Wolf Tech 5

Chapter 2 - Loners

Reaching the area that they had placed the Loners to recover, Ethan lead him to one room, and opened the door. That it wasn't locked showed how much that one was being trusted. Adam quietly asked Ethan to get one of the elders that had been in Night Depths, so that he could have confirmation.

"Alpha," the wolf bared his throat in submission, "When Ethan got my name, why did he run off?"

Adam sat in a chair facing the wolf, "Well, Keefe, you are one of those we consider 'lost'. We have been trying to track down all the wolves that 'Alpha Night' had kicked out, since I defeated him over eight years ago. He decided to kill himself, and the pack decided to declare me Alpha."

Keefe sat there, stunned, "Night dead..." he whispered, "But this is Wild Valley Pack, not Night Depths." He complained.

"Night Depths died with Alpha Night." Elise answered, walking into the room. Adam vacated his seat for the elder, who had started to look a little frail lately. It seemed she had become an elder the same year World War 2 broke out.

"Elder!" Keefe exclaimed, jumping to his feet, "I am very surprised and happy to see you. I never thought to see family again." He moved to hold her hand.

Elise smiled and gripped his hand, "And we had given up trying to find you, even though I had still felt like you were alive."

Adam grinned at the reunion, and pulled out his tablet to see if he could trace the family tree.

Elise, laughed, "You don't need to look it up, he is my third great grandson. Sadly, the rest of the family has passed on."

Keefe nodded, "Part of the reason I tried to leave. I was hoping to find sanctuary before the Rogue status was applied; I didn't make it, and have been trying to make my way for the last fifty years."

Adam nodded, "You wouldn't have known, but we revoked all but one rogue status for those ejected in the last two centuries. We are working farther back as we go. Ethan even was the one that got us really working at it. It had taken a capture by a pack down in Oregon, that saw he wasn't really a rogue, and we have been working to get rid of it."

Rogues had a lifespan of usually less than fifty years, so they were not bothering to look at those before Night had taken power, as it was unlikely they still lived. If one was found, they would review their file at that point.

"You were one of ten that we had no trace of, and no pack had identified, when we sent out the request. About half had been able to plead their case to a pack and be granted asylum. The other half, if they had been left buried, were dug up and given a proper cremation." Elise told her grandson.

Those that had actually been insane and rogue from isolation, were still treated the same, as if they had been kicked out as Lone, and had been accepted into another pack, would never have gone insane.

Keefe nodded, "I didn't want Night finding me, so I hid my trail well, living for the first few years as a wolf, nearly giving up, but knowing that would mean me actually going rogue."

Adam nodded, "What are you willing to tell us about the others you were with?" If he could, he would rather deal with them as Lone wolf guests than as prisoners. He hated having to put a wolf down, and the times they took rogues alive, they gave them a week to see if they could be brought back at all. Those that showed nothing but an insane wolf were put down as gently as they could.

Keefe shook his head, "Don't know their stories, we never bothered with sharing those, we all were trying to just trying to stay alive. We thought your patrols would just kill us!"