CATRINA

Looking at my panic-stricken face, Aurora also turns towards the window and lets out a shrill scream, quickly scooting back on the bed and gathering the kids together, as if to shield them from the view of that wolf.

"Is this a rogue?" I ask, my voice trembling a bit when Cayden nods his head all the while maintaining his stare on the rogue.

The wolf tries to open the window with his paws but it doesn't work. He then tries to ram into the window but that also doesn't work.

I breathe out in relief realising that the window is strong enough to keep the rogue out but my relief is very short-lived as I watch the rogue growl at us in anger, making Cayden growl back at the rogue, trying to be less aggressive in front of the kids.

"I'll have to go out, Catrina. Just stay here, lock the door behind me and don't open the door. If it's Connor or Fenris, they'll link Aurora. Do not trust any voice that's outside the door."

Cayden's words scare me more but I just nod, watching my still healing brother walk out of the room. I lock it behind him and turn to look at the window where the rogue is attacked by a brown coloured wolf with bluish-black eyes.

"It's Cayden," informs Aurora while I continue to watch the wolves wrestle. The brown wolf that I now recognise as Cayden's is defending itself instead of attacking the much stronger and healthier rogue.

I watch the fight with my heart in my throat, scared for my brother as he fends off the rogue with difficulty, yet with surprising ease as if he knows exactly what he's doing.

With a sudden burst of strength, I watch Cayden attack with his paws, clawing at the rogue's shoulder and throwing him away from the window.

Trotting away from us, I see Cayden's wolf as he leaps over the wolf, not giving it any chance to recover and rips off a chunk of his shoulder in the process. I gasp in shock, terrified to watch this side of my sweet brother.

Someone bangs on the door loudly, once again startling me and I turn around, looking at Aurora for help but she shakes her head, clearly signalling me to not open the door. I nod and clutch on the cot's railing to keep from pacing around and tiring myself.

I've started sweating, I belatedly realise when my fingers slip from the railing due to their clamminess. Fidgeting now because of the queasiness that starts building up in my stomach, I pray for my heat to reduce. I don't want to cause Connor any more stress than he already is in. With my heat, he'll be distracted more and can be an easy target and if something happens to him, I'll never be able to forgive myself.

"Open the door, Aurora," growls a man and I faintly recognise it as Connor's father's voice. I look at Aurora to see her face pale and her body starts vibrating in fear, probably. She starts shaking her head.

"No!"

Aurora's growl surprises me that someone so sweet could growl like that. She really sounds like a wolf, like Connor. Idiot! She is!

Sighing, I look at Cayden once again who's fighting another set of rogues and killing another one right in front of me. I turn my head when the rogue's blood splashes over Cayden's wolf, painting him red. My stomach churns and I take in deep breaths to stop my body from reacting to the sight and to the heat that's building.

"Is that bitch there?" shouts Conan from the other side of the door and I freeze, my eyes widening in the realisation that he just called me a bitch.

"Go away, Conan," shouts Aurora, shaking her head at me when tears prick at my eyes, listening to his words. She puts a finger on her lips to signal me to stay quiet and I nod, not wanting to give away any more than my scent already has.

"She's in heat, isn't she? She's fucking reeking of her pheromones, distracting every single rogue in the vicinity. Let her out and I might spare you, you've betrayed me and for that only, you are punishable to death," he growls.

I start trembling as the meaning behind his words sets in and I look at Aurora whose eyes narrow in anger, and her nostrils flare while she sniffs in the air.

"I would rather die protecting her than side with you, rogue," growls Aurora causing Conan to roar from the other side of the door, and I flinch in terror. The children around us start crying once again and Conan starts banging on the door loudly, triggering the children to panic more.

I watch helplessly when the door creaks a little and the possibility of being dragged away by Conan or suffering through an even worse fate, makes me want to run away somewhere.

Not wanting to risk the lives of these children, I quickly make up my mind and take a step towards the door. Aurora hisses in disapproval.

"Don't," she whispers but I ignore her and walk, reaching the door. Looking back, I watch that Cayden is busy fending off a couple of rogues and Aurora on the other side, holding on to the kids while shaking her head at me to not move.

"I sense you on the other side, come on, open the door and I might not kill those pups for their irritating wails," cajoles Conan from the other side and I shiver in dread as his words cause a rock to settle in my stomach.

Not wasting any time, I turn the knob, unlatching the door and pulling it slightly but as soon as I do that, the door is pushed open to reveal Connor's father standing there in all his glory. I whimper when his face, displaying his hatred glares at me.

Oh god! He's going to kill me.

I watch as Conan lifts his hand to pull me out of the room. I gear myself, anticipating the pain but no amount of preparation would've been enough for the white-hot sting that burns my skin, making me scream for Connor.

I don't know for how long I scream but suddenly my throat goes dry, making small whimpers to escape, all the while Connor's father drags me out of the room and into the hall, continuing to walk towards the exit of the infirmary.

I try to fidget, to struggle against him to free my elbow from his hold but he doesn't budge, instead, pulls me roughly against him while taking two steps at a time to walk outside the infirmary.

He's dragging me towards the forest, I realise and I panic once again not really sure of his plans for me but whatever it is, it scares me to my core, bringing in the memories of being trapped in that cavern under the influence of the drugs.

I hear myself screaming even before I realise that I am screaming, my mind trying to shut down but unable to because of the pain that Conan's touch brings me.

"Shut the fuck up," growls Conan and lifts his hand as if to slap me. I quickly close my eyes and turn away my face, waiting for the sting but it doesn't come.

