For once, I didn't want to raid a pack, and I didn't know why. Just a few weeks ago I had happily sauntered onto the Nightstalker pack grounds, fought the alpha, and won, but now there was a deep feeling of dread in my stomach as my little pack padded forward to the boundaries. For as long as I could remember, I had loved raiding. The thrill, the stealth, the fight and the chase, and most of all, the pure joy of stealing from the packs for our own good. I was four years old when I first starting begging my da to let me go raid with him, and a few years later he was letting me play around on the borders as he delved into the territories to whet my appetite for trespass, which hadn't died ever since. Until today. Even my wolf was restless; not in the way that she usually was before a raid, but in a distracted, domineering way.
Nathan and Gwenna could feel it too. They had shifted and were padding at my heels, eyes down to try not to get into a power scuffle with me. Now they were both skittish, though part of that was probably because of what would happen in a couple of days. That is, all three of us would turn eighteen, as da had recently deigned to mention that Gwenna had, in fact, been born on the same day of us. Why he had only just decided to mention that when for years we had celebrated Gwenna's birthday months after our own, I don't know, but I also don't know why he does most things anymore. Wait, that's a lie. It implies that at some point I did understand him.
Chill out and get ready to attack. Da warned through the link, trying to get my attention back to the raid ahead. I didn't answer with words, just sending a reluctant nod to his mind and feeling him pull away from me. He was currently trying to organise an entire operation, and I could feel his irritance at having to remind me of the basic rules of running a distraction when I should already know them by heart and be more than capable of organising myself, Nate and Gwenna. The three of us had discussed the possibility of trying to take over the raiding team before this, but we decided we would need to take more time to plan a coup. So, for today, it was just us, with our potential team raiding another pack along with a dozen others to ensure that the Nightstalker pack couldn't just call for assistance from its allies.
Around the border were a few dozen wolves that follow the raiders and sting team onto the territory and create scent smudges all over, even trailing it for miles into the surrounding forest so we could vanish into the moors without being chased to our camp. After a day, we would be breaking camp so we could go elsewhere, just to make sure we couldn't be tracked. This wasn't our usual raid, after all, kidnappings were rare even for rogues. There wasn't much point to them; it showed the packlings where to find us, the information they had was rarely worth the effort, and any ransoms were rarely paid because if they were it just caused more kidnappings.
Suddenly, the mind link was tugged, our cue to start moving. This had to be timed well; if the raids didn't occur at the same time as the kidnapping, then the whole plan could fall apart and many lives could be lost, and not just rogues. I started trotting forwards and the other two did the same, moving as quietly and quickly as we could. Nathan would be reaching out carefully with his mind, brushing against anyone else's to figure out who was where. He fed any relevant information into my head, warning me off a patrol waiting up ahead. We hung back and hunkered down in a bush until they passed as I told da about the delay. I had been about to lope on when Nathan warned me that they were using a delayed patrol, with a second squad passing a few moments after the first. Huh. That was new. The tactic itself had been used before, but never by the Nightstalker pack. The new alpha pup was already making changes, I see.
Once the danger was passed, we continued, sprinting now as Gwenna let the smudgers know that it was time for them to start as we broke out of the forest and into the outskirts of the built up land. We had picked the time carefully; all the fighters would be in the training arena, a fair way away, and almost everyone would be working at the pack house, with the children being taught in the same mansion. Now, we aren't monsters. We aren't going to properly attack the pack house full of helpless women and children, we were just going to make them believe that we were. After all, no one would leave their mate and children to the mercy of the nasty rogues to go and defend the alpha. Not to mention that alphas telling the males to let their kids die was the only reason in history there has actually been a coup. Usually the brainwashed wolfies would follow the alpha to hell and back just as their upbringing told them to, but threaten someone's children and most of the time it'll snap em right out of it.
So, in the trees near the house the smudgers started to howl, a cacophony of rough rogue voices that would put the fear of the Goddess in every pack wolf. At the same time, Nate and Gwenna went to circle the house and jump and snap at any windows or balconies, while I charged into the door and started to scratch and snarl at the reinforced wood. From inside I could hear the terrified shrieks of dozen of wolves, and Nate informed me through the link that he could sense them linking their mates and fathers to beg for help. Good. Get the fighters and veterans over here, miles away from your alpha and his little family.
