chapter 5
1981 Words
Chapter 5 – The Rogue King’s Claim
Serena’s POV
The rogues’ laughter slithered around me like snakes, curling through the night air. Their eyes glowed crimson in the shadows, teeth flashing in wicked grins. My pulse thundered, but I forced myself not to stumble back. Showing fear only fed them.
“Look at her shaking,” one sneered, circling me. “Little Alpha’s reject, all alone.”
Heat burned my cheeks. Rage twisted with terror. “Stay back,” I snapped, my voice trembling despite my effort to sound strong. My wolf whimpered inside me, too weak against this many.
The leader lunged.
I swung my bag at him desperately, catching him across the jaw. He snarled, stumbling, but it wasn’t enough. The others cackled, tightening their circle.
Claws raked my arm as another slashed forward. I cried out, stumbling. My blood shimmered in the moonlight.
“Pathetic,” the leader spat, baring his teeth. “No Alpha will claim you. But don’t worry… we will.”
His hand shot toward me—
And then he was gone.
A blur of movement ripped through the clearing, faster than I could track. A body slammed into the dirt with a sickening crack. Another rogue screamed, his head twisted at an unnatural angle.
The laughter died. Growls filled the silence.
He stepped into the moonlight.
Tall. Broad shoulders. Black hair falling across his brow, eyes like molten silver burning in the dark. Power radiated off him in waves, thick and suffocating. His presence made the rogues flinch, even as they snarled.
The forest itself seemed to bow.
“Asher,” one of them hissed, fear lacing his tone.
The Rogue King.
Every whispered nightmare I’d heard in hushed voices back at the pack—this was him. Lethal. Untouchable. The king of outcasts.
And gods help me… he was beautiful.
His gaze slid to me. Sharp. Piercing. Like he could strip me bare with a look.
“Leave,” he said, his voice low, cold. A command.
The rogues shifted uneasily.
“She’s ours,” the leader spat, trying to puff his chest. “An Alpha’s reject doesn’t get—”
His words cut off in a gurgle as Asher’s hand wrapped around his throat. In one brutal motion, he slammed him into the tree. Bones cracked. Blood sprayed.
The others bolted. Scattering like shadows.
But Asher didn’t chase. He didn’t even glance at them. His eyes stayed locked on me, as though I was the only reason he was here.
I pressed back against the tree, heart hammering. My chest rose and fell too fast. Fear warred with… something else. Something I didn’t want to name.
He released the rogue’s corpse, letting it crumple to the dirt. Slowly, he turned, his gaze raking over me.
“Well,” he murmured, tilting his head. “What have we here?”
---
Asher’s POV
The moment I scented her, I knew she wasn’t ordinary.
Not just wolf. Not just pack. She carried something else—an edge, a sweetness tangled with pain. And beneath it, the faint mark of a rejected bond. Rare. Dangerous.
Intriguing.
I’d only intended to pass through these woods tonight. Check my borders. Remind the scavengers who ruled here.
But then I saw her.
A little wolf standing defiant in the face of death. Bloodied, shaking… but refusing to bow.
And my wolf stirred.
Mine, he growled.
Not yet, I warned him. But my eyes lingered.
The way she trembled, yet didn’t break. The fire in her voice even when she was cornered. Fragile and fierce all at once.
She looked at me now like I was her savior and her executioner, fear widening those eyes.
Beautiful.
I stepped closer. She stiffened, back hitting the tree. Her lips parted, breath coming fast. Sparks leapt in the air between us, faint but undeniable.
“Little wolf,” I drawled, letting the title curl from my tongue. “You reek of heartbreak. Tell me—whose Alpha was stupid enough to throw you away?”
Her eyes flashed, anger sparking despite her fear. “That’s none of your business.”
I smirked. Fiery. I liked that.
“Everything about you,” I murmured, leaning in, my hand braced against the tree beside her head, “is my business now.”
---
Serena’s POV
His presence pressed against me, heavy, suffocating. My chest heaved. My skin burned where his nearness brushed mine.
“I don’t belong to you,” I snapped, trying to sound brave. My voice cracked on the last word.
His silver eyes gleamed. “Not yet.”
Heat shot down my spine. My traitorous wolf stirred, caught between terror and something darker.
His fingers brushed my chin, tilting it up. Sparks erupted at the contact, sharp and hot, different from Christopher’s steady burn. This was wildfire.
“Such spirit,” Asher murmured. “It’ll be fun breaking it.”
I slapped his hand away, fury surging. “I won’t be your toy.”
He chuckled low, dangerous, like the sound of a storm rolling in. “Toy? No, little wolf. Something far more interesting.”
His body leaned closer, caging me in. My pulse skittered. My lips parted against my will. The world narrowed to him—his heat, his scent, his eyes locked on mine.
“You should run,” he whispered, his breath ghosting my ear. “Run far, run fast. Because if I decide to chase…”
His lips brushed my jaw—not a kiss, but close enough to make my knees weaken. “…I always catch what’s mine.”
I shoved him back with all my strength, chest heaving. “I’m not yours!”
He let me push him, though his smirk told me he allowed it. His eyes gleamed, silver fire.
