I watched as the guy stumbled back, holding his nose. He looked at me and I could see pure rage in his eyes as they switched from a dull grey to obsidian black. With brown specks in the middle, which were barely noticeable.
Rogue.
My wolf, Aviva, was constantly trying to push me back to gain control as she could feel me getting weaker by the minute and for some other unknown reason. But I denied. If I let Aviva out, then this would become a blood bath. I don't know why she cared about any of the other packs getting hurt. I understand if we were in the Eastern pack, the pack which we belonged to, but we weren't there. We were in the Northern territory. The one known for its power. It's Alpha, Alpha Fabian, basically ran the other three packs. It didn't help that his younger brothers ran the other packs.
Getting back, the now known rogue threw a solid punch at me, but I ducked backwards just in time. Placing my hands on the ground, I strangled his neck using my legs and continued to perform the back-flip. The rogue flew off the ground and was caught off-guard when his skull hit the hot, hard ground.
Popping right back up, I watched him squirm holding his head, while cracking my neck. Yeah. That's what you get for tryna kidnap me and Tavi.
I looked over at his partner who was being heavily dealt with by Tavi. She had him locked with one arm twisted behind his back, and the other in Tavi's firm grasp. With one final push of her hand, he was a screaming mess as we heard a satisfying crack. And then proceeded by one more.
"That's what you get for trying to kidnap us." She said and dug her knee into his back and pulled him backwards "And this is what you get for underestimating us." She said before firmly planting his face in the ground.
She got off the ground, dusting her hands, and looked over at me smiling. I flashed her the same toothy smile before proceeding to check on the two rogues, once I figured they weren't moving.
Carefully, I sniffed the air around them. No smell. Which only meant one thing.
"Tav, these two just illegally got across the border. They covered their scent. I presume they were here to hold someone ransom so that the Alpha would settle in for providing a space in one of the packs. Oh, poor lads. Those people whom they tried to kidnap just had to be us." I said and laughed with Tavi. After a minute of us examining each other for any cuts or bruises, she scoffed. I looked at her confused. "As if Alpha Fabian would do something dumb like that to get back a pack member. He'd probably just send a few guards or something. He doesn't have the most powerful pack for no reason you know." She said and I stood there looking at her and slowly nodding, in deep thought.
"What say we take these two idiots to the guards? I don't wanna deal with their shit anymore." Tavi said and I nodded not wanting to deal with them for the rest of my life either.
We dragged the two men to a more populated area, brimming with energy and life - the market. People laughed and talked with one another, all the while buying grocery, desserts or snacks. Once they noticed us dragging two men by the arms, while their bodies lay limp on the floor, all energy ceased and was replaced with a silence that let us know that we had gotten their attention. Tavi then spoke up and asked "Are there any guards here?" A few of the people nodded and went to get them.
A few moments later, the guards had arrived and asked us what we were doing with these people. We told them that they were rogues. One of them proceeded to sniff them and then turned to glare at us. "Do you think we are fools? We know you're lying." He said. I stood baffled. In a matter of seconds, I started "But-" "No buts. The only butt which is gonna be whooped is yours. In the dungeons, for hurting one of us." He interrupted. Tavi was mad. She said "Who are you to tell us what to do?"
He puffed his chest up and said "I am a guard. I am your superior. And by the looks of it, you don't belong to this pack, so I am also of a higher rank than you pesky little brats!"
"Well you're not the Alpha, now are you? How can you make decisions of whether we go to the dungeons and get beat up or not? You're not even the General. So I suggest that you don't try to push your luck of being in the army, just to get yourself kicked out." I spat back in his face. His face was tinted red with anger and embarrassment. I smirked. "Fine. You will meet the General then. He will decide. Although, I know he is going to do exactly what I just said." He said as his baffled face was replaced with a smirking one. I huffed quietly, but Tavi stepped in and said "Now, now. What did she say about luck?" He growled at her lowly, and she returned the favor. Once his back was turned to us, I mind linked Tavi telling her a quick thank you.
We reached the training grounds in about ten minutes. There was a fairly aged person who stood giving commands to everyone. I saw the guard give me and Tavi a smug look before asking the man, who I presume is the General, "Uncle, I've got two girls here, who claim to have found rogues. But by their scent, these men don't seem to be rogues." So that's why he felt so confident that he could get us in the dungeons. The General turned around to look at us and we just smiled innocently. and stepped aside, revealing the two rogues. He went forward eyeing us suspiciously and sniffed them too.
Of course there was no scent. "Darius, there is more to a rogue than just their scent. What if they covered it? Hmm? How will you find out?" The General turned around asking. The trainees had stopped to look at us. No one answered. I raised my hand and said "If I may" He looked surprised and a bit annoyed that his dear nephew wasn't the one who answered.
Tavi smirked at me and I did the same back at her. "Well you see, every rogue has three things in common. Their scent, their eye colour that changes to black with just tiny specks of brown in them when they become angry and a mark which signifies that they are a rogue. This mark can be found in the middle of their back. And these two here..." I said as I walked backwards pointing at the two men lying on the floor "..are rogues because.." I turned around and ripped their shirts in half to reveal the dark brown mark of a rogue etched clearly on their skin. Then I finished my statement by saying "...they have that mark."
Darius's jaw hung wide open as he realized that he was wrong. I smirked at him and walked towards him and using one finger I closed his open mouth saying "Now, now. Don't wanna catch any flies now do you Darius?" I saw Tavi trying to control her laugh and so I winked at her. She returned the favor. Darius fumed and growled at us.
"You do growl a lot Darius." Tavi commented. "Shut up! Remember who you're talking to. I am of a higher rank than you." He screamed at her. Tavi's eyes turned a darker shade of green and she boldly spoke with authority that we, Eastern wolves held, "And so do you. You are speaking to a member of the Eastern pack. Do not treat us with no respect because we are equal to you Darius." Her voice thundered through the grounds. It echoed slightly, only adding to the effect. Darius took a step back. In the Eastern pack, every pack member is trained like a warrior. We start training at the young age of five. No other pack does so, except ours.
The General stepped forward and said "Darius, the girl is right. You may be a part of the army, but at the end of the day, you are equal to every other pack member." Then he turned to us, while Darius hung his head low in shame, and said "Miss, you were right about these men being rogues. But do you mind me asking how you came across them?" I shook my head and said "We came here to buy a present for our friend back in the Eastern pack. A copper ring. And the Northern pack is very well known for it's jewelry." The General's head rose with pride as I spoke about his pack. "Once we were here, these two men tried to kidnap us. I'm guessing it was to hold us ransom. Pretty much a stupid move, if you ask me. And they were just so lucky to have chosen us, daughters of warriors of the Eastern pack." This caught Darius's attention. I guess he didn't get that from the way we spoke fearlessly. "And now, here they are. In front of you, after we beat them up." The General looked back at the two, then turned back to us.
"Thank you girls. As a token of gratitude, I would like to invite you two to a Royal Ball, being held at the castle on Saturday evening, two days from today." He turned around and spotted a person with a bag slung around his shoulder. I'm guessing the boy's a messenger. The General dug into the bag and produced two invites from it and then a fetched a pen out.
"Your names please." He said.
"Alberta Marie Jackson" I said.
"Tavi Leah Moore" Tavi said.
He handed us the invites and said "I hope to see the two of you at the ball." He then flashed us a wrinkly smile.
"We do to Sir." Tavi and I said before turning around and walking back to the market to get that copper ring for Penny, Tavi's 9 year old cousin, as her birthday gift that we promised.