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Rogue Alpha

SeleneVictoire
7
chs / week
The average realized release rate over the past 30 days is 7 chs / week.
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Synopsis
Born a half blood, Emmy grew up with her mother's pack deep in the woods. She always resisted the rules due to her being treated like an outcast due to her differences and due to her close friendship with Cain, the oldest son of the Alpha. When Cain betrays her and tries to force her into a relationship, she flees on the night of a dark moon, when he's at his weakest. Happening upon a motel on the outskirts of a small town several miles from the forest where her pack lives, she meets Laken, a rogue half blood male who isn't too keen on her presence due to her possibly leading the pack to his doorstep. Emmy agrees to leave but is clearly oblivious in the ways of humans. Reluctant, Cain offers to help her learn how to survive among humans and find a territory of her own. But as the bond between the two rogue wolves deepens, danger lurks in the dark waiting for its time to strike.
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Chapter 1 - Chapter 1: Escape

No sounds—not a hoot or the crack of a limb—etched through the dark. 

They couldn't be too far behind though. Heavy musk seeped through the forest. I remained flattened against a massive maple tree with my eyes trained on the hidden path leading back to the village. 

Seconds ticked by in my head, and I wondered if they gave up the chase. The twist of my gut told me they would never give up so easily. He wouldn't let them. 

I can't stay here. My body itched to run. To bolt through the woods and keep going until I hit the first real sign of civilization. But the silence laced wariness in my heart. It's too quiet. 

Even at night, the forest was full of life, with melodies from birds and bugs and cries from predator and prey. Silence meant they were all on alert. 

It meant the most dangerous predator walked among them. 

Still, I couldn't stay any longer. I needed to move. 

Taking a quick shallow breath, I tossed a prayer skyward to the darkened moon for her protection. I turned north and my stomach dropped. He stood three yards away. Golden eyes gleaming in the dark under his long pale lashes. Equally pale hair hung lose over his shoulders in damp waves, and a dark gray shirt and jeans highlighted his lean muscled physique.

He didn't send the pack after me. Cain hunted me down himself.

A sharp smirk curled the corner of his full lips. "You should've known I'd find you, Emmy." 

Rage spit back in my chest even as my body ached with want. I schooled my expression into what I hoped appeared to be contempt. "A girl can dream." 

"It was smart though." He continued as though I had never spoken. 

Typical. 

"Waiting until the moon was dark so I would be at my weakest." His eyes never left mine, but his other senses would've picked up on any subtle changes from me. I had to be careful with every move. Every look. Every thought and emotion.

"We've known each other since infancy." His voice became softer, coiling beneath my skin. He strode toward me. Bare feet stepping around roots and stones without looking down. As though he could see the forest floor in his head. Stopping in front of me, he wound a lock of my hair around his index finger and lowered his head so his breath tickled my ear. "I know all of your moves."

Our past stolen moments flashed through my mind. Any honeyed feelings at the memories now festered with poison from his betrayal. All logic bled away at the rising scorch of my temper.

I locked my gaze on him and tried to keep the venom from my words. "You're right."

Pride glinted in his eyes.

"You do know me very well. But you don't know all my moves." Yanking back before I had time to second guess, the lock of hair in his grasp tore free. Cain reached for me with his other hand, and I lunged. The coppery tang of blood filled my mouth as my fangs pierced the skin between his thumb and index finger. Both the scent and taste flooded my senses. My vision shifted from normal human sight to the enhanced view inherited from my mother's bloodline. Cain bellowed an agonized roar—piercing my sensitive hearing and drowning out the thunderous beat of my own heart.

Knowing I only had seconds to gain, I jerked away and ran. I spat chunks of his flesh and blood. He'd heal soon enough anyway. The only permanent damage would be to his ego.

I focused on the blood clotting my senses to keep my primal self in control. With the dark moon above, neither Cain nor I could shift. Cain had the benefit of being full blood. His primal self remained dominant. Mine took a little more work to harness. With my sight, I dodged every branch and bramble that would've tripped me up. Different paths opened, marked with scents from every animal and creature that walked before me.

Distantly, I could hear Cain following. His anger drove him toward recklessness. A throaty growl laced his heavy breathing and hard footfalls.

This was what I needed. I slipped from path to path. Mixing my scent with the foxes and coyotes that roamed the forest. Predators that would be my prey on an ordinary day.

Breaking through a dense thicket, I leapt over a steady flowing stream glittering with fireflies in bordering shrubs. A buck and two does only a few feet away lifted their heads to watch me with wide eyes. I didn't divert from my goal. Remaining singularly focused, I continued running. Jumping from path to path. From predator to prey until the pungent odor of human sweat and spiced meat wafted on the wind. I veered toward the new smells just as I heard Cain unleash an earsplitting howl back at the stream. The ground behind me rumbled, and the deer dashed out. I followed them, knowing they always run from any werewolves directly toward the shallow patches of nature around humanity.

I burst through the trees to see the deer dashing through a field of tall grass. Giving them distance so they wouldn't spook, I trailed them over a barbed fence and through a pasture with cows sleeping and grazing without paying us any mind.

The deer stopped, perhaps finding comfort in the surroundings, but I walked on. A large farmhouse stood atop a hill, but I didn't stop. It would be the first place Cain would have the pack look when he sent them after me, and I needed to take advantage of the time I had to place as much distance between us as possible. I climbed another fence and another. Sticking to the grass and trees, I kept the country road in my sight but didn't dare step on it for fear of putting myself in anyone's direct line of sight.

Stars glistened in the sky above, providing the only light for me to see by. My primal senses long abated though I could feel blood trickling down the side of my scalp where the lock of my hair ripped free.

My feet and legs burned with the ceaseless motion. Sleepiness weighted my eyelids.

The sun started to peek over the horizon when lights and buildings came into view. My heart surged, but my body screamed for a moment of rest. I kept the image of Cain's smirk in my mind, giving me the fire I needed to continue walking.

Ten miles later, I found myself staring at a large multi-roomed building with Golden Crown Motel emblazoned in bright yellow on a massive teal sign jutting toward the sky.