Chapter Eleven

Kane had thought he had seen fear in Mason's eyes back at the party, but no. What he saw in his eyes now, that was true fear. Mason froze, his eyes the only proof that he had heard the words leaving Kane's lips.

Kane repeated the words again. He needed Mason to react. He couldn't have him frozen. "There are rogues coming."

Mason's breaths grew more rapid. "W-What?" he muttered out between huffs. "Are they going to hurt us?"

The fear in Mason's voice made Kane's chest hurt. He felt like his mind was running at a million miles a second, every scenario and thought running through his mind. He needed a plan. He took a deep breath. He was a Beta. He was going to be second in command one day. Kane knew that this was the time to put everything he had learnt into practice.

He listened to the voices, the footsteps. There was too many of them to fight. They were quite far away, they wouldn't have noticed them yet, if they were lucky. Kane knew how fast Mason could run, but that was before he had chased him through the woods for god knows how long. Mason couldn't run that fast now, and that was what they needed. They had to get to the Alpha before the rogues got to anyone else.

"Kane," Mason whispered in a forced calm tone, "What do we do? Are they-"

Kane could tell how scared Mason was. He decided in that split second that he would do anything to keep this boy safe. It wasn't just his duty that made him think that. This boy had trusted him, and he had made a promise he didn't intend to break. He needed Mason to truly trust him if they were going to get out of this alive.

"You need to leave," Mason told him between breaths. "Leave me and run to the pack."

Kane didn't even consider the idea. "I am not leaving you here. That's not even an option."

"I can't let you die for me too," Mason whispered so low that Kane almost missed it.

He gently grabbed Mason by the forearms. "No one is going to die. I won't let them hurt you, I promise."

Something must have suddenly changed because Mason's whole demeanour changed. His breathing slowed. "I believe you. How are we going to get out of here?"

"I'm going to transform and I need you to jump onto my back. You're too tired to run back, it's too far. You'll have to hold on as tight as you can."

He expected Mason to ask questions, to worry about falling off or to refuse and want to run himself. Instead he nodded quickly, complete trust in his eyes. "Run fast. I'll hold on."

Kane wasted no time. He fell to the ground, his bones shifting. He dropped so that he was flat on the ground and suddenly the weight of Mason was on his back. He waited until he felt Mason's fingers wrap around his fur and then he was off, running as quickly and quietly as he could.

He ran quickly, his steps calculated. Kane was constantly aware of the weight on his back, trying to keep Mason steady as he dodged trees and jumped over fallen logs. His thoughts jumped to Nora, back at the house. He had to keep her safe.

Kane could feel Mason bury his face into the fur behind his head. Kane wondered if he was okay. He probably wasn't. He thought about what Mason had said back there, I can't let you die for me too. What did that mean? Who had died for Mason before?

Kane didn't have enough time to ponder those questions, instead he tried to focus on running. He pushed his feet against the leaf covered ground has hard as he could, using it to bound him further forward with every step. He had to make it to the house. He considered going straight for the Alpha's house, but he wasn't sure if he would even be there, and Tyler's house was closer. He wondered if Nora came into play as well. Would he have really run in another direction to his mate if rogues were on their way?

He took a moment to stop, to listen. He could only just hear the faint sounds of the rogues in the distance. They were either still in their human forms or their wolves were just walking. If they had been running then they would have been much closer by now. Kane wondered why they were all together, slowly making their way towards the town. Were they that confident? Did they really think no one would notice them?

Rouge attacks usually happened late at night and from all sides, quickly and quietly, so that the packs weren't even aware of what was happening until it was too late. That's why wolves patrolled the walls late at night. However, it was just nightfall, most of the pack was awake and roaming the streets. Why did the rogues pick this time to attack? It didn't make sense?

"I can't hear them," Mason whispered. "They mustn't have seen us, otherwise they would be closer."

Kane nodded and made a low noise in his throat. Mason's grip tightened around his fur. Kane kept moving, pushing them through the forest. He was running close to other houses now, and he could see Tyler's house in the distance. He pushed himself, running as hard as he could. When they reached the patio he made a hard stop, Mason falling from his back and into the dirt.

