Chapter 137: Esme's Advice

Esme braced herself, but just as she was about to leap towards the raging brown-furred wolf, Dwayne, his brother, jumped in front of her. His naked backside facing her as he growled at his brother. Dean skidded to a stop and snapped his jaws just before Dwayne's face, close enough for his hair to move slightly. 

"Enough!" Dwayne ordered, which of course, made the arrogant ex Alpha more aggravated. He growled and moved his amber eyes in Esme's direction. She was still poised, her head lowered, her paws ready to jump if necessary. 

Dean stepped to the side, his gaze still fixed on hers, she still did not lower her own, and she did not care if he felt threatened. Dwayne tried to step in front again, but Dean snapped at him, making him jump to the side; his shoulder grazed slightly from Dean's teeth. 

"Dean needs to get it in his head, he's no longer an Alpha, and he can't take us on," Isana growled loudly in her mind. Her wolf was not taking too kindly to the other rogue, and she didn't mind 'putting him in his place'. 

Esme growled, and her fur was ruffled and standing on end, challenging him in wolf form. The other wolf took the bait and leapt forwards, his claws extended out to tackle her down first, but before he reached her, Marcus' black wolf barged into him, causing them to roll over in the dirt. Esme hissed at the scratch on her shoulder but ignored it as she watched the two wolves fight until Marcus was standing above him, his paw on Dean's face, his teeth in his neck. 

"Don't kill him! He was being a dick!" Dwayne rushed forwards and stopped after Esme jumped in front of him. She stared at him for a long moment, then huffed and barked at Marcus before walking away and shifting, collecting the baggy shirt and throwing it back on and sighing as her blood started to coat the sleeve. 

"Seriously, how long have you guys even been rogues? You're lucky I'm a kind and forgiving soul to tell my friend not to kill you," She spoke in a lighthearted tone, yet her eyes glared at the two brothers. 

Marcus growled menacingly in Dean's face before pushing off him and going to stand before Esme in a protective stance. But Esme wasn't paying the brothers any attention now as she squatted down in front of the type 1 rogue who was now sitting, his hands covering his eyes. She eyed his wound that was already nearly healed, and decided it was more mental than physical at this point. 

"It is you, Nyx, right?" 

Esme looked up from the type 1 whose name she still did not know and sighed at Dwayne, who was yet to wear some clothes. She raised a brow and tilted her head to the side. "Why? Would you let your dick of a brother try and kill me if not?" She asked nonchalantly, to which Dwayne's mouth shut tightly. Esme chuckled at the emotions running across his eyes. "I'll ask again. How long have you been rogues for?"

"Not that long.." Dwayne muttered, making Esme smirk. 

"Well, thanks for helping us," She thanked Dwayne then looked at Dean's wolf form, appearing dejected and glaring at her. "You should know when to pick your battles," Esme directed her comment at the ex Alpha. "Out here is different to the arena."

"We know. We were actually hunting this type 1 here, and we were left in awe when you convinced him to shift," Dwayne replied, looking between her and the man now looking up at her.

"Ha, was Dean also in awe of me? That's nice to know," She winked in his direction tauntingly, and he growled back.

"Brody."

Esme looked back at the man who was still seated before her. "My name.. is Brody," He grinned so happy that she could see unshed tears in his eyes. 

Esme's eyebrows rose at his expression, and she slowly reached her hand out, eying him warily as she clasped her hand over his and squeezed. 

"You remembered your name.. it looks like there's still hope for you, Brody. I'm Nyx," She smiled warmly. "Can you get up?"

"Nyx," He whispered before nodding. 

The pair stood up. Esme returned her attention to the two brothers; Dean now shifted in his human form, clasping his neck from where Marcus bit into it.

"You said you were hunting him?" Esme crossed her arms, eying the brothers warily now.

"We thought if we're gonna be rogues, we might as well do something decent. Hunting down type 1's seemed reasonable," Dwayne replied, then turned his head to Dean, who scoffed before pulling on some shorts he fetched from the ground. 

Hunting down type 1's.. She'd only heard of a few that did this. 

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"Why are we still standing here wasting our time with the likes of these?" Dean asked as he turned his back to them. 

