Past, Present And Future Mistakes

"Well, we managed to get away without a single punch thrown. Given we're saving our energy for later, I'd say we didn't do too badly." I commented, crawling off of Gwenna's lap and sitting up, grabbing the seatbelt. We were already on the outskirts of Keighley, and glancing out the back window didn't show anyone obviously following us. But neither of them said anything, which was a little suspicious. I looked to them, seeing Gwenna's bloody knuckles and something silver around Nate's wrist-

"Hang on, is that a pair of handcuffs?" Gwenna smiled sheepishly.

"While you were in the store and we were packing up the car, I guess one of the packling females got it in her head that she could apprehend Nate by herself. She strolled right up to us, and we weren't gonna pay her any attention because we knew she wouldn't be able to fight. Anyways, she pulls out some handcuffs and slaps one of them onto his wrist. Nate kind of shoved her away, but I was really pissed off, so I punched her lights out. Some humans saw me, so we may need to avoid Keighley for a spell." I sighed. This was one place where me and Gwenna couldn't seem to agree; in my eyes, if they couldn't even throw a punch, we couldn't fight them. But given that didn't always stop them attacking us, be it with slaps or throwing things, Gwenna always reserved the right to deck them anyway.

"And now Nate is wearing the handcuffs as a fashion statement?" I asked, smirking at him in the rear view mirror. He promptly flipped me off.

"We didn't have time to get the keys, ya bitch. When we reach camp, you can use bolt cutters and chop em off before da sees. I'm guessing you don't want to broadcast what just happened?"

"There's no need for him to know, no. I'll get the cuffs off, we drop off the shopping return the car keys and the money, and then overthrow the leader of a raiding team, then party until we turn eighteen. Sound good?" Gwenna frowned.

"No, I don't want to give the keys and the change back." She protested, and I rolled my eyes at her.

"Da wants the receipts and he knows how much we've taken, and I'm pretty sure he'll realise that one of the cars is missing. Besides, we've just completed one punishment, I don't want a second before we get our own team." I decided.

"Nah, Imma keep the car." My patience snapped and I snarled at her, letting my agitated wolf cow hers. She whimpered, a sound of submission, and I relented on some of the pressure I was putting on her. Usually I wasn't so irritable, but the encounter with the pack wolves had riled my own beast up, and she was baying for blood. As it was, I was only just managing to sate her with the promise of a good fight later to stop a shift right here in the car. I knew Theo, the man I would be taking the raiding team from, well, but there was no love lost between us. After today, I was certain that there would be nothing but hatred.

But I had seen him fight before, in skin and fur alike, and knew how he thought and fought. Nate would do his bit by defending my mind, and Gwenna would do her bit by cheering me on and trying to play mind games with him. I was confident that I could beat Theo, but then I would have to defend my claim as head of the team until everything settled down. At the very least, I knew I had more of a safety net than Theo. In single combat, technically we could kill each other and as it was a challenge, there should be no retribution, but everyone knew that if I died my da would burn the whole world to get to who did it. We remained quiet, wrapped in our thoughts, until Nate turned off the proper road and onto the bumpy dirt track that would lead us to our camp.

"So, are we fighting clean or not?" Nate asked me as I clambered over the hand brake to sit in the passenger seat. I looked at him and grinned.

"What? Are we pack wolves, or what?" I laughed at him. "Of bloody course we're going to fight dirty, because Theo will do the same. Only an idiot fights clean." I snorted, shaking my head. My da had killed a fair few alphas in his day, and he hadn't fought fairly for any of them. It was the main reason why he was the leader of the rogues, because he was cunning and smart and refused to play by the pack's rules. As it stood, I felt I had strayed a little too close to fighting cleanly and stupidly when I killed the alpha. If it wasn't for Nate's intervention and his mind tricks, I would say I had fought like a pack wolf, and the very thought turned my stomach.

"All right then, what we talking about?" Gwenna asked, kneeling between our seats and slinging her arms around our shoulders. "We gonna limit it to hair pulling, spitting and pocket sand, or do I start making smoke bombs?"

"That really only works when we're a decent distance away from the enemy. Don't you remember the Shipley moors incident?" Nate pointed out, a laugh bubbling up in his chest, as it did with me and Gwenna. Ah, the time at the Shipley moors camp, when we had been twelve years old and somehow stupider than we are now, when the three of us thought we had come up with a fool proof plan to beat da in single combat and take control of the rogues. We, uh, we had been wrong.

We had been very, very wrong.

