RAIDEN ||

It's been two weeks since the last message was sent for my pups and I have to be honest with admitting that I've been on edge this whole time.

I didn't like the fact that someone out there was trying so hard to get to my mate, despite the fact they haven't actually tried to take him or whatever the fuck it is they wanted.

Not once has a rogue shown up, not once have we been attacked, not once has anything else happened. It was making me pretty freaking nervous, not only did I have to watch my back with this pack of wolves, but now I have to worry about the rogues trying to harm my mate as well.

Recently, I've taken to watching this Taj guy closely. He's been suspiciously adamant about helping around the pack, more specifically, he's been adamant about helping with anything that had to do with my pups and it wasn't sitting well with me.

After the day he pledged his life to my mate, Dylan and Gabe brought him outside and sent Avery and Hunter to gather the other transfer wolves, which all pledged their life and loyalty to my mate as well.

Rome and I stood off to the side and watched the entire spectacle, that's exactly what it was to us. Felines don't have alphas we pledge our lives too, so the whole thing was foreign to me. I wouldn't question it or make fun of it out loud, but yeah it was hilarious.

Wolves followed one man, mindlessly. Doing whatever they said, when they said, how they said it, without any form of hesitation. It was just odd.

After the whole pledge thing, Dylan had a massive headache and spent the majority of the following two days in bed, with me by his side. Even though I still wanted my space, I didn't want him to be alone while he was hurting, so I stayed with him and after he started feeling better that second day, I went back to my separate room.

After kissing him of course.

Once he came back into pack life, he asked Gabe and Hunter to take the new Beta blood transfers to help build the gates around the borders, which again I thought was stupid.

He's far too trusting.

Just because someone pledges their life and loyalty to you doesn't mean that they actually care about your life and it definitely doesn't mean that they will always stay loyal to you.

Currently Rome and I were leaning against a tree, close to the border, watching Dylan, Gabe, Hunter, Taj and the rest of the beta and gamma wolves in this pack.

I just couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about this Taj guy and the other wolves that came from his pack, a pack that Dylan said he's never heard of and has never been to. That right there should have raised some red flags to my mate, but of course it went right over his head and he wasn't listening to my reservations about the new members all because they've pledged to him.

"Alpha Dylan." Taj says.

"Yes?" My pups answers.

"I haven't asked before, but I was wondering what that strong sense of remorse I feel through the pack link is... it's almost heartbreaking and I can't picture what it could be."

"Most likely it's from my pack mourning the loss of my older brother."

"You had an older brother?" Taj asks, pups nods.

"Yes I did, his name was Bennett, he was everything to me."

"May I ask what happened to him?" Taj asks.

"There was a rogue attack 7 years ago, they attacked our pack and my dad and Bennett led the warriors against them. Dad said somehow the rogues cornered him and Bennett by the river.." Dylan paused to take a deep breath.

Taj narrows his eyes then frowns.

"The rogues attacked my brother and only him, it was like he was their target. Dad said he tried to fight them off, but there were too many and Bennett was trying to hold his own, but somehow they fell in the river and dad came back really messed up. He said he knew my brother was dead."

Taj raised his eyebrows, a look of shock or disbelief on his face.

"Your dad said he knew Bennett was dead?" Taj asks and Dylan nods again.

"How did he figure that?" Taj asks before his eyes dart to mine, he looks away just as quickly.

"Dad said his pack tether snapped, he felt it and it really messed him up."

"And you believed him?" Taj asks raising his eyebrow again.

Why the fuck wouldn't he believe his father dumbass? I don't trust this wolf man...

"I didn't have any other choice to believe him. One day Bennett was here and the next he wasn't. The only one that knew what happened was my dad."

Good point. Think pups, think.

I've never liked his father, even after he apologized for his part in my capture, something was off about him too.

"Is that why the pack hates rogues?" Taj asks.

"Yes because they took my brother from us, they took our rightful Alpha, they can't be forgiven for that."

Taj nods then subtly rolls his eyes.

I saw that fucker..

"So why do you think the rogues attacked your pack? Why your dad and brother? What do you think has happened between your..." Taj clears his throat. "Between our pack and the rogues?"

Dylan shakes his head and shrugs.

"I don't know, at first we thought it was because of my mate killing the rogues.." Dylan starts but Taj cuts him off.

"Your mate killing the rogues? You have a mate Alpha?" He asks and my pups smiles before looking at me.

"Yes I do, that's him right there."

Taj's eyes meet mine once again and I smile. He bounces on the balls of his feet before looking back at Dylan.

"I can smell feline on your mate Alpha... what type is he?" Taj whispers, clearly he doesn't know that I have better hearing than wolves do.

"Raiden is a leopard, black leopard." My mate says proudly, but I don't miss the moment when Taj's eyes widen before he nods to my mate and turns his attention back to the gates.

Yeah..

I seen that..

All his questions seemed to have been nonexistent now that he knows I'm Dylan's mate. This wolf..... he's crooked.

"I don't trust this one brother." Rome tells me through our familial link.

"I don't either Rome, keep your eye on him, there's something off about this one."

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😂