Rouge to Freedom

The Beginning: Part One

They found me when I was just a pup. Barely five years old. Wandering on their land, alone and with no explanation.

Without a scratch or mark.

Without any identification.

Thankfully I wasn’t killed.

The fact I was alone was probably what saved me. That and there hadn’t been an attack at that time in some months. There were no real enemies at that point.

And so, I was brought before the Alpha and Luna.

Dante and Cate Worthington.

In charge of the Acri Montibus Pack.

All packs names are translated to Latin. It’s just the done thing.

And all packs are named after something significant on the pack’s territory. This one was sharp mountains. For the jaggad and somewhat dangerous mountains that line part of the boarder. It’s a good defense, but in the past has unfortunately claimed the life of young pups who explore too far.

I’ve also had threats in the past to drag me up there, but that’s another story.

Dante, although not the tallest or broadest of people, had a presence about him that definitely told you he was Alpha. He also always dressed impeccably. Which was the same for Cate, she was a head smaller than her husband, but she often wore heels to decrease that height.

Dante was a fourth generation Alpha.

One of his cousins, was an Alpha in Europe. The family has a long history.

As I was a young child at the time, I knew very little and could answer very few questions. Even now, I know as a little as I did back then about where I came from or what pack I was born into. So I’m sure there was doubts about me, but in the time that followed, there was no attacks or appearance of enemies, so slowly I was somewhat integrated into the pack.

Somewhat being key word.

I was placed with the orphans. There were three other orphans, Tayla, Marko and Turner. All had lost their parents a various point and for various reasons. Tayla was definitely the nicest of the three, our rooms were beside each other and we shared a bathroom.

All four of us were cared for by the Omega’s until we were old enough to care for ourselves and start working, to earn our keep. And essentially, we were Omega’s ourselves.

Although, I was probably the lowest of them. I never really became one of the pack. There was never a pledge.

To the rest of the pack, I’m just Rogue.

Yes, they call me that.

The rogue that no one wanted.

But yet they were so ‘generous’ to take me in. Which I was reminded of. Constantly. However, in all fairness, I have no doubt it was the Luna that insisted on it. She has one of the kindest hearts in all the pack. I would say in all the world, but I had never been outside the pack’s boundary.

The Luna, had influenced her daughter, Thea, who I would not call a friend, but an ally. There was no time for friends. Not for me. Thea would always call me by my real name and brought me things when she could, additional food, clothes, little treats I would find tucked under my pillow. She also found me a locked box once, which remained hidden, filled with the things she or Tayla gave me. Little presents, at Christmas and my birthday.

One of my favourites was a bracelet, that had a single charm of a feather. Which to me, represented freedom. And so I hoped one day that I would be granted it.

I did have the basics, as did all the Orphans. A bedroom that was supposedly private, although I knew certain members of the packs did raid it every now and then. Thankfully due to the shared bathroom, that was left in peace. Hence why, my locked box was kept in there and stashed away. There were three meals a day, not as grand as the others and eaten on our own, not in the dining hall, but it was enough to ensure we didn’t starve. There were also basic products that allowed us to be hygienic.

The orphans did work hard, each and every day and, in all honesty, I worked harder than the other orphans. Because of my title. I didn’t need a reason to be further attacked.

But it didn’t stop them.

Them being pretty much any of the other younger wolves in the pack. The older ones ignored me, which in many ways was much better. Although I wouldn’t say they appreciated me, there was somewhat of an acceptance of the work I did.

At the head of the next generation was Asher Worthington. The future Alpha of the pack. And he was pretty much treated like a King.

A spoilt Prince in my opinion. One, who at seventeen very much still acted like a spoilt child.

Where came Asher, came Aurelia, Charlie and Xavier. At the very least.

Aurelia, vying for Asher’s constant attention in her hopes to be the next Luna.

Xavier, Asher’s best friend and future Beta. He was also one of the best fighters, it was somewhat terrifying. Thankfully, it wasn’t with me. He knew I wasn’t worth the fight and so did I.

Charlie was also from a high ranking family in the pack. He was quieter, but very wise. He never really said anything to me, but then on the other hand, he never stopped the others.

Then there was a few of the others, all of a similar age who hung out together, especially for the fact that Asher was the future Alpha.

And if that wasn’t enough, there was Marko and Turner, who found it rather entertaining to mock me. Usually at the end of the day, when I would finally finish. Quite often they would take pleasure in taking my food.

They were glad to torment me. Even if it was just words. I leaned from a young age not to cry in front of them. I didn’t spend much time at training, therefore my defense was pretty weak. I spent my time trying to ensure all the work was done. I would try and train in my room when I could, but so often I was so tired, that all I wanted to do was sleep.

So basically, all round, I was pretty much pushing water up stream. Constantly.

But I learned to keep quiet. To be silent. Work hard without question. Although there were many occasions I could have quite easily done otherwise.

And so things remained that way for nine years.

Then when I was fourteen, some visitors changed things. Well, more than that. They changed everything.