I stood in the phone box, squinting at the thing as I tried to figure out how to work the damn thing. I had never had to use one before; the mind link was better than any phone, and if the distance was too far da had a bunch of burner phones he could hand out. Besides, with Nate around he could boost the strength of the link till we could talk from opposite ends of Yorkshire. I was lucky that Lothersdale was so old fashioned; in other villages, the phone boxes had been removed, or vandalized, or turned into mini libraries that a few of the rogues often frequented.
I struggled to read the prices, swearing at the ridiculous price and being half tempted to turn around and march back to the camp in protest. But no, I had come all this way, and besides, I needed to inform the alpha of the camp so he could raid it now everyone was safe. It would look awfully suspicious if he didn't. So I shoved in the coins and dialed the number, waiting impatiently as it rang. Maybe he wouldn't answer. It was well after midnight, after all, and he could be fast asleep. Although, pack wolves were very different to us rogues. Unless we had a party, we went to bed with and rose with the sun. With their lights, they often stayed up late and woke up later still.
Just as I was about to hang up and try to force the machine to give me my money back, there was a click on the other end, and I almost slammed the phone back onto the hook in fright.
"Who is this and how did you get my number?" Sebastian demanded, sounding tired and worried and annoyed. For a moment, my heart warmed at the sound of his voice before irritation overpowered me.
"You gave me this number, you pack wolf bastard, and if that's how you're going to speak to me then I won't use it again!" I snapped, ready to hang up and damn him and the mate bond.
"Wait, wait, I'm sorry! I didn't realise it was you, Natalia." He was quick to amend, sounding more awake than he had moments ago and far more panicked.
"Oh, so that's the way you speak to everyone, is it?" Better than him just speaking to me like that, I supposed.
"No, well, yes, but not usually, and I didn't mean to speak to you like that. This number is for my friends and my family only, but the other alpha's appear to have gotten a hold of it. I've been getting calls from them all day bothering me about where the rogue camp was. Don't worry, I promise I haven't told them." He reassured me. I had to suppress a smile at the thought of him giving me a secret number.
"Oh, well you need to. At the minute da is working with the idea that it was a rogue traitor who got you out, so it'd make no sense at all if the camp didn't get raided. It's above Silsden, on the moors. Near where the trial bike competition is held. Also, why don't you just block the numbers?" I posed. There was a pause.
"Alright then, if everyone is out of the camp I'll take my men and raid it tomorrow morning. And no, if I block those numbers they'll just use new phones. I'll get a new one myself tomorrow, and I'll wait for you to call me, give you the new number and then dump my old phone." I frowned.
"You pack wolves are so quick to spend. I bet you don't mean a burner phone, do you?" I scoffed.
"Well, no. If you would like a phone, I can buy you one, I really don't mind." He offered. I snorted.
"Yeah, cos that won't raise any suspicions as to how I got a proper phone. We try to only steal off of you lot, you know, not the humans. They bring the police in, and then we get arrested."
"Whereas we only to try to kill you or throw you in a dungeon to rot. You're right, stealing from us is so much better." He answered sarcastically. I shook my head.
"I'd rather be killed or captured than arrested. Remember, if a rogue gets arrested by the cops, Arolia steps in." I said sourly, cursing at their mere name. Arolia had been formed a few years before I was born, an organisation with the goals to mediate relationships between werewolves and humans. Well, at first they had wanted to mediate relationships between the pack wolves and the rogues and the lones, but no one had been happy about that. These blood feuds had been going on for millennia, and no one welcomed the outside interferences of foreign wolves who really had no authority. While we'd all been able to bully them into staying out of our affairs, when we made a fuss near humans, they'd step in. Their help had gotten everyone out of many awful situations, but we never wanted it.
"That's fair enough. I remember one time, a few years back, humans wandered onto our territory and saw a shift take place. Somehow, even though my father was dealing with it, Arolia turned up. They have sleepers in all the packs, I'd wager, and I'm sure they have them among the rogues too."
"That would explain how they always know within hours when a rogue gets arrested." I decided.
"Anyway, how are you? Does your father suspect you?" He asked solemnly. I almost laughed at how worried he sounded.
"I'm sound, I am, I always am. And he suspects everyone, its kind of his go to."
"What will he do if he finds out?"
"Bold of you to assume that I can't kick his arse if I need to."
"Seriously, Natalia. What will he do?" I didn't want to get serious at all, but it was a question I'd been considering myself.
