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“Why didn’t you tell me?” Knight asks
The question catches me off guard and an insane amount of embarrassing shit I’ve done spins in my head. He’s sitting in the back of the van, and I don’t know if he’s upset or not. His tone is neutral, but I feel guilty for some reason.
“Hmm?” I hum, unable to come up with anything he could have learned.
“About the cat lady and the tattoo,” he clarifies.
“Meow.” Ayrie giggles sleepily–Knight and his father both laugh.
“Oh, I wasn’t sure. I had to look up some old pictures. Then I forgot about everything because of the reconstruction stuff in Magique. When I was talking to Perry, I remembered. Sorry,” Phew. I thought it was going to be something weird. Not that any of the things I’ve done in any way outweigh things they’ve admitted to me. Both of
them.
“Do you have the picture?” he asks.
“Yes, I’ll send it.” I reach for my phone on the charger.
“Those are important details, Little Mortal. You can’t be forgetting them.” Mr. Knightly scolds me.
After his latest argument with Maria, he invited himself. Maria stayed behind to continue helping Elliot settle into his new role and train with the added power he stole from his father. I don’t know how killing his father made him stronger, but when I saw him again, he was bigger, and the aura around him was a lot more than what I felt when his father was around.
“I have some questions about Elliot stealing the alpha power from his dad.” I raise my
hand.
“All right,” he nods.
“Okay, let’s start with, what the eff?”
“That’s one way a novice alpha like Elliot gains power,” he begins. “Alphas are the highest level of wolf under the King. The King owns everything and grants an alpha a sector of his territory to look after, right?”
“Okay.” I understand that.
“With that said, not all alphas are the same. On average, an alpha can manage up to two hundred wolves without a problem. However, over the centuries, we’ve adapted to the masses of our takeover. Say an average wolf takes over another average wolf’s territory. Now he has four hundred wolves to care for. That wolf gains the power of the alpha and the pack, making him twice as strong as before. The more he gains, the stronger he becomes.”
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“Wow. So, you keep what you kill.”
“That’s right,” he nods. “It’s the first amendment of the Alpha Alliance.”
“What about the lower–level ranks?”
“It’s the same for all of us. If a beta or an omega were to somehow manage to kill an alpha, he becomes one. If a beta kills another beta, he gets stronger but remains a beta. Omegas are a little different in that department. Omegas are easy–to–breed wolves. It’s their nature: male and female.
“They are excruciatingly rare and often are owned by more than one alpha. This practice is called the Triad. The union of average alphas through a mate.”
“So an omega is just for that purpose?” That’s horrifying.
“Yes.”
“No,” Knight growls at him. “Omegas are not just for breeding. They’re smaller than the rest of us. Their smell, their voices, and their personalities are all inviting. They bring people together. They’re extroverts who can lighten the mood and they like to have fun. They’re very good with children and often become our medical support. Packs with Lunas who are Omega have some of the best welfare for civilians. Their humble and
love to serve.”
“Nice.” I nod.
“They are also the weakest of us all. They’re born to be submissive. Keeping an Omega as a Luna is dangerous for it. The easiest target and the heaviest burden to an alpha. Even a triad.”
“Especially a triad. Sometimes an omega is the only thing that holds the three together.” Knight adds.
“Are there any now?”
“Luna Miller. She’s mated to the most powerful triad of hellions in the world. She’s given birth to six pups. Three alphas, three betas. They lost an alpha mate a while ago after the birth of their betas. I killed him for disrespecting Maria.“Mr. Knightly chuckles in psychopath.
“What did he say to her?”
“He called her a power seeking slut.” Knight answers. “I was there.”
“That idiot Blake wasn’t going to do anything about it and no one calls Maria a slut but me,”
“Seriously?” Knight scoffs. I can’t help but laugh. “Don’t encourage him.”
“I’m not. It’s just funny to me cause they’re not my parents. I was spared the embarrassment.” I press my lips together when he groans.
“Any other questions?” Mr. Knightly grins but doesn’t add to it.
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“It’s a long ride. I’m sure I’ll think of something eventually.” I shrug. “But yeah, do those same rules apply to rogues? I was under the impression that we were stronger.”
“We are. Rogue ranks work the same. The difference is that we were raised with the darkness that comes with being away from packs. We call it the solitude shadow. We all have the same rank and power. However, any one of our wolves can go up against a whole lot of them with a high chance of survival. We’re closer to being feral than any of them. Our instincts are wired differently.” Mr. Knightly answers.
“Why do the packs hate us as much as they do?” I really want to know that.
“Because one of us can destroy their entire way of life overnight. We’ve done it, and there isn’t a single thing they can do because keep what you kill is their law, not ours. Rogue laws are designed to help us stay under the radar. None of us wants to be responsible for dealing with all the pack technicalities and functions.” Knight answers
this time.
“As the Rogue Queen, what are my responsibilities?” I ask.
“Whatever you want them to be,” they both answer.
“That is so vague, sirs. What responsibilities are there?”
“One thing you’ll have no trouble with is making Nathan look good. Presentation is key to a successful reign. This means you and the pups will always look your best when stepping out into the public.
“You are a rogue and will be treated as such. You must ignore the whispers and accusations and show them why you’re superior to them. We do not tolerate physical violence. It’s why the first thing I started to teach you was self–defense; whenever you have the time, practice. Never stop.
“Push yourself past your limitations at every opportunity. Pass that on to the pups–all of it. It’s how we’ll survive.” Mr. Knightly says as if he’s been a rogue all his life, and I guess with the way he was treated in the Alpha Alliance, he has been.
“Once things start to settle down, you’ll find things you want to change. You have the power to do so now. Your influence is already changing things for rogues. Your success and story have inspired many.
“Let me know if anything catches your eye,” Knight adds. “I’d like for us to be on the
same page about things, but I’m not stupid enough to think that we always will. This works if we stop holding back.”
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