Lady and the Rogue

Masters of Deception

Jamila

When I reached the ground, I took off. I ran through the gardens, my wolf guiding me, her senses on high alert. I was careful not to make a sound, to avoid the security cameras, to dodge the guards that were patrolling the grounds. I knewthat one wrong move could land me in a world of trouble. I ran until I reached the edge of the property, where a large wall separated our land from the forest. I scaled the wall with ease, my heart pounding in my chest with a mix of fear and exhilaration.

Once I was on the other side, I let my wolf take over. I’ve learned how to absorb my clothes into my fur so when I shift back, it’s intact. It took a while but when I mastered it, it was like second nature to me.

My wolf was beautiful. Her fur was the color of a winter night. It was lustrous, with subtle hints of silver shimmering through it like starlight. Her name was Imani.

“It’s about time,” she stretched before taking off. I laughed. “I’m sorry. I promise once we figure out everything then we’ll be free.”

I hated keeping her locked in for so long. In a way, it was exactly what my father was doing to me. She understood though. She knew how bad this could be for both of us and she agreed that pretending I didn’t have my wolf was the best option for now.

I ran deeper into the woods, the trees becoming a blur around me. The wind was whipping through my fur. For the first time in a long time, I felt truly alive. I ran for what felt like hours, a primal joy coursing through me. I didn't stop until I reached the old oak tree. My friends were already there, their faces filled with relief.

“Sorry, I’m late.” I shifted back.

"It fine. What's going on?" Bianca asked, her brown eyes wide. She was sitting against the oak we used to play around when we were kids.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. “My father wants me to marry one of Sarah’s sons.”

“What? Is he insane? Why?” Yara frowned.

“In order for me to have the title of an Alpha, I have to get married.”

I frowned looking for Makena. “Where’s Mak?”

“She could make it. Her mom needed her today. We can get her up to speed when her mom gets better.”

Makena was the designated caregiver for her mother who was fighting diabetes and blood clots in her lungs. It’s fatal in wolves but her mother, Tina was a fighter.

I nodded my head. “Okay. Um, I’m going to meet up with Silas tonight.”

I pulled out my phone and showed them the message with the location.

“Are sure this is from him?” Yara questioned.

“Yeah,” I answered without hesitation.

“Okay, please be careful. What do you need from us,” Bianca stood up.

“To keep my father from finding out that I’m meeting a rogue wolf.”

Yara crossed her arms, her expression still doubtful. “You’re asking us to lie to the Alpha!”

“I’m asking you to believe in me, because if I don’t take this risk, my future is no longer my own. Besides, Silas has information that could harm our pack. I need to know the truth so I can protect my father. By helping me, you're helping the whole pack.”

Silence fell heavy between us. The old oak tree blowing in the wind.

Despite her skepticism, Yara groaned, finally agreeing. “Okay.”

Bianca nodded. “Fine. We’ll be on the lookout. But be careful, I won’t forgive you if something happens to you.”

I hugged my friends, smiling faintly. “If something happens tonight, forgiveness won’t matter. Thank you both so much.”

We went shopping which I bought a dark jacket to wear for tonight and then we got some food and hung out until it was almost time for me to get ready to leave. We went back to the oak tree and just talked and waited. By eleven thirty, Yara took off going back to the pack house. Bianca and I waved her goodbye bye and I turned towards my friend.

“Do you think she’s going to tell?”

Bianca looked at me with a question expression. “What made you think that?”

“She seemed off. Her responses weren’t her usual one. I don’t know, maybe I’m just reading too much into it.”

“Yara wouldn’t do that to you,” she reassured me.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

My gut told me to still tread lightly. I knew Omega wolves had a high respect for their alpha’s, so I also understood her conflict. Bianca and I started to walk together towards town and then we split up.

My father knew of my friends and I meeting spot so I turned off my phone and told Bianca that I would send a message when I’m safe. I took off going further into town without being detected. As I got closer to the Old Mill, the smell of the air changed into a metallic tang. Dusk draped the city in bruised purples and rot-black shadows, the abandoned husk of The Old Mill rising against the skyline like a ribcage torn from the earth. I moved low along the railway embankment, the gravel biting beneath my feet.

Yara mind-linked with me from the pack house. She was risking her respected position as an Omega to cover for me, creating a plausible lie about a scouting run along the northern border. The irony was a bitter pill: the most loyal wolf in the pack was helping the Alpha's daughter commit the ultimate act of deception. When I reached the the crumbling cement silo, . I pulled my dark jacket over my body. I became nervous and Imani began to purr inside of me, but I had to do this. I had to meet Silas and I needed to know if my father truly was the monster who destroyed the rogue's home.

I crept toward the wide, shattered loading dock bay facing the oily river. I checked my watch and it was about five minutes to midnight.

"Silas? I got your message. I’m here!” I whispered, my voice rough.

A shadow detached itself, not from the mill’s ruin as expected, but from the rusted, gaping hull of a dry-docked barge to my left. Relief sparked, then instantly died, replaced by a cold, stomach-dropping dread.

It wasn't Silas. Instead, it was Mark, accompanied by Leo. I froze, but my somehow managed to keep my expression neutral. Mark’s smile widened.

“Surprise, princess. Did you really think we wouldn’t notice the Alpha’s daughter slinking out? Hmmm what would your father think if he knew you were meeting..Silas, is it?”

