Chapter One

Chapter One

[ three years later ]

I breathed in the clear air as I laid on the ground, my feet dangling into the lake below me. The air always smelt better out of the territory, even though Jared hates when he founds out I've been lingering outside the border, knowing how dangerous it could be with rogues lingering around constantly.

Especially now, there have been sightings of rogues within each corner of the border, the border control had their hands full.

I sighed lightly, the wind hitting my face giving me a light breeze. What a feeling to be free.

A growl snapped me out of my thoughts, my head snapping back to see a mahogany coloured wolf far from me, inching closer. A rogue.

Instantly, I was on the attack, jumping up from my position and crouching down as I stared down the wolf.

"You shouldn't be here, rogue." I spat the word rogue out with such disgust. Rogues were disgusting pieces of work. Having been kicked out of your own pack takes a toll on your wolf, and slowly but surely the pain of being ripped from your pack and pushed aside by fellow wolves can drive your own crazy.

Soon enough, the rogued wolf becomes bloodthirsty and will rip apart anything and everything that gets in its way in order to survive. Typically, a rogue's strength doesn't equal to the strength of an ordinary pack member however with the intense need to kill, they become more dangerous than ever.

The rogue in front of me snarled at me, stepping closer.

"Shift!" I growled, baring my teeth at the packless wolf. The wolf ignored me as it jumped in the air, launching itself at me. Quick on my feet, I dodged out of the way of the wolf bullet, gliding to the other side as the wolf ended up dropping into the lake behind me.

I spun around to face it, backing away to have space between us, quickly glancing behind me to ensure that there weren't any other rogues lurking behind me. While rogues are kicked from their own packs, they can actually form a whole new pack however it tends to be unlikely due to the fact that their wolves feel almost PTSD before the betrayal of their own pack that they would prefer to be alone than risking getting betrayed once again.

The wolf jumped from the lake, growling aggressively at me.

"Fine, be like that then." I snarked watching the wolf begin to lunge at me one more time. This time I met the wolf in the middle, shifting in mid-air. My wolf felt thrilled to feel the rogue's shoulder within our grasp, our teeth snapping down.

The rogue whimpered as we gripped its shoulder with our fangs. During strength, I pulled down with my jaw tightened on the meat of his shoulder which resulted in the rogue being thrown in the tree beside me.

Its body fell to the ground and was slow to jump back into action as blood oozed from its shoulder. I didn't waste time as I growled at the weak wolf, jumping up and landing on the rogue's back.

The rogue shook about, attempting to push me off however I had plunged my claws into it's the body and my fangs were once again into its body, this time clinging on to the meat on the neck. The rogue was viciously shaking as it continued to shake me off but I wouldn't budge.

The rogue let out a cry of pain as I pulled on his neck with my fangs, ripping part of the meat off. In immense pain, the rogue's legs buckled under pressure and they fell to the ground, shifting into human form.

Underneath me was a young man, filthy almost as if they had not been in human form in a long period of time. It almost made me feel bad.

Almost.

The young man turned underneath me, his eyes bloodshot red as he stared at me. I shifted back into human form and waited to see if he would say anything however instead he spat upwards, aimed straight at me as I stared back.

"Bitch," He snarled at me as he lazily attempted to push me away. I growled lowly, wiping off his spit in disgust before baring my teeth at the weak wolf below me, swiping my claws in the air and down across his face.

Soon enough, the rogue was dead.

Just like it was before, the woods were once again quiet as I pushed off of the rogue's dead body and strolled back to my previous position, dipping my feet back into the cool lake water.

I let a small smile creep on my face as I glanced back at the dead body before it quickly fell and I rolled my eyes in irritation.

"Jared was going to have it out with me," I muttered to myself, slapping the water beneath me, annoyed.

☽☾

I strolled through the packhouse, moving quickly as I made my way to the restricted floor where only the Alpha, Beta and Gamma live with their family if they choose to live within the packhouse.

Walking, I smiled in content as I looked around me. Three years and I still look around like I'm new to everything. I simply couldn't help but feel overwhelmed and just thrilled to have found a pack that cared when me the way the Golden Redemption pack had.

My thoughts were cut short when I walked through the upper-level living room to witness the Alpha of the pack, Jared, snuggled close to his Luna and mate, Nicole.

