The Luna's Rogue

They forced me into a chair before the elders, with all the prominent figures of the pack behind us. Lena crossed her arms under her chest, smirking at me with menacing glee. “What is the meaning of this? How could you handcuff Alyssa?” an elder said, looking over at me with concern. I tried to speak, to tell them what Carl was planning, but still I couldn’t utter a sound. He motioned to the guards. “Free her now.”“Wait, you’re about to know the truth,” Carl looked serious, and the guard ignored the elder’s signal. “We are at war with the rogues. Yesterday, I received the information from the lycan king. He has found proof of a traitor in our pack. Through my own investigation, I found Alyssa has betrayed us,” Carl demanded. Again, I tried to deny it, but no sound came out of me.Was that his plan? To make me his traitor and replace me with his mistress? I struggled furiously to get out of the handcuffs.Carl looked at me dead in the eye. “Are you our traitor, Alyssa?”I stared at hi

I tried to open my eyes, but it hurt, so I closed them again. Actually, everything hurt. The smell of disinfectant and medicine filled my nose. So I wasn’t dead? That fact disappointed part of me somewhat.“Yes, her throat is healed,” someone with a muffled voice said in my ears.As my head cleared, the voice or well voices became clearer. Once more, I tried to open my eyes. After a moment, I adjusted to the lighting. I was in an unfamiliar rectangular room with several empty beds. Where was I?I turned my head to the other side and saw an unfamiliar man next to me and behind him was Kalen. So many nights I had dreams like this. I couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t a hallucination. Kalen was alive! He came back! I knew it. Tears ran down my face and I struggled to get up from the bed. I didn’t care about anything else but him being alive. I rushed to him, throwing my arms around him.“Kalen, You’re alive! You’re really alive,” I said, hugging him. My voice was hoarse and shaking from whate

The woman pulled me to my feet and took me into the room, refusing to leave until I got dressed in what Kalen had picked out for me. I gritted my teeth, reminding myself he had my necklace. I undressed and put on the clothes that Kalen chose and tried not to think of how I might look in them. When I finished, the woman led me out of the room; her face was a stoic mask. I had no way of telling if it bothered her I was going to be the ‘entertainment’ or if it was just another day for her.She walked me up to Kalen. “She’s here alpha.”Much like Carl had at my trial, Kalen sat looking like a roman emperor, ready to decide the fates of those beneath him. Four women sat or stood around him, each breathtakingly beautiful. They pawed at him, eagerly awaiting whatever command he would give them.My chest ached with a spark of jealousy that was swallowed by grief. This was just more evidence that the Kalen I knew. The Kalen I loved never existed. This was who he was for real. A rogue. A cruel,

I spent the morning cleaning dishes, doing laundry, and whatever chore it seemed like the rest of the servants didn’t want to do. The other servants avoided me and never spoke to me unless they had to.I don’t know if it was because they knew I was from a pack or because their alpha hated me. I’d never been a social pariah before. That, combined with the loss of my necklace, I was more lonely than I had ever been in my life.I worked by myself, setting up food on a long table. There was an event tonight, as the older woman said, the head servant, I think. But all my minds had already drifted away. Survive, I told myself. This was the only thing I should focus on at present. Get the necklace and find Father. Let Kalen think he had the upper hand. Let him try to tear me down and humiliate me. I would have my justice.However, just as I was about to step out of the hall, the familiar figure broke into my sight. Kalen strode into the room with one of the women he had with him last night.S

I woke up with a scream. Sweat peppered my entire body. Panic seized me until I recognized the room I was in. It was a storage room in the rogue servants’ building. They refitted it into a bedroom for me to stay in. My nightmares kept the other servants awake, so they moved me to this room to avoid bothering them.Since Carl admitted to what he had done, I had nightmares of Caden’s cries. Every night, I try to get to him before Carl, and every night I fail and can’t save my son. Then I must watch as Carl hurts him and snuffs out his precious life. It all felt so real that my heart was nothing but a gaping, bleeding wound that won’t heal.Setting my feet on the cold cement floor, I leaned forward and buried my hands in my hair. I took a few deep breaths. I felt like I was going to be sick. My chest still hurt, but no longer was it on the side, but more in the middle. I closed my eyes and searched deep inside me.‘Maddie,’ I called out mentally, trying to call out to my wolf. She took my