Kane looked down at him, terrified that he had hurt Mason. However, the boy just waved him off. "Go! I'm fine!" he called to him. Kane took a millisecond to scan him with his eyes. He didn't appear to be injured, and so he ran around the side of the house, straight through the open front door.

Kane, in his wolf form, stood tall in the doorway and made a low howl from the back of his throat. The music in the house was suddenly switched off and everyone ran towards him, until there was a group of people standing in front of him, wide eyed with drinks still in their hands.

Kane heard Adam calling his name and within a second Adam was at the front of the crowd. He looked at Kane with serious eyes, filled with questions. To an outsider, Adam wouldn't have looked worried, but Kane could see past that. He saw the way he was holding his breath, waiting for Kane to do something.

Kane transformed, right there in the hallway, and as he fell to the ground he called to Adam, "Rogues! There are rogues outside!"

Adam's entire demeanour changed and suddenly Kane didn't see that worry anymore. He saw an Alpha, a leader. His face hardened and he pointed at Tyler, who was standing at the entryway to the kitchen. "You know what to do."

Tyler, now he looked scared. He ran towards Kane and reached over to the side of the wall. There sat a small red button surrounded by tiny lights and a speaker. The moment he pressed it, those lights lit up a shade of amber. Everyone waited in silence, then a voice filled the room, coming from the speaker.

"This is Sebastian, what is the emergency?"

Kane stood from the floor. "Dad, it's me and Adam," he said into the speaker. "There's a large group of rogues heading towards the town from the fence. They were near the lake when I heard them."

There was silence for a few moments. Kane looked over at Adam. He was standing next to him, his eyes on the speaker.

"Stay where you are. We are going into lock down," his father said.

A blaring beeping noise came from the street. The town was in lockdown.

"Everyone get down," Adam called out to the crowd around them. Kane watched him and he could see Victor's strength and composure falling from every inch of Adam. "Lock the doors and find somewhere to sit down. It's going to be okay."

Everyone started to scatter, people drawing the blinds and slamming the doors shut. The blaring noise from the street stopped. Everyone would now be waiting for the next announcements.

"Cover yourself," Tyler said with a small smile. He handed Kane a blanket, which he quickly threw around his waist. He had completely forgotten that he was naked.

He didn't have time to be embarrassed as in the same moment, the front door behind him opened and Mason came through, shutting the door behind him. He was back in his clean clothes, but his skin was covered in dirt. Kane only then noticed the trail of blood as it ran down his arm, through to his fingers.

"You're hurt!" Kane exclaimed. He crossed the distance between them. "Where is it?" he said as he grabbed Mason's arm. He found the cut, a clean slice behind his arm. Blood dripped freely down his skin. Kane knew he had done this. "I'm so sorry," he said.

Mason shrugged. He handed Kane his clothes. "You just saved my life from a pack of rogues, a little cut isn't going to get me down."

Amelia pushed past Kane. "Mason!" she squeaked out. "Where have you been?" She eyed the cut. "Oh lord, you're bleeding!"

"I'm fine," Mason told her.

Kane looked at Tyler. "Can you get your first aid kit?"

Tyler nodded and ran to the other room.

Kane was suddenly aware that he hadn't seen Nora since he had gotten back to the house. He had assumed she had been somewhere in the crowd, but he hadn't seen her. He looked around the room with wide eyes. He quickly pulled his pants on, leaving his shirt and the blanket on the ground.

"Nora?" he called out, to no reply.

He walked into the kitchen, but she wasn't there. He walked into the living room, where everyone had gathered, speaking with a forced calmness to his tone. "Has anyone seen Nora?" he asked.

Violet had been standing with Adam in the hallway. She walked towards him, "She was here a few minutes ago. I don't know where she went."

"Could she have gone outside?"

"I don't know," Violet admitted.