Da suddenly looped me into a group link, letting me see what I needed to in order to know when it was time for the three of us to pull back. We couldn't take on an entire pack worth of fighters, and we had no intentions of dying today, so it was up to me to call when they were far enough from the alpha that it would be too late for them to turn back without being so close that they could catch and kill us. A lot of responsibility, but it wasn't the first time I'd made such a call. And if I messed it up, that wouldn't be the first time either.
But it would be the first time we didn't have anyone to bail us out. If I messed this up, one of us could die.
Because of it, I think I ended up calling us off a little early. I may act all 'live messy and die young', but it was hard to carry that sentiment over to the people I loved. So as soon as my wolf pricked up her ears at the faint sounds of approaching wolves, I tugged at the link with the other two, let the others know that the distraction was gone, and turned on my heel and raced into the forest. I didn't get a response from the other raiding teams, or from the sting team, cos they were still busy, but the smudgers responded that they too had set off, taking different winding routes that would end in scent dead ends, such as them trawling through rivers for a few miles or shifting into their skins to travel through the nearby towns and loose their smells in the crowd before they looped back to the camp.
The three of us joined back up as we reached the tree line, the warriors reaching the pack house a few moments later, when the bone fence had just come into view. There was no reason to stick around, we would only be getting in the way and risking our own necks. So, we leapt over the perimeter, having already passed through the scent smudge, and took advantage of it to make a beeline for the camp. Nathan kept casting out with his mind, making sure we weren't being followed, but the smudgers had done a good job. We made it back without incident, which was a refreshing change. Usually things went much worse.
Once we were back in our den, we took turns hiding behind a piece of wall to shift back and dress before sitting on the floor in a triangle. Gwenna pulled out a bottle of vodka and offered it to me, so obviously I took a nice deep drink before passing it to Nate and speaking.
"Well, that could have gone better." I sighed. Gwenna gave me a puzzled look.
"How so? We caused a distraction, lured the warriors away, and didn't get killed or captured. I'd say that it went as well as it could have, all things considered." She reasoned, but I still wasn't convinced.
"I called us off too early, we could have stayed for a few more minutes. As it was, the warriors would have returned before we wanted them to, so someone could have been killed-"
"And now we're getting into conspiracy theory territory, Nat. At least wait for da to come back and bollock you for it." At that, I snatched the vodka back and took another drink, wincing as it burned its way down my throat.
"So, do we have any theories why da decided to steal an alpha pup?" Gwenna asked.
"Torture him for information?" I suggested.
"Ransom him back to the alpha counsel? They'll pay for one of their own, and even if they don't, the pup's family will fork out for him." Nate offered. It may have been a little hypocritical to call him a pup, given he was about a year older than all of us, but it was more a pride thing than an actual label that should be used. We continued to spit ball ideas until we heard a victorious cry ring out, and I felt da tug on our mind link. At that point, we were beyond tipsy but not quite drunk, so we figured we were still presentable enough to show up. Besides, if the mission had gone well, and I suspected that it had, then everyone but the poor sods on guard duty and the little kids would be getting drunk. The three of us hurried down to where a crowd was already forming, jeering and booing at the captured packling and cheering on our returning rogues. I looked them over as we jogged down the hill, glad that I couldn't pick out anyone looking like they were grieving, or notice anyone conspicuously missing.
And in the centre of their little victory parade were two of the bulkiest rogues, holding a limp figure between them. The alpha pup. He was tall, and had blonde hair that was matted with blood. His nice, posh, packling clothes were torn and dirty, and his hands were cuffed behind his back. Oh, he was gonna hate it here. Not only were our camps dirty and messy and noisy, but he'd be in close quarters to me at all times, and after I killed his da I can't imagine he'd be too happy with that. Da caught my eye and nodded once, a small smile on his face, and a moment later he reached into all the leader's heads and spoke to all of us at once.
Meet in my office. It's time to give you some answers.