Chapter 1

After escaping the brutalities of her pack, the rogue she-wolf is only interested in protecting those she cares for. While protecting the innocents during a royal raid, she runs into a wolf claiming to be the Alpha King and worse yet, he claims she is his Mate. She barely escaped that life alive and has been living as a human since she was a teenager and no one was going to make her go back.

Little did she know how much both worlds need her to bring peace and true freedom.

Chapter 1

Heroine/Rogue POV

"Gunfire!"

I muttered under my breath as the distant shots echoed through the trees. Leaves rustled above me. I crouched on a branch, hidden in the canopy. I might have been forced to leave my pack years ago but they are still my family. They're still innocences. Well, most of them.

Escaping to the human world, I trained relentlessly. Not to attack. Not to defend. Just to survive. But hearing rumors of an Alpha King claiming the throne, first in 200 years made me come back to assess the situation myself.

I watch black-clad soldiers move like shadows toward the pack compound. “They’re here,” I whispered, gripping the handle of my blade. “About damn time.”

“They’re raiding the compound,” I heard one of the Blood Moon pack members say below. “Orders straight from the Alpha King.”

I smirked. “So, the King finally got tired of waiting for an invite.”

The soldiers spread out, eight remaining outside while one squad entered the packhouse. I dropped silently to the ground, crouching behind them with my blade at the ready.

Crack. One down. Thud. Two down.

“Enemy—!”

Too late.

I spun, kicked, dodged a wild punch, then slammed my knee into his groin. He dropped like a stone.

“Dumb wolves,” I muttered. “All muscle, no strategy.”

"Seize her!" one barked.

Three rushed me. I backflipped over the first, landed on my feet, swept the second, elbowed the third.

“Damn rogue’s fast!”

Another came at me.

"You boys don’t learn, do you?" I said, ducking his swing and landing a clean kick to his head.

Then a voice boomed across the compound.

“ALL SOLDIERS, STAND DOWN.”

They froze. Just like that. Obedience drilled into their bones.

I stood tall, eyes fixed on the figure stepping through the chaos.

He had presence. Command. Power that bent the air as his voice echoed like thunder.

“I am Alpha King Conrad. This pack is under investigation for mistreatment and violation of the Werewolf Rights Act. Alpha Blake and his family will be transported to the Royal Moon pack and tried for these crimes.”

Blake knelt in silver cuffs with his Luna and sons. His lip curled when he saw me.

The Alpha King face softened, and a small smile crossed his lips. “That was quite impressive. So, who might you be