Kane tried to feel for Nora through the bond. She was there, he could feel her, but he couldn't figure out where. She was close. She was upset, he could sense it. Images of Nora being taken by rogues suddenly flooded his vision and he breathed out a harsh breath, trying to push the image from his brain. He reassured himself that he would know if she was hurt. She was upset, but where was she?

Kane tried to ignore the sounds of everyone's worried conversations around him. He listened closely, his ears honing in on a sound he couldn't place at first. Then he realised, he could hear the sound of someone knocking on the glass doors. He ran over to the other side of the room, towards the doors, and pulled back the curtain. There she stood, with eyes wide. Kane fiddled with the lock before being able to open it. When he got it, he ripped the door open. "Nora, are you okay?"

"I got stuck out here!" she told him. She sounded as if she was on the verge of tears. "I was looking for you and then the alarm went off and someone locked the door and- "

Kane wrapped his arms around her. He placed his face against her hair and breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe. Nora's hands grabbed him back, and she pulled him closer. "Why is there a lockdown?" she asked into his chest. "Where is your shirt?"

Kane stepped so that they were inside and used his free hand to shut the door behind them. He pulled away from her. "Mason and I went for a walk in the woods and we came across rogues."

"Rogues?" Nora asked. She stepped back with wide eyes that looked him up and down. "Are you okay?"

Kane nodded. "I'm fine."

Kane, once again, felt like the worst mate in the world. He hadn't even thought about looking for Nora until he knew the pack was safe. That was the rational thing, he argued with himself, but it wasn't what a mate should have done. He had been thinking of Nora as he approached the house, but after knocking Mason onto the ground, his thoughts had been scrambled.

"I'll close the curtain," Tyler said as he tried to move past them.

Nora and Kane moved so that they were out of his way. Kane turned and looked around them. Everyone was sitting on the floor, worried looks on their faces and scared words on their lips. He saw Amelia and Mason sitting against the wall. He hadn't seen them come in. Amelia was watching he and Nora with a proud smile. She sent him a nod when their eyes met.

Mason looked okay. The sleeve of his shirt was pushed up over his shoulder and a white bandage covered his upper arm. He had been watching he and Nora as well, but his expression was unreadable. Kane wondered if he was in pain. He moved to go over to him, but he heard his name being called.

"Kane, come here," Kane heard Adam call to him.

Kane turned and pressed a kiss to Nora's forehead. He hoped that it would be a kind of secret apology. He really did care about her, and the idea that something had happened to her had been enough to really shake him. He vowed to be a better mate from that moment on. "Thank god you're okay," he whispered. He didn't miss the smile on Nora's lips as he turned away.

Kane followed Adam's voice to the kitchen. He was alone, pacing the length of the kitchen slowly. He held his phone in his hands. "I haven't heard anything yet. I tried calling my father and he didn't pick up."

Kane found his own phone in the pocket of his pants. He was glad it hadn't fallen out. "I'll call my father."

"We should go out there," Adam said with certainty. "They are probably fighting the rogues in the forest right now and we are in here. We should be helping them."

"It's a lock down, Adam," he explained. That weird feeling in his gut told him to agree with Adam, but he knew better. His father had told them to stay put. "We can't just roam out into the forests. We don't know what's going on out there."

Adam tilted his head. "We know exactly what's going on out there. Rogues are coming for our pack, we have to fight them. I wasn't born an Alpha to sit here and let my pack be overrun. I was born to protect this pack."

Kane knew then that he wasn't going to win this argument, and truth be told, he didn't want to. The rational part of his brain told him that staying in the house was the best thing to do, but the wolf in him fiercely wanted to protect the pack. He thought of their friends in the next room, of his brother and sister at home, and knew that he had to protect them. He wasn't going to let those rogues get anywhere near the people he cared for. He thought of Nora's teary eyes. He remembered the fear he saw in Mason's face. The rogues weren't getting near this place.

He nodded towards the door. "Let's go then."

The corner of Adam's lip turned upwards. "You're agreeing with me for once?"

"I was born for this too," Kane responded simply.