Chapter 4:The Rogues Rules
1446 Words
I didn’t expect to wake up tangled in silk sheets that weren’t mine, or to feel a warm arm draped possessively across my waist.
Riy.
His scent was everywhere—earthy, dangerous, and maddeningly addictive. My body ached in places I wasn’t ready to admit, and yet a part of me craved more.
He stirred, his breath brushing against my ear. “You’re not going anywhere.”
I stiffened. “You can’t keep me here.”
“I already am.” His voice was a low growl. “And if you keep testing me, little Luna, I’ll show you exactly what it means to be marked by a rogue king.”
I turned to face him, glaring. “You talk like I’m yours.”
“You are. You just don’t know it yet.”
His eyes gleamed with something primal. He leaned in, lips grazing my collarbone, and I shivered despite myself. “This bond between us… You feel it too.”
I hated that he was right.
“I won’t submit to you,” I said sharply.
He grinned wickedly. “Oh, sweetheart, I don’t want you to submit. I want you to fight me. It’ll make claiming you that much sweeter.”
“I want to leave,” I said, my voice firm despite the storm of confusion inside me.
Riy leaned back on one elbow, watching me with that annoyingly smug expression. “Leave? You think I’d let you walk out after last night?”
“It was a mistake,” I hissed, dragging the sheets with me as I slid to the edge of the bed.
His smirk dropped. He moved faster than I could blink, grabbing my wrist and pulling me back to him, the heat of his bare chest crashing into mine. “Don’t call it that.”
“Then what should I call it?” I snapped. “You kidnapped me, manipulated me—”
“I saved you,” he growled. “From a mate who didn’t deserve you. From a life of being quiet and submissive. You want to act like you’re mad about it? Fine. But don’t lie to yourself.”
His words cut deeper than I expected.
Because part of me knew he was right.
I’d been suffocating in my old pack. Silent. Controlled. Powerless.
And yet Riy saw me—really saw me.
“I’m not yours,” I whispered, unsure if I was trying to convince him or myself.
“You will be.” He traced a single finger down my cheek. “And when you finally surrender, it won’t be because I forced you. It’ll be because you want to.”
I hated the way Riy's voice lingered in my head long after he left the room.
"You will be mine."
As if he’d already claimed me, as if fate had made that decision without asking me. I sat in the massive bedroom, cloaked in silence, wrapped in a stranger’s shirt—his scent clinging to my skin like a memory I couldn’t shake.
The door creaked open, and a tray of food was pushed in by a girl no older than me. She didn’t meet my eyes, didn’t say a word. Just bowed her head and retreated.
Was she a prisoner too?
I got up and padded to the tray. Steaming eggs. Toast. Fruit. Even coffee.
He wanted me fed. Comfortable. Softened.
“Too bad, Rogue King,” I muttered. “I don’t break that easily.”
I took the coffee anyway.
Because a queen needs her strength before war.
I was halfway through the coffee when the door slammed open.
Riy stood there, jaw tight, eyes storming. “You met her, didn’t you?”
I blinked. “Who?”
“My spy,” he snarled. “The girl who brought your food. What did she say?”
“She didn’t even look at me,” I snapped back, standing. “Not everyone here worships you, Riy.”
He crossed the room in seconds. “Careful.”
“Or what?” I stepped closer, forcing myself not to flinch. “You’ll mark me again? Lock me up? Try to own me?”
His hand gripped my jaw—not to hurt, but to make me look at him.
“You think I want ownership?” His voice was low, dangerous. “No, Elara. I want chaos. Fire. Power. And you… you were born for all three.”
My breath hitched.
“Let the others beg and follow,” he said, brushing his lips just barely across mine. “But not you. You? You’re meant to rule beside me. But only if you’re brave enough to choose it.”
He let go and turned his back.
“For now, though…” He looked over his shoulder, a wicked smirk curling. “Try not to run. I like the chase.”
He left me alone again—but this time, not with silence.
His words echoed through my veins like wildfire.
“You were born for chaos. Fire. Power.”
I wanted to scoff. To laugh in his face. But a dangerous part of me—the one I buried long ago—agreed.
Was I really so different from him?
I padded over to the window. Beyond the tall iron bars, the rogue camp pulsed with life. Wolves trained in the clearing. Fires crackled from open pits. Laughter drifted up through the trees like a taunt.
They weren’t like my old pack.
They were wild. Free.
Untamed.
And for the first time in years… I didn’t feel like I was suffocating.
I didn’t want to admit it—but a part of me wanted to know what it would feel like to let go. To not always follow the rules.
To burn a few.
Night fell fast in rogue territory.
By the time the moon rose, I was pacing like a caged wolf, restless and irritable. The food tray was gone, the room cleaned, and yet I still felt his presence—like he’d branded the space with his scent, his will.
A knock.
Not a servant. Too sharp.
Then the door creaked open.
Riy leaned casually against the frame, shirt undone, tattoos curling down his chest like shadowed runes.
“You’re still here,” he said, voice husky. “Didn’t expect that.”
“Maybe I wanted dessert,” I replied coolly.
He arched a brow, stepping in. “Careful, Luna. I might just feed you something you’re not ready to swallow.”
I swallowed hard—damn him—and crossed my arms. “What do you want?”
He stalked closer, slow and sure, like a predator that already knew its prey wouldn’t run.
“You. But not just your body.” His hand brushed my waist. “I want your loyalty. Your fire. Your bite.”
I met his gaze, refusing to be the one who looked away. “Then you better earn it.”
Riy smiled. “Challenge accepted.”
The tension between us simmered, thick as honey and twice as dangerous.
Riy stepped even closer, so close I could feel the heat of his breath on my lips. “You’re not like the others, Elara. You don’t flinch. You don’t beg.”
“Neither do you,” I whispered.
That made him smile—slow, dark, and sinful. “That’s why we’ll either destroy each other... or rule this world together.”
The words lodged deep inside me.
He wasn’t offering safety or softness.
He was offering war. Fire. A kingdom built in shadows.
And a throne with two wolves on it.
I didn’t answer him. Not with words.
I rose onto my toes, pulled him by the collar, and kissed him like I was ready to burn.His mouth crashed into mine, hungry and demanding.
This wasn’t tenderness—it was war.
And I kissed him back like I wanted to win.
Riy gripped my waist, pulling me flush against him as we stumbled backward, lips locked, hearts racing. My fingers tangled in his hair, tugging harder when his teeth grazed my bottom lip.
He groaned, deep and primal. “You keep kissing me like that, Luna, and I’ll forget every damn promise I made to go slow.”
“Then don’t,” I breathed. “I’m not fragile.”
His hands slid lower, gripping, claiming. “No, you’re feral.”
And when he lifted me onto the dresser, knocking over a glass, I knew one thing for certain—
This wasn’t about love.
It was about power.
And I was going to take mine back, one kiss, one bruise, one broken rule at a time.
- Writer
