Heart of a rogue

Chapter 4.2 - rehabilitation camp

Declan Sulivan POV

It was one of our dirty tactics. Set up a party for rogues and get them drunk on booze so capture was easier and more successful. Of course, not all were so easy to catch so it could not always be avoided having a few casualties.

Four years ago my mate ran away and never returned. Along with her parents, I searched endlessly but never found her. We didn't think she would survive for longer than a few weeks at most so when half a year had passed we either concluded she had perished or found a different pack.

It was her mother's idea to help those like her daughter. Rogues who have lost their way and needed to her bought back onto the right path. My sister and I set up the first camp and with the Hardings pack, we managed to rehabilitate two out of the first group of thirty.

Of course, it was a low number but that was when we just started. We still had to experiment with the concept. Now we had at least a success rating of 60 percent that rehabilitated, I was the last line of defense to try to get someone to change their lives around.

If I couldn't convince them, they would be executed. It sounds harsh but if they're truly a lost cause then trying to rehabilitate them just costs too much money for no reward. This was my way of atoning for failing my mate.

We reunited many families again and that's why we were doing this. Rosalyn Hardings lately rarely stopped by, her grief has made her take a few steps back from the process. I ran the whole operation now. I have a total of eight camps and I helped neighboring countries set up rehabilitation camps as well.

We didn't just catch rogues from my pack or packs from my country but anyone would do. Successfully rehabilitating rogues from other packs established a positive relationship with them. It ended long years of rivalry between packs and we were united more than ever.

With this important position came a lot of hardships. I never had a day off and I always had to deal with the hardest cases and make decisions about their future. Did I grant them another chance or did I grant them death?

We did always consult the pack that the rogue came from about my judgment. At first, that was hard to do, no one wanted to give up on a pack member but by now if I say they're a lost cause then the pack respects my decision and stands by me.

I had heard the capture mission had been a success and just more than thirty had been captured last night. That was a great success. That group would be transported to the main camp, but it was a long drive so they'd arrived in the early morning of today. They'd probably already arrived.

Most of the time during the first few minutes it would be clear who would be the problem cases. Josh was in charge of that main camp along with my sister Alani, a good team with a high success rating.

I'll probably receive a call in an hour or so, most of the time before ten o'clock with a briefing of the new arrivals.

I had been going to the dossiers of the attendees of the program and scanning through their process. I was proud to see some take big steps forwards, while others went a few steps backward. If I saw no process then I could intervene as well.

My phone rang and I picked up like I always did, just waiting for the briefing so I could contact the packs of the rogues. "Declan."

My eyebrows perked up hearing Joshua call me just by my name. He rarely did that even though I asked him to refrain from my title. We grew up together, literally, so I found no need in him calling me Alpha. "Did something happen?" I asked.

My head started racing, did one of the rogues happen to hurt my sister? I will tear off their heads if that is the case.

She's capable of protecting herself but still, she's my baby sister. But I heard very different words, some that didn't quite get to me right away. "We found her," Josh said.

It took me a few seconds to realize what he meant. I didn't even know how I respond. "Dec?" Josh asked hesitantly checking if I still was there.

"Yeah, I'm here, just..." I sighed, "I had given up."

Josh hummed at the other side of the line, "it's been a long four years... But you need to be prepared. She's..." Josh paused making me nervous. "She's in a bad shape."

"How so?" Was she hurt? My instinct already wanted to drive there and protect my mate. Who was I kidding? I already was grabbing the keys to my car.

"Well, she has taken the number one spot on the list of troubling cases. And your sister has already tied her to the pole."

I growled low in the back of my throat thinking of my mate tied to the pole. It was one of the punishments we used. Depending on the offense you'd be tied to a pole in the middle of the square in the scorching sun or even when it snowed in the winter. We didn't care. "How bad is it?" I could still think rationally though.

She's been a rogue for four years, damn, we never rehabilitated those longer than three years. They're just too fucked up. We wolves cling to social interactions and the need to be around a pack that when we don't we slowly go mental. Lucille has gone mental and she doesn't even realize it.

Josh sighed, "she fights, bites, scratches, and I had to choke her to get her to stop. She's like a trapped wild animal. Everyone had to go shower but she refused, not even the tasers got her to back down. Alani isn't giving her special treatment, so she's on the pole for the next two days with no water and no food." I thought he was done there. I turned the key and started my car to go there asap.

But Joshua continued, "the rogues look up to her so we need to set an example, when she rebelled they all became feral as well. She's like... strangely like an Alpha for them. Even now, she's guarded so the new arrivals don't attempt to free her."

"I'm on my way, keep them away from her." This pained me to say. Every fiber in my body was screaming at me to not say it. "We treat her like any other rogue, no special treatment."

"You sure Alpha?"

"Yes, I'm sure Josh."

I heard him groan on the other side of the line, "okay because she just managed to struggle loose from the pole and is creating havoc in the camp."

That alone just made me snicker. How did she go from the vulnerable girl I couldn't imagine standing at my side to this feral warrior? "Punish anyone that partakes in it, bind her, and gag her to the pole. If needed bring out the damn whips." I ordered. We couldn't show mercy, especially not towards the new arrivals.

They had to understand we meant business you either partake in the rehab or you die. If we show weakness they'll walk all over us. "I'm on my way Josh, do whatever you need to do to maintain order."

"Yes, Alpha."

I hoped I could get through to Lucille, her life is wasted as a rogue. I also dialed the number of the Hardings household but they didn't pick up the phone. I'd try later again.

We found her finally.