I fought to steady my face, to don the mask of authority that had always been my only armor. “I don’t know what you’re implying. My father sent me to scout—”

He shook his head. “We’ve watched you, Jamila. You know the pack whispered about the Alpha’s weak-blooded daughter who never shifted. Yet tonight…” He inhaled, deeply as if he’s savoring my scent.

“There it is. The faint scent you tried so hard to bury. You’ve been hiding her all this time, haven’t you?”

It suddenly became cold. My lie was unraveling strand by strand. If they exposed me, it wouldn’t just be me condemned—it would be my father’s name, his reign, torn apart by the revelation that his heir was a liar. I shouldn’t care but I do considering there were so many unanswered questions regarding my father’s legacy and with Silas’ clan.

“You’re making a mistake,” I hissed, forcing steel into my voice.

Mark’s laugh was low, humorless. “No, princess. You made the mistake.”

He advanced another step and I stepped back about to take off, but Leo quickly shot something into my neck. My hand went to it and then dropped. Imani’s growl curled in my chest. My legs became weak suddenly and my vision began to blur before I collapsed and Mark caught me.

By the time I woke up, my head was hurting. I tried to adjust my eyes to the small light but it was difficult. My hands were bounded and as much as I tried to shift, I didn’t work. Imani was still unconscious.

“Sorry about that. I had no choice,”Leo spoke.

“Wh-where am I?”

The ceiling was inches above me, wood planks slick with damp. Somewhere above, a heavy latch slammed into place.

Mark’s voice seeped with satisfaction.

“Your new home for now.”

“What do you want?” I coughed almost choking on the dust. I knew they weren’t letting me go, at least without some type of benefit for them.

“Well it’s obvious that we know your secret now, but if your father found out...” Leo trialed.

Mark leaned in, his breath hot and foul against my ear, delivering the blackmail that was the twist of the knife. "If you don’t want him to know, then you will marry me. You will be my Luna and I’ll become the Alpha. We tell your father the lie: you finally shifted tonight, and I was there to claim you and secure your bloodline.” He squeezed my arm, the pain sharp.

My mind raced, spinning through the terrifying political implications. Marriage to him, a wolf I despised, or the total, brutal destruction of my father's rule.

"Or, we walk straight to the Alpha, expose your years of deception, and watch your father's reign crumble. The entire pack will see him as the father of a deceitful pup. They will turn on him and you.” Mark continued, his voice dropping to a low threat.

My rage was simmering but I needed to keep my cool. Fighting with my wolf unconscious against two wolves wouldn’t be smart. I instantly understood that either Silas never intended to show up or something happened to him. I couldn’t feel his presence which scared me. For Mark and Leo, it was a calculated ambush designed to ensnare me.

Where was Silas? Had they seized him, or had this entire derelict mill been compromised, turning my desperate search for truth into a political disaster?

God what did I get myself into?

I barely registered the thought. Mark’s words were poison, searing their way into my mind. My father’s rank dangled by a thread, and I, his trusted daughter, was the hidden knife that could cut it loose. Mark was offering me no choice, ruin myself, or ruin us all. I knew I wasn’t marrying Mark, but the thought of being mates to him sent a primal rage that was hotter than my fear of losing everything. My wolf, Imani, remained silent, but my defiance roared in her absence.

“I’d rather rot in this piece of s**t than be eternally mated to you,” I panted, the effect of whatever Leo shot me with still heavily affecting me.

Mark’s gaze hardened to an obsidian color, and for a heart-stopping second, I thought he might strike me. Then, just as quickly, his lips twisted into a smug smile.

“Fine,” Mark stood, idly brushing the grit from his trousers as if I were clinging filth. “Sit here. Think about it. We’ll return in three days. Hopefully, your answer will be more agreeable then.”

I forced a bitter, ragged sound past my clenched teeth. “And what if the Alpha inquires about his missing daughter, dumbass?”

Leo scoffed, stepping forward with the casual cruelty of a wolf who believed he had already won.

“It’s already handled and your little Omega friend, Yara. She knows her place.” I tried to mind link with her but I couldn’t connect.

Did she betray me?

Mark’s expression sobered completely, the smirk dissolving into something far colder, more calculating. “My mother arranged your departure. You’re supposedly on a week-long humanitarian project, helping build homes for the less fortunate. It’s a perfectly noble distraction and your contribution of giving back to the community. You’ll be gone for that duration—longer, if necessary.”

He leaned down again, his eyes gleaming with predatory certainty. “And that part, princess, depends entirely on you.”

My father’s trust, the pack’s fragile loyalty, my own hidden strength were all hopelessly tangled in Mark’s expertly spun web. They turned on their heels and walked away. As they ascended the rotting wooden steps, the light above narrowed to a thin, brilliant blade, then vanished altogether with the violent slam of the heavy latch. Darkness swallowed me and it was suffocating. There was no point of screaming or yelling for help. I knew I was alone and I needed to reserve my energy. I tugged against my bounded wrist again, the rope digging deeper into my skin, but the raw pain only sharpened my fury.

Three days, he told me.

He actually thought he could corner me, chain me, and break my spirit into passive obedience. Well, he thought wrong because if Imani could claw her way back to me in this desolate hole, Mark would learn that an Alpha’s daughter might bend, but she will never, ever bow.