Chapter 6 The Rogues Strike

Lucas's eyes turned sharply, his authority as Alpha well in place. "What is it that you know?

Gregor moved closer. "One of our scouts heard a cluster of rouges congregating near the southern border. They were overheard discussing an attack on Bloodfang. They're going to strike us soon-today or maybe even tonight.

A growl rumbled deep within Lucas's throat, and Jessie could feel the tension radiating from him, only heightening her own sense of dread. She knew just how dangerous rogues could get, especially with a ruthless individual such as Cade at the helm.

They're coming for us," Jessie breathed into the cold night air. She rounded on Lucas, eyes alike with fear and determination. "Cade... he won't be satisfied until he has destroyed everything in his path."

The expression in Lucas's eyes softened as he looked upon her, but his jaw was solid as an adamant stone. He would not let anyone take away his pack or his mate. "I won't let them touch you, Jessie. Or this pack.

Then, he turned to Gregor, his voice sharp and commanding. "Alert the warriors. We'll meet them head-on. I want patrols doubled around the southern border. We'll need a strong defense."

Gregor nodded, hurrying off to do as his Alpha instructed him.

As Lucas began to pull himself together for the battle to come, Jessie felt a wave of unease wash over her. Her mind flew to the rogues, to Cade, and a hatred toward her so deep-seated. She had tried to move on, build a new life with Lucas, but it seemed her past was always clawing its way back.

Lucas strode over, his hand delicately cupping her cheek. "Stay here," he murmured huskily, though it weighed like an order. "I don't want you anywhere near the fight.

Jessie would have opened her mouth in protest, but something in his eyes stayed her. She knew he was only trying to protect her, but deep down she couldn't shake the feeling this battle was just the start of something so much darker.

"I'll be safe," she whispered, laying her hand over his. "But Lucas... promise me you'll come back."

Lucas gave her a slight, reassuring smile, but didn't quite make it to his eyes. "Always."

Down at the training grounds, Bloodfang's warriors assembled swiftly. The air was taut with anticipation as Lucas strode down the ranks, calmly issuing orders like an Alpha who had led his pack through innumerable battles. His eyes flashed to the southern border-from where the attack would most likely be launched.

They aren't getting by us," Lucas snarled to his second-in-command, Malek. "If the rogues think they can take on Bloodfang, then they're in for a rude surprise."

Malek nodded, his expression grave. "The warriors are ready, Alpha. We'll hold the line."

But beneath the bravado, all knew this attack was different. Cade wasn't any rogue. He had a vendetta, and he wouldn't stop until Bloodfang-and Jessie-were destroyed.

Cade and the rogues were moving through the dense forest near the southern border. Axel, the rogue Alpha, led them; his cold eyes scanned the trees as they neared Bloodfang territory. The plan was simple: hit them fast, hit them hard, weaken their defenses from the inside out.

Cade's thoughts churned with Jessie. The image of her betrayal, turning her back on him in favor of Lucas, pained him to anger with each step. He could almost see her right now, seated next to Lucas in their warm packhouse, living the life she had stolen from him.

Not for much longer.

"We're close," Axel whispered, signaling the rogues to circle around. "We'll strike just before dawn. Bloodfang won't know what hit them."

Cade grinned, his eyes shining with the promise of chaos to come.

Back at Bloodfang, the warriors lined up along the southern border, their eyes set on the woods. Lucas stood at the front, his senses on high alert. The silence was a bad thing-a hushed quiet that signaled something was about to break.

But suddenly, a rustle in the trees drew his attention. His heart quickened as he strained to hear, but the night remained still.

"Stay sharp," Lucas murmured to Malek. "They're close."

Then it happened-an explosion of movement from the forest. The rogues burst through the trees, snarling and charging toward Bloodfang's warriors. A fierce battle cry tore from Lucas' throat, and the warriors surged forward, meeting the rogues with brutal force.

The battle launched into a blur of claw and teeth and blood. Lucas fought up front, almost wolf untouched in lethal grace as he ripped through rogue after rogue. Yet with each they cut down, more seemed to take their place.

Jessie watched in from the packhouse as the tension crackled in the air. Her heart was racing with fear, not just for Lucas, but for her pack, for everything she had grown to love.

She clutched the railing of the balcony, praying silently that this night wasn't going to end in tragedy.

The battle raged on, but even as Bloodfang's warriors fought with all their might, it clicked in Lucas's mind that something wasn't right. These rogues were fighting all over the place, without a care in the world about winning this first skirmish. Almost.as if this were some sort of distraction.

"Fall back!" he called out to his warriors suddenly, his instincts warning him of a trap. "Regroup near the packhouse!

In full retreat, Lucas's mind was still racing. He knew Cade too well-this wasn't the end of an attack. It was only the beginning.

Jessie walked down the corridors in the Bloodfang packhouse with her heart heavy from the weight of stares and whispers that followed her everywhere. It had started subtly at first, only a few offhand comments about being an outsider. But Cade had planted the seed of doubt, and now the rumors were spreading like wildfire.

"She doesn't belong here."

"Why would Alpha Lucas choose an outsider like her?"

"They say she's bad luck, marked for rejection."

The words cut through Jessie's heart like daggers. Bloodfang, once a symbol of strength and hope to the sufferings of old, suddenly felt as if it was closing in on her-a cage. There was no help for the fact that Vanessa fanned those flames-alpha Lucas' ex-lover and the most influential female wolf in the pack. Her jealousy was no secret.

"You think you're so special because Lucas took you in?" Vanessa's voice still echoed within Jessie's mind since their last encounter. "He'll see through you soon enough. You don't belong here, Jessie. And soon, neither will he."

