The Rogues Who Went Rogue
Chapter 34

Margaret's first mate was Alpha Draxon, a textbook playboy, alcoholic and a self-entitled brat who got everything he wanted thanks to his status. The only good thing about Draxon was that he was brought up to be respectful to the elderly of Fleet Wood. He helped old men and ladies carry things, get a cat down from a tree, those kinds of things. It wasn't a lot to some, but it was a lot to many. Despite these occasional gestures, every parent who had a pup around Draxon's age couldn't ignore the fact that Draxon was not the kind of creature they wanted their own pup to be around with.

Draxon and Margaret found out that they were bonded mates on her twentieth birthday, which was three months before Draxon was bound to accept the Alpha title from his widowed mother, who ruled Fleet Wood alone as Luna for three years after her husband's death.

Being the naïve girl that she was, Margaret dreamed of taming the untamable Alpha Draxon. She was over the moon to be bonded to the attractive bad boy whom she had a huge crush on since they were children. She'd steal glimpses of him at school, and even found it 'cool' that he skipped classes and talked back to teachers, especially the younger ones. Basically, she liked him for doing things that no one else could do without suffering severe repercussions.

Every girl knew that Draxon was trouble, but it was that very element that made them want him. It was the thrill of the unknown and his indifference in just about everything that made many girls crave his attention, despite their parents' repeated warnings and advice. There wasn't a girl who didn't flash a coy smile or blush in innocent bashfulness if Draxon threw them a microsecond of a glance. Margaret was, unfortunately, no exception. Her cheeks used to heat up on their own whenever she walked past Draxon, even if he didn't see her.

"Hey, what's on your mind?" Tate's sweet voice of concern brought Margaret out of the flashbacks.

She blinked, met his worried brown orbs and shook her head slightly before muttering, "You're just...not what I expected."

Tate's wolf began whimpering at the thought that she meant they weren't enough, that Margaret expected more for a second-chance mate. His voice turned a little hoarse when he asked, "What are your expectations?" "Hm?" Margaret's eyebrows raised in surprise. She was sure she heard him wrong.

Tate cleared his throat and tried again, "What do you...want...in a mate? What do you expect him to be?"

His saddened face bothered her and her animal. What did she say? Why did Tate's demeanor take a 180-degree turn in a matter of seconds? After groping for the right words, she settled with, "Well, I didn't expect to get a second-chance mate, especially after thirteen years. So, I never really thought about what I wanted in him. But you're definitely not what I...pictured as a mate, especially when you're an Alpha."

What? Tate was lost. Did Xandar and Lucianne find it this hard to communicate with each other when they first met? What about Juan and Hale? Did they have the same problem? Did Zeke and Zelena have to deal with this?

After swallowing a lump in his throat, Tate uttered sheepishly, "I don't follow, Margaret. What do you mean by that?"

Margaret then realized she was talking in circles. She couldn't make Tate understand without telling him about her past, and she was terrified to share that part of her life with him. What if he judged her naïveté? What if he lectured her on how stupid she was to give into the mate-bond by falling for someone who reeked trouble from the start? What if Alpha Tate and Alpha Draxon were friends?

But she couldn't deny that she was caving in. Her wolf wanted this. Her human part now saw Tate as a second chance at the type of love that left her broken and damaged the last time. But was he really all that he was showing? Was this really not an act? Alpha Draxon was nice to her because he wanted to sleep with her, and as soon as he got what he wanted, he tossed her out like she was trash.

Margaret negotiated with her wolf, and decided to only tell Tate as much as was necessary for him to understand what she was trying to say. "My first mate...was an Alpha."

Tate knew that, of course. He eavesdropped on her conversation with Stella with the royal family that first day.

"He...wasn't like you."

That was definitely good to hear, seeing how that bastard left Margaret and Stella.

"You're not what I expected because you don't fit into the stereotype most of us have of an Alpha. Apart from the handful of good ones, most young, mateless Alphas are more focused on womanizing than they are on pack business."

"I used to be like that," Tate muttered a shameful admission.

Margaret's ears perked up. "Used to be? When did you stop?"

"Uh..." Tate did a mental count and said, "Six or seven years now, more or less."

"Well, you're definitely in the club of good ones now, and that's what I mean. The Alphas I knew or heard of were controlling and even abusive. You don't seem to be like them. You're not what I expected."

