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Chapter 2 – King

Mac POV

“Where the hell is Chase?” I growled to my Beta, Stryker.

“He’s still in the building. He’s not responding to the mind link.”

We had just raided a compound holding fifteen werewolves, four humans and a vampire in the northern woods of Pennsylvania. After we killed the captors, we freed the prisoners. The vampire thanked me and took one of the captors’ vehicles so that he could return to his coven in Delaware. I’ve set many vampires from different covens free over the years, not because I like them, but because it’s the right thing to do.

I also had one of my warriors drive the humans to the nearest hospital so they could be returned to their families. They were kept in a sperate holding area and clueless to the existence of shifters. Although, once sold at the underground slave auction, they could have easily ended up in shifter hands as slaves, food, or sex toys.

The black market is a horrible, despicable, business, that generates billions in sales around the world. It preys on the weakest of wolves, humans, and vampires. Omegas are sold as slaves to pay a debt, captured runaway wolves are easy targets and those that have been outcasted to become rogues are vulnerable. Most of the time, those outcasted have done nothing wrong other than displease an egotistical Alpha.

Wolves are pack creatures, they need a pack and a hierarchy to survive. They need an Alpha’s protection and leadership to maintain the harmony in a pack. Those who are outcasted are weak and vulnerable. Some can live as humans in the human world. Most end up turning feral, which isn’t entirely their fault, but it does give rogues a bad reputation. Once a wolf turns feral, it is lost to the animalistic side.

My grandfather was born in Australia. He was the second Alpha son, which means that his older brother was the Alpha heir of the pack. When my grandmother turned out to be my grandfathers destined mate, his brother was jealous. He made several attempts to seduce my grandmother, but she refused. When his brother finally became Alpha, they were exiled from the pack and moved to the U.S. Eventually, they started their own pack, and my grandfather purchased some land. Those who had been exiled found a home with my grandfather and later with my father. When my father became Alpha and took over the pack, it had grown over a thousand strong.

We continue to add to our pack as we save more and more wolves from being sold on the shifters black market. Very few wolves ever wish to return to their home, but those who do, are assisted in their return. The others are given the opportunity to join our pack, The Moon Realm, or live as lone wolves amongst humans. Most have been grateful for the second chance and have joined our pack.

I’ve been Alpha for the last eight years, since I turned twenty-one, and the pack has nearly tripled. I’ve also challenged a few terrible and abusive Alpha’s and have not only taken their pack lands, but also their resources. Though some packs might consider us rogues, we live just as normal packs do. We have our own territory near the New York and Canadian border around Lake Erie. We provide for the pack and everyone contributes. We’ve quickly become one of the largest and most feared packs in the U.S.

Since my reign, I’ve been called The Rogue King because I take in rogues. Many fear me and others believe I’m a myth. One thing is for sure, I will not hesitate to crush anyone who engages in the slave trade. I have a whole network of trackers in the eastern states that work to help break up the trafficking and release of those captured.

“Alpha, we found Chase.” Stryker said through the mind link.

“And?” I was feeling impatient.

“Looks like he found his mate in one of the prisoners.” Stryker told me.

I looked over at the building and Chase walked out carrying a female. He was a burly wolf with a full beard. Growing up we used to call him ‘wolf’ because he was able to grow full facial hair by our second year in high school. He walked over with a goofy smile on his face cradling a female who could not have been older than nineteen.

“Alpha.” He bowed his head, excitement radiating from him.

“Chase.” I took a closer look at the female in his arms with curly brown hair. “I see we finally have our new Gamma female.” I smiled.

“G-Gamma?” The young female’s eyes got wide. With all the commotion, she must have missed the fact that her new mate is a Gamma.

“What is your name and where are you from?” I asked.

“My name is Jennette and I’m from Texas. I’m an Omega sir.”

“How did you get here?”

“I was sold by my Alpha along with two others to pay a debt. They split us up and I ended up here waiting to be sold on the market.”

“Jennette, you are no longer an Omega, but the Gamma female of The Moon Realm. Your mate, Gamma Chase, is my third.” I explained to the nervous looking female.

“You’re the Rogue King!” She whispered to herself in shock.

I nodded. “Some call me Alpha Mac.”

“Thank you for saving us, King, Alpha, Mac… Sir.” Poor thing seemed a little flustered.

“Alpha is fine. Now if you’re ready, Chase would like to get you home and maybe have Doctor Kendra look you over, to make sure you’re okay.” I could see a fresh bruise on her face and wanted to make sure she was taken care of.

“Thank you Alpha.” Chase nodded to me before he carried his new mate over to one of the vehicles we had arrived in and parked a mile down the road.

I had my warriors escort the other wolves who wanted to join our pack to the waiting vehicles and watched as Stryker set fire to the building with the dead captors inside. We stood watching for a few moments as the fire engulfed the building, then we walked back to our vehicle.

