The Blacklisted Rogue
Chapter 32

Elijah

POV

"I don't understand." Sally whimpered while she cried. "How can he be so cruel to force his thirteen year old son to kill an innocent woman? To kill your pet as punishment for refusing? This is the most insane thing I have ever heard in my entire life." I put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to me.

"Through it all, I still managed to keep myself from losing my soul to the gruesome things my father wanted from me. I hatched a plan as backup if I ever found someone in the same position as Sarah. I thank Sarah for what she did for me, because when I finally had to put the plan in action, it was to save my beautiful mate."

Sally leaned her head on my shoulder.

"She sure was a special person." She agreed. "I think she would be happy with how you turned out."

I smiled weakly.

"I hope I didn't let her down."

We sat quietly for a moment, before I noticed that Sally was shivering lightly, so we headed back to the packhouse.

"I hope I didn't ruin our date." I said.

"No, you didn't." Sally chuckled and hugged my arm. "How are you feeling now that you actually spoke about all that out loud?"

"Like a weight has lifted from my chest and I can breathe again." I replied.

"That's good to hear." Sally smiled. "Thank you for this amazing night!"

*

*

Sally POV

Are you sure about this? I asked, frowning at the bottle in my hand.

Avery leaned her hip against the bathroom sink and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What are you whining about? You have done this before, haven't you?"

I nodded.

"I have, but it was always done by professionals that knew what they were doing and..."

"...and?" Avery asked.

I sighed.

"And I have no idea what I'm doing!"

"Oh come on Sal, don't be such a p***y!" Avery exclaimed. "You survived becoming a Rogue, being tortured in a creepy a*s dungeon by two perverts, escaped said perverts only to be afraid of dying your hair? Seriously? You can do this!" I rolled my eyes at her and put the bottle down on the sink.

"Okay, just put the muck in my hair and get it over with before I change my mind." I grumbled. "But if I look like an i***t with crazy hair tonight at the initiation ceremony, I'm strangling you in your sleep."

I glared at her, trying to look intimidating, but the facade broke and we both started laughing.

"Just sit down and relax." Avery said, smearing the smelly liquid over a strand of my hair.

"Shut up." I muttered.

"When have I ever let you down, girl?" Avery asked. "Stop freaking out, you'll be fine."

I shrugged.

"Okay, you haven't. I'm sorry."

"I'm telling you, you look hot." She said and combed through my newly cut and freshly dyed hair.

Avery had refused to let me see it before she was done, so I was really nervous. Maybe she f*cked up and are just trying to cover it up? I couldn't tell...

"Ready to look?" She asked.

Anticipation made my stomach roll and I let out an anxious groan.

Avery chuckled and pulled me in front of the mirror.

I stared at myself.

"Do you like it?" Avery asked excitedly.

I ran my fingers through my hair and smiled.

"I love it, Avery, thank you so much!"

My hair was a more reddish brown than before. Avery had only cut the split ends of my hair, so it was still long. It ended at the middle of my back. She had also cut some curtain bangs and styled them away from my face. "Elijah is going to lose it when he sees you." Avery said confidently.

I raised my eyebrows at her.

"You think so?"

Avery chuckled.

"I know so." She said. "You, my friend, are a snack. Besides, Elijah is head over heels, madly in love with you. He'll love it."

We cleaned up the bathroom and pulled out Avery's makeup. There was a lot of it. When we were finished, the bathroom looked like a war zone. Bronzers, mascaras and eyeshadows were scattered everywhere.

Satisfied with our makeup, we moved on to clothes.

We were going to be inside the training ground's gymnasium, so we didn't need the coats. We just opted for cardigans on top of our dresses. Avery put on a short-sleeved, navy-blue short dress that flared at the bottom. I wore a royal blue, long-sleeved, body- hugging dress that 'complimented my ass' according to Avery.

When we were finally ready, we descended the stairs together.

We found George and Alex in the hall. They were both wearing black pants and button-down shirts.

"You guys look great." I said and side-hugged George.

"You too." George smiled. "Nice hair."

"Thanks." I said and turned to Alex. "You coming too, Alex?"

"Of course." Alex said. "My little sis is getting back to pack life. I may not be some cool werewolf, but I was still invited thanks to this awesome pack we all decided to live in."

I nodded.

"We've really come a long way from Red Ridge."

George grinned.

"Yeah, totally." He said. "Imagine if we had stayed there. I think that our lives would be very different from how they are now."

We heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I looked up and saw Elijah coming down wearing a blue button-down shirt and black pants like George and Alex.

Elijah's eyes widened when he saw me.

"Did you do something to your hair?" He asked.

I giggled and nodded.

"I needed the glow-up." I shrugged.

When Elijah reached the bottom of the stairs, he pulled me to himself and buried his nose in the crook of my neck.

"You look beautiful." He mumbled.

"You look very handsome too." I replied and gave him a once over.

"Okay, let's go to the training grounds and un-Rogue you." George exclaimed and clapped his hands.

We all let out a laugh before walking out the door.

Despite the cold weather, the walk to the training grounds was really refreshing after being crammed up in a bathroom with Avery for the past two hours.

When we reached the training grounds, there were already a lot of people waiting.

The Blue Eclipse pack had about 200 members and all of them seemed to be there.

We made our way towards the stage and found Alpha Jordan standing there with Barry and Joe.

George went up on stage and joined them as the pack's Beta.

Alpha Jordan went up to the microphone and tapped it a few times. People in the hall silenced.

"Hi everybody and welcome to this full moon celebration." He said. People clapped and cheered and after a few moments, Alpha Jordan held up a hand to regain the attention.

"I have a lot of news tonight." He started. "First thing's first, starting tomorrow, we will begin evacuation drills. We will email you a map over the pack territory where we have made several sections. Each section has to report tomorrow evening to their evacuation point where a warrior will go through the steps to evacuate safely and show the fastest way to the safehouses." Gasps and surprised mumbles were heard from the crowd and Alpha Jordan held up a hand once again to make the people settle down.

"I'm sure that a lot of people wonder why." He continued. "Our pack neighbor to the south, the Midnight pack, has repeatedly sent warriors across the border. We have established that their intentions are not friendly and we want to take some precautions in case they decide to declare war on the Blue Eclipse pack.

Now, remember, we are not there yet! But we want to make sure that anyone that isn't able to fight will be able to get to safety as fast as possible."

There were some more people mumbling.

"Why does the Midnight pack want a war with us?" Someone asked.

"The Midnight pack has a different perspective on their way of life." Alpha Jordan replied. "So while we want to offer safety and comfort to those with nowhere to go, they seek to hurt and destroy anything and anyone that would tarnish their reputation in any way. Our packs are very different, and I'm surprised that we haven't clashed with them sooner."

Alpha Jordan clasped his hands together and smiled.

"On to some good news." He said, his voice more cheerful this time. "Tonight, we have three pups coming of age and will shift into their wolves for the first time. But first, I want you all to welcome Elijah Black and Sally Freeman to the Blue Eclipse pack!" The crowd cheered and clapped. I felt myself starting to blush when people around us reached out their hands towards us to greet us.

Elijah took my hand and we made our way onto the stage together.

Alpha Jordan started with Elijah, making him swear his loyalty to the pack. He had a small dagger that he used to cut his palm. In the end, he took Elijah's hand and mixed their blood together.

The crown cheered and through the mate bond I could feel Elijah's pride and joy to become a pack member again. Elijah stepped back and gave me a hug.

Then it was my turn.