A Rogue's Choice

KATIE

The sound of the front door being smashed open jolted me awake. I sat up on the mattress, instantly alert.

I knew right away it wasn’t my father or any of the other rogues. The scent was different. Not wrong, just different. It was the smell of other werewolves.

Even though I couldn’t heal, my father always said I was the best tracker he had. I guess you can’t be good at everything.

The scent of unfamiliar werewolves could mean one of two things. Either someone had followed me earlier, or my father's recent killing spree had backfired and one of the rogues had betrayed us.

I was hoping for the latter. If not, I was as good as dead!

My immediate concern was to avoid being discovered. That was going to be a challenge.

The room I was in was basically a glorified closet. It had no windows, and the only exit was the door that led back into the main room, which was probably now filled with members of the Blood Moon Pack.

I pressed my back against the wall so that I would be hidden behind the door when it opened. And I was sure it would open. If I could smell them, they could probably smell me.

My only hope was that the mess of empty bottles and pizza boxes might mask my scent a little. But that was a long shot.

“This place is a fucking mess!” I heard a male voice say.

I could smell three different scents.

“There’s someone still here. I can smell them!” a female voice grumbled.

Damn! If she can smell me, she’ll be able to track where I am.

Some werewolves were warriors or fighters; others were trackers. The trackers were always better at distinguishing scents, and many packs had female trackers. They seemed to be good at it; I know I was.

Now the question was, should I give up, or should I try to escape after distracting them?

I was small for a werewolf and fast. The Blood Moon Pack was notorious for how they treated any rogues they captured.

I doubted they would show any mercy; I had scared that alpha boy in the burger joint, after all. So I decided to try and escape.

If I gave up, my father would be furious, but not as much if I was captured after putting up a fight.

Despite how he sometimes treated me, all I really wanted was to make him proud.

I waited silently behind the door. I’d heard two of them, but I knew there was a third.

I shoved my hands into my jeans pocket and smirked when I found the change that I hadn’t given to the alpha boy.

Kind of poetic justice. If I threw a handful of coins in the first one’s face, it might give me a chance. I grabbed a handful and waited.

I heard the woman whisper, “In there…”

I watched as the doorknob turned, my heart pounding in my chest.

As the door opened, I braced myself. I figured I had an advantage since my eyes were already adjusted to the dim light.

The one who entered was the woman. She had long, blonde hair pulled up in a tight ponytail. I watched as she looked at the mattress, sniffing the air. Then she turned toward where I was standing.

Still hidden in the shadow, I threw the coins at her face before she even saw me. Then I darted past her, running out the door.

Unfortunately, her screams had alerted the others, and before I could get very far, I was grabbed by massive arms.

This werewolf was bigger than any of the rogues and seemed even bigger than my father. I was small for a werewolf. Most she-wolves were usually close to six feet tall. In comparison, I was tiny at five foot four.

I squirmed and struggled, trying to get free, kicking my legs.

One arm was wrapped around my waist, pinning my arms to my sides, and the other was wrapped around my neck, threatening to choke me.

“Easy, pup!” he growled.

If that was supposed to scare me, it had the opposite effect.

I heard a growl as the blonde she-wolf stormed out of the room. She had a knife in her hand. One look told me the blade was made of silver.

“Fucking little bitch!” she hissed as she stormed across the room toward me.

My captor spun around to face her, then I heard another male voice. I knew there were three of them; I had smelled three separate scents, even from the closed-off room.

“Stand down, Carlotta! You know the alpha’s rules. No harming female prisoners!” His voice was authoritative, and he had an English accent.

Carlotta huffed and sheathed the knife, sneering at me. “You seriously think the alpha’s mate would be a runt like that?!”

The thought of being taken to an alpha to be his mate or his toy sent a wave of panic through me. No way!

I managed to twist my head slightly to the side and sank my teeth into my captor’s arm. I tasted blood, so I knew I had bitten him deeply.

He immediately let go of me and jumped back, cradling his arm in pain.

“Fucking little mongrel!” he growled.

I bolted toward the door, only to see it blocked by the other male.

He stood there, legs apart, arms folded. He was even bigger than the other one, if that was possible.

I didn’t slow down, and he looked a little surprised. When I was about four feet from him, I dropped to my knees and slid down the tiled hallway, aiming to slide right between his legs.

But as I looked up, I saw him smirk. Too late, I realized he knew my plan.

As I ducked down to slide between his legs, his knee came up and hit my nose.

The speed I was going at and the force of his knee hitting my face sent me flying backward.

I heard the crack as his kneecap hit my nose and tasted the blood as it gushed from my nose.

My vision started to blur almost instantly, and I groaned in pain.

“I thought you said no harming!” Carlotta chuckled.

“Collateral damage!” he replied, the last thing I heard before I passed out.

***

When I came to, the first thing I felt was the pain in my face. My nose was throbbing, but it also felt kind of numb.

Usually, when I was hurt or when my father decided to teach me a lesson, I’d gingerly touch the wounded area to gauge the damage. But this time, I didn’t need to touch my nose to know it was broken. Prodding it would only amplify the pain.