"I dunno. It didn't cause any rogues to loose their lives, so its not like he'll kill me. If I tell him about the whole mate thing he'd probably show mercy, but every rogue would learn about it and I doubt they'd want me around anymore. But I won't tell him, so he'd probably just drive me out." I sighed. I'd tried not to think about it too much, if I was honest.
"If you need to, come to me. I'd look after you." I bit my lip to stop myself swearing at him, and tried to be somewhat polite in my response. His offer came from kindness, or at least, I suspected that it had.
"The day I come crawling to a pack wolf for help-"
"Is the day you die, yes, yes, you made that perfectly clear last night. But I'm not just a pack wolf-"
"You're right, you're an alpha and that is much worse-"
"I'm your mate and I care about you! I don't care that you're a rogue, bloody hell, I don't even care that you killed my father, I just want to know you!" He burst out in a rush. I paused. I didn't know what to say, and I wasn't sure that I liked it. We didn't really say any of that caring stuff. Da showed that he cared by helping me out when I was in trouble and teaching me the way of things. Nathan got me food and helped keep my mind intact. Gwenna teased me and riled me up and was always happy to throw a punch if I needed her to. I liked to think that my ma whispered her love for me before she died, but that was about as far as it went. I didn't know how to respond to whatever this was.
"Yeah, why don't you care that I killed your da?" I blurted out, cheeks heating up immediately. I hadn't planned to say that in the slightest, and I was sure it wasn't a can of worms I wanted to open. The line stayed quiet for a moment, and yet again I considered hanging up to save myself from whatever awkward answer I would get. But that struck me as cowardly, and in truth, I enjoyed pushing people usually. It shouldn't be so different just because he was my mate.
"I know the story of your mother. Or at least, I know my father's version of it, and from that I can well enough figure out the truth of the matter. I can understand it well enough I suppose." He answered. Well, I'd started to push him, no sense in stopping now. I wondered what his temper was like.
"I didn't ask you if you could understand it, I asked you why you don't seem to care about it." I corrected. Yet again, an awkward silence fell over us.
"You ask a lot of questions, but don't seem willing to answer many of my own. Besides, that conversation is one I would rather have in person." I tensed.
"Oh, here it is. Should have known this was coming, all you pack wolves are the same! Let me guess, I come round to the pack for a friendly chat, and as soon as I tip up you and a bunch of your pals will grab me and I'll never walk out again without a full scale prison breakout! Well you won't fool me that easily." I snapped. He sighed deeply.
"You are exhaustingly paranoid Natalia. What will it take to make you agree to meet me?" I paused.
"I've got a lot of work to do, you know. More than you, most likely, so I don't know when I'll be free. And I can't exactly tell you for certain, even if I did know, because then it could tip you off about raids. Besides, if we agreed to meet somewhere public too far in advance you could arrange a trap or something. Tell you what, one morning I'll call you, and we can meet for lunch at a random place in a busy little human town. Does that work?" I was being pedantic and needling, but if I were expected to go out on a limb and risk meeting him, then he could put up with me being obnoxious.
"Certainly. Just ring me when you know, and we can meet up." I scowled. I had half wanted him to refuse or be unreasonable, give me a proper reason to cut contact with him.
"Right then, will do. I need to go. Bye." I said quickly.
"Take care-" He began to say, but I slammed the phone down before he could finish his goodbye. I blew out a shaky breath, leaning against the glass of the phone box and sliding down to sit on the floor. Even though I had wanted to speak to him, I couldn't rid myself of the sensation that I had just made a mistake. I knew that I could never speak to him again, technically, but I wasn't sure I could resist it.
But at the very least, an itch had been scratched, and I might finally be able to get some sleep. I picked myself up, hit the phone a few times in an attempt to get the money back, and then gave up to go back to camp.
I tiptoed back into the den, thinking that Nathan would still be asleep. I was wrong.
"Where did you go?" He mumbled from inside his sleeping bag, one eye peeping out and gazing at me suspiciously. I jumped and swore at him.
"You scared me. And I went for a run, did a patrol by myself. I couldn't sleep." I answered, kicking off my boots and shedding my jacket before crawling into my own sleeping bag. Nathan hummed suspiciously.
"Usually you wake me and Gwenna up too, make us come with you." He pointed out.
"Yeah, well, I have a lot on my mind, I wanted to be alone to think. Besides, Gwenna is busy with her mate. Just go to sleep, Nathan, we can talk in the morning."
"Yes, we will talk about it." He muttered, before rolling over and going to sleep. A few minutes later, I did the same.