Blood Moon

Chapter [2] - The Realisation

There were two more pledges but none of them lived. I could hear the screams fade in their throat as they died, the potent smell of blood making me feel violently sick.

I prayed for their souls to find peace, they had come here to survive. They were promised a life if they pledged but instead they had died a death they didn't deserve.

It was a mistake coming here.

"Ready the pack, it's almost midnight." I heard the Alpha boom.

I could hear the pack outside and as I looked out the window the Wolves were all lined up along the border in the distance. Only a few remained close to the house, I guess it would be unwise to leave the grounds unprotected. As midnight came, they were off to hunt down the rogues who hadn't pledged.

"What have I done?" I whispered.

I couldn't look out the window any longer. Jess was pacing inside me with my anxiety.

'He is only protecting his pack?' Jess stated.

'No,' I linked back. 'Those people who came to pledge weren't a threat. Their deaths were an assassination.' I shut her out wiping the tears that had fallen.

The room was bare, only a bed and dresser in sight. Even although it was cold and empty, in seconds it had become my sanctuary because this room was a barrier from everything outside it.

I could hear the pack members who were left whispering about me, about the rogue alphas mate but I blocked it out and curled into a ball. Clearly news travelled fast in a pack.

The irony was I had come here to survive yet somehow it didn't seem worth it anymore. Death seemed like a much better option. They said some people were just unlucky in life, that they were born into a life that would try to drag them down and I was clearly one of those people but I had always had hope of a better future. Coming here, that future was gone.

I should have know better.

The roaring cheers of the pack as they returned in the early hours of the morning were deafening. I could practically feel the vibrations of happiness from them with the fact they had killed rogues.

As the cheers faded and the pack seemed to go to their homes, the Alpha entered the pack house. Jess was dancing inside my skin, my anxiety was making her uneasy and when that happened we ran but that wasn't an option just now.

He was outside my door.

My heart slammed against my ribcage as I waited. I could barely breathe. As the door opened I pulled my legs closer, my arms wrapped around them. He was wearing shorts and blood, a whole lot of dried blood. He smirked at my gasp.

"We wear the blood of the fallen with pride." He laughed as if it was nothing.

In that moment I knew I was fated to the devil, his heart was black and his soul corrupted. He was a monster.

"What do you want?" I spat hating him instantly.

He placed a pile of clothes on the bed. I watched every move he made with caution. Every action had purpose.

"Clothing and toiletries. That should do you just now."

"I'd rather have my own clothes."

"Well, since they aren't on this land and you are technically still a rogue you'd be killed the minute you left."

He walked towards me, towering above my curled up body as he peered out the window I was below. The darkness seemed to make him more terrifying, maybe it was the moonlight lighting the blood on his skin.

"Death doesn't scare me."

I stood so we were face to face. My legs were like jelly but I looked at him with a faked courage. He still towered over me.

"You would rather die than be here?" He chuckled.

"Yes."

"Then you are stupid rogue, I have given you a place to stay, a warm bed and allowed the blood to still run through your veins." His features were hard, those eyes penetrating mine so deeply I couldn't look away.

"You've done that for yourself, not me. Don't act like it's an act of kindness."

"You have school at 9, go to the main reception they will give you your timetable. Pack runs every morning at 8, tomorrow isn't included with our...activities tonight." He dismissed my comment completely.

"And if I don't want to do either of those things?" I couldn't think of anything worse.

"You don't have a choice." I didn't like the way he said it, so coldly, so calmly with so much promise of consequences if I didn't abide by his rules.

"I'm not part of the pack, pack runs shouldn't include outsiders."

"You think you can tell me how to run my pack rogue? I've killed people for less."

"That I know." I sneered at the blood on his chest.

"You will do well to keep on my good side." He stated.

"You say that like you have one."

His hand came around my neck, his grip tight yet not suffocating. My skin instantly pricked with goosebumps. I could feel his wolf, the raw power of it. Jess stirred in excitement, she knew he was her mate and she craved his animal.

'Let me out.' Jess begged.

"That's not happening."

He frowned with the realisation that I was talking to my animal. A smirk plastered itself on his arrogant face.

"Either kill me or let me go. It's been a long night, a lot has happened and I need to be at school by nine."

"Good little rogue." He goaded.

I didn't respond, I didn't even move as he left. Turning I looked out of the window onto the land that was now my home. A lot of thoughts went through my mind, a whole damn lot and none of them were good.

'When can we run?’ Jess linked, she was excited to learn the land.

'I don't know, we aren't exactly running on our own schedule just now.'

I let Jess take my skin, purely for protection. I had a strong feeling a lot of people weren't happy I was here, I could sense it. Curling into a ball on the floor I settled into a restless sleep. Every creak of the house had me on edge, each sound letting a small warning growl escape me.

In that moment I felt very much like a prisoner newly put in prison.

I could hear him pace in the room next door, my mate, my alpha, my enemy. He had been at it for hours. I didn't want to think of him yet those eyes seemed burned into my brain.

'No matter what we protect each other.' I linked to Jess.

'Always my human, always.'

That settled my soul. She was my everything and she had my back. With her I'd face whatever I had to.