Night of the Rogues

Elara's POV

I tripped over a tree root and crashed to the ground, my small bag flying from my hands. Pain shot through my knee, but it was nothing compared to the burning pain in my chest where my mate bond was being ripped apart.

"Keep going," I mumbled to myself, pushing back up. "Don't stop."

The forest around me was pitch black. The moon that had watched Kaiden reject me now hid behind thick clouds, as if ashamed of what had happened.

I'd been running for hours, putting as much space between myself and Silver Creek Pack as possible. My legs trembled with each step. Without my wolf's help, I would have fallen long ago.

We don't need him, my wolf growled inside me. For once, we agreed.

The small bag I'd grabbed held everything I owned—a worn photo of my parents who had died when I was little, an extra shirt, and the few dollars I'd managed to save from kitchen work. Nothing worth much, but everything to me.

As I walked deeper into the Dark Forest, the trees got thicker, their branches reaching out like clawed hands. Stories about this place had frightened pack children for generations. This was where rogues lived—wolves without packs, dangerous and wild.

But I had nowhere else to go. No pack would accept an omega rejected by her mate. I was as good as dead to the werewolf world.

A twig snapped behind me.

I froze, my nose catching an unfamiliar smell. No, not one scent—several. My heart hammered against my ribs.

"Well, well," a rough voice called from the shadows. "What do we have here?"

A large male wolf stepped into a small area ahead, his eyes glowing yellow in the darkness. He wore dirty, ripped clothes, his hair matted and wild. A rogue.

"Smells like an omega," another person said. A female rogue came from my right.

I spun around, fear rising in my throat. More shapes moved in the darkness. Five of them, surrounding me fully.

"P-please," I stammered. "I'm just passing through."

The first rogue laughed, the sound making my skin crawl. "No one just 'passes through' our area, little omega. Especially not one that smells like pack."

"I don't have a pack anymore," I said, my voice louder than I felt. "I'm alone."

The female rogue circled me, smelling. "She's been rejected," she stated. "Still stinks of broken mate bond."

The others closed in, looks hungry and curious.

"Who would reject such a pretty little thing?" asked the largest rogue, reaching out to touch my hair.

I jerked away. "Don't touch me."

"Feisty for an omega," he growled. "I like that."

I looked for an exit route, but there was none. In my weakened state, I couldn't escape even one of them, let alone five.

"What should we do with her?" asked a thin rogue with a scar across his face.

"I say we have some fun first," the leader grinned, showing yellowed teeth. "Been a while since we had new company."

Terror shot through me. I knew what "fun" meant to rogues.

"I have nothing you want," I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. "Just let me go."

"Oh, but you do have something we want," the female thief purred. "A warm body for the cold night. And maybe some information about your pack's defenses?"

"I told you, I don't have a pack anymore!"

The leader grabbed my arm roughly. "Everyone has a pack, leader. Until they die."

Something sparked inside me—the same strange heat I'd felt after Kaiden's rejection. My fingers tingled with a strange energy.

"Let. Me. Go." Each word felt charged with power.

The rogue's eyes opened slightly, but he didn't release me. "Your eyes..."

"What about them?"

"They're... glowing."

For a moment, they all stared at me in confusion. Then the boss shook his head, breaking the spell.

"Doesn't matter what tricks you have," he snarled. "You're outnumbered."

He was right. Whatever strange thing was happening to me wasn't enough to save me from five adult rogues.

"Please," I tried one last time. "I've lost everything tonight. My mate, my home. Don't take what little I have left."

Something flashed in the female rogue's eyes—sympathy, maybe? But the leader just laughed.

"Change," he ordered. "Let's see what your wolf looks like before we decide."

Changing forms—shifting from human to wolf—required energy I didn't have. The rejection had drained me totally.

"I... can't," I admitted.

"Can't or won't?" the scarred rogue asked.

"Leave her alone, Dagger," the female thief said suddenly. "She's telling the truth. Look at her—she's half dead already."

The leader—Dagger—growled at her. "Since when do you care about pack omegas, Sera?"

"I was an omega once," Sera answered quietly. "Before I became a rogue."

Hope flickered inside me. Maybe not all rogues were monsters.

But Dagger wasn't convinced. "She could be useful. The Silver Creek Pack has good shooting grounds."

"I'm never going back there," I said definitely. "They threw me away like trash."

Dagger studied me, calculating. "Who was your mate? Some low-level beta?"

I looked away. "The Alpha."

Shocked silence fell over the group.

"You're lying," the skinny rogue finally said. "No Alpha would mate with an omega."

"He didn't want me," I answered, the words burning my throat. "He rejected me tonight, in front of everyone, for another she-wolf."

Sera's eyes widened. "Alpha Kaiden? He's your mate?"

I nodded, shocked she knew his name.

A slow, cruel smile spread across Dagger's face. "Well, well. This changes everything."

He grabbed my arm again, harder this time. "An Alpha's mate—rejected or not—is worth a lot. I bet he'd pay handsomely to get you back."

"He doesn't want me!" I cried. "Weren't you listening? He rejected me!"

"Maybe as a mate," Dagger shrugged. "But as a hostage? Different story."

Terror shot through me. Going back to Silver Creek Pack would be worse than death after tonight's shame.

"No!" I fought against his grip. "I won't go back!"

Dagger raised his hand to strike me, and I closed my eyes, bracing for the hit.

It never came.

Instead, a deafening roar shook the trees around us. My eyes flew open as something massive crashed through the trees—a wolf bigger than any I'd ever seen, with pitch-black fur and eyes that glowed silver like moonlight.

The rogues scattered, shouting in fear. Dagger released my arm, his face pale with fear.

"The Shadow King!" one of them screamed.

The enormous black wolf tore into the rogues with frightening speed. I fell backward, watching in fear as he ripped through them like they were made of paper. Blood spilled across the forest floor.

Only Sera managed to escape, disappearing into the darkness with a scared howl.

When it was over, the black wolf stood among the dead, his silver eyes fixed on me. Blood dripped from his huge jaws. He was the most terrifying—and beautiful—creature I'd ever seen.

Slowly, he moved toward me. I couldn't run. Couldn't scream. Could barely breathe as he dropped his huge head to my level, those strange silver eyes studying me.

I should have been afraid. Instead, a strange calm washed over me. If this was death, at least it would be quick.

"Go ahead," I whispered, too tired to fight anymore. "I'm ready."

The wolf made a strange sound—almost like a laugh. Then the air around him shimmered, his form shifting, stretching, until a man stood before me instead of a wolf.

A man with the same silver eyes. Tall, powerful, handsome in a scary way.

He knelt beside me, his face curious. "What are you?" he asked, his deep voice strangely gentle.

"Nobody," I answered honestly. "Just a rejected omega with nowhere to go."

His mouth curled into a smile that sent shivers down my spine. "No," he said, reaching out to touch my face. "You're much more than that. I can feel it."

As his fingers brushed my cheek, the strange heat inside me flared again, stronger this time. My vision blurred, the trees spinning around me. The last thing I saw before sleep claimed me were those silver eyes, widening in surprise as my skin began to glow with soft silver light.

"Impossible," I heard him whisper. Then nothing.