“What a surprise this day turned out to be.” Stryker said as we considered our friend’s new mate.

“I’m glad he found her. No one deserves a mate more than Chase.” I chuckled and climbed in the car.

“I don’t know about that Alpha. I think maybe the Rogue King could use a Queen.” Stryker laughed and put the car in drive.

“I’m busy saving the world.” I told him. Stryker and Chase have been my best friends since we were pups. Chase was born in the pack, but my father had saved Stryker and his mother when they were captured for the market. It seemed strange that at twenty-eight none of us had a mate. Although Chase just gladly changed that. Maybe there is hope for us after all.

I had selected my Delta when I became Alpha. The youngest daughter of our previous Chief Warrior is Christy, but everyone calls her Chris. She’s one of the most fearless women I have ever met and a great warrior. She’s also sharp, meticulous, and tough which makes her a great Delta. She had found her mate when she turned eighteen, he was the Beta of a pack outside of Montreal. He rejected her because he considered her a rogue, though she belonged to our pack.

Technically a rogue is a pack-less wolf, and we are no different than other packs. Some of these packs with a long history tend to look down on us, but it’s our pack that thrives stronger than theirs. My pack members are far more loyal and dedicated to The Moon Realm because we treat them with respect and have core values. Once we take them in, they are no longer rogues, they are part of the pack and part of the family.

Chris wasn’t the first wolf to be rejected by a mate because of the rogue status our pack was built upon. When my grandparents left Australia, my grandfather’s younger sister, Rachel, left with them. They first settled in Oregon and tried to find another pack to accept them. A new Alpha had just come to power at a local pack and Rachel discovered her mate was the new Alpha. Instead of offering to take them into his pack, he rejected her. She never accepted his rejection and ended up taking her own life when she jumped off a cliff. The pain of rejection had just become unbearable to her.

My Delta Chris has one hell of a strong wolf to be able to accept and live with the rejection of her mate. That pompous bastard didn’t deserve her anyway. She runs the training program for the entire pack and works with my father to help train everyone from the warriors to the pups. She’s also a brilliant computer programmer and hacker. We use her skills to help hack the black-market posts and find the locations of the auctions or holding compounds.

“Alpha, have you decided what we’re going to do with the she-wolf from Dark Moon Pack?” Stryker asked me.

“She didn’t want to return to that pack. We’ll give her a few days to rest and recover before we try to find out why.” I told him.

Dark Moon is a pack that belongs to the LaRue clan, which has roughly a dozen packs in the U.S. and Canada. We rarely ever picked up a pack member from their packs. Finding out how the young she-wolf ended up almost being sold should be an interesting story.

LaRue Alpha’s do not treat rogues well. Those that have been exiled from a pack and seek help from a LaRue Alpha are typically turned away, if not killed. The LaRue’s may be a strong family with great resources, but they’re nothing short of hypocritical. On the surface, the LaRue’s appear to hate slavery, yet most of those who are sold into the slave trade are vulnerable rogues. They turn their backs at the root of the problem and a blind eye to rogues seeking help. Most rogues do not want to be rogues, they’re just victims of unfair circumstances.

Many of the LaRue family members have also served on the shifter’s council, which is a complete joke and has become plagued with corruption from the inside by power hungry Alpha’s. It’s all just a façade and the LaRue’s only seem to care about expanding their empire with their alliances. Some of the weaker packs, believe that the LaRue’s possess unnatural power, possibly witchcraft.

It is believed that the last Alpha of Alpha’s was the grandson of Diesel LaRue, Alpha Lukas Theodorus, who passed away about twenty years ago. It is said that he died without an heir, but I believe the family is hiding something. Many have been waiting for the new Alpha of Alpha’s to emerge but have yet to find him. They believe that he will end the rogue problem and rid the earth of rogues in a great war.

I believe the opposite. The rogues are not the problem, they are simply a byproduct of terrible Alpha’s. I believe we will be the ones who will continue to grow stronger and eventually outnumber the elitist wolf packs who think they are so much better than the rest of us.

The LaRue’s have claimed the next Alpha of Alpha’s will be from their blood line. That he shall be the King of all werewolves. However, I know this to be false. It has been foretold that a King will rise, but he will be from my family blood line. With the rise of a future werewolf King, selected by the Moon Goddess herself, the LaRue’s will lose more power.

Right now, the only thing the LaRue’s possess that I want is a programmer who wrote a new cyber security software that has been impossible to crack. The black market operators are now using the best technology for their communications, courtesy of LaRue Enterprises. We need to be able to hack our way in to find out what is happening on the shifter black market.

Fortunately, we already have a plan in motion to collect the programmer we need tomorrow.