The Rogues Who Went Rogue
Chapter 99

Ideally, Toby would have wanted Gerella to deny his suggestion immediately, but her silence was worrying. There was nothing to control the Queen's Authority yet but he and the others knew for a fact that the shell worked well to shield the rogues against Xandar.

Tweaking the shell to be offensive rather than defensive might take less effort and time than having to come up with something from scratch to control Lucianne. It already worked so well in Blue Crescent. With some improvements on the shell they gave the decipio-proditors, there was no doubt that the hybrids would succeed. This was getting more messed-up by the second. Gerella started speaking again, "The queen has garnered many enemies over the years, being one of the main players to have them kicked out of their packs..."

"BECAUSE THOSE WERE HARMING THEIR PACKS, ELLA!" Even Toby was shocked that he started yelling at his mate, his voice echoing through the forest.

Gerella panicked and looked around to make sure it was still empty, but she knew she had to head back before Saxum suspected anything. She didn't plan to tell anyone about finding Toby yet.

"Ella," his voice brought her attention back to him. "Please really think about what you, your family and whoever else you're working with are all doing here. Saxum's enemy is dead. None of the ones you're targeting now have done anything to any of you. We're not the villains here." Gerella hated that he was right. Abduction was a very difficult thing to see being executed. She would hide in the room with the hybrid children when the abductees were brought into the hideout and through the tunnel. She didn't want to get nightmares at that sight, knowing that she had a hand in it.

When she said nothing, Toby continued, "Knowing how rogues operate, I'd say you guys are going to escape soon. I don't know how you're going to hasten them without raising suspicions but if you don't want us to find you in the next 24 hours, you'd better think of something while you wrap your conscience around this whole plan, Ella."

Ella blinked. "You're letting us...go?"

Toby scoffed depressingly, "Not really. I just know that I'm outnumbered this time." He reluctantly let go of her hand, and Gerella felt cold all of a sudden. The defense minister fought through tears as he uttered, "I'd love to get to know you and be with you, but the fact that I'd have to get involved in your...family business and protect those on your side, which essentially hurts and kills my own family and everything I stand for, is making me doubt this bond."

Gerella was battling tears as well when she hissed, "Not everyone in your family is innocent either, Toby. Only two decipios returned from the test run the other day, and you're saying that none of you have blood on your hands?!" Toby couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Tell me, Ella. Whose land were they on and what were they doing before they were killed?"

Gerella pressed her lips together and looked away, and Toby continued to declare, "We only kill to protect. We always have. We're not innocent in that we still kill, but we don't invoke a war and then play the victim."

Gerella's eyes glazed over when Regina asked her where she was. She sounded worried and panicky, asking her to return immediately. When her eyes cleared, Toby asked, "Are you even thinking about trying to call this off, or if your safety is at risk, are you even considering coming with me?"

Her hushed reply came out almost helpless, "I can't go with you. I can't just abandon them. And we're not calling this off. We have...business partners counting on this venture to succeed. We had a deal, so we have to hold up our end of the bargain."

Toby bit the inner walls of his mouth so hard that it was starting to bleed. He was hoping she wouldn't say that. He was hoping that she would, at the very least, let him bring her to safety or at the very best, say that she would try to put a stop to this monstrous plan.

His memories of meeting Lucianne and spending years growing, laughing and fighting with her came to mind, then he recalled how she was almost killed in Blue Crescent. He had already lost so many friends to ruthless creatures, he couldn't afford to lose another one, especially not the only one he cliqued with like a perfect puzzle piece, especially not for a creature he just met, who seemed to feel comfortable using a moral compass that starkly contradicted his own.

"What's your full name?" Toby asked as steadily as he could.

"Why?" Gerella asked suspiciously.

"I'm not going to kill you or anyone today, Ella. Just tell me your full name."

"Gerella Greymont. Why?"

Toby heaved a heavy sigh, cleared his throat and recited, "I, Tobias Tristan, reject you, Gerella Greymont, as my mate."

Gerella's eyes widened before a sharp pain shot straight to hers and Toby's heart as his wolf in his head howled in anguish. Gerella used the tree to steady herself, while Toby had the boulder next to him for the same purpose. When she didn't say anything, Toby said, "This is the part where you accept it, Ella."

With her energy drained from escaping, looking after the children and now the rejection, she could only mouth in disbelief, "What?"

Toby's phone beeped and he saw the reminder to head for decipio-practice, so he looked at his still-confused mate and murmured in guilt, "Ella, I know I'm being a d*ck by pushing you to do this quickly but you know we both need to hurry back to keep off suspicions and worry." Gerella heard about rejections and bond snaps, but she never imagined it would be this painful, and she never thought it would happen to her when she had done nothing but follow orders and help out her whole life. She didn't deserve to feel this pain, did she? Despite her weakened state, she muttered, "No."

Toby's brows raised in surprise. No? His wolf was already wagging its tail, as if it was celebrating getting back their mate. Even his human part couldn't deny his hopefulness. Maybe not all is lost.

"Ella...come with me," he urged desperately.

"I can't. I'm needed here. I can't turn my back on everyone I know."

"Not even if you can see their plans are more destructive than beneficial? Do YOU find that it's more beneficial than harmful?"

She didn't have an answer. She was so sure the hybrids were the victims before Toby spelled out how creatures, innocent creatures, almost died from their plans. She thought she was okay with experimenting, but now, she wasn't so sure anymore. Toby allowed himself another two-second look at his mate, who remained tongue-tied, before he said, "Something to think about, I suppose. Take care, Ella.”

He waited for two seconds before sprinting to his jet. Alissa beat Toby by two minutes after spying on them from a distance so she had time to discreetly cover her tracks with scent spray, and it was too easy to get past the not-so-alert pilot anyway. As she hid under a seat in the back row, she linked Greg about everything she had just witnessed.