Yvonne Belcourt stared at what was the cross between a creek and a river. Two small to be a river, much too large to be a creek. She searched frantically for the word. But couldn't find it. She felt tears gathering in her eyes. What the word was shouldn't matter this much to her, but it did. She needed to know. Not knowing felt like the final straw. She bit her trembling lower lip. Feeling her stress growing to an unmanageable level, her whole body began to shake.
"Are you okay?" A soft voice sounded to her left.
Yvonne gasped and spun. Very few could sneak up on her. Her emotions must have been worse then she thought as she eyed the speaker. A girl in her mid teens perched on a boulder across the water. She was tiny. Large brown eyes with eyelashes to kill for stared at Yvonne from under frowning brows. Her dark hair fell in waves over one shoulder. She was dressed in dark jeans, a brown shirt, and heavy combat boots. Her boots were bigger than she was.
Yvonne stiffened. She was one of them. But not one of them. The young teen seemed to be without a pack. But how? Rogues were never female. Females were too valuable. She breathed in deeply, trying to find her smell. How was it so faint? Her brows lowered in puzzlement. She next tried to feel her power. Where was it?
"I'm not a threat. I wasn't going to say anything. I wasn't even going to stop. But you looked as if you were about to shatter, and I just thought", flashing a pretty smile, "if you want to talk about it, I'm the perfect stranger. I have no one to tell. And as a rogue, no one would listen to me anyway."
"What? No! You can't be!" Yvonne gasped.
The girl laughed, "There are actually female rogues. I've met quite a few."
Yvonne took a step back and taking a deep breath, opened her mouth.
"Hey," the girl said sharply, "I'm just trying to help. Don't go getting me into trouble. I'll be gone before anyone comes, you know. And they won't catch me. I mean think about it. They'd have to get here, you'd have to explain, then they'd have to cross the stream..."
"Stream!"
"What?" The girl blinked.
"Yes! That's what it is." Yvonne smiled. "Thank you."
The girl gave a small laugh. "You're welcome. Couldn't find the word? I hate that. Do you want to talk? I'm a good listener." She swallowed. "It would be nice to talk. Please?"
Yvonne stared at the girl and then collapsed in on herself. Covering her face. "He's going to choose me again!" she whispered.
"What?"
Yvonne looked up at the girl. She looked so tiny and fierce. Yvonne took a shuddering breath. "If I'm going to pour my heart out to you, shouldn't I know your name?"
Phoenix examined the woman across the stream. she stood tall and shapely. She was beautiful by anyone's standards. With golden brown hair framing a lovely face set with bright blue eyes. Eyes that held a haunted, hunted look, but didn't lose their power. An Alpha blood. Phoenix smiled gently at her. "Phoenix."
"I'm Yvonne."
Phoenix felt her eyes widen as she stared at one of the Belcourt siblings. Their father had been one of the strongest Alpha in the States, if not the world. And with his death his oldest son was fast showing that he was more than able to step into his shoes.
They were also known to be kind. The Bell Moon Pack was one you could go to for help. Phoenix's smiled grew crooked, if you weren't a rogue that is. Still in a world ruled by harsh men, it was nice to see someone show true strength.
"Hello, Yvonne Belcourt." She saw Yvonne's eyes widen. 'She'd be surprised how much a rogue knows,' Phoenix thought. 'It's a matter of survival. We really are the worst gossips. I'd probably have known of a birth before the father a few times.' She huffed a silent laugh.
"Do I know you?" Yvonne asked as she lowered herself gingerly to the ground.
Phoenix shook her head. "No. But 'Yvonne' is not the most common name out there. And you said 'again'. Which means he's tried before. Very few females tell a mate 'no'. And to tell an Alpha? Then say 'no' again? Even the rogues talk about you."
She watched a blush stain Yvonne's cheeks. "It's not a bad thing," she tried to reassure her, "but why are you upset? Your family has beaten him twice."
Yvonne's eyes grew glassy. "My father beat him when I was sixteen. André, my oldest brother, last year." She stopped, swallowing.
"But not this year?"