Vanessa had wasted no time turning the pack against Jessie, playing on their loyalty to her and their wariness of newcomers. She had, after all, been another Alpha's rejected mate. It was as if Cade, Jessie's first mate, was working through Vanessa to undermine her newfound happiness.

One afternoon, walking toward the training grounds, Jessie overheard a handful of warriors talking to each other.

She's cursed, I'm telling you. No good comes from a wolf that's been rejected by her own mate," one of the warriors grumbled, his tone smeared with malice.

Jessie hit her fists together, holding her breath in order not to burst into tears. She didn't have any say in her fate; it was he who had rejected her, not the other way around. She had lost everything that now mattered: her family, pack, and pride. Now all she aimed for was a peaceful life with Lucas, her second-chance mate, but Cade's ghost still loomed over her, planning her collapse.

He had never taken her moving on well, and Jessie could see in the way Cade was reacting, palpable was the jealousy. She honestly feared that his obsession with destroying her would draw blood. Bloodfang was strong and united, but now it was fracturing, and right in the middle of the issue was Jessie.

Alpha Lucas felt the growing unease in the pack, though he still didn't know for what reason such a feeling was there. He could feel it in Jessie, a withdrawal from him, her burden increasingly heavier with each passing day. But with the rogue attacks mounting, his attention had been split.

One evening, Jessie stood on the periphery of the woods, watching the sun dip below the horizon. She could feel the pack's eyes on her, watching and waiting for her to slip up. She knew she had to face Cade, or the whispers would never stop. But a meeting with him sent fear running in her veins. He was her first mate, the one who had broken her heart in the cruelest way possible.

As night began to fall, Jessie felt the presence behind her. That's when Lucas appeared, his tall figure stretching long in the twilight.

"You've been distant," Lucas said, in a soft voice but laced with a hint of concern.

She turned then, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "They don't want me here, Lucas. They think I'm an outsider, a curse."

"They are wrong," he said with firm conviction, stepping closer. "You're my mate, Jessie. I chose you."

"But Cade-he's plotting against me, against us. He won't stop until he's destroyed everything I have left."

Lucas' eyes darkened at the mention of Cade. "Let him come. If he thinks he can challenge me, he's gravely mistaken."

Jessie nodded, knowing her heart raced. She didn't doubt Lucas' strength, but she knew Cade wouldn't play fair. He'd poisoned her first pack against her, and now he was doing the same to Bloodfang. The growing distrust of the pack toward her was Cade's weapon, and Jessie knew it would wedge a gap between her and Lucas before the fight had even started.

Standing there, his hand softly cupping her face, Jessie realized something. This wasn't a fight just to survive but about reclaiming her strength. Cade had taken so much from her, but she wouldn't let him take Lucas or her place in this pack. She'd fight for her future, her second chance at happiness, even if it means facing the darkness from her past head-on.

The night air was thick with tension as Jessie approached the edge of Bloodfang territory, a place she knew the figure of Cade was lurking in, his presence sensed by her for days now. She could feel him, the pull of their sundered bond strong enough to chill her blood. Tonight, though, she wouldn't run. She would confront him, face to face, with the man who once had been her mate-the man who'd torn her life apart.

As she entered the clearing, moonlight slanted down between the trees, illuminating his tall, muscular frame. Cade was waiting for her, his eyes cold, yet a smirk danced on his lips. Harder than when they had last talked, darker, dangerous. There was nothing of the man she had once cared about, only the predator he'd become.

"Jessie," Cade's voice was low with possession as he moved closer. "You finally came."

But Jessie didn't move-one wild heartbeat was racing in her ears. "What do you want from me, Cade?" she asked firmly, strength deceptively molded in her voice. "You rejected me, and I accepted it. So what more could you still want?

For a moment, the smirk on Cade's face wavered and something a great deal more sinister took its place. His eyes seemed to harden as he closed the space between them, stopping mere inches from her. "You don't get it, do you, Jessie? You still have the chance to come back. It's not too late-

Jessie's stomach curdled as his words sank in. He was giving her a way out, but she knew only too well what that entailed: submission, control, and life shackled to the man who had scarred her heart.

"I don't want anything from you," she spat between narrowed eyes. "You can't manipulate me anymore, Cade. I will never come back to you.".

Cade's smirk was back, cruel and teasing. "You really think that Alpha Lucas can protect you? That Bloodfang will save you? You're an outsider, Jessie. They're already turning on you, and soon they'll see you for what you really are-weak, broken. Then, I'll take everything away from you. Your mate. Your pack. Everything.".

But Jessie's heart was racing, and she would never show this man fear. She'd lost enough, and the mere thought of Cade taking anything else just rocketed a wave of fury crashing through her. "You think I'm afraid of you?" she growled, taking an even closer step, her chest heaving with emotion. "You can't get anything from me, Cade. I will fight back with everything I have. You've already taken my past, but you won't touch my future.

The malice in his eyes was bright; Jessie felt a flicker of wariness as, for an instant, she saw in him the predator--single-minded and calculating. He reached out as if to touch her; Jessie took a backward step, refusing to let him close the gap.

"You've made your choice, then," Cade said, his voice low and dangerous. "But mark my words, Jessie, this isn't over. I always get what I want. And when I do, you'll regret turning your back on me."

With that, Cade turned and vanished into the shadows, leaving Jessie standing all alone in the clearing, her heart hammering against her chest. She knew one thing: Cade's threats were not idle. He was planning something, and whatever that was going to be, it would indeed be brutal.