Chapter 1 1: Back To Deadlands
“I, Alpha Ethel of the Skyfall Pack, reject Valoria Blue as my mate, my Luna... and as a member of this pack.”
“No, no, don’t do this to me, Ethel, I didn’t steal anything! I have nowhere to go! Please... Have mercy on me, Alpha..”
He narrowed his eyes, disgusted by my display of vulnerability.
“She is hereby exiled before dawn for attempting to steal the Elder Scrolls.”
“No, I didn’t…. Argh!”
Everyone listened but no one stepped up. That was when I realized– No one was mine in this pack.
Not the Alpha, nor the so-called friends.
To stay away from embarrassment and glares, I poured my remaining strength in my legs and forced myself to stand.
“...Curse you, this pack, and your fucking bond!”
Bursting into tears after the humiliation I had endured, I ran away.
With tears streaming down my cheeks, I sprinted through the gloomy forest to hide from the aching pain and shame.
“Make them pay, Moon Goddess!”
I screamed into the gloom, willing to do anything to make them pay for the degradation I just faced.
I ran.
And didn't stop until my lungs burned like hot coals and my vision blurred.
The rain began to fall, cold and needles-sharp, washing the scent of the pack off my skin. Mindlessly, I stumbled over the line, my strength failing.
“Welcome back.”
Before I knew it, I found myself in the place of death, misery and pain.
The Land of Rogues, Deadlands.
A rogue gripped my hair, forcing me to look at the desolate, bone-chilled wasteland ahead.
"Look ahead." He shoved me forward, erupting a cruel laughter in the whole ground.
"This is where discarded wolves belong."
My trembling hazel gaze swept across the wasteland, my ginger hair stuck to my wet cheeks.
I couldn't believe it. Days ago, I was Alpha Ethel's fated mate.
Today… I was nothing.
“Oh, look who is back.”
The worst one of them, Sila, came.
She was observing my whimpering form and the tears gleaming on my cheeks with joy.
“What happened, Valoria?” Sila smirked.
“Did Alpha Ethel finally realize a stray belongs in the gutter?"
A wave of cruel laughter erupted.
“I... I was his mate,” I whispered, daring to look at the scarred woman.
In a second, she had gripped my hair.
“There are no 'mates' in the Deadlands. Have you forgotten about that already?”
Another man, younger and broader, stepped forward.
He kicked the back of my knees, forcing me down into the mud.
A physical indication of where my life had thrown me- At rock-bottom.
“Look at her, she thought her savior came. That she will be a fucking Luna.”
They shoved my face down into a puddle of filthy water. I gasped, my lungs screaming, failing to breathe.
“Please…”
Curling into a ball to protect myself, tears streaming down my face.
Wishing I had died instead of returning to his hellhole.
“The Moon Goddess isn't listening, Valoria. She threw you away, just like Alpha Ethel did.”
On the ground, I lay humiliated and agonized, watching how they grew bored and retreated.
Leaving me shivering and bleeding in the dirt.
“This is what you get, Valoria.” An old voice I recognized as the leader came.
Vargas looked down at my whimpering form.
“For forgetting your limits and trying to become what you are not.”
“I…” My hands curled in a fist. “Was his mate.”
“Exactly. You were.”
Days in Deadlands were a nightmare.
“Ethel's Trash”
“Alpha's Whore”
“Useless Luna”
These were the names everyone called me.
There was only one method to survive in this hellhole: Keep my head down and become invisible.
Unless I wanted to invite beating or further humiliation.
One evening, I was returning from a fruitless search for food, my stomach growling due to starvation.
"Well, well, well,” I froze.
“Look what we have here. Ethel’s Trash, all alone."
Three rogues emerged, their silhouette menacing against the fading sunset.
Their grins were wide and dirty, revealing uneven teeth.
My body shivered from dread. Retreating my steps, hastily seeking an escape route from this predicament.
But, the moment I attempted to run, I was tackled by one of them.
"Where do you think you are going, little girl?"
I struggled to release myself, kicking under his heavy weight.
"Do you think He will come for you? He won’t. You left him, remember?" Another growled, circling me.
"You are just... ours."
I had seen this before.
The weak were mocked.
Broken. Used. Forgotten.
The strong ruled. Did whatever they pleased.
My wolf, still mournful from rejection and weak from starvation, merely whimpered.
“Don't worry,” the third rogue tore my shirt, dripping with false sweetness.
“We’ll be gentle.”
I screamed, pressing my head harder on the ground, struggling to free myself.
Only to receive a slap in return.
“Stay still, Bitch!”
Just as one of them kissed my neck, a shadow detached itself from the deeper darkness.
Moving with a thundering speed that went unnoticed by us all.
They were thrown backward, hitting the ruined wall with a sickening sound.
Sick grins vanished, replaced by wide-eyed terror.
“Who says I won’t come?”
No.
… not him.
Anyone but him.
I hate how my mind and soul immediately knew.
The man who had once ruined my world. The one who promised me love, only to betray me in the end.
The reason I ended up in Deadlands in the first place.
My ex-lover.
Cassian Nightshade.
He moved with the same dangerous grace I remembered.
His crimson eyes–the ones I could never forget, the ones I could recognize among millions–scanned my tears-stained and grimy face.
“Y-you...?”
“Fuck off.”
The rogues exchanged a terrified glance, without a word, sprinted into the darkness, running away.
“Well, well, Valoria Blue,”
A slow, chilling smirk spread across his lips.
“Look how far the mighty Luna has fallen. You truly are a pathetic sight.”
“Don't! Don’t come any closer!” I hissed, crawling away from him.
Unfortunately, behind me was nothing but a broken wall.
“I…I don't need your help, you monster.”
His presence overwhelmed me. Each step sent a shiver down my spine.
“No? It certainly looked like you did, my little lamb.”
“Go away!” I pleaded, tears of rage streaming down my face.
“You–”
His large hand covered my mouth, the other strong secured at the back of my neck.
“Don't worry, Darling,” he whispered seductively in my ears, tightening the grip.
“You will be home soon.”
Before I knew it, everything blackened, leaving me wondering… Home?
What home?
The only home Cassian had ever given me was hell.
