Chapter 402
Your hunged and four
Four hundred and four
Charlie POV
+15 Bonus
Wesley’s laugh came through the phone speaker. He was practically shouting with joy, celebrating that his counter -plan had worked. They had finally found someone vulnerable enough to force the rogue leadership into a corner.
Hearing Wesley laugh was a relief after the past few days. Ever since Anita and Emma disappeared, our lives had changed. My sister Lisa and Emma’s mother had not stopped crying. Alpha Cameron had stepped into the operational center despite his recent retirement.
We had tried to keep the news from Wesley while he was on his honeymoon with Isabella, but he found out anyway. His parents assured him they had enough hands on deck, but Wesley still insisted on helping from afar
Lisa’s fear never let up. Anita and Emma were young women. Leaving them with rogue males put them at risk of sexual violence, torture, and abuse. Bringing them home alive became my top priority.
We held meeting after meeting with the affected Alpha families. At first, Lisa, Nadia, and the other women begged us to pay whatever ransom the rogues demanded. But this was never about money, and the ransom notes made that clear.
The demands came from the Rogue Syndicate, a group of rogues who believed their leader had been illegally removed from the High Council years ago. They did not want cash. They wanted official signatures from the governing Alphas. Those signatures would give them legitimacy, recognized territory, and a seat on the Council.
I knew we could not give in. Paying the ransom or signing their papers would set a dangerous precedent: kidnap an Alpha’s family, make demands, and receive official recognition. It would ruin the entire territory system.
We also could not send an army into rogue territory to slaughter them. Our ancient pack laws forbade unprovoked killing. You guard your borders with your life, but you only draw blood if they draw blood first. Unjustified murder brings blood guilt on the pack.
That was when Wesley proposed turning the leverage around. His logic was simple: if the rogues took something the Alphas loved, the Alphas had to take something the rogues could not afford to lose.
My men spent days tracking the syndicate around the outer borders. They finally found an elderly, sick woman receiving treatment at a clinic inside Moon Howl Pack territory, near the rogue hideouts. My team stepped in, discharged the woman, and brought her straight to our pack house.
My mother gasped when my men carried the woman into the living room. She looked at me like I had lost my mind. But I knew the stakes. If this woman died in our care, the rogues would put silver through Emma’s and Anita’s heads without a second thought.
We brought in a private nurse to set up an IV and keep her stable. We questioned the old woman about the rogue lord and his operations, but she refused to speak, even in her weakened state. She would not eat or drink anything we gave her, relying only on the IV to stay alive.
Today was the handover day.
In the main hall, Alpha Cameron, Franklin, James, and several other Alphas adjusted their coats and checked their sidearms.
My mother walked up to me and pulled me into a tight hug. She held my face in her hands, worry in her eyes.
“Do not go out there looking for a fight,” she warned, her voice trembling. “Rogues are unpredictable. They carry silver and set hidden traps. Do the exchange quietly and bring the girls home p>
1/3
Your bed and four
+15 Bonus
“I’ll try,” I said, stepping back.
e sun beat down on the concrete road between us and the rogue territory. Our armed vehicles formed a barricade behind us, their engines idling.
On my phone screen, Wesley watched through FaceTime, his face tight with anger as he listened through my earpiece. Beside me, Alpha Cameron, Uncle James, and Emma’s father, Franklin, stood with their hands on their holstered weapons. My friend Zachary stood at my shoulder, watching the empty road ahead.
3
A figure stepped out from between the trees on the other side, a rogue with dyed hair walking into the sunlight with a sneer on his face.
Alpha Cameron stepped forward and held up his hands. “Let us handle this peacefully,” Cameron called. “Bring out our girls, and you get your grandmother back in one piece p>
The dyed-haired rogue scoffed. “I am not an idiot! Show me she is alive first p>
Cameron turned to our lead van, opened the door, and helped the old woman onto the pavement. She walked on
her own.