Marcus growled lowly, but Esme stepped forwards and patted his shoulder, grimacing when she remembered the new claw mark on her shoulder. Marcus sniffed her shoulder and whined, making her giggle in response, ignoring the annoying ex Alpha, who still seemed to turn his nose down at them. "You're right.. You should hide out at my place if you don't want to be beaten up by him," Esme snickered, not mentioning Gabriel's name, but Marcus knew who she was talking about. He whined again and huffed in response. 

"Where are you guys going after this?" Dwayne asked, ignoring his brother, who was still walking away. He also wore some shorts now and crossed his arms against his chest, showing off his bulging muscles. 

Esme looked back at Brody, slightly concerned because other than her size, the brothers and Marcus appeared more threatening, and she wondered if this might set him off. But even though he seemed uncomfortable, he was not cracking his neck like earlier. That was something she would monitor while they were with him. 

"Brody, we can take you to the Hub if you want?" She asked him. "I know someone there who could help. I'm pretty sure he'd be interested in you."

"This person.. won't experiment on me, right?" He asked, and Esme shook her head though she paused for a moment, not really sure she should answer him so confidently about Einar, who she didn't really know well. 

"I don't think so," She answered instead.

Brody watched her for a moment, but she could see the small amount of trust formed between them starting to win him over. She understood that Brody might completely change into a type 1 rogue if he didn't take this risk. So far, she could tell he didn't wish that at all.

"Wait, you're going back towards Chester?" Dwayne stepped forwards then stopped at Marcus' sudden growl. "Is he your bodyguard? Didn't seem like you needed one when we fought.."

Esme grinned and stepped away from Marcus and into the open. "He's just a little protective over strangers who both helped and attacked us in the same minute," She replied and shrugged, now not feeling any pain in her shoulder. "And yeah.. We're heading that way, so might as well drop Brody off."

"You sound like you're dropping your kid off to school," Isana remarked dryly. 

"You must be local then," Dwayne murmured thoughtfully. "To be honest, I'm happy to have run into you again. Maybe you can teach me more about your method with the wolfsbane," He winked. 

"Well, we are on a tight schedule now. My peaceful time sunbathing has been taken up by type 1's and your idiot of a brother," She glanced in Dean's direction. He was now sitting on a rock looking like a stroppy child who had been scolded and ordered to sit on the 'naughty step'. 

"We'll accompany you. We haven't long set up near Chester," Dwayne replied and turned around like she'd already agreed. 

Esme marched after him. "I never said you could. Plus, I don't trust your brother, and even if we can kick his ass.. It's still effort that I don't want to waste." She then muttered more to herself, "I've skived off work only to deal with all this.."

"Like you really care about work.. Good thing we're doing the boss," Isana snickered, making Esme smirk in return.

"We're going that way. We might as well join you. It's always more fun to run in a small group, right?" Dwayne said over his shoulder. Esme sighed and rolled her eyes; did he forget the part where they were rogues. There was a reason why packs had fun running together; it was because they trusted each other and could mind-link each other as well. Dwayne and Dean were still getting accustomed to this life, it seemed.

"Hey, one sec." Esme reached out and grabbed his bicep, pulling away instantly when he stopped and turned around, making her seem tiny in comparison. "I'm just giving you some advice because unlike your brother.. I don't mind you.." She smirked and saw amusement flash behind his eyes. "You've been taught to never trust rogues for a reason. Sure, you've probably learnt about this whole other world outside of the pack and met others who are fine, but always stay on guard. You never know who's smile is real."

Dwayne blinked back in surprise as she brushed past him. "Come on, I want to get back before it starts to get dark. I already know my new acquaintance will take some time meeting Brody." 

As soon as Esme was hidden behind the trees, she pulled the shirt off and shifted, picking the cloth up in her mouth. Reappearing in her wolf form, she glanced at the type 1 rogue warily, his milky pink eyes stood out alarmingly so, but she hoped he would be okay until they made it to the Hub. With that in mind, she set off, leading the others in the group, though Dean appeared by her side, wanting to race her. 

She rolled her eyes, feigning indifference, and when he scoffed almost like a snicker, she picked up the pace and ran past him. 

Stupid Alpha.

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