Tate pressed his lips together before updating Margaret on the Alpha stereotype, "I'm flattered that you think of me that way, but I have to break it to you that those controlling and abusive Alphas are facing extinction...In fact, I think they're already extinct today." Margaret's head cocked to one side as her bright eyes urged Tate to continue, so he did. "For years, a few of us have been challenging these ruthless Alphas, even some Lunas, before taking their packs, all with the intention of giving the wolves in those packs better protection and welfare. The initiative started with one of our closest allies, Alpha Juan of Blue Crescent, and the rest of us followed his lead."

"The rest of you?"

"Alpha Zeke and Luna Zelena from Blood Eclipse, Luna Lovelace from Midnight, and myself from White Blood. Alpha Juan did most of it, though. We just picked up what he was too busy to do."

Margaret blinked and leaned back into her seat as she digested these facts before she asked in disbelief, "Alpha Ken of Blue Crescent retired?"

Of all the questions. Tate laughed and nodded. "Yes, he made way for Juan almost a decade ago. You've met Ken?"

"No, but I heard of him. He was one of the good ones. I remember my parents talking about him quite often when I was young. My father admired him a lot. He said something about Ken being kind enough to adopt a child?" Tate smiled as he nodded in confirmation, "And that child grew up to be the creature who we call our queen today."

Margaret froze for a moment before she questioned in a whisper, "That's her?" She was so absorbed into the conversation that she wasn't even controlling her facial expressions anymore. "That's strange. The news our rogue pack got was that the king visited Blue Crescent one day, and some unranked maid caught his attention with her innocent, helpless demeanor when she was serving him food. And the king forced himself on her before her submission to his dominance and forgiveness in his mistreatment made him fall in love with her, and he eventually crowned her as his queen."

Tate's wolf pulled its ears, wanting to tear them out and throw them away like doing so would rid them of whatever they just heard. His human cringed and pressed his fingers on forehead at that preposterous suggestion before he whispered, "Better not say that ever again after today because that whole thing is fake. Lucy and Xandar are bonded mates. They met in the annual collaboration hosted by the monarchy. Lucy herself was the fiercest Gamma of our generation long before being bonded to the king. S*x was not forced, and it came much later in their relationship when she learned to trust him."

"And Lucy is anything but helpless. She trained so many wolves, and then lycans, even the warriors around us right now. She is also nowhere near being submissive or forgiving to mistreatment. The king adores her and protects her with his life. The whole kingdom knows that he'd do anything to please her, even before she fell for him. Seriously, Margaret, where do you and your people get your news?! Whatever you just told me is insane. If the king heard that, he'd throw those creatures in solitary confinement and subject them to an endless cycle of t*****e. I feel like I'm committing treason right now for not reporting this."

Margaret responded matter-of-factly, "Well, seeing that we didn't have access to the Internet because we'd get caught if they tracked our locations with it, we rely on word-of-mouth. I really do apologize for this." She rubbed the back of one of her hands as she muttered, "Goddess, I feel bad for speaking to her that way now. I thought she was a hypocritical, gutless, spineless wh-"

"You don't have to finish that sentence, Margaret, really. We're good," Tate stopped her when he noticed a few warriors around them, all of whom were fiercely loyal to and protective of Lucianne, seemed to be speaking less as their ears perked up in attention. Margaret got the hint, and she pondered on everything she'd just learned before she asked, "You said she was a Gamma?" "Yeah, of Blue Crescent. Alpha Juan gives her full discretion in training and battles."

"The Gamma of Blue Crescent...as in, Gamma Paw?"

"How did you know?"

Margaret scoffed and said, "Rogues fear that name. If we hear that Gamma Paw had been to a specific pack, we'd avoid it at all costs. Odds are, we won't survive the warriors he...well, she trained. I always thought it was a man." Tate chuckled. "Yeah, me too, until I met her. Her brother called her Gamma Paw in her early years as Gamma, not wanting packs to belittle his sister just because she's a woman."

"That's sweet," Margaret said with a smile, wishing that she had someone like that in her life.

"Yeah, it is," A thought came to Tate, and his smile diminished before he held his breath when he cleared his throat and asked, "Did we...happen to kill any of you?"