"Disgusting" I coughed out in a jokey manner, causing the couple to turn their heads to me. I winked at the two before planting myself in the love seat to the side of them. "Hey lovebirds." I chirped up, blowing a kiss to Nicole who in response caught it with her fist and tucked it into her shirt. Jared rolled his eyes however his arm unconsciously tightened around her shoulder.

"How you been baby?" Nicole asked, naturally curling up to her mate. These two were the most lovable couple—they almost didn't even seem like the leaders of their own pack. Jared smiled down at her, placing a kiss on her head before responding;

"I've been—" Nicole quickly shut him up, turning her head to him in confusion which caused him to realise his misstep. He huffed, rolling his eyes. "And you were talking to Reese." He grumbled, shooting me a playful glare.

Before I could respond, Jared sniffed the air. "Reese?"

"Hmm?" I knew I would be catching flack I just didn't know it would be so quick.

"Why do you smell filthy?" I shrugged, glancing at the quiet television.

"Skipped my shower," Nicole muttered a quiet sound of disgust which I responded with the flip of a finger.

Jared growled lowly. "Why do you smell like a rogue?" I sighed, tilting my head at Jared. "Don't make me command you, Reese." I held back the growl I felt rumbling within me.

"I bumped into a little rogue situation."

"And why didn't the border control notice the rogue entering the territory?" I huffed in irritation. He knew the answer he just wanted me to ask it. In this second, Mace, the Beta of the pack and one of my closest friends walked in.

"Because I was relaxing outside of the border." Mace stopped in his steps, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Are you serious, R?" Mace groaned in irritation, flopping next to Jared, jogging him slightly which caused him to nudge Nicole slightly. A low growl came out of our Alpha. Mace rolled his eyes in response. "Chill out wolfie, direct that at Reese."

I glared at Mace. Prick.

"Reese," Jared began "You know how dangerous it is outside the border, why would do such a thing." I groaned in annoyance, throwing my arms in the air before flopping them back down on my lap.

"Relax, I was barely outside of the border anyways." Mace scoffed beside Jared and I sent him a quick glare. "Listen, if I was really in trouble I would have called for help you know that." I sent Jared a pointed look, he knew I could take care of myself.

He and his father were the ones to train me after all. I am the strong person I am today because of the people I had surrounded myself with within the last few years.

"You aren't to go past the border again, do you hear me?" Jared ordered, his Alpha essence seeping through as he sat up straight, removing his arm off of Nicole's shoulder who then laid further down on the couch giving me an apologetic look. She didn't like it when Jared ordered me around when she had no say when it came to an Alpha's command and she knew that. Plus when it came to the safety of people she loved, she knew it was for the best despite how she felt about it.

I didn't answer Jared correctly as I huffed, leaning back on my seat with the roll of my eyes. From my left, I heard Jared growl lowly to demand respect. "Don't press me, Reese." I gulped slightly, my eyes flickering back to my Alpha. "Do you hear me? You are not to go past the border again. At least not while there is such a high risk of rogue attacks."

I sighed, huffing lightly through my nose. "Okay." I gave up bitterly before looking away from Jared and instead focused my gaze at Mace who cleared his throat.

"As much as I'd love to discipline Reese, I came in for a reason." I tilted my head at Mace however, he seemed to be avoiding my eyes as he attempted to face away from, only looking at Jared and Nicole.

"What is it Mace?" I questioned however, he ignored me. Even from a distance, with the help of my heightened wolf senses, I noticed how he gulped with his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. It was weird seeing Mace become a bundle of nerves, he's usually so calm and collected.

"Alpha, they've said they're on the way." With that statement, Jared's eyes slightly bulged as he stood up straight, leaving Nicole watching me nervously which only doubled the confusion that I was feeling.

"What is it?" I asked again, getting aggravated slightly with the lack of communication I was getting.

Jared sighed. Nicole, lifting her hand up to gently hold on to his elbow. "Jared?" She called out. "Have you not told her?" My eyes widened slightly, clearly, this was about me so what didn't I know?"

"Alpha!" I called out, standing up straight as Jared turned to me. I could see the apologetic look he had in his eyes despite the Alpha 'emotionless' façade he was trying to hold. "What aren't you telling me? Who is here?"

He sighed, his eyes never faltering down. "I'm sorry, I didn't know how to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Around us, I could see Mace and Nicole inch further away from Jared and I, as if something was going to ensue.

"The Midnight Forrest pack are coming."

My heart stopped.