Chapter 2: “The Rogue Who Saved Me”
1114 Words
I didn’t run far.
My legs gave out ten minutes into the forest. The mark on my neck was still burning, but quieter now. Like embers instead of fire. I pressed my back against a cold tree and tried to breathe.
“Luna,” I whispered. The word felt wrong in my mouth. Ridiculous.
Lunas were legend. The fated mates of future Alphas. They were born with power, with wolves stronger than any Beta. They were never… wolfless.
Yet the mark on my skin was glowing. Faint silver light that pulsed with my heartbeat.
I needed to cover it. If anyone from Blackstone Pack saw this, they’d think I was cursed. Or worse, lying.
I tore a strip from the hem of my ruined dress and tied it around my neck like a choker. The fabric hid the mark, but not the heat.
The forest was silent. Too silent. No crickets. No night birds.
That’s when I remembered what the black wolf said.
_“Run, Ella Moore. Because when they find out what you are, they will come for you.”_
A twig snapped behind me.
I shot to my feet, heart pounding. “Who’s there?”
The trees parted.
He was tall. Taller than Marcus. Broad shoulders filled out a black shirt that looked worn and out of place in the Pack lands. His hair was dark, messy, like he hadn’t cut it in months. And his eyes… silver. The same silver as the wolf.
The rogue.
He stopped three meters away, like he was giving me space. Smart. Most wolves would have closed in.
“You’re hurt,” he said. His voice was rough. Deep. It matched the voice in my head from before.
I looked down. My feet were bleeding from the stones. I hadn’t even felt it until now.
“I’m fine,” I lied.
His gaze dropped to my neck. To the cloth. His jaw tightened. “They saw the mark?”
I shook my head. “No. I hid it.”
“Good.” He took a step closer. “Because if Blackstone sees a Luna mark on a rejected omega, they won’t ask questions. They’ll kill you.”
My blood ran cold. “I’m not a Luna. I don’t even have a wolf.”
“You do now.” He gestured to my neck. “That mark only appears when the Moon Goddess wakes a dormant bloodline. Luna Bloodline. Rare. Ancient. Thought to be extinct.”
I stumbled back a step. “You’re lying.”
“I wish I was.” He sighed, and for a second he didn’t look dangerous. He looked tired. “My name is Kael Ashford.”
Ashford.
My mind raced. The Ashford Pack was destroyed five years ago. Rogue attack, they said. No survivors. The Blackstone Pack took over their territory.
“You’re…” I couldn’t finish.
“An Ashford,” he finished for me. “Yes. The last one. And technically, a rogue. Because I don’t answer to Darius.”
Darius. Marcus’s father. The Alpha who let my father disown me without a word.
Kael’s silver eyes studied me. “You shouldn’t be here alone, Ella. Rejected omegas don’t last a night in these woods. And you…” He paused. “You smell different now. The mark is calling things.”
“Calling what?”
“Other wolves.” He turned his head sharply, like he heard something. “We need to move. Now.”
Before I could answer, he was in front of me. He didn’t touch me, but he crouched so I could see his face. Up close, there was a scar across his left brow. Old. Faded.
“You can’t go back to Blackstone,” he said quietly. “Not with that mark. Not after what Marcus did. They’ll either lock you up or erase you.”
Tears stung my eyes again. “Where am I supposed to go? I have no Pack. No family. No wolf.”
“You have me,” he said. Simple. Certain.
I blinked. “You don’t even know me.”
“I know enough.” His gaze dropped to my bleeding feet, then back to my eyes. “I know what it feels like to be called worthless by the people who should protect you. I know what it’s like to be hunted for what you are.”
He held out his hand. Not to grab. Just to offer.
“I have a cabin. Two hours from here. Off Pack territory. You’ll be safe there. I’ll teach you what the mark means. How to control it. How to find your wolf.”
Find my wolf.
The words hit harder than the rejection did.
“Why would you help me?” I whispered. “You’re a rogue. I’m a nobody.”
Kael’s expression didn’t change. “Because five years ago, the Blackstone Pack called my sister worthless too. They called her weak. They left her to die.”
His voice went flat. Cold.
“I couldn’t save her. But I can save you.”
The forest shifted. Branches moved without wind.
Kael’s head snapped up. “They’re here.”
“Who?”
“Scouts. Darius sent them to find you.” His hand finally closed around mine. His skin was warm. Calloused. “Decision time, Ella Moore. Come with me, or stay and face them alone.”
I looked back toward the Pack house. Toward my mother, who didn’t defend me. Toward Marcus, who called me wolfless in front of everyone.
Then I looked at Kael. A rogue. A stranger. The only person who didn’t look at me like I was trash.
I took his hand.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m coming with you.”
Kael nodded once, like he’d expected it. He pulled me to my feet like I weighed nothing. “Hold on,” he muttered.
Then he shifted.
Black fur. Silver eyes. The massive wolf from before. He lowered his head so I could climb onto his back.
I hesitated for one second. Then I wrapped my arms around his neck.
He took off through the trees, fast and silent. Behind us, I heard voices. Shouts.
“Search the east side!”
“She can’t have gone far!”
Kael ran faster. The wind tore at my hair. The cloth around my neck slipped, and the mark on my skin flared bright silver for one heartbeat.
In the distance, a wolf howled.
Kael’s ears pinned back. But he didn’t slow down.
We disappeared into the dark forest, leaving Blackstone Pack behind.
I didn’t know if I was running toward safety…
Or into something far more dangerous.
- Writer
