Chapter 11: Serena's POV

Ever since my brother told me last night about him and Claire, my need to buy back that badge had grown sharper than ever. I pulled the brim of my cap down low and threaded my way through the Silver Bazaar, the market that straddles the border between the Upper and Lower Districts, my mind racing through one scheme after another for how to lay hands on eight hundred gold coins fast. Less than thirty hours remained before my brother's badge was gone for good.

Then a smell cut clean through my thoughts, sudden and out of place. Morning white roses mixed with dew, sweet and soft. I had caught it on Ethan's cloak just last night, and there was no mistaking it. Claire Wren. But the pheromone that should have been gentle and clean was sour with fear, and wrapped tight around that fear was a stench so foul it stung.

I stopped walking, and the wolf inside me let out a low growl of disgust. Following the scent, I pushed through the crowded stalls and turned into a quieter lane of flagstones. Deep in the alley sat a carriage bearing the Garrett family crest. A hulking young Alpha in a dark red velvet coat had a small, cloaked girl pinned against the brick wall, one hand clamped brutally on her chin, forcing her head up.

"Mind your manners, young Master Garrett!" Tears streaked Claire's pale face, and she struggled with all her strength, but she was far too small to break free. "The engagement banquet hasn't even been held yet. You have no right to treat me this way!"

"No right?" Garrett let out a sneer. "Your father sold you to me for the Lower District's military command long ago. Do you still think you're the lofty second young lady of the Wren family? You're nothing but a breeding bitch for me to carry on my line."

With that, he lowered his head and leaned greedily toward the gland at the back of Claire's neck, trying to leave his scent on her.

"Let go of me!" Claire screamed.

Something in my head snapped with a sound like a thunderclap. That fat, damned pig. Not only had his men seized my brother's badge, but now he dared to molest my future sister-in-law in broad daylight?

I wasted no words. I drew the silver dagger from my boot and flicked my wrist hard. The blade sliced past Garrett's cheek, sheared off a small tuft of his hair, and buried itself deep in the brick wall less than half an inch from his ear, the hilt still quivering violently.

Garrett froze mid-motion and whipped his head around. "Which blind bastard wants to die?"

I strolled out of the shadows, hands in my pockets, a stalk of grass rolling lazily between my teeth. "Forcing yourself on an unwilling lady in broad daylight isn't exactly the conduct of a respectable nobleman, young Master Garrett," I said, my mouth twisting into a cold smile.

Garrett squinted at me, sizing me up, then laughed in furious disbelief. "A sewer rat from the Lower District dares to meddle in my affairs? Do you even know who I am?"

"Sure I do." I shrugged. "A rutting boar that reeks of dead fish and does nothing but bully the weak. Your stink has been turning my stomach from three streets away."

"You're asking for death!"

Garrett was enraged. With a howl of his wolf, his oppressive aura erupted, and the common folk passing by shrieked and scattered. His huge frame came at me like a runaway carriage, a clawed fist swinging straight for my face.

Claire clapped a hand over her mouth in horror. "Watch out!"

I stood my ground and didn't even dodge. Compared with Adrian and Lan, an Alpha like Garrett, propped up entirely by his family's resources, was laughably slow and weak. Just as his fist was about to shatter my nose, I dropped low and slid past his flank as though I had no bones at all. As his momentum carried him stumbling forward, I drove a hard kick into the back of his knee.

A dull crack.

"Ahhh!" Garrett shrieked and collapsed to his knees.

But I wasn't about to let him off that easily. I used the momentum to flip through the air and land squarely on his shoulders, my legs clamping around his neck like iron pincers. In the same motion I yanked the dagger out of the wall and pressed the edge against his carotid artery. The whole sequence flowed like water, taking less than three seconds. Garrett, still radiating his aura a moment before, went rigid, a terrified gurgle rising in his throat, not daring to move a muscle. The lethal threat of a silver blade to a werewolf snuffed out the arrogance inside him.

"Is this all you've got, and you want to rule the Lower District someday?" I murmured against his ear. "If I ever see your filthy hands touch her again, I swear the next time this blade cuts, it won't be your hair."

"You—just who the hell are you?" Garrett ground out through his teeth.

"Go ask the scar-faced manager at your gambling den." I patted his cheek with the flat of the blade. "Tell him Little Rogue sends his regards."

With that, I kicked him hard in the back of the head and drove his whole body face down into a puddle of mud. I landed lightly and turned to Claire, who stood frozen in shock. I didn't take off my cap; I only gave her a jaunty two-fingered street salute from the brim, keeping my distance.

"Go home, my lady. Some people are worth being brave for once." The words carried a pointed meaning.

Claire stared, something between shock and gratitude flickering in her eyes. From the far end of the street came the copper whistles of the city guard patrol.

"Little Rogue! I'll remember you! I swear I'll flay the skin off your bones! I'll send the whole wolf pack of the black market after you!" Garrett roared, struggling to lift his head from the mud.

"Come and get me, fat pig."

Without looking back, I raised a middle finger, leaped up onto the nearby rooftop, and vanished among the buildings in a few bounds. Only when I was well away did I let out a long breath. Well done, Serena. You've offended the most vicious local thug in the Lower District to the very bone. After tonight, the Garrett family would surely turn out in full force to hunt Little Rogue through every street.

I touched my wildly pounding heart, and the corners of my mouth wouldn't stop lifting. To hell with noble rules. As long as I could protect the people I cared about, I was going to poke this hornet's nest no matter what.