Instead, I hear a roar, a very similar and comforting one as a figure passes by me, taking away Conan's hold with him, making me lose my balance and fall on my ass. I squint back to watch Connor glare at his father while towering above me, shielding me from his father's view.

"You are a pain in my ass, Connor. I can't believe you are my son," growls Conan as he glares at his son. If looks could kill, I am sure Connor would have been dead by now with me by his side.

"I can't believe you to be my father, rogue. You side with the feral rogues and then barge in, threatening my mate. What do you expect? That I'll let you live?" roars Connor and I am shocked to see the hatred in my mate's eyes as he goes against his father to save me.

"Power's everything, Connor. I tried explaining it to Ernouf too but he didn't listen that's why I had to kill him," whispers Conan and for a moment, Connor stands there, shock clear on his face while listening to Conan's news.

"You killed him?" Connor asks, disbelief clear in his voice while Conan smirks at his son.

"I tried explaining to Alarick too but he also didn't listen to me, so I had to poison him too."

"What?" this time Connor roars, his fangs peeking out of his lips as he growls, his hands turned into claws. He's scary and I now fear that he might hurt his own father.

But the way Conan so carelessly agrees about poisoning someone makes me shiver in dread. Would he have done that to me, too?

"You are not just a rogue, Conan but a feral rogue and I refuse to call you my father," growls Connor before shifting into his wolf, tearing up his clothes in the process and launching himself on his father's unexpecting figure.

Conan shifts into his wolf, hastily to avoid being harmed by Connor but the effort proves to be futile when Connor manages to bite out a chunk of Conan's shoulders. Conan growls, his wound bleeding profusely while he limps back and tries to attack Connor.

Connor appears to be unharmed and proceeds to meet Conan's attack head-on, ramming his head into his father's middle, throwing him away. The speed with which Conan's body flies away from us, has me gasping and I scream when the rogue wolf hits the nearby Pine tree, and then falling on the ground in a lifeless heap.

I watch for a few seconds, waiting to see if he moves, my eyes sharpening in focus on Connor's father. Connor trots behind me, his warm breath fanning over my hands as we watch Conan try to lift his head. His head lifts a little, the movement taking too much of his energy before he collapses back on the ground, losing consciousness.

"Connor, he's still alive," I whisper, shocked to see a person surviving even after so much physical trauma. Connor shifts behind me, his arms pulling me into his naked embrace and I feel sparks fly where my skin touches his.

"He doesn't deserve to live," he growls in my ears, small rumbling sounds erupting from his throat as he tries to calm down from his rage. I turn around in his embrace and rub at his back, trying to soothe his anger, while absorbing his strength and letting the fear recede out of my bones.

"I am fine," I whisper when Connor starts rubbing his hands over my body, checking to see if I'm injured.

"Go back to the infirmary. I have to go help Fenris," he whispers looking at something behind me, making me turn and that's when I see Fenris dealing with three rogues together.

"Okay," I whisper and turn back to walk towards the infirmary. I turn my head once to see that Connor's watching me, looking around to see if there's any other rogue in the vicinity. Cayden's nowhere to be seen but I think he'll be fine on his own, after all, he fought with two rogues at a time and defeated them.

As soon as I reach the steps of the infirmary, I turn around to look at Connor. He nods at me and makes a turn around motion with his fingers before shifting into his wolf and running away to help Fenris and Sierra.

I look around myself once to make sure no one's following me and then make my way into the room, turning to lock the door behind me, when I stop dead in my tracks to see none other than Oleg the guard with another rogue beside him. I don't even turn to acknowledge Aurora who's no wonder confused at my shocked face.

"Well, well, well, look who's here. Master Xavier's lost daughter," he snarls and I jump in fear, trying to think of a way to call for help. I don't know why are they here but from the looks of it they were waiting for someone. Probably me? But why? They are just guards, and I've never had any kind of conversation with him before.

"Confused, are you?" he smirks at me evilly and I find myself nodding at him. The other rogue beside Oleg growls loudly making goosebumps erupt on my skin and feel my knees trembling in fear.

"Just get it done with, Oleg. We have to get the heir-" he mutters making me frown but is cut off when Oleg smacks him on the head. I quickly realise that the smack was to shut him up to not disclose their agenda.

I ponder on his half-finished sentence, not allowing them to scare me. Looking behind them for a split second, I see Mila sneaking upon them with a rod in her hand. She nods at me once, and I quickly understand her plan.

I have to select one of them so that she can hit the other one. As it is, their smell is hindered because of my pheromones. At least, it's of some use in these dire circumstances.

"Why are you here?" I ask the guy beside Oleg since I know that he'll be easily distracted. The rogue's smug, and careless, making him an easy target.

"I came to get that pup," he tells me, seriously as if expecting me to help him out. I quickly look at the kids inside the room, watching Aurora who has all the four kids around her, not allowing even a single one to cry.

"She's not here," I say and hope that my heat is strong enough to disorient them for a few minutes.

"What?" he asks and then looks at Oleg who's busy leering at my chest. I feel very self-conscious even when I'm fully clothed because his mouth is salivating as if he's in heat. Fuck!

Not wanting to waste any more time, I nod at Mila when both the rogues are busy arguing with each other and wait for her to hit one of them on the head.

Expecting her to hit the smaller rogue, I am surprised when she hits Oleg on the head, the sound of something cracking clearly audible as he goes down like a pile of broken bones and brains.

"What the fuck!" Before the other rogue could react, a burst of air flows around us, making me shiver. I look around to see who's here but I can't see anyone. Suddenly, a figure materialises in front of me, right in the rogue's face and I watch as the figure rips the rogue's head off his body, eliciting a very loud scream from both, Mila and me.

~~~~~

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