The blade stopped an inch away from the infant's face. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I sighed in frustration and cast it aside, who am I kidding? I can't become a baby killer. The weapon clattered against the cave walls, the sound echoing throughout the cave. It was then I realized how quiet it was.
I covered the basket and got back on my feet.
"What are you doing?" Jared's voice echoed behind me. I cursed internally before turning around to face him.
"What we were ordered to do. Our work here is done." I proceeded to walk pass him.
He stopped me by placing his hand on my shoulder.
"She the only one in here?" he asked, sniffing the air.
"Do you see anyone else?" I asked, slightly irritated. "We've done what we came for. Let's go give our report to Alpha Philip."
We went back the same way we came to the cave's entrance. The sight before me left a bitter taste in my mouth. Body parts were littered all over the cave, blood smeared all over the walls and floor.
I looked at Jared from the corner of my eye, knowing full well he is the culprit. He just shrugged and slung his bloody arm over my shoulder.
"I'd hate to leave my art but let's get outta here. I'm getting hungry."
I shrugged him off and walked away. Determined to get them as far away from here as possible.
"Hold up! Do you hear that?" one of them said, causing all three of them to stop in their tracks.
"We need to get going. We've wasted enough time here." he waved his hand in front of my face, signaling me to keep quiet while they strained their ears to listen, and as if on cue, and gradually getting louder, the infant started to cry.
All eyes were glued to me as the voice became more clearer. Echoing throughout the cave. Jared started to move, making his way over. I put my hand on his shoulder and had his fist smashing against my jaw. The force blew me into the wall, and sure as pain, I felt my jaw dislocate.
I shifted it back in place and spat out some blood.
"What is this?" he came back, the baby dangling in the air by its feet. "You spared one of them."
"That's a baby!" I snapped.
"Doesn't make it any less of a hybrid. It needs to be destroyed." he held the crying infant out for me to strike.
I shook my head and stood firm. "I don't kill children."
"I'd really thought you were committed to the pack." I felt something hit the back of my head and everything when dark.
I felt my body hit the hard floor of the Blackridge pack hall. I could taste the blood in my mouth, dripping out from where a few of my teeth used to be. Jared had his sweet time beating the shit out of me. Once this has been resolved, I'm going to repay him in full.
Alpha Philip descended from his seat, like a king from his throne. The pack elders sat silently to the side, like a jury.
"What is the meaning of this, Jared? You better have a good damn reason" his voice was filled with anger.
"Oh I do," I'd say he was enjoying every moment of this. Jared has always been jealous of me, and secretly hated me, especially when I gave out orders during missions. He believes he can be a better beta than me, just because he is stronger. "Ash was found to be aiding a hybrid."
"It is a child for goddess sake!" that earned me a kick to the stomach and I collapsed to the floor once more.
He crouched down before me, getting to my level. "Is this true, Ash?" he asked slowly. I sat up, cradling my side. "Tell me he is lying and is trying for some attention" he asked using the mind-link just between us.
I sat up and looked him in the eye. "No matter what anyone says, or what you think of me, I don't kill children."
"It was a hybrid." Jared interjected.
"It was just a few months old," I added. "How can you be so cruel? Please tell me you see my point." I turned back to Philip.
He contemplated before settling his mind.
"Your orders were to eradicate the hybrids. Nothing more, nothing less," he finalized. "You failed to accomplish that, you disobeyed a direct order." He walked away from me and headed back his throne.
"I accept whatever punishment comes my way." I raised my head with pride. There is a line we shouldn't cross, because then nothing differentiates us from the monsters we kill.
Two wolves dragged me to a room, and dropped me unceremoniously on the floor. Philip stood in front of me, just staring at me without saying a word. Maybe he expects me to plead for my life, beg for my position, but no, he stood with sadness in his eyes.
"Alpha?" the forger called and he nodded his head.
A glowing brand, shaped like a broken sigil of the pack. It has been heating up in the furnace.
I bit back a scream as it was pressed into my exposed back. I clenched my jaw hard and groaned in pain. The scent of burning flesh filling the room. Once they removed the brand, the world began to spin and my head became so heavy.
"You are stripped of your rank and your pack. For treason against the pack and protecting a hybrid life," Philip's voice echoed. "I, Alpha Philip, exile you, Ash Ryker from the Blackridge pack until the end of your days. You are no longer one of us."
I closed my eyes and let the darkness consume me.
My body was dropped on the hard forest ground, outside of the pack territory. I woke up, groaning as my bones cracked. The wounds inflicted upon me had healed but I still feel the burn in my back.
"Now that you're gone, I'm the new Beta," Jared smugly said. "And I didn't even have to do anything to get it. You lost it all on your own." he whispered into my ear.
I sighed.
"Help me up you bastard," I stretched my hand out and he took it after a few moments and helped raise me up.
"It was just a baby dude. It would have died anyways if you left him there."
"Maybe." I tapped his shoulder and shoved my claws into his abdomen, with a fine twist. He spat out blood and bent forward in pain. I grabbed his head and rammed my knee into his face, knocking him down on his ass.
I spat on the floor, glaring at his bleeding frame. He won't die from that, but he needed some payback for what he did today.
But the reality set in, I am now a Rogue. It would have been better if he had killed me, maybe then I could rest and find some peace. I am now dead to the pack, free but with no purpose.
___
Now in the present…
The alley stank of piss and engine oil. I pulled on my face mask as I stepped over a dead body lying over broken glass.
The club's backdoor creaked open. A man in a sharp suit and with an even sharper smile emerged, holding a black envelope.
"Clean work. Didn't even hear him hit the ground."
I took the envelope without a word and counted the cash inside. Just enough to cover the rent a week's worth of groceries.
"Same time next week?" the man asked. I walked away without saying a word.
The elevator in my building hadn't worked in years. As usual I took the stairs to the last floor. Inside my apartment, the walls were cracked, the paint peeling over. A mattress on the floor and one small window facing a brick wall.
I dropped the envelope on the counter and stripped off my shirt and jacket. The brand still itched sometimes. A constant reminder.
I plopped down on the mattress and lit a cigarette, staring at the uneven ceiling. I didn't have a pack anymore, or a purpose, but at least I'm still breathing.
That has to count for something.