MARKED BY THE ROGUE MOON

CHAPTER ONE

The arrow missed my throat by inches but I didn't stop running.Branches clawed at my face as I tore through the forest,my lungs burning and all, boots slipping on wet leaves. Behind me, the hunters were closing in, I could hear their wolves snarling, could smell the bloodlust rolling off them in waves.They'd been tracking me for three days.I vaulted over a fallen log, ignoring the sharp pain in my side where the wound from yesterday's ambush still bled. No time to shift. No time to think. I just needed to run."She's heading for the border!" one of them shouted.Good. Let them think I was stupid enough to cross into neutral territory.I wasn't.I was heading somewhere far worse.The trees began to thin ahead, and my stomach dropped. The scent hit me first. It was the smell of pine and steel, territorial marks so thick in the air they made my wolf whimper. I skidded to a halt at the edge of a ravine, chest heaving, and stared at the carved stone marker half-buried in moss.*Crescent Moon Pack. Trespassers will be executed.*Of course. Because my life wasn't complicated enough already.I glanced back. Shadows moved between the trees, they were four, maybe five wolves. My old pack wouldn't stop until I was dead. They'd made that clear the night they dragged me before the council and called me a traitor, a thief, a threat to every wolf alive.All because of something I didn't even know I had.My hand moved instinctively to the scar on my ribs, the one that had been there since I was six. It burned sometimes, like it was burning now—a deep, uncomfortable heat that pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat.I shook my head. *Focus.*The hunters were thirty seconds away. Maybe less.I looked at the marker again, then at the dark woods beyond it. Crescent Moon territory. Ruled by Alpha Zane, the wolf every rogue feared. They said he was ruthless. That he'd killed more trespassers than any Alpha in history. That he didn't ask questions, he just tore out throats.That's perfect.I jumped.The ravine wasn't deep, but the landing rattled my bones. I rolled, came up running, and didn't look back as I crossed the border.The change in the air was immediate. It was heavier and wilder. The kind of power that made your instincts scream *submit or die.*I pushed harder.The forest here was older, the trees massive and twisted, their roots like the bones of giants. Moonlight barely touched the ground. Somewhere in the distance, a howl rose, low and commanding.My wolf stirred, became restless.I'd gone maybe half a mile when I felt it. The pull.It slammed into me so suddenly I stumbled, catching myself against a tree. My vision blurred. My chest tightened. For a second, I couldn't breathe, couldn't think because every nerve in my body was screaming that something was *wrong*.Or..No. Not wrong but *Right.*I pressed a hand to my sternum, gasping. What the hell was that?The scar on my ribs flared hot, and I hissed through my teeth. It had never done that before. Never felt like it was *alive.*A branch snapped behind me.I spun, claws out, just as a figure stepped from the shadows.He was tall. Broad-shouldered. Eyes like molten silver that cut through the dark and pinned me in place.Alpha Zane.I knew it before he even moved. The power radiating off him was suffocating."You're bleeding," he said. His voice was deep, flat with no emotion. Just fact.I bared my teeth. "And you're in my way."His gaze flicked to the wound on my side, then back to my face. He didn't move. Didn't blink."You crossed into my territory," he continued, as if I hadn't spoken. "That's a death sentence.""Then get it over with." I was too tired to run and honestly too angry to beg.He tilted his head, studying me like I was a puzzle he didn't care to solve. Then his nostrils flared.His entire body went rigid.The air between us shifted and thickened. I felt it again; that pull, stronger now, like a chain wrapping around my ribs and *yanking.*Wait!No– *No.*His eyes widened, just slightly. The first crack in that unreadable mask."You..." He took a step forward.I took a step back."Don't," I warned.But he wasn't listening. His gaze had locked onto me with an intensity that made my skin prickle. His wolf was rising, I could see it in the way his pupils dilated, the way his hands curled into fists.And then he said the one word that made my entire world collapse."Mate."I ran.I didn't think. Didn't plan. Just turned and bolted deeper into the forest, even though every instinct I had was screaming at me to go *back.*Behind me, I heard him move.Fast. Way too fast."Stop running," he growled, and the command in his voice nearly brought me to my knees but I stillI didn't stop.The scar burned hotter. My wolf clawed at my mind, desperate and confused.I could hear him behind me, close, too close and I knew with absolute certainty that I wouldn't make it.A hand caught my wrist and spun me around.I swung.He caught my fist mid-air, yanked me forward, and suddenly we were inches apart. His other hand gripped my waist, holding me in place, and the world went silent except for the sound of our breathing.His eyes burned into mine."You're my mate," he said again, quieter this time. Almost... shaken like he's unable to believe it.I wrenched free, stumbling back. "I'm a rogue. You kill rogues.""I know.""Then do it."