I had been supposed to challenge him and take him down, and I had managed to do one of those things. Nate had launched a mental attack on da, because even then it was clear the son was stronger than the father, and Gwenna was to launch smoke bombs at da with a small radius so they would confuse him before she attacked. Had we been older and bigger and remotely experienced, and had been fighting an honourable pack wolf, and known what we were doing, we may have even won.

But da had been playing dirty too, to teach us a lesson more than anything, and one of his stronger linkers had floored Nate in the first few moments of the fight. With him out of the picture, I had instantly been put at a disadvantage, because it had taken out my defences so da could attack me mentally as well. Gwenna, not aware of what had happened, had tossed the smoke bombs at da. They had been homemade, and at that point we hadn't had much experience, so the small radius they were meant to have was actually quite big, and she had misjudged the distance between me and da. So she had lobbed a bomb, it had exploded, and the smoke had engulfed me as well.

It had blinded me, and clogged my nose and throat with smoke so badly I could barely breath, never mind cast for scents. I remember thinking in that moment that my da would have been disabled too, so I could take a few moments to recover. I had been wrong. Turns out, it wasn't the first time he had been smoke bombed in a fight, and he'd learnt a few tricks to help clear senses and keep on fighting.

So a second later, he had pounced on me, pinning me to the ground and gently locking his jaws around my throat. We had waited until the smoke had cleared enough for the crowd to see, because rogue challenges were, in essence, spectator events. I could see Nate unconscious on the ground, with a slight nosebleed, and Gwenna was being restrained despite her best attempts to twist in her captor's arms and sink her teeth in. We had lost, and soundly at that, so I had whipped my tail between my legs and looked to the ground, wrinkling my muzzle and whining a submission.

"Definitely no smoke bombs, then. I could use a slingshot, rain down stones on him to distract him?" Gwenna suggested.

"Yeah, I know what your aim is like. You'll hit me as often as him." I protested.

"Not only that, but that'll get you a one way ticket to being mobbed by his team members. This time, we might have to be a little more subtle." I narrowed my eyes at my brother.

"Now that sounds like you have a plan." Nate grinned, an evil twist to his lips.

"That I do, sweet sister. But it does involve at least fifty quid for a bribe." Ooo, that was a lot of money. Was leading our own raiding team really worth half a hundred bob? I probably spent a little too long contemplating that.

"I'm not outright saying no, but it had better be a pretty good plan. Shoot."

"First step is bribing Lexi to give us her strongest pack of sedatives, and then enough for her to keep quiet about it. Then, we grind them up, and Gwenna, who's on cooking duty today, though I'm sure she forgot about it, mixes it in with their team's stew or casserole or whatever'll work. She can't deliver the food, though, and neither can either of us, because that would be too suspicious, so she'll have to convince someone else to do it for her, subtly-"

"Hang on, that means the entire team will get drugged. Is that really necessary? Like surely it would be better if we just drugged Theo?" Gwenna argued, looking a little offended at how much Nate emphasised 'subtly'.

"I mean, yeah, but doing that will be may more complicated and a lot more suspicious, meaning we might tip him off and then we don't get the advantage. Besides, giving him an entire pack of sedatives will probably do him in, which seems a bit harsh."

"And there's an advantage in having his team halfway sedated too. They'll all be awake, but they won't have the energy to properly cheer, which'll make Theo's wolf loose confidence. So, yeah, I'll fork out fifty quid for that." I decided as Nate stopped the car and cut the engine, though Gwenna had hopped out as soon as it started to slow. I took the change, receipts and keys and stuffed them into my pockets, helping the other two haul the bags to the cooking tent before we split up, Gwenna staying to do her chores, me going to meet da, and Nate going to get the money and bribe the doctor.

Unfortunately, da had woken up since we left, and was sat at his desk, reading through a very boring looking letter. The alpha puppy was awake, looking tired and hungry and bored as he sat slumped against the wall, but he perked up when he saw me, trying to say something through his gag.

"Shut up, or I'll clock you out." Da snapped. He wasn't in a good mood. Shit. "And when did I tell you that you could take a car?" I gave him my best innocent smile as I set down what I had on the desk.

"Well, you never said I couldn't, and we figured because there was so much shopping..."

"You figured, did you?" I nodded, backing away slowly as I made a break for the exit.

"Yeah... anyway, I've got a fight to get to- so." I started, giving him my best grin.

"You're damn lucky its your birthday tomorrow, or I'd have you doing chores for the rest of the day. Now piss off, already." I did so happily, though I hadn't missed how the alpha had jolted at the mention of my birthday. Weirdo. But I had things to do, so I pushed it out of my mind and set off towards the food tent.