CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & SEVENTY ONE


    Talia’s POV


    I was forcing myself to eat my oatmeal when De rushed into the dining room. The door mmed into the wall, causing me to jump.


    “De! You’re going to put another hole in the wall,” I scolded.


    “Forget the wall. You have a letter from Alpha Colin. He personally sent a guard to deliver it,” De said as she walked over and offered the letter.


    I took the letter from her and read it. Then, I read it twice. They had found Jason.


    I jumped up, knocking over my ss spilling juice everywhere. “Woah! What did it say?” De asked. I didn’t answer her as I ran to my office and called Alpha Colin. As soon as he picked up, I blurted out, “Tell me it is true.”


    “Who is this? Talia?”


    “Tell me you’re certain that you found Jason,” I repeated.


    “I am certain,” Colin replied. “My guards saw him at the borderst night. He was wearing a disguise, but it was him. We confirmed his scent on the mask he was wearing.”


    Relief washed over me. It had been weeks and no news until now. I hated to admit that I felt glee at knowing he was caught, knowing that he would be put to death right after, but he deserved it. I gave him so many chances and each time he chose to do the wrong thing.


    “Where is he now? Nn and I wille retrieve him right now,” I told him.


    “We were unable to capture him,” Colin answered and like that, I was filled with dread and now anger.


    “How did your guards allow him to get past?” I asked.


    “Jason is still an Alpha, Talia, even while exiled,” Alpha Colin replied. I could hear the controlled anger in his voice. “He killed the ones who tried to stop him. They were good people, my people.”


    “I am sorry, Colin. They will be avenged. I promise you,” I told him.


    “There’s another issue. Jason is not hiding out in my territory. He fled into the forest and found a rogue camp there. My scouts found the campsite at dawn. There were no survivors,” Colin said.


    “How bad was it?”


    “It was a ughter. He ughtered all of them. Some of them look like they are surrendering or crawling away.”


    “The death of his father must have made him lose his mind,’ my wolf said. I didn’t care. Jason had gone along with poisoning my father. He deserved to feel grief.


    “He is unstable and out of control. We need to put a stop to him before he causes any more damage,” Colin continued.


    “Do not go after him on your own, Colin,” I told him firmly. “For now, tighten your defenses. Post double guards at every entrance and pull your patrols in closer to the pack houses. Do not send anyone into that forest until we have more information. Avoid engaging Jason unless you are sure that you can capture him alive.”


    “Understood. What are you going to do?”


    “Nn and I will send trackers into that forest. We will track him and build out a n from there,” I exined.


    “If anything changes, I will inform you,” Colin stated.


    “Thank you, Colin,” I said and then hung up. I ran my hands through my hair as I tried to self-soothe. All I could think about


    was what if Jason slipped away again or worse he found the Rogue King.


    +25 Bonus


    Nn came in from the adjoining room carrying two cups of coffee. He set one in front of me. He looked at my face and set his own cup down without drinking from it.


    “What happened?” he asked.


    “Colin’s guards spotted Jason at the Moonbrook borderst night,” I reported. “He came through in disguise and killed several guards to get inside.”


    Nn frowned. “Has he lost his mind?”


    “Colin believes so. He ran from the border and entered the forest. Jason didn’t keep running. He ughtered rogues. They found their bodies this morning,” I answered.


    Nn was quiet. He looked at the table, working through it. “No, he hasn’t lost his mind. Jason is too proud and vengeful for that. He is searching for the Rogue King.”


    “That is what I think.”


    “Jason probably wants to use the Rogue King like his father was to take control over packs and the position of Alpha King,” Nn reasoned. “With Michael dead, the Rogue King has lost his pawn and he will want a new one.”


    “Which means if Jason reaches him, then we won’t be tracking one person.”


    “We will be preparing for war.”


    I had reached the same conclusion but hearing it stated inly made it more real. If Jason secured that alliance, we would not be dealing with regr rogues. It would be mag rogues. The situation was getting worse by the day.


    “We have to stop him before that happens,” I urged.


    “We will. Remember, we will Jason together. We’ll take it one step at a time.”


    “How do you always know what to say to calm me down?” I asked.


    “It’s my job to know,” Nn said as he leaned down to kiss me. “Solon and I will go to the border and see if we can get the wall built faster and tighten the patrols.”


    “I will go to the hospital,” I said.


    “Are you not feeling well?” Nn asked.


    “Yes, I can sit around and do nothing while you manage security,” I replied. “Leslie is still working on an antidote, and I n to help her in any way that I can.”


    “Good. We are going to be okay, Talia,” Nn said. He was halfway to the door when it opened from the other side.


    The guard who was in the doorway was breathing hard. He had clearly sprinted all the way here and had not stomped to catch his breath until now.


    “Goddess, what has happened now?” I groaned.


    “Rogues,” the guard managed to say in between gasps. “Rogues have attacked.”


    We were toote.


    Jason had already found the Rogue King and made his move.


    +25 Bonus