Chapter 3 - A Rescued Rogue

Daciana’s P.O.V

Mother and I returned to my bedroom after the elders passed their judgment. She was fuming with rage, but never said a word.

We got inside the room and she began packing my clothes into a bag without looking at me.

“What are you doing?” I asked her, but she didn’t answer.

“Mother,” I called, but again, she didn’t answer.

“Stop ignoring me, Mother. What are you doing?” I demanded.

She sighed, wiping a teardrop from her eyes. “The Elders just passed their judgment declaring the heir of the pack a rogue. If word gets out to the villagers that you killed your father–they’ll burn you alive.”

She zipped up the bag and tossed it to me. “You need to leave. Now!”

“I didn't do it,” I mumbled. “I didn't kill Father,” I said with a cracked voice.

My mother came closer and hugged me. “No one knows how much you loved your father like I do. I would never believe you killed him.” She spoke lovingly.

Amelia walked into the room and found us locked in an embrace. She quickly joined in, asking no questions.

There was a knock on the door. Amelia was about rushing out to get it, but mother held her back.

“You need to get out of here. That's probably Caleb coming to take you out to the villagers with the guards.” Mother informed me.

“But we're trapped here,” I stated.

She opened up the window close to the tree and pointed to a lonely track beyond the village. “Run towards that path, and don't look back. No matter what happens, Ciana, don't come back for us until you've found a safe place to stay.”

I nodded my head and hugged her and Amelia once more. Caleb continued to bang on the door, threatening to break it down if we didn't let him in.

“Amelia, be strong for mother okay? I promise to come get you.” I whispered to my little sister. She had cried once she realized I wouldn't be with her anymore.

"Daciana, wait. Before you go," Mother brought out a pendant concealed in her hands and wore it around my neck.

"To bring you good luck," she said and kissed me goodbye.

I climbed through the window just before Caleb and the guards got through the door.

I heard him yelling at my mother, but I didn't have time to stay and find out. I would be of no use to them if I remained in the pack to end up killed, so just like my mother requested, I ran as fast as I could down that lonely path till all that was left was a silhouette of a place I once called home.

As I wandered further into the woods, I heard a familiar whistling sound once more. I stopped to look around me. I was being followed, and surely I would be attacked soon, so I dashed through the woods as the moon rose slowly above me.

I wasn't able to shake the rogues off my trail. Their hurried footsteps echoed throughout the thick forest, and their hungry growls sent jolts of fear down my spine.

I arrived at the edge of a cliff; it was a long way down and I was not ready to take the risk of jumping from a cliff in order to save my life.

For a few moments, I was all alone. It was enough time to decide on what I would do next, but my brain couldn't come up with any ideas. The rogues finally picked up my scent and surrounded me at the cliff.

They were all fully transformed in their wolf forms, and I knew I stood no chance against them while still a human.

“What do you guys want from me?” I questioned.

There was a loud haul from behind them. Like they had received a command, the rogues all stepped back and a man, face covered with a scarf, came forward.

“After all these years, you still think you’re some hot shot, don’t you?” he asked. His voice slowly faded into an echo in the woods.

It was a full moon tonight, yet somehow, everywhere seemed to be darker than before. The unusual darkness wasn't the only thing I noticed. I felt my bones cracking in places they had never been and it hurt.

“What do you want from me?” I yelled in pain.

My assaulter was at this moment aware that I was about to shift, and he smiled.

“Looks like this is your first time shifting into your wolf form. I wonder what sort of werewolf you’ll be,” he smirked.

The rogues behind him walked circles around me, anticipating his order and getting ready to strike me down if the need be.

I fell face down to the ground, yelling in agony from the excoriating pain of my bones breaking and re adjusting in different angles. My clothes became too small for my body and ripped apart as my wolf struggled to be unleashed.

My hands were replaced with claws, and so were my feet. My eyes felt different and my vision more advanced than when I was a human.

“Make it stop!” I screamed.

I could hear voices, the sounds of the forest, the footsteps of animals all over two miles away from me.

Soon, I stood on four feet. The pain of my bones breaking was gone and the injuries I had gotten from branches and trees were completely healed. I felt like a monster and yet an angel at the same time.

The power surging through my body now covered by furs, white furs. It was an ecstatic feeling.

“A white wolf!” the man declared, surprised by my transformation. “She's a frost demon!”

He quickly shifted into his wolf form, his body having a dusty brown color and his claws by far longer and thicker than mine.

“Let’s end this quickly,” he scuffed.

With a loud haul, he signaled for the rest of the rogues to attack.

Two of them jumped on me from behind, but I was quicker than usual and swiftly avoided their claws from laying a scratch on my body.

I grabbed one of them by the tail and flung him around in the air before tossing him down the cliff.

Another jumped on me from a tree and struck me across the face. I fell to the ground, but quickly stood back on my feet.

The rogues only seemed to increase in number and being my first time of shifting, I was unsure of how long I could keep up in my body.

Realizing how much his men had failed to contain me, the scarfed man faced me, a smile lingering on his awfully damaged wolf’s face.

He must have been in a lot of fights from the scars and marks I saw on his face. Compared to him, I was practically a novice, even with my father’s difficult training.

“You should have let us kill you with your father,” he barked aggressively.

My body grew weak with every passing second, and when he sensed this, he jumped at me and sent me down on my sides.

I stood back to my feet, refusing to give in and accept defeat so easily, but I was no match for him. He landed multiple hits on my body and grabbed me by the neck with his teeth.

He flung me across the woods and I fell on a tree, returning to my human form, naked and weak.

“Please… let me go,” I pleaded as I lay helpless on the ground.

My hearing remained the same after I had shifted, and I could hear footsteps rapidly approaching our fight scene.

Three wolves jumped out from the woods and their scent differed from the rest of the rogues, especially the one in the middle.

His furs were thick and black and unlike any normal wolf, there was no trace of blood lust in his eyes.

He jumped on the man standing above me and threw him across the floor, sending him straight into the stomp of a fallen tree.

The other two, both gray, focused their attention on the rest of the rogues and they soon overpowered them, pushing a few of them off the cliff and ruthlessly killing others by tearing them into pieces with their teeth and claws.

The black wolf shifted back into his human form. To my surprise, he was still clothed and stood victorious against the leader of the rogues.

He said something to the man on the floor as he shifted back to his human form, but I couldn’t make out what it was.

He walked back to me. His face was unreadable, no frown, no smile, just the glitter in his eyes that shined under the moonlight. He extended an arm out to me, but I couldn't even reach it.

I forced myself up to my feet. My head spinning and my eyes turning in circles.

“Are you okay? I don’t think you should stand on your own after such a fight. You look like you’re about to faint,” he said, his voice deep and commanding.

I chuckled. “Hi, I’m Daciana.”

And with that, my eyes closed and my brain stopped responding as I fell to the ground, unconscious.