PATRICKI cannot believe what has just transpired.Rylie, my mate, my one true love, has betrayed me.She has taken my friends prisoner.Why? For what?She said there was an explanation, but what can she possibly say to justify locking up a teenager?She is too loyal to her pack.She is trying to have both.Them and me.But it does not work that way.We are enemies.She has to choose.I cannot have her playing me while she tries to find a way to have both.It's too cruel.She said she was sorry.But she is not.She is a liar.I was truly hurt by what she deceived me with.I trusted her, and she used that trust to fool me.I cannot believe she is putting the needs of her pack over me.I am her mate.She is putting the pack over me.And that scent...It was all over her. The scent of an alpha. She has been up close and personal with him, I am certain. And I saw the look in her eyes when I challenged her on it.My entire body is tense with anger.All I see is re
RYLIE"Rylie," a voice says from behind.I turn, already knowing who I will see.Conner. Hunter's right hand man. His best beta. The lacky who does his dirty work."What do you want, Conner?" I demand.I am so not in the mood for him. Not after sending Val off with the break up letter for Patrick. Though, to be honest, I am never in the mood for Conner.He strides up alongside me. "Hunter wants to see you."Panic flutters in me."What?" I ask. "Now?""Yup.""Why?"Conner wiggles his eyebrows. "That's for me to know, and you to find out."It is the sort of typically infuriating comment I expect from Conner.He reaches forward to take my arm.I yank it back away from him."I don't need guiding," I snap. "I can walk myself."He laughs and holds his hands up. "Whatever you say, luna."I clench my teeth.He is goading me by calling me luna.It takes all my strength not to smack him.We walk in silence.The whole way, I wonder what Hunter has summoned me for.I'm sure
I run to the training ground as fast as my legs can carry me.Please, please, please, I beg to the sky. Don't let me be too late.Behind me, I can hear Hunter and his betas following. They're all still laughing. This is just a fun game to them. I feel sick to my stomach that I am aligned with such cruelty.I reach the training grounds.The captive rogues are all lined up and blind folded.They are tied with silver ropes.They try--and fail--to shift into wolf form.They are helpless.Standing in front of them are about ten guards with their bows and arrows poised.They prepare to fire.I feel paralyzed.It is too late.I burst forward."Stop!" I cry.But I am too late.An array of silver-tipped arrows arc through the air."No!" I scream.Arrows bury into flesh.My heart breaks.The rogues fall to the ground in a heap of death.With sickening thuds.Everyone of them.I run to their side.Even though I know it's too late.Even though I know they're already dead.
When I open my eyes, the moon is above me.I don't know how long I have been lying here for.The night is freezing and I am stiff from lying on the ground for so long. I shiver, and my joints protest as I sit up.I am still in wolf form, and I'm shocked to discover where I have ended up.I have subconsciously run up the hill Val took me up for our private chat.Beyond the cliff edge, I can see the whole forest.Plumes of smoke rise into the air from chimneys and campfires, from every pack as far as the horizon.But I am alone.I have no pack.I have no home.I have no one.I am a rogue.I am alone.Suddenly, a voice in my head speaks.It is my voice, but it is different from my usual inner thoughts."You are not alone, Rylie. You are a luna."The voice comforts me.The strength of my lineage.Of every luna that came before me.My thoughts become clear.I have to keep moving.I have to keep going.I have to keep running.I start to walk away from the cliff edge.
I am on my hands and knees, crawling like my life depends on it.Behind me, I can hear the heaving breathing of the wolves.They are close behind me.I move through the cave system.I can tell I am going deeper underground.The stones are damp and grimey.I crawl on.They are close behind.I can smell them.I can hear their claws scraping against the damp stone.Then finally, I emerge into a cavern.It is lit by lanterns and the walls extend as far as I can see.The floor beneath me is dry.People are living down here!Suddenly, humans and wolves come through the myriad of different corridors. From all directions. I am surrounded.I grab onto the luna voice inside me."What do I do?" I ask the ancestral power."Trust yourself," it tells me."Hey, look," I hear a rough voice say, "what have we got here?" A wolf steps forward. "What are you then?" he asks, as he shifts into human form.There are humans and wolves on either side of me, spreading out in a formation aro
All the air leaves me in a rush.I sink to my knees.I have no words.THIS is what Patrick meant when he said there were things it was better for me not to know. He is not only aligned with these rogues… he is leading them. Suddenly, it all makes sense.I am a luna - to Patrick, not Hunter. Being with Patrick would fulfill my luna destiny after all. If only I had known!I would not have been so torn.I would not have dragged my heels.Why didn’t he just tell me the truth…?Patrick stares down at me.It is definitely him.He is real.I am not dreaming.This is real.He is real.I stare up at him.His face is devoid of emotion."Patrick?" I breathe his name aloud.The crowd falls silent. The atmosphere in the room is tense as we stare at each other.Patrick's lips curl.“Please, Patrick,” I say.He does not acknowledge me.He acts like I am a stranger.I think of Val’s letter and it all comes crashing down on me.She knew.She must have.She leads the gamma
PATRICKI stare at her. Rylie. But it is not her. She has changed. Her scent. Her aura. Everything is wrong.She keeps telling me she loves me and I want to believe her. I so want to believe her. But this is not my mate. Not my Rylie.A sorceress in disguise, maybe. Sent by her pack to fool me.It would be so easy to give in.And though it pains him terribly to do so, I must be strong for the sake of my rogues."Take her to a cell," I say."No!" she screams. "Patrick, please! Don't do this!"There is a look of utter terror on her face.I cannot let my feelings cloud my judgment.I cannot let her hurt those I care about.I must be strong.For them, I must be strong.I watch my rogues walk Rylie away. They drag her by her arms.She is still fighting with them.She is still calling for me.She is begging for me to believe her.But I've seen what I've seen.She is no longer my mate.She is not my Rylie.I look away.My stomach turns.I feel nauseated.I can hear
RYLIEI am thrown into a cell.I stumble, landing on the floor with a thud."Good luck, traitor," one of the wolves says over me.The other rogue kicks me in the stomach as I try to rise to my feet.I collapse back to the floor, winded."I'm sorry," I whisper as he slams the door shut.I am left in total darkness again.I wonder how far underground I am. The cave mouth was near the mountains. Perhaps I am now many many feet below.It is dank in the cell. So cold I start shivering.I shift into wolf form so my layer of fur can keep me warm. The comforting feel of my luna powers spreads through me.My powers. All this time I thought they were bound up with Hunter. That by choosing Patrick I was turning my back on some kind of pre-determined destiny within my pack. But all along my powers were linked to Patrick, the alpha of the rogue. It is Patrick who's the luna to my alpha. It is the rogues I am destined to lead over.Except I have stuffed it all up, and now I am stuck he