She shook her head. "A pack of rogues attacked him two days ago. He killed them all." She glowed with pride for a second before sadness took its place. "But he was badly injured and lost more blood then was safe."
"But the party doesn't start until tomorrow. That gives him more than a full week. How will he not be well by then?"
"They used silver and wolfsbane on him."
"And he's still alive?"
"The doctors think the blood loss might be the reason. They are already talking about how this miracle might save lives in the future."
"I'm glad your brother's going to be alright. From what I hear, he's a good man."
Yvonne swallowed again. "Yes, he is."
"So no one to fight for your 'no' this time?"
"My younger brother wants to. But he's just had a growth spurt and is all arms and legs. He's not up to Alpha Scott weight yet. He'd be killed. How can I risk him?" Tears began to fall. "Then there's André's best friend, he's not family, but he says he'll claim me to save me. But that would be stealing his chance to find a mate. How can I do that?"
"Yes, I can see why you'd be upset. That stupid law."
"It's not stupid. It's for our survival. I can understand that. But it's also cruel."
Phoenix shook her head at Yvonne. "It might have been for our 'survival' back in the dark ages. Though I doubt it. But now? It's outdated. No one fights it because we are so use to it. Laziness on the part of our females. But I'll tell you a little known fact. There were a few not so lazy females in our past who stood up against this law. And in doing so made them add a way for you to tell him 'no' forever."
Yvonne shot upright and stared at Phoenix. "What?" She felt the power she put behind that single word and winced, expecting the girl to start cowering away. Instead Yvonne watched as amusement glinted in her dark eyes and her mouth quirked at one corner.
"Oh! You went all Alpha on me." Phoenix gave a dramatic shudder before a huge smile took over her face. "There's hope."
"What?" Yvonne heard the break in her voice and watched the smile fade.
"I'm sorry." Phoenix said with a guilty look. "I didn't mean to tease. It's just I haven't had the opportunity to really talk in so... And. No. I'm sorry."
Yvonne blinked. "I'm sorry for going 'all alpha'."
Phoenix laughed. "No big deal. Anyway, the law. Here's the gist of it." She closed her eyes and began to recite it as if in a schoolroom. Her voice taking on a sing-song quality. "If a female has no male members to fight for her or chooses to fight for herself, she is allowed to do so. She is required to be in the ring with the male for five minutes and at the end must still be able to say 'no'. The male is allowed to do anything to convince her to change her answer. However he must also stay in the ring. If at any time she wishes to, she may call a halt to it by saying 'yes'. If she can't last the full five minutes and still has the ability to say 'no', it is taken as a yes. But if she does last til the end and say 'no' the 'no' is forever and the male must leave her be or face serious consequences."
Yvonne stared at her, feeling like a fool. 'She is just having a jest at my expense,' she thought, feeling oddly betrayed. There is no such law. She finally believed the girl in front of her could be a rogue. They were all evil, after all. Her eyes narrowed and she stood, shaking out her dress. "If you're done having your little joke, I'll be going."
"Wait."
Yvonne stopped, but didn't turn back to look at her.
"It's not a joke. I wasn't always a rogue. My father loved laws. How they came about, how they changed, how they helped or hurt. He especially loved that one. He called it the "hidden law" because the powers that be don't want us to know about it. But it's there. When you get back to your family, have a very trusted wolf look it up. You don't want your Alpha Scott to realize what you're going to do."
Yvonne slowly turned back.
"I'm not playing with you. I know you've been trained to fight. And that you have alpha blood. But he is an Alpha. So if you decide to do this, you'll need more. I can teach you how to fight dirty. I can teach you how to still be standing at the end of five minutes. If you find the law is real and want my help, meet me back here tonight. We'll need every minute we can find to get you ready for the end of this party. I want to help. I believe "No!" is a complete sentence. And, I'm trusting you. I hope to see you, and only you, tonight. But I'll understand if I don't."
She jumped down from the boulder and disappeared into the forest.
Yvonne, shaking her head, rushed back to her family's colorful tent, fully intending to tell everything that happened just now.