Chapter 105

Alyson

Olivera has to drag me out of the packhouse, stowed away underground and letting out into the wild woods of the forest. I aim to pull free of his hands, gripped tightly around my arms and my hips, trying to maneuver me in every single way he desires. He is frustrated with me, and I find solace in making him mad. It makes me feel like I've won a war, even if it is a small one.

"Cut it out," the rogue Alpha barks. He yanks me forward, catching me when I trip over his back heel. "I'm sick of your persistence, blood pet."

I fight to break my wrists free, tearing my arms backwards but he somehow keeps his grasp tight. It pisses me off. I snap finally, kicking at his knee, resulting in me landing back into the grass, my dress riding up far too much on my hips.

The rogues all stare intently now, circled around the sight of the shameless Luna. I look aside, forcing my dress hem down.

"Leave her behind, Alpha, I'll take good care of her," I hear a snickering voice taunt, obviously that of a wolf who has zero intent of not capitalizing on my physical attributes. "She's worthless anyways—the elders already think she's dead."

"I agree, sir. I say we leave her behind," Maddox says grimly.

"She stays with me," Olivera snarls protectively, yanking me upright against his chest. He makes it a point to bite at my throat, kissing it at first with a tender edge before sinking his teeth into the side of my neck, dangerously close to my mating mark. It causes a ripple through my body and only then do I realize his hands are looped around the backs of my legs, cupping my ass for all his subordinates to see.

"It's me or all of them, sweetheart," he hums into my throat. "Pick."

After a long moment of panic surging through me, I nod, leaning into his chest and letting him lay some kind of false, sensual claim over me in front of his wolves. When they finally get bored of the sight, they turn to walk, some of them shifting and growing into their large, snarling wolves while the more well-dressed bunch simply walk away from their Alpha who still leeches to my neck.

"Pick," he reminds me, daring me to say what I've already chosen. "I want to hear it, sweetheart. Say it aloud. Tell me who you prefer."

Swallowing hard, I divvy up enough courage to overpower my shame. "You, Alpha."

He finally releases my ass with a hard, unexpected slap. It makes me jump but I don't yelp, instead giving in as he grabs my upper arm and drags me through the woods, his warrior wolves surrounding us every step of the way.

I try not to make eye contact with any of the rogue forms of their wolves; they hardly look normal. Most of them are covered in scars, or bite wounds, and it makes me wonder if they are rogues, but they are wounded, who had done the marks made on their exterior? I should know that most of the attacks on wolves are by rogues but considering that's who they are, it makes me wonder what else has happened to these warriors.

It feels like forever passes walking through the woods with Olivera groping on my body and pushing me around with every step. I let him do so, up until we approach a large tunnel through the woods that starts by a dip under the ground. The warrior wolves go first, jumping into the dark abyss below, followed by the others shortly after.

Olivera nudges me toward the gape of a cave and I hesitate, clinging to his hip as if it will keep me from having to enter this dark, random tunnel. The rogue Alpha only chuckles and nudges me into the whole; thankfully a wolf below catches my fall.

It smells of dirt and mud, the ground damp like there has been a recent, fresh rain, and I find myself kneeling nearby one of the scoops of water, brushing fresh water over my arms and face. I shudder fearfully, feeling Alpha Olivera stand over me from behind, observant and brute.

"Little Luna doesn't like the dark," he mutters.

I only nod, shivering ruthlessly. It feels far too much like a cell; like my past life, and that thought makes me sick to my stomach. "Why are we in here?" I ask, sighing heavily. "When can—I want to—leave, please—"

"Soon, sweetheart, but first we have business to tend to."

He grabs for my neck, pulling at my hair as he throws me forward, onto the ground, the hard rock cutting at my palms. I sit shocked for a second, wondering what I did to make him mad, blood pooling from my blistering skin. I happen to glance up, seeing a shadowy figure approach through the dark, my body curling to appear smaller and nonthreatening, as if I couldn't do that enough naturally.

That's when I meet his dirty brown eyes, his messy curls and tanned, freckled skin.

I cough a breath in utter shock.

"Elder Marshal," I breathe. He looks younger in this light, in the dwelling of the cave. Olivera grabs the beck of my neck and forces me to sit upright on my knees like an offering or a taunt to the elder I know all too well. "Please, help me," I plead.

"I'm trying to, Luna Alyson," Marshal hums, calm as could be. He glares at Olivera who keeps his steady hold on me like bait to the elder. "This is hardly necessary. I came alone, unfollowed, as requested. Let the poor girl go, rogue. She is frightened enough."

"I think when she learns the truth, it will be you she is frightened of, elder."

I swallow hard, shifting slightly on my knees, the stench of the blood on my palms making the stench turn sour in this confined cave. Even then, I can't help but notice the standoff between elder and rogue, the two of them powerful in their own right.

"I was made aware of a mass break-in to our Wilshire mountains faciality, Olivera. I asked you to not incite hostile takeover until I could speak with my other advisors," Marshal hums. I look to the rogue Alpha, both of us puzzled.

"I never sent a team to attack any facility," Alpha Olivera hums. "I hadn't even known that's where it was, Marshal. I actually sent warriors to the North Edge colonies to look in the woods out there, trying to find your headquarters."

Marshal appears weak in this moment, along with seeming rather perplexed. "If you didn't free them, who did?"

"Free whom?"

Marshal glances sideways. "There were a few rogues there from an old trial. They were just being studied long term, nothing too serious, but they were all broken free three days ago."

My heart goes cold in my chest. "Studied for what, Marshal?"

The wise elder shakes his head, proving my worst nightmare may be true. The people I've trusted the most have betrayed wolf-kind. Rogue or not, they don't deserve to be used and tested on. I was used and harmed because of my status as a Clark clan girl; I refused to ever look aside if it were to happen to another wolf, even a rogue.

"Marshal, please tell me it isn't true."

"I'm afraid it is, Luna. All too true."