Titus

Cody

I felt out of control. It was difficult for me to keep my eyes open or sit up straight. If I said I felt 'weak', that would be an understatement. I was barely surviving on the scraps of food that my captors were throwing at me.

In the three days that I had been locked up in the back of the van, I had seen sunlight only once when the blondie opened the door to shove food at me. I had attacked the food like it was the last time I would ever eat.

I didn't know where they were taking me. I had no idea who the 'others' were. Would they take me to Alpha Dustin of Zakemore pack or would they take me somewhere else? I needed to know.

The van came to a sudden halt which made me roll over and bang my head against the door. My head was throbbing with pain, and it felt slightly damp. I realized I was bleeding.

A couple of minutes later, Blondie opened the door.

"You can walk a mile or two, right?" He asked me.

"Not when I don't know where you're taking me,"

"You can walk or we can starve you to death." He said, calmly.

"If he isn't walking, then make him!" The voice belonged to a person I hadn't seen before. He had black hair which matched his dark eyes. His wolf had complete control over him.

"I'll see what I can do about that, Johnny,"

Johnny looked at Blondie with contempt before he grabbed my collar and roughly pulled me out of the van. I fell in front of his feet and he pulled me up by my collar again.

"Are you gonna walk or not?"

"You'll have to make me!" I spat in his face. Johnny looked murderous. Before I knew it, his fist was coming at me and then everything went black.

***

I opened my eyes to see the sky. It was dark and dusted with stars. Anna had always been fascinated by stars. Our wolves used to run side by side and sometimes, Anna would stop to gaze up at the sky and admire the stars.

But I was too far away from Anna. My wolf was cried out at the memory of her.

"You must be hungry," I looked up to see the redhead gazing at me. She held out her hand to help me sit up and I took it without a second thought.

"And you suddenly care about me being hungry?"

"You lied to us," she accused.

"What?"

"You're Cody Silver," she pointed out, "Denise recognized you."

"How did you...?"

"Your pack is offering money for you," the redhead explained, "every wolf in the country knows what you look like."

"I am kind of hungry," I figured I might as well have some food before they took me back to Serill pack's territory.

A blonde girl handed me a plate with rice and some sort of stew on it. I took it gratefully.

"I'm Serena, by the way," she said. She told me that blonde guy's name was Tristan and the dark haired one was named Terrence. They were fraternal twins.

"We're not going to take you back but we do need your help with some things." She said.

"What things?"

"We can't really reveal them till we know you're loyal."

"I'm pretty sure that I can't really help you," I said, "you might as well take me back to Serill and get some money out of it."

"My great grandmother, twenty four generations removed, was a member of Serill pack," Serena began, "she was a close friend of Luna Serill, who took control of the pack after Alpha Albert, the first Alpha of the newly formed pack, deserted them."

"He only deserted them because of the war that the Luna had initiated."

"She hadn't initiated the war!" Serena cried out.

"The war began because of her affair with Alpha Finnick Zakemore!"

"It wasn't an affair! He was in love with her and he wanted her! Alpha Albert had to protect her and the wolves but he ran off!"

"I don't think that matters," I told her, "what's the point of your story?"

"My grandmother believed that the next leader should be female especially since Selyse was Luna Serill's first child. But despite the Luna's wishes, and my grandmother's, Serill's second child, Salden was named Alpha." Serena told me.

"And then what?"

"My grandmother left the pack and so here we are," she said.

Serill's closest advisor had been Ranya. Although, this distressed the beta but Serill didn't really care. That was why the Beta position in the Serill pack was given at the discretion of the Alpha. It wasn't hereditary, like it was in most packs.

"Your grandmother must have been Ranya?" I claimed more than asked.

"Yes,"

"What was the point of the whole story?"

"The point was that we don't care much for your former pack and that's why we think you can be useful for us."

"Who, exactly, is us?" I asked her.

"Free wolves," she replied, "or, as you say, rogues,"

"You are rogues," I said with contempt in my tone.

"And we're free to do as we please, unlike you!" Serena was getting defensive. Terrence put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down but her eyes were darkening and Terrence wasn't helping.

"Free to do what?" I asked, "what do you rogues do anyway?"

"We don't murder our friends or desert our mates!"

"I didn't desert Anna!" I stood up angrily, knocking the plate of food off my lap. My wolf was seething with rage.

"Really? Then where is she?"

"That's none of your business!"

"You can't even go back to her because her brothers would kill you," Serena hissed.

"Stop it, Serena," Terrence said as he held her back while Tristan held me. My wolf was on the verge of coming out and so was hers.

"Cody, if you join us and help us then we can help you meet Anna again." This was an entirely new voice. My wolf calmed down as soon as he heard Anna's name.

The man was old, very old. He had a long white beard and he walked with the help of a cane.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Lars Aberson and you are Cody Silver,"

"How can you help me?"

"We are powerful even if we are rogues but we want something from you but first we have to make sure if you can be trusted," he explained, "are you willing to do this?"

"You have to promise me that you'll help me get Anna,"

"You have my word," Lars promised.

"Then I'm in,"

"Good," he muttered, "Serena will help you."

Serena gave me a dirty look but she didn't argue with Lars. I was willing to work with Serena if it meant that I could get to Anna. I knew that her wolf was craving us.

Lars walked slowly back inside the house that he had come out of.

"I'll find you a room to stay in," Serena said and followed the older wolf inside.

My wolf felt slightly better than before. He was willing to do whatever it took to get to Anna.