric appeared, walking towards the guys with his domineering aura but also authoritativeness. He motioned to the bodies and Reynard began speaking. Before he had even finished, Eric flew forward and grabbed him by the neck, looking infuriated. I jumped up in fright and rushed outside.

Eric was screaming at Reynard, spitting in his face as I neared.

‘HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID? SHE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED YOU IDIOT.’

‘She was fine. We acted swiftly and accordingly to the situation at hand. There was no danger to Lia.’ Reynard said , surprising me with his very tactical speech.

‘NO DANGER. NO DANGER. THERE WAS A PACK OF ROGUES, TWO OF THEM AFTER HER, YOU DON’T THINK…..’

‘ERIC,’ I yelled. His muscles tensed, before he turned to me, his eyes looked all over my body making me blush.

‘Enough. I’m fine. They protected me, all of them.’ I said honestly, looking straight into his eyes.

‘Let him go.’

After a moment or so, Eric pushed Reynard away from him. He stalked towards me, all 6 ft of him towering over.

‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ he asked sincerely.

‘Yes I’m fine.’ I mollified.

He let out a deep breath, his eyes for a second looking so vulnerable before they closed over. He turned to the pack and began talking.

‘Ross. Conlan. Go down to the station and put out an alert – sighting of a rogue wolf. The forests are off limits until further notice. Patrick, contact the other omegas. Tell them that we need to do an entire search of the area, destroy any rogues wolves numbering in groups less than three. If they are any larger, hold on until more back up arrives. Reynard, you will take six up into the north. Grayson, you take the south. I will take the east and Alpha Nate will take the west. Conlan, at 6 tonight, put up a perimeter around the border of the town, in human form and no more than one person every 20 metres. Ross, you will go in wolf-form and take several omegas and set up a patrol around 30 metres within the forest border tonight as well. Patrick and Donald stay here with Lia and set up a logistics and communication post. Have the Jamie and the doctor on standby should there be any casualties. We’ve got a long day and night ahead of us so let’s get to work.’

In a flurry, everyone rushed to do their tasks. Conlan and Ross transformed into wolves and began bounding towards the forests before disappearing. Patrick grabbed my arm and began pulling me towards the house.

For the next few hours, the phone wouldn’t stop buzzing, Patrick furiously typed away on the computer while Donald was in direct contact with Conlan and the others that were defending the town. It was 8 o’clock and the search was still going strong. Three others rogues wolves had been found and eliminated.

‘How did they get through?’ Patrick snapped. Donald looked up from the maps and shrugged.

‘Not sure. It happens Patrick.’

‘No. It doesn’t, just happens. Not to us. Do you think it had anything to do with that phone call meeting with the Council.’

‘The Council?’ I asked, suddenly very interested.

‘It’s like our governing body. And no I don’t think it has anything to do with the council. What would their relation be to a pack of rogue wolves?’ Donald raised his eyebrows. Patrick spun back to the computer.

The phone broke the tension and Donald answered, putting it on speaker.

‘Alpha Nathan.’

‘Hello Donald. As you know, Reynard’s group tracked one scent pathway to the highway road between the mountains, that’s where we think they got access.

‘But how that highway is constantly patrolled, someone would’ve noticed something.’

Nathan sighed.

‘Not constantly.’

‘Alpha?’ Donald inquired.

‘Last week we got a call from Oliver Caine of the Council, requesting the use of the Cabins and surrounding land. We haven’t been told the nature of it, only that it was highly important. Eric and I called off the afternoon patrol so that the council could sneak in and leave. We think that the rogues may have used the cover of the council’s trip to enter.’

‘That’s bull. The council can’t handle the fact that we are one the most powerful and most respected packs in the country. They are trying to bring us down.’ Patrick said angrily.

‘I trust Oliver, Patrick. However, we have traced the other scent pathway.’

‘Where does it lead, Alpha?’ Donald questioned.

‘The Cabins.’