#Chapter 2#::Rogue Territory

I couldn’t feel my feet anymore.

The rain had soaked through everything. My torn dress clung to my skin like ice. Every step sent pain shooting through my body, but I kept moving.

The forest was so dark. Trees blocked out the moonlight. I could barely see three feet ahead.

My wolf should have warned me about danger. Should have sensed threats. But she was barely there anymore. Just a whisper. Dying from the broken bond.

I was almost human now. Weak. Defenceless.

Something rustled in the bushes to my left.

I froze, heart hammering.

Silence. Then more rustling. Closer this time.

My hand pressed harder against my stomach. Protecting the only things that mattered.

“Well, well.” A rough voice came from the darkness. “What do we have here?”

Five wolves stepped out from between the trees. Rogues. I could tell by their ragged appearance and the wild look in their eyes.

The biggest one shifted to human form. A scarred male with yellow eyes that weren’t quite right.

“Please,” I managed. My voice was hoarse. “I’m just passing through.”

He walked closer, circling me like prey. Then he stopped and sniffed the air. His eyes widened.

“She’s pregnant.”

Fear shot through me. I wrapped both arms around my stomach.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Relax, omega.” He stepped back. “We don’t kill pregnant wolves. Even rogues have some standards.” He looked at the others. “Let her pass.”

Relief made my knees weak. I started moving past them, stumbling over roots. They watched but didn’t stop me.

I’d made it maybe twenty yards when I heard different footsteps. Faster. Hungrier.

“Hold on now.” A female voice. Cold and sharp.

Three more rogues appeared. These ones looked worse. Thinner. Desperate.

The female shifted. She was bone-thin with wild black hair and crazy eyes.

“Found a pregnant omega,” the first male called out. “We’re letting her pass. Code.”

“Code?” The female laughed. It wasn’t a nice sound. “I don’t follow codes. I follow my empty stomach.”

My blood went cold.

“There’s enough meat on her to feed us for days.” She grabbed my hair and yanked my head back. “And the pups? Fresh. Tender.”

“No.” The word came out as a sob. “Please. Please don’t.”

“Nothing personal. Just hungry.”

The other two moved in. One grabbed my arm. The other went for my legs.

Something inside me snapped.

Not broken. Snapped like a wire pulled too tight.

Heat exploded in my chest. My wolf wasn’t dead. She was hiding. Protecting the babies. And now she woke up screaming.

I shifted.

The pain should have killed me. Shifting with a broken bond was supposed to be impossible. But it wasn’t just me anymore. I was a mother. And mothers protect their young.

My wolf form burst out, bigger than before. Stronger. Fed by pure desperation and rage.

The female barely had time to look surprised before my teeth were in her throat.

I’d never killed anything before. Never even been in a real fight. But my wolf knew exactly what to do.

Bite. Rip. Tear.

The female’s scream cut off. She went limp.

The second rogue charged. I caught him mid-jump, claws opening his belly. He fell, whimpering.

The third one ran.

I let him go. Stood over the bodies, panting. Blood dripped from my mouth.

The first group of rogues stared at me with wide eyes.

“You killed two rogues while barely able to stand,” the scarred male said quietly.

I shifted back to human form and immediately collapsed. The fight had taken everything.

“They were going to hurt my babies,” I whispered.

He nodded slowly. “Yeah. They were.” He gestured to his group. “Let’s go. Give her space.”

They disappeared into the trees.

I was alone with two dead rogues and blood on my hands.

I should have felt something. Horror. Guilt. Anything.

But I just felt empty. And so tired.

I tried to stand, but my legs wouldn’t work. My wolf had gone back to sleep. Maybe forever this time.

I crawled toward a stream I could hear nearby. The rain was washing blood everywhere. Mine or theirs, I didn’t know.

My vision blurred. Everything hurt. The broken bond. The shift. The fight.

I pressed my hand to my stomach one last time.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to the twins. “I tried.”

My eyes closed. I couldn’t keep them open anymore.

The last thing I felt was cold rain on my face.

Then darkness.

***

Warmth.

That was wrong. I was supposed to be cold. Dead in the forest.

My eyes opened slowly. White ceiling. Beeping machines. Bright lights.

Hospital?

“She’s waking up.” A male voice.

I tried to turn my head. Pain stopped me.

“Easy.” The voice was closer now. “You’re safe. You’re in a human hospital.”

A face appeared above me. Male, maybe forty, with kind eyes and greying hair.

“My name is Victor Lang. I found you by the stream three days ago. You were dying.”

Three days?

I tried to talk, but my throat was too dry. He held up a cup of water with a straw.

After I drank, I managed to whisper, “The babies?”

His face softened. “The doctors said you were barely alive when I brought you in. The broken bond was killing you.” He paused. “But the babies have strong heartbeats. Both of them.”

Tears leaked from my eyes. They were okay. My babies were okay.

“The medical bills were fifteen thousand dollars,” Victor said quietly. “I paid them.”

I stared at him. “Why?”

“Because ten years ago, I was rejected by my mate. Nearly killed myself.” He pulled back his sleeve, showing strange scars. Half-healed. Not quite human, not quite wolf. “Someone bit me during my lowest moment. The transformation got stuck halfway. I can sense wolves but can’t shift fully. It saved my life by giving me a purpose.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black business card. Set it on the table next to my bed.

Blood Moon Security.

“I built a company that hires rejected wolves. Rogues. Outcasts. People nobody else wants.” He looked at me directly. “When you heal, I can train you. Teach you to fight. To be deadly. To never be weak again. You can work for me and build a new life.”

I looked at the card. Then at my bandaged hands.

I’d killed two rogues with my bare teeth. Ripped them apart to protect my babies.

Chase had called me weak. Pathetic. Not fit to be Luna.

He was wrong.

My fingers closed around the card.

“Teach me,” I said. My voice was stronger now. “Teach me everything.”

Victor smiled. “Rest now. When you’re healed, we start.”

After he left, I lay there staring at the ceiling. Listening to the machines beep. Feeling the twins safe inside me.

Chase had destroyed me.

But I was going to rebuild myself into something he could never destroy again.

Something dangerous.

I pressed the card against my chest.

This wasn’t the end.

It was just the beginning.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​