344 The Futility of Rage

“You certainly want to know everything,” the woman sighed, “If you must know, the rogue king ordered all rogues to relinquish their bloodthirst and blend in with the general population. Doing that will keep the Chase family from finding them even if they make a sweep of the entire no-mans-land.”

Bree already knew all this, but every time she felt trapped and tried getting them to explain why they were stuck living in a cottage in the middle of nowhere, this is what Amanda would reply. Still, the conversation would not end there.

“But that’s similar to giving up. They will find those breeding camps he has scattered around the globe, won’t they?” Bree tried. ‘Why wasn’t the rogue king doing anything about this? To the mind of a young wolf who depicted the royals as powerhouses with next to no limits, it was harder for her to understand why everything was the way it was. She’d never even asked herself why the rogues chose to hide in no-mans-land in the first place.

“Yes, they will. But at this point, those are also useless. He could only rescue the children there that had a chance of growing into strong rogues. Besides that, the females in those camps were rendered barren the moment the Moon Goddess’s Chosen marked each other,” the woman explained with a sigh. This was just another different route the girl had taken to this conversation... ‘This is getting exhausting.’

“That really put a dent in the rogue king’s power, didn’t it? It’s hardly a levelled playing field in this war anymore,” the girl observed. Having brought the man’s newspaper with her, Amanda began finishing his crossword... and correcting a few of the things he’d gotten wrong.

“Which side do you think is going to win in the end? And no, war is never a levelled playing field. Everyone does what they must to gain the advantage and win the battle,” lacking any form of entertainment, Amanda often surprised herself with how patient she’d become toward this girl.

“If I was to pick a side, I would go with the one I found to be fighting for equality. Since that wench was born, I’ve found our system to be completely unfair. She’s the whole reason I realised the rogue king was fighting for something better,” the girl responded.

After a short moment of silence, Amanda asked the girl, her voice raising in pitch, “Have you ever met a female rogue?”

“I’m looking at you right now, aren’t I?” the girl raised an eyebrow.

.....

“I’m the only one that’s allowed to fight among the females. And that’s only because I was strong enough to earn the rogue king’s respect,” the woman replied, “If you didn’t know this, females are only used for breeding. The rogue king sees them as nothing more than a tool to help him increase the numbers of rogues in this world.”

“How did you survive that?” the girl asked.

The woman went silent for a moment, memories washing over her face. There was a storm of emotions in her eyes that Bree had thought she was incapable of expressing, “There was a time I tried to run away, but certain conditions led me to where I am today. When the rogue king found my strength to be what he was looking for, he made an exception and bit me to grant me the power of an alpha. I was just lucky. The rogues are not what you make them out to be. I would know... It’s how my mother died.”

It took everything for Bree to keep herself composed. Suddenly, her once so clear path was not so clear anymore. She was now having trouble trying to fathom what the rogues were doing in this world. All the stories they had of them were just that... stories, but hearing them from another rogue had a different feel to it. It was real, “I’m sorry about that,” the woman waved off her apology. After a short pause, she asked, “What’s his goal?”

“His goal... Oh, it’s simply to eradicate all of mankind. There is not much more to it than that,” the woman shrugged, turning her attention back to the crossword.

Bree pondered the woman’s words for a while, trying to come to terms with what could have brought on such a decision, “What made him come to that conclusion?”

'

“That’s something even he doesn’t share in detail. Although, if I’m to guess, he knows what actually happened to the moon goddess centuries ago in her feud with the Man god. Knowing that could have driven him to anger beyond redemption. He values a world that’s saved from the cruelty of mankind,” she responded.

“How are werewolves any less cruel?”

The woman smirked, feeling herself finally make progress with the stubborn girl, albeit in a way she hadn’t expected, “We feel emotions more vividly than humans do. A human can do something with no emotion behind it. They are prone to anger and hatred and can lean away from love when it’s their salvation much easier than werewolves.

This could be the same thing that started the war between the two gods. However, for some reason, the moon goddess changed her mind during the war and the Man god forgave her for attacking his creations. I don’t know what he would stand to gain from that, but it was a peace that could have been. The rogue king just had to appear and harbour memories that reopened old wounds.”

“You say humans are cruel, yet it was you that killed Ginger without batting an eyelash,” Bree attacked.

“I know what I did, but I could not stand what the girl was planning to do. Betraying the royal families is the first step in the rogue king’s direction. So I cut the scourge at its roots before she could do any more harm. You may want to justify your anger towards the girl that was born royalty instead of you, but that same anger is clouding your judgement...”

“You know nothing about me,” Bree spat.

“I don’t need to. I heard what I wanted to from your dead friend. She was so angry that she tried to use me to kill a royal. You were on your way to do something similar, but miscalculated,” the woman replied.

“That’s enough. I know what I was doing. I know riding the world of Lina Sirius is a grave crime that is unforgivable, but I am repulsed by the mere thought of watching others bow to a weakling like her. Werewolves are strong and the strong are above the weak. It’s how it’s always been and how it’s meant to be,” the girl was now yelling, “I would only be doing the world a favour.”

“What about you, then? What happens to you?” Amanda asked, “Have you thought about what will happen after all this? Have you been in a battle before? What if you lost Crysta in this meaningless tantrum you’re throwing? Have you ever felt the warmth of a mate bond?

Would you want to die before experiencing it? To die fighting someone who probably doesn’t know anything about you beyond your name. From what I heard the other girl saying that time, it sounded like this royal you hate so much was loved...

And honestly far more powerful than you’re giving her credit for. The world doesn’t need fixing and you certainly don’t have the right to claim you’re fixing anything. The only thing that needs fixing here... is you.”