The Wannabe Warrior
Chapter 15

Madison POV

I glanced over at him and asked

‘Have you had a rogue in here?’

The look of surprise on his face was priceless, then he shook his head vigorously no.

‘That would be a stupid idea. What makes you think that?’

‘I can smell lingering rogue scent in here.’

‘We do have meetings here after the warriors come back. Maybe they have had the smell on their clothes and brought it in with them.’ Mitch suggests.

‘Humm, it is just so strong, that it seemed more like the person has been in this room. Don’t worry, I will work it out.’ I said, remembering that woman had the same lingering rogue smell, but at the time I was more concerned with what she

was up to and the smell of lavender and wolfsbane was so strong, it masked the rogue smell at first, that is until I calmed down and waited for the Alpha to arrive, giving me a chance to check the room out better.

‘The green on the diorama is where we have either checked out or have been told is all clear by other people, the yellow is a faint smell but no sightings, the red is where we have sighted rogues, and the blue is where it is hard to access and maybe last places to check, due to the terrain and this time of year, like the pass is closed, but the Northern pack said rogues are gathering there.’

I looked at the table and at all the sightings and a picture formed in my head. Then a bad thought came to me and I had to ask the awkward questions, the best I could.

‘Do you have any members of the Northern pack here at the moment?’

Surprised by the question, he nods, and adds ‘about 10 are here at the moment, unable to return home as yet because of the pass being closed and many roads blocked by heavy snow.’

‘Who gave you the all clear that are not from your pack?’

‘The advisor gave us the all clear, here,’ he pointed to a cave system I was considering, ‘here and here.’

‘Why is there an all-clear and sightings at the same place?’

‘It is not unusual, rogues move around a lot, never staying still. Well, until now, to come across one or two in an area we have been in is not unusual.’

‘How long has the Advis0r been known to you?’ still considering how odd it was that the pack that cannot get here to help has an advisor here giving all the clear places, who were his men to give such a call. My gut told me something was

fishy with this man.

‘About ten years, we trust him.’ Mitch says, even more confused.

‘Who recommended him to you then?’ I pushed. I think they have this all wrong, but they are too trusting or just can’t see because they are too close to the problem to see it the way I do. My tracker sense is strong and my ability to see through things was something my mother was good at, and she passed that ability to me. It is passed down from mother to daughter on her mother’s line.

‘He came highly recommended by the Northern pack.’ He travels back and forth and to the south too. I am surprised you have not already met the advisor, he said he had been in your pack last year.’

‘Can I suggest something and I know you will think it is silly, but I got to ask.’ Caution bloomed in my mind as my wolf tried to push forward, the feeling of alarm coursing from her to me.

‘Go ahead.’ And nods at the diorama.

‘Can you divert any of the warriors coming through here,’ I pointed to a place on the diorama and ‘here and here, to go the long way round. Call it a hunch, but with rogues still being seen in those areas, I worry ambushes could be set up and fast. That looks like good terrain for ambushes.’

‘We can do that; it will just mean an extra day before they arrive. But if your gut is telling you to suggest this, I will get the Alpha here to discuss who we need to divert out.’ Mitch says, without hesitation. Which makes me feel a little better, that I won’t have to argue with my suggestions, shows the trust they have in our pack Alpha and with the people he sent here to help.

Alpha arrives and looks at the places I have suggested and leaves to make some phone calls.

‘Can I see your phone? That little bug replaceer was very good.’ Mitch asks as I gather my things ready to leave.

‘You won’t replace this app on the internet.’ I giggled.

‘Why not?’

‘I created it. I am all for security and I love computers and what I can do with them, writing code and creating things. This app is for replaceing bugs. Now that I know you have some here, I suggest getting all the land line phones checked for bugs and I have a little dot I will bring down from my room. When I get back from our outing, the dots give a vibration. That makes the sounds being picked up sound like interference, a discovery that gives me peace of mind, knowing average bugs won’t work.

Mitch looks at my phone and plays with the app for a few minutes, before his eyes glaze over, the sign of a mind-link, he hands it back, and nods to the door.

Mitch takes me out to meet the other warriors that will travel with me and, of course, my own pack too.

‘So, are we going to head out for a little sight-seeing guy’s? Are you fed and ready? I asked, with Graham coming over to give me a hug.

Alpha comes out and has us all kneel before him and he does something and we get a group link. I can now talk to the other warriors that are not in my pack and they welcome me to the group. A few more instructions and we headed off, heading in the direction of the areas Mitch asked me to check out first, though they are not where I wanted to check first, but I had to do as instructed, for

now.