I opened my eyes, unsurprised to find myself in a cell. I’d never been captured before. We’d had some close shaves, but we’d always managed to escape.

I was sprawled on a cot. The mattress was even thinner than the one back home.

Before I could take in more of my surroundings, a familiar voice echoed in the room.

“Well, well. If it isn’t Daddy’s little princess!”

I turned toward the voice. “Terence! You rat, you ratted us out, didn’t you!”

He looked at me and laughed. “It’s every man—or should I say wolf—for himself.” He paused before adding, “Besides, I might even be able to convince them to let me have a little fun with you after they’re done!”

Despite the pain, I sprang up and lunged at the bars separating us. “You fucking bastard!” I hissed. “I’ll kill you!”

He quickly retreated from the bars. I could sense his fear. He knew that given even half a chance, I would gut him like the pig he was.

“You always were a fucking coward, Terence!” I hissed.

My attention was diverted from Terence when I heard another familiar voice.

“Step away from the bars, rogue! Face the wall, hands on your head,” he ordered, he being the werewolf responsible for the state of my nose.

I glared at him and growled.

“Don’t make me repeat myself!” he growled back.

I turned around and slowly walked toward the back of the cell. Then I heard the cell door open, and a searing jolt of pain shot through my back.

I collapsed to the floor, groaning in pain.

“Too slow, pup!” He smirked. “When I tell you to do something, you do it the first time!”

I lay on the cold concrete floor, my heart pounding, trying to regulate my breathing. I glanced around. He was holding a rod that seemed to emit sparks of electricity from the end.

A cattle prod. He’d used a fucking cattle prod on me.

“Bring her,” he hissed.

Before I could react, I was roughly seized and dragged down the corridor to another room.

It was brightly lit and seemed empty, until I felt shackles being fastened around my wrists. They were suspended from the ceiling, and now, so was I.

I couldn’t even touch the floor with my feet.

The guards retreated to the corner of the room, while my tormentor paced in front of me. I’m sure he was relishing my agony.

The weight of my suspended body made the muscles in my arms scream as they were stretched taut.

If I thought my father was a sadist, he was nothing compared to this creep.

“Now, little Ridgeway pup, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I recommend the easy way!” He smirked.

I swallowed hard. After what he had just done, I was livid. I knew what he wanted before he even asked. He wanted me to betray my father.

That was never going to happen. I quite liked my heart where it was—in my chest. If they wanted to kill me, so be it; I wasn’t going to be a coward like Terence!

I glared at the bastard in front of me, and with every ounce of energy I could muster, I spat right in his face. “Fuck off, you piece of shit!” I growled.

He was livid. I could see the rage in his face and his eyes turn black, not the kind of black that communicates, but the kind that lets your angry wolf take control.

He didn’t shift, though, just clenched his fist. I felt the full force of it in my stomach, gasping and crying out in pain.

Before I could recover, his other fist hit me. I screamed, then coughed as blood escaped my lips. My head drooped forward as I tried to catch my breath.

I heard him gasp in surprise as more blood trickled from my mouth.

He walked closer and grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back. The pain in my scalp was nothing compared to the pain in my stomach.

He stared at my face, then pressed his thumb to my nose. I choked out a scream as more blood erupted from my mouth. Then he stared at the cut on my face.

“Heal yourself, damn it!” he screamed at me.

I managed to smirk at him. I knew why he was screaming. His alpha would have his ass if females weren’t meant to be harmed.

Probably, in the past, he could beat them up, and they would heal.

“I…can’t!” I groaned.

He stared at me in horror. “What do you mean? You’re a werewolf; of course, you can! What happens when you shift?” he demanded.

If I hadn’t been in so much pain, I would have laughed at him. I shook my head as much as I could with him gripping my hair.

“Can’t... shift,” I whispered, feeling myself starting to fade.

He let go of my hair, and my head slumped forward on my chest.

“Alec!” he growled. “Give me your knife!”

The guard named Alec, who I couldn’t see, sounded panicked. “You can’t, Beta! The alpha…”

“The alpha won’t know!” he hissed back.

“What won’t I know?”

The voice brought me back from the brink. There was something about it, strong and commanding.

“Step aside, Nathan!” the newcomer growled.

I knew without even trying to open my eyes that Beta Nathan had stepped aside. I felt an overpowering presence of authority approach me.

“Fucking hell, Nathan! What did you do?” he growled.

I felt a large hand touch my face. The touch that should have been comforting sent waves of pain through my body as the electrical buzz stimulated the pain receptors of the injuries that Nathan had inflicted on me.

My whimper turned into a cry of pain.

“Kane, it’s not on me. She’s Ridgeway’s offspring, but she’s not like the others. She’s not recovering!”

Kane’s growl echoed in my ears. I couldn’t tell if it was directed at me or Nathan.

“Alec! Get her down and rush her to the infirmary!”

As the guard began to untie me, the last thing that registered before I was swallowed by the darkness was Alpha Kane’s voice.

“Nathan! You better start praying to the moon goddess that she pulls through!”