19 Rogue In The Woods
- Rogue In The Woods
Ara’s POV
My fingers had just brushed the hidden crescent moon etched into the stone when the rustling came.
Leaves crunched behind me. The scent hit me first. Rotting eggs and unwashed fur. My body locked instinctively before I whirled around to face two wolves emerging from the underbrush. Their eyes gleamed with something feral, something hungry.
Rogues.
But not the ones I knew.
“Look what we have here?” The first one grinned, yellowed teeth flashing.
“Hey, pretty face. Wanna play with us?” The second licked his lips, his gaze dragging down my body like filthy
hands.
These weren’t desperate souls seeking shelter. Their eyes gleamed with something darker, something that made my wolf–less human instincts scream danger even without supernatural senses.
Every muscle in my body coiled tight, I could practically taste their intentions in the air… sour and predatory. But a month of surviving in rogue lands had taught me one unshakable truth. Never show fear.
“What do you want?” I demanded, shifting slightly to block their view of the hidden marker.
Luna Celestine had taught me to see the wounded behind the fangs, to offer mercy before violence. But these
men? Their eyes held no pain. Only hunger.
The first rogue inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring. “You smell divine, beautiful.”
“Been too long since I had a she–wolf beneath me,” the second growled, palming himself through his pants.
“Let me hear you beg.”
A chill slithered down my spine.
No. Not wounded. Just dangerous and cruel.
Think, Ara!
“That won’t get you anywhere,” I said evenly, buying time as I calculated distances. I forced my voice steady. “What if you had a second chance instead? A good pack. Proper meals. A roof?”
The taller one barked a laugh. “And why would we want that?”
“Unless it’s a pack where we can use she–wolves as whores,” the other sneered. “Then I might be interested.”
They were Monsters. The kind I’d heard about in whispered warnings growing up. The kind who earned their r
ogue status.
“Stay away from me,” I warned, shifting into the defensive stance Kade had drilled into me.
“Or what?” The larger one took another step. “You gonna scream?”
“Scream my name, w***e,” his friend smirked. “I’ll love it.”
They moved in unison then, flanking me like the predators they were. I couldn’t lead them to the pack
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< 19 Roque in The Woods
Couldn’t risk them finding the entrance. That left one option.
I feigned left, then bolted right into the densest part of the woods.
Their laughter followed me.
“Faster, little rabbit!”
I didn’t look back. The forest became my weapon.
I ducked under low branches they had to crash through, used my smaller frame to slip between trees that forced them to detour. When the first one got close enough to grab, I whirled.
My elbow connected with his nose in a spray of blood. I didn’t stop. A few punches followed soon after hitting his eyes and ears, until they started to bleed. He howled, clutching his face as I drove a knee into his groin.
“You filthy b***h!”
Punch the ears. Eyes. Throat. Kade’s lessons played in my head as I struck–once, twice, before darting away
again.
For a glorious moment, it worked. The first rogue staggered, blood pouring from his ruined nose, one ear swelling grotesquely. His companion roared in rage.
The second one lunged, but I ducked, using my size to slip between the dense trees. Kade’s lessons echoed in my skull.
‘Small is an advantage. Faster. Smarter.‘
Adrenaline burned through my veins, momentarily overpowering the ever–present fatigue of my illness.
I was faster. But I wasn’t strong enough.
A hand snagged my hair, yanking me backward. Pain exploded across my scalp as I was slammed against a tree trunk, my feet dangling above the ground.
“Got you,” the rogue snarled, his fingers tightening around my throat.
His partner staggered up, nose shattered, blood dripping down his chin. “f**k, brother- she broke my nose! And I can’t hear right!”
The rogue holding me grinned. “You’ll regret that, whore.”
“Did you really think we wanted you? A pale, sickly w***e with hollow eyes? You should have felt lucky that we even considered you as an option. Now you die,” the other one growled.
So that’s how they saw me! Unwanted even for the rogues. No wonder Damon didn’t want me here.
A coughing fit wracked my chest at the worst possible moment. My vision blurred, but I refused to close my
eyes.
I was caught! I didn’t have enough strength left. Was this it? The end of my journey?
Through the oxygen deprivation, through the pain, only one thought burned brighter than panic.
Not like this.
I wouldn’t die as some rogue’s plaything. Not after surviving rejection. Not after coming this far! My fingers scrabbled at the bark behind me, and closed around a fallen branch.
19 Roque In The Woods
With the last of my strength, I swung.
Damon’s POV
‘You made her mad again!‘ Ryan’s snarl vibrated through my skull like a physical blow. ‘I told you it was a bad
idea. She doesn’t want to go.
‘We had this discussion,‘ I shot back, grinding my teeth. ‘She’ll be safe there.
