The Rogue Alpha and his rejected mate

James pov

My brother is clinging to me, silent begging me not to leave him alone there in the closet. His nails dig into my skin and I feel his tears through my shirt.

I found him here about thirty minutes ago when I was searching for him and my mother. Us young wolves were not to participate in the battle, but it was our job to keep the younger children without wolves hidden and safe. When I entered this room, I thought I was to late and those few seconds, before I heard my brother crying from the closet, they were the worst seconds of my life.

In the gap between the doors, I can see our dead mother on the floor, her eyes are wide open but the light in them is long gone. Her neck is bloody after the bite that killed her. In a distance, I hear screams and growls..sounds of the war at its peak..a war we are loosing. My little brother is crying and it breaks my heart that I have to leave him here, but its the only place he is somewhat safe.

“Shh..Kevin, please listen to me. You need to be quiet. I’ll be back, I promise!” I press him hard against my chest in a hug and kiss his hair. My little brothers life hasn’t been easy so far. He is the bastard child my mother, conceived during an affair. An affair with her true mate, before my father killed him. My father, the big bad Alpha of the Sunset pack. He made my brother's life a living hell. I protected him as much as I could, but coming home from school or trips I often found him with new bruises or injuries. Kevin is only nine years old and hasn’t got his wolf yet so he doesn’t heal as fast. I got mine last year, at the age of thirteen. Most have to wait until they are fifteen, sixteen maybe, but I am an Alpha and we are obviously eager to debut. I step out of the closet and over my mother. I will be back to take care of her later, but right now I have to join the war tearing our pack apart. I shift into my wolf and step out in the hallway. I see dead bodies everywhere. Warriors, omegas, children. I move against the stairs leading down to the entrance. In the corner of my eyes, I see movement, it's fast and silent and when I turn my head two arms are aiming for my neck. I roll to the side before jumping up and closing my jaws around the vampire's head, ripping it off. I run down the stairs and out through the doors. I am shocked by what I see. The leeches are too many, hundreds, everywhere I look I see wolves going down, killed by a dozen clinging to their bodies, tearing and biting. I see my father in the middle, trying to fight them off, but he has no light in his eyes, his fighting spirit is gone. He probably felt the bond snap when my mother died. I see him rip the arm off a vampire before he was overrun and fell to the ground. I slowly back away, making my way back into the house and up the stairs to Kevin. I shift and take him in my arms, trying to calm him down.

“Kevin, you need to listen..The pack is gone..we need to leave. I can't carry you like this, I have to carry you like Argus, so you need to hold on OK?” He wiped his tears and nodded, trying to put on a brave face, We closed our mother's eyes and gave her a kiss goodbye before covering her up with a blanket. I packed some clothes and a few things we might need in Kevins backpack before putting it on him. Carefully not to make a sound, we made our way downstairs, this time by using the service stairs the omegas used. We came down directly to the kitchen. Aside from the dead bodies it was empty. Kevin stared at the bodies..people we grew up with now lay killed around our feet. “ Hey.. don't look at them..look at me...I will get us out of here, OK?.. I took a candle, lit it and left it on the kitchen counter. I then turned every nob on the stoves, letting the gas out.

“Hurry Kevin, out..out!” I shouted and pushed him against the kitchen door, leading out on the back of the house. I shifted and he climbed my back and we took of. I only ran for a few seconds before we heard the big explosion behind us. I didnt look back, instead I increased my speed, wanted to get Kevin as far away from that place as possible. I felt his fists in my fur and I could hear on his breathing that he was crying. I steered against the mountains, away from the low lands.

It will be a long and tough journey but atleast there will be no vampires. The area is divided between two strong packs. The strongest, The Great Falls pack and the smaller one, The Low Falls pack. The vampire would not go there on a whim.

After a few hours I slowed down. The trees grew denser, offering protection. I stopped at a couple of logs, forming a low wall, perfect to lean against for a while. As I lay down I wrap my body around Kevin, keeping him warm, I feel him relax and soon we fall asleep, both of us exhausted by the trauma of the day and the escape from it.

When we wake up the sun is high in the sky and the air is pleasantly warm. I nudge Kevin to sit up before I stand up and shake dirt and leaves out of my fur before I shift and turn to Kevin.

“Hey buddy..are you ok? Did you sleep well?” I asked, ruffled his hair a little.

“Yeah..I guess..I’m hungry though”

“Do you remember how to make a fire? Could you make one while I hunt for something to eat?” I can see the fear of being left alone on his face.

“There is nothing here that can hurt you..the vampires doesn’t come here, and even if they did the sun is high..they only move at night. Ill be back soon, just build the fire ok?” I tried to convince him. He nodded and tried to look brave by giving me a smile. I shifted once again and took off, deeper in to the woods.

I could tell this territory didnt belong to a pack. I was probably closing in to the border of Low Falls, but for now, I was in no mans land..or no wolfs land depending on how you see it. I stand still and listen. Squirrels running on branches..birds taking off or landing, some are preening its feathers. A couple of voles running under the leaves on the ground..and there it was, the fast heartbeat of a scared rabbit.

Kevin did good building the fire and now the aroma of the grilled meat filled the air, making our mouths watering.

“So, were will we go?” Kevin asked with his mouth full and the juice from the meat running down his chin.

“I was thinking The Great Falls pack. Father always spoke highly of them..we can search refuge there for a while and then we see.”

“Father..” Kevin spat out the word..”Did you se him die?”

“I saw enough”

“Good..”

I didn’t answer that, I know how much Kevin hated the man. The man who could hold him around the shoulders and speak of him like a son in front of others only to beat the living shit out of him as soon as the doors to our apartments were closed.

He hadn’t fooled anyone though, everybody knew the story of our mother and her mate, and Kevin didnt share any character traits with the Alpha so they put two and two together.

“I think we will reach Great Falls tomorrow if we stay and rest for the night, so eat up, I want to get going.”

We walked together for a few hours. Talking, making planes for the future.

“We can become rogues!” Kevin said, a big smile on his face

“Rogues? Why would anyone want that?”

“Imagine, the fearless rogues brothers..or the badass rogue brothers..no one would dare to mess with us.” Kevin picked up a stick from the ground, waving it around like a sword, making me laugh.

“Okay, rogues it is!” I chuckled. Inside I was feeling kind of nervous. Like I told Kevin, I’ve only heard good things about the Great Falls pack, but what if it was just for show..like my father with Kevin..I pushed the thoughts away, if we werent welcomed then we might just do the rogue thing anyway.

“James! Look, water!” I watched Kevin run off against a creek, running through the forest. I havent got the time to stop him when I see someone is already there..