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“I’m not yours!” I repeated, firmer this time, though my voice trembled with betrayal of my racing heart.
Asher only tilted his head, studying me with unnerving calm, as though I’d just said something amusing. “You think shouting makes it true?”
I clenched my fists. “Stay away from me.”
His lips curved into a half-smile, predatory and knowing. “I saved you tonight. Do you even understand what those rogues would’ve done? You’d already be dead… or worse. And yet, instead of gratitude, you bite at me?”
My throat tightened. He was right—I would’ve been torn apart if he hadn’t come. But admitting it felt like surrender.
“You’re no savior,” I whispered, forcing the words past my lips. “You’re worse than them.”
That made his smile widen, slow and dangerous. He leaned closer, his hand flattening against the bark just beside my head, trapping me again.
“Perhaps,” he murmured, silver eyes gleaming like knives. “But at least I’m honest about it. Unlike your precious pack.”
My chest stung at the reminder. My rejection. My humiliation. His words dug deep where the wound still bled.
“Stop,” I hissed, shoving at his chest. He didn’t budge. He didn’t even flinch.
Instead, his free hand caught my wrist mid-strike, twisting gently but firmly until I gasped. Not pain—just power. An unshakable reminder that I couldn’t match him.
He brought my palm to his chest, pressing it against the hard muscle beneath his shirt. His heartbeat thudded, steady, strong.
“Do you feel that?” he asked softly, his voice dropping low, rough. “That’s strength. Real strength. Not the cowardice of an Alpha who tosses away his mate because she isn’t shiny enough for him. I don’t reject what’s mine.”
The words pierced straight through me, raw and brutal.
My wolf whimpered, torn. Confusion buzzed through me like electricity.
“You don’t even know me,” I managed, breathless.
“Oh, I know enough,” he said, eyes burning into me. “Enough to want more.”
Before I could answer, his head dipped lower, closer, until his lips hovered near mine—not touching, just tormenting. My breath caught, my heart pounding against my ribs like it wanted to escape.
“Don’t,” I whispered, though my voice was weak, trembling.
He smirked, his lips barely grazing mine as he murmured, “You say ‘don’t,’ but your body tells me another story.”
My face flamed with anger—and something else I refused to name. I yanked my hand free, shoving him harder this time. “I’ll never be yours.”
He stepped back at last, but the look in his eyes told me I hadn’t won. He let me go because he chose to, not because I’d escaped.
“Run back to your pack then,” he said, his voice calm again, infuriatingly confident. “Cling to the Alpha who discarded you like trash. Convince yourself he’ll protect you.”
He turned, his broad shoulders shifting as he started to walk away.
But halfway into the shadows, he paused. Without looking back, his voice slid through the night like smoke:
“When you realize you have no one left… when they fail you again… remember me, little wolf. Because I won’t.”
And then he was gone.
---
Christopher’s POV
Her pain hit me first.
Sharp. Raw. Like claws tearing into my chest. My wolf howled, thrashing inside me. She’s in danger!
I tore through the forest, trees blurring past, fury and panic driving me. My lungs burned, my muscles screamed, but I didn’t stop.
The bond pulled me, dragging me toward her.
And then—blood. The stench of death thick in the air.
I burst into the clearing, my chest heaving.
Bodies littered the ground. Rogues. Broken. Mangled.
But no Serena.
“Serena!” I roared, my voice shaking the trees. My wolf clawed at me, desperate, savage.
Silence.
Only the night stared back.
The bond screamed her name in my head, but the darkness answered me with nothing.
The forest howled with silence.
Her absence gnawed at me, sharp and merciless. My wolf clawed at the inside of my chest, desperate to break free, desperate to tear the world apart until we found her.
She’s ours. We let her go, and now she’s gone. Ours. Ours!
I stumbled forward into the clearing, breath ragged. The stench of blood clung thick to the air, and the broken bodies of rogues littered the ground. But not her.
“Serena!” My voice cracked as it ripped from my throat, echoing through the trees.
The bond tugged at me, faint but alive, whispering that she wasn’t dead. Not yet. Relief battled fury in my chest, a storm with no calm.
I slammed my fist into the trunk of a tree, splintering bark. My wolf snarled, pacing, demanding blood. Demanding her.
“She was here,” I growled to myself, to the night. “She was right here.”
Images tore through my mind—her standing alone, her scent laced with fear. Rogues circling her. And then… nothing.
No. Not nothing. Another scent. Strong. Cold. Metallic power that burned like iron through the air.
Recognition hit me like a blade to the gut.
“Asher,” I spat, my voice shaking with rage.
The Rogue King.
Of all the monsters to find her, why him?
My wolf roared, savage, tearing at the cage of my skin. He touched her. He marked her. He will not keep her.
I fell to my knees in the dirt, chest heaving, hands clawing the ground. My heart hammered so loud it drowned out the forest.
“Serena…” My voice broke, softer now. Not an Alpha’s command. Not a warrior’s threat. Just a man’s prayer.
“I’ll find you. I swear it.”
The night swallowed my vow, but the fire in my chest only burned hotter.
---
- Writer