‘Safe?‘ Ryan’s growl was a whip–crack of disdain. ‘She’ll see us as a coward. A prince who can’t even protect his own mate.‘
The truth of it burned like acid in my veins. Because he wasn’t wrong.
Every instinct in me screamed to keep her close, to bury my hands in her hair, to taste her defiance on my tongue, to mark her so deep no one would ever dare threaten her again.
But the rational part of me, the prince, the strategist, knew better.
The woods were a warzone. The rogues were closing in.
And Ara?
She was wolfless.
Fragile.
‘Something is wrong,‘ Ryan suddenly snarled. ‘Go find her. Now.’
‘She’s with Aurelia,‘ I dismissed, but my gut twisted.
‘Move your ass, or I’ll take over,‘ Ryan threatened, his desperation bleeding into my bones.
I stood so fast my chair toppled. The door burst open before I could leave. Aurelia and Sailas stood there, their faces tight with urgency.
“Your Highness, we found more scents in the woods. The warriors are moving,” Aurelia reported.
My blood ran cold.
“Where is Ara?” I asked.
Aurelia hesitated. “She… I told her to go back to the packhouse.”
‘She’s not there,‘ Ryan howled.
S**t.
Had she… No, I had to move.
“She is not here,” I snarled, shoving past them. “Who the f**k gave you permission to take her out?”
Sailas held up his hands. “Relax, Damon. She couldn’t have gone much far.”
Relax my ass!
My mate, my stubborn, reckless, infuriating mate, could outrun a storm when she wanted to. Wolfless or not. “Mobilize all the warriors. Find her. NOW.” I ordered.
19 Rogue in The Woods
Aurelia didn’t argue. She was already running. I didn’t wait either.
Ryan’s instincts took over, my senses sharpening to a knife’s edge as I followed the fading trail of lavender
and honey.
‘She left because of you, Ryan accused. ‘You made her feel unwanted!’
‘She begged, he pressed, the words a blade to my ribs. ‘And yet you wanted to send her away. You made her
leave.’
‘Shut the f**k up,‘ I growled back.
Then I felt pain. It was sharp and sudden, lancing through my hand, my legs. A phantom ache that wasn’t
mine. It came and went like a ghost.
‘What the f**k?‘ I growled.
‘It’s her,‘ Ryan said, his voice dark with dread. ‘She’s hurt. Let me take over.
I didn’t fight him. The shift ripped through me, not fully into my beast, but enough. Fur. Claws. Fangs. Speed.
The forest blurred as we ran, her scent thickening, the metallic tang of blood cutting through the pine. My heart raced with anticipation.
Then, I saw her. Pinned against a tree, a rogue’s hand at her throat. Bruised. Bleeding. But fighting.
The scene unfolded in slow motion.
Both the rogues were injured. Was it her doing? I couldn’t tell and I didn’t care.
Blood smeared across her lips, her face was as pale as death. She looked so defenseless one moment, and on the very next, her eyes glowed with determination as she took the fallen brunch and swang it against the
rogue’s skull.
My brave, reckless mate!
The rogue was forced to let her go. She dropped on her knees, coughing blood.
Pure, primal, uncontrolled rage took over all my instincts as I saw blood. Her blood.
I moved without any second thought.
One rogue died before he hit the ground, my claws tearing through his throat. The other barely had time to scream before Aurelia had him in a chokehold.
“You’re gonna give us answers,” she spat.
I didn’t care. All my focus wason my mate. Ara was on the ground, her breaths shallow, her skin too pale.
Slowly she collapsed.
“Ara!” I dropped to my knees, cradling her face. “Open your eyes. Look at me.”
Panic was a living thing in my chest, gnawing, consuming.
‘She’s okay,’ Ryan said, but even his voice shook. ‘Take her back.
“Well, look at this,” Sailas drawled behind me. “I don’t think sister–in–law needed help.”
“Shut up, Sailas,” Aurelia snapped.
“Come on. Look at these rogues,” he continued, nudging one with his boot. “She’s brutal even without her
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- Roque In The Woods
wolf. Or a weapon.”
‘He’s right,‘ Ryan growled, pride cutting through the fear. ‘Our mate is strong. She never gives up!
‘Unlike you.‘
The unspoken accusation stung.
I didn’t answer.
Ara weighed nothing in my arms–less than when she’d arrived, her body frailer, her bruises darker.
‘If you talk about sending her back again, I won’t let you shift. KEEP THIS IN MIND, Ryan warned me.
My throat tightened. Ryan was right.
I couldn’t send her away.
She was way too fragile and I… I can’t trust anyone else for her protection. Not even Seraphina.
Not when every instinct howled that the only place she belonged was here.
With me.
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