1.Rogue

"Hear ye! Hear ye!!" Luke, the twelve year old kid from the neighbourhood screamed dramatically as he came rushing into our house and stopped abruptly when his eyes greeted the sight of dear old me.

I had been standing in front of my wardrobe, arranging my clothes when I heard his voice and went out to the hallway, being the only one in the house.

I felt the boy's eyes roaming my face before he saw that I was looking at him, and he immediately fixed his eyes on the floor.

"Is no one else at home- I mean, sister Lexie, where is brother Dylan? Or Katrine?"

I smiled at his efforts at covering up his uneasiness and replied, making my voice as soft as possible. "They are not at home right now, but you can tell me. What is it?"

Luke seemed to consider this for a moment before he hurriedly blurted out.

"Alpha- alpha Paul has invited everyone to the party tonight, because he is searching for his mate!"

Luke had barely finished his sentence before he dashed off in a hurry, leaving me with his words echoing in my mind.

"Alpha Paul has invited everyone to the party, because he is searching for his mate…"

'Mate! As if that word has brought me anything but pain till now.'

I mused to myself as I sat myself in front of my wardrobe once again, my hands resuming the task of folding the clothes into neat piles as I let my mind wander.

I left my pack four years ago, when I was fourteen. I just couldn't tolerate living in the same place that held so many memories- some good, and mostly bad. And as if I had pressed a trigger button, his last words came floating in my mind to pin a flag in the favour of bad memories.

'You? Lexie, have you really been thinking that I would take you as my mate! How can you be so foolish…'

Yes, I am the same Lexie who had left her pack with the pain of heartbreak and rejection at the same time. Because it hadn’t been just my supposed mate, Nate, who had rejected me; but after that day, my entire community had started treating me differently.

I had been a completely ordinary girl before that, leading my completely ordinary life, surrounded by the love and concern of the small circle of her family and friends. But after that day, I became one of two things at a time: either the subject of ridicule for the people who wanted nothing more than gossip, or the people I was close with started treating me as if I was made of glass. I couldn’t take the irony of people I had never cared about demeaning me to my face, and the people who I had thought would stay the same through thick and thin, walking on eggshells around me. And one such day, I decided that this had gone on for long enough.

I left after the pack had settled for the night, carrying only the bare necessities with me and leaving my old life behind. I am sure that someone from my old pack might have come searching for me after the announcement of me becoming a rogue, but I had left the pack territory far behind by then.

“Lexie ! How are you, my darling! I am so sorry that I am late, but come and have a look at what I have brought you.”

The voice of Katrine dragged me out of my thoughts of my old pack, that I had vowed never to let myself think about again. But if Katrine saw me in this state, she would get worried for no reason, and I don’t want the excitement to vanish from her voice.

Katrine...I am not sure if I should introduce her as my friend or my sister…because she is so much more than that. She is the reason I am alive today, because she was the first one to hear my screams and call for help when I had encountered a beast in the dense forest on a lonely night after spending two years on my own.

Now I don't know if that interaction should be classified as good or bad, seeing that I got my family because of that; and at the same time, I got the lifetime curse of having to live with the scars that the beast had given me. The scars are situated on the right side of my face, starting from my forehead and ending only after touching my cheeks. The paws of the beast had hit me on the side of my face and I was lucky enough to have face and eyes intact at that moment, but that happiness hadn't remained with me for too long. The next moment, its mouth had taken out a chunk of meat from my left leg while I had been trying to run away and screaming for help.

I was saved by that beast by three wolves, or else I would have been left for dead in the silence of that night. I was brought back from the brink of death by this group of rogues, among whom I have found my family. Micheal and Dylan had rushed to find the nearest werewolf healer while Katrine had tended to my wound, and the three of them had carried me to the healers. Despite my regeneration capabilities, I had regained consciousness after three days, after which we had been informed of the latest werewolf clause by the healers. Having spent the last few years in human society, the four of us were unfamiliar with the recent decree, that if any rogues crossed over into the boundary of the pack territory, they had to assimilate into that pack. According to that law, we were supposed to join the Apollo pack, and we had no other options because of my fragile state at the moment. Initially, I had felt responsible for this whole situation, but Micheal had assured me that living as part of a pack would provide better opportunities of survival for all of us.

Sifting through those memories, I absent-mindedly touched my scar when Katrine entered the room and announced the news that I had also heard some minutes ago, once again.

“Lexie! You are coming to the party tonight, right? Let's find a dress for you to wear-”

“Kate! I really don't want to go-”

“What! Why?”

“You know the reason well! I hate crowds, because apparently even after two years, people haven’t gotten used to the fact that I have a scar, and they either keep staring at it or averting their gaze like they are scared!”

“Hey, how many times do I need to tell you that your scars are-”

“But the question is, why should I subject myself to that scrutiny? It’s not like I am gonna be his mate, right? So what’s the point of me even attending that party?

Now can we please talk about some different topics? Anything that you would like to talk about.”

“Okay, okay! I won't push you, please stop giving those puppy eyes! You know I can't say no to those! But when you don't wanna go to the party, at least come and see what I have brought for you.”

“Only if you promise to think of an excuse and support me in this!”

I replied as the hint of a smile appeared on my face.

“Done! Now tell me what you want to have for dinner, so that I can prepare that in advance for you. And once again, stop touching your scars or it will cause pain.”

‘The scars present on my face are indeed painful, but not as much as the one that is present on my heart.’

Thinking this I stepped out and followed Katrine out of the room.

***

As soon as I heard footsteps arriving in the doorway, I quickly put my books aside and jumped into bed, tousling my hair to give the impression that I had spent the last three hours in bed, instead of finishing my assignment. To get me out of going to the party, I had told Micheal and Dylan that I was sick, and Kate had helped me in reassuring them that I wasn’t THAT sick and they could leave me alone, and- you get the picture.

So now here I was, smiling to myself as all three of them fawned over my health and regaled me with stories of the set-up of the party, when Micheal decided to get ahead of the story and directly announced the gossip that had surely overtaken the whole pack by now.

“While these two bore you with how the palace was decorated from the outside, let me tell you the main news of the night! Alpha Paul had sensed earlier that his mate is in the pack, but apparently, he did not find her at the party. So I think, his mate must be someone among those who didn’t attend the party at all!”