Violet Ashes: The Blood Ridge Alpha - Chapter 36: Chapter 36

"Didn't know it went down like that in Magique," Baby laughs as she cuffs Alpha Garrison to the back of her bike.
"Wipes?" Roman holds up a baby blue package.
"Thank you," I take it and start to gently clean the blood from my face using the reflection of his helmet while he looks down at me.
"Why just the two?" he asks.
"We needed four spots to fill," I answer and hand him the pack.
"Helmets on the passenger seat," Baby informs me.
The two of them speak lowly to one another, and when I return, I can see them arguing, but I give them the privacy they clearly want.
"Tell her," she growls.
"Why me?" he argues.
"Because she's your friend, Rome."
"Our friend," he corrects. "Fine,"
"Everything okay?" I laugh. He straightens up and snatches the pack of wipes from his sister and turns to face me.
"Okay," he tosses them back at her. "Obviously, I owe you my life," he says with a shrug. "I know it's asking a lot given our background. We want to stay here,"
"In Magique?" I ask.
"Yes,"
"Not as rogues," Ramona clarifies.
"You're the Luna now, right? We'll do the jumping-through-hoops pack bitches do. Whatever it takes," he nods.
I look between the two of them because that's unexpected. Both Baby and Roman were born rogues. Generation to generation. But I understand. It's getting rough out there. Rogues are always actively hunted, and their numbers dwindle. A new rogue King has yet to surface. The nomads have gone underground and gypsies are well gypsy-ing. Rogue factions are breaking apart.
"Are you sure?" I ask. "Whatever it takes?"
"Come on, Shorty. You know we're down for our shit. Without a Rogue King, we're up for grabs. Suppose we had to pick between taking refuge in Nova and joining you. The answer is more than obvious," Roman adds.
"I'll run it by the Alpha later. You guys have a place to stay?"
"Not yet. We can make means," Baby shakes her head.
"I've got an empty loft space in my tower you can use for a bit. Three weeks tops. After, my baby sister moves in. She's just turned eighteen, and my siblings would kill me if I had some guy around her.
"However, if you are to be added to the census, there's a six-month trial period. The number one requirement is for you to live in the packhouse for the entire trial to ensure you build with the pack. There isn't an introverted version of this, where you can step away and just train here, like in Nova. You have to be part of the pack,"
"Six months in a frat house," she groans. "Is murder legal here? At least tell me we're sorted by gender,"
"Nope. Everyone together. Individual rooms only go out to sigmas. As Alphas, your training will be according to your rank."
"How does that work?" he asks. "I never understood,"
"You're basically glorified betas. You're all split up and assigned a sector according to your test results and specialties."
"But ultimately, we answer to the alpha of the city?"
"Correct,"
"Is there something we need to study?" she asks.
"No, it's all instinct. Honestly, it's either you got it or you don't. I barely passed. I take after my mom. She was stage one feral when my dad found her."
"Shit," they both look me over.
"I have one last question before we go drag racing with this," she kicks Alpha Garrison. "What the fuck is a sigma?"
"Sigmas are-" I've never had to explain what we are before. "Sigmas are second-born alphas. We got the power of the alpha, but very limited places to put it."
"So, a healthy alternative to killing your brother for the top spot? I love that," she smacks my stomach with the back of her hand. "Thanks, Shorty. We should get going,"
She moves over to their Bronco, and I slip the helmet on. I kickstart the bike while Roman lifts Gary's body onto the back of Baby's bike and rests him against my back. He wraps a huge velcro strip around me and the body so that Gary doesn't fall off.
"Does it hurt?" he asks when I adjust the velcro.
"What?"
"The link," he clarifies.
"No, it doesn't hurt," I shake my head.
"Then why do you look like Mr. Thorne just drowned in a pool of his own vomit?" he places his hand over mine.
"We have a lot to catch up on," I breathe in sharply. "I'll meet you guys up at the Tower after?"
"You still unpacking?"
"Just barely finished taking everything over from the storage facility," I nod. He places his hand on top of the helmet.
"This is the last stop," he reminds me.
"It felt never-ending, Rome. It still doesn't feel like it's over. I don't know how much time we can give Perry."
"I guess the three of us can figure it out. I mean if Perry fucking Nelson can do it, why can't we?"
"I'm scared," I admit.
"Of what? He was the one giving us orders. There's no way we're going back,"
"The big guy who killed the other wolf. That's my mate," I whisper just loud enough for him to hear me through the helmet. "I have shit to lose, Ro. A lot. I don't know what to do."
His silence speaks for itself. We've discussed the possibility of finding mates and what we would do. With the wraith in charge nothing seemed like it worked. Perry brought her mate in, and he was taken. Knight walked away, and now we might lose him as well.
The two of us turn to look toward the gym when the doors burst open. Roman immediately pulls away when he sees it's Alpha Barnes.
Barnes stops moving when he sees us. I can't look at him, so I turn to look up at Roman, who lets out a heavy sigh and turns to get into the Bronco. This is just starting for me, and it feels like it's already over. How the fuck am I supposed to mend what's already ashes?