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“I don’t know.” Same answer. Same frustration. “Handwriting I didn’t recognize. Pack paper I couldn’t trace. Daryl is suppose to clear my name. I trust my brother. He promised. It was four years ago, I’m still waiting. Four years in that camp, watching my pups grow up… watching Arlene...” He stops. Swallows. “We had to leave. So… We ran. The rogues tracked us. Your patrol probably told you how I left them dead, so you may know the rest, Alpha.”

“How was your brother supposed to find you, if he proved your innocence?”

“Since the mindlink allows immediate families to mindlink each other regardless of whether we are in the same pack or not, well, unless we block each other. Once I was exiled, my family blocked me… all except my brother who lifts the block sometimes to check on us. Sometimes, he even leaves supplies for us, Alpha.”

I study him. No abnormal heartbeat. The blood on his chest has started to dry, cracking at the edges where his skin flexes. His eyes don’t leave mine. Not once. The story doesn’t add up. Not the parts he’s telling, those are clean, consistent, the kind of clean that comes from truth. It’s the gaps. The anonymous map. Who is this powerful figure who caused this? Is it an elder, a councilman, his brother, or someone else? In four years no progress from a brother who’s now Alpha heir, seems odd, but he’s not Alpha yet, from my understanding, because he hasn’t found his mate.

I don’t push. Not yet. The gaps will lead me to what I want to find. Right now, I need to know if this rogue is a threat to my pack.

“You killed ten rogues tonight.”

“Fifty… I stopped counting after fifty, Alpha.” No hesitation. No pride. Just the number, stated like the weather. I feel my Lycan grin.

“I buried most of them and got rid of their trail… that's what took me so long to get back to my family… the cleanup. The last one was already dead when your patrol found the clearing. I didn’t finish him. The wound did, Alpha.”

“Fifty rogues were near my territory. And you killed them.”

We would’ve done the same thing if danger came near mate. Eight months ago I nearly killer brother pup and planned to burned this pack to the ground.

“Yes, Alpha.” Again no hesitation.

I’m starting to like this rogue. Let's keep him. More soldiers to keep mate safe.

“But he's a rogue.”

So.

“A rogue killed Elise.”

…

“You killed your own kind?”

“Anyone who threatens my mate and pups… are better off dead.” His eyes glow that red glow.

I like him even more.

“Traitorous Lycan.”

Blind human.

“After everything… will you sleep tonight?”

“With a smile on my face. Peacefully. Next to my mate… Alpha.”

“Damn, I kinda like him too, but… he’s a rogue… A rogue… like the ones who killed Elise… I was always taught… rogues can't be trusted.”

Calm yourself. He’s not them. He's from a pack. Test him a little more.

“But you didn’t kill anyone from my pack.”

“They didn’t harm my mate or pups as far as I know, Alpha.”

Like him even more. Let’s keep him. Plus, mate would be happy; she’s standing outside the door. Mate likes the pups… Let’s give mate a pup.

“So the rogues deserved to die.”

“They died because they hurt my mate and hunted my pups, Alpha.” His voice doesn’t rise. Doesn’t drop. It stays exactly where it is, level, steady, the voice of a man who has already decided what he’ll do and what he won’t.