“As you can see, she received proper medical care and real food,” Cameron said, his voice mocking as the older Alphas behind us chuckled. “She is in better shape now than when you left her. Now hand over our daughters. Abducting women is a coward’s move. If you want a fight, face us man to man p>
The rogue’s eyes softened for a moment when he saw his grandmother, but his glare quickly returned.
Behind us, one of the visiting Alphas cocked a silver-loaded hand cannon with a metallic click and aimed it at the old woman’s head. “Get the captives out right now, or I put silver through her skull p>
“Drop the gun,” Alpha Cameron whispered. “They already believe in violence. This could cause a backlash p>
The Alpha refused, saying his grandson had to be released first.
The dyed-haired rogue whistled toward the tree line. Four captives stepped out, looking terrified as they stumbled down the road toward us. The Alpha who had raised his gun rushed forward to grab his grandson, who looked gaunt and filthy from hunger and neglect, and pulled him into a tight embrace.
My pulse hammered in my throat as I scanned the released hostages. Neither Emma nor Anita was among them.
“Where are the rest?” I yelled, stepping past Cameron. “Is this a joke to you p>
The dyed-haired rogue laughed. “Maybe they’re busy getting fucked back at the house. My Lord might still be using them p>
Franklin’s face went pale, and his hands shook with rage as he stepped toward the rogue. Cameron caught Franklin’s arm, but his own eyes showed the same anger. The fear my sister and Nadia’s mother had carried for days, that the girls were being subjected to sexual violence, hit me hard.
“Get my daughter and my niece out here right now,” Alpha Cameron said, his voice dropping to a quiet growl.” You are running out of time p>
“Hold your horses,” the rogue sneered, backing away. “Let me see if my Alpha is ready to hand them over p>
He turned and walked away, leaving us under the sun for fifteen agonizing minutes. Nobody spoke. Wesley kept asking questions through my earpiece, his voice full of frustration, but I could not even answer him.
Then the trees parted again. A tall figure stepped onto the concrete road, flanked by armed guards carrying
2/3
Four hund and four
+15 Bonus
crossbows loaded with silver bolts.
Zachary took a sharp breath beside me. “That’s my half-brother,” he muttered. “Evil piece of shit p>
I stared at the Rogue Lord walking toward us. I remembered Alexander from our years at the Alpha Academy. He had been one of the brightest heirs in the territory, with unmatched combat skill and authority. He was supposed to take a high seat on the Council. Then the fallout with his father destroyed his future and turned him into an outcast. Instead of building a pack, he gathered criminals, strays, and troublemakers and made himself Lord of the Rogue Syndicate.
The older Alphas around us immediately began shouting insults.
“Scum!” one yelled. “Your father is rolling in his grave at what you’ve become p>
“Your downfall is coming, criminal!” another shouted.
Alexander ignored them. He walked toward us as the rogues around him fell into formation. His eyes moved across our line, stopping briefly on Zachary and me before settling on Alpha Cameron.
“Where are my daughter and my niece?” Cameron demanded, struggling to keep his voice steady. “What did you do to them p>
“Safe,” Alexander said. His single word was cold and firm.
“Bring them out!” Franklin roared. “If you touched a single hair on my daughter’s head, I will burn your entire settlement to the ground p>
Alexander raised his right hand.
Moments later, three women walked out from behind the armed rogue guards. Emma and Anita walked in the center, with a third girl beside them. They were unharmed, their clothes intact and their faces free of bruises. The armed rogues stayed close behind them, their hands near their weapons.
Relief washed over Cameron, Franklin, and me. They were alive. They were okay.
Alexander stepped toward the center of the road and looked directly into Cameron’s eyes without fear.
“Release my grandmother now,” Alexander said calmly, “and you get your people p>
Comments
Support
Share
Lucia Morh
Lucia Morh is a passionate storyteller who brings emotions to life through her words. When she’s not writing, she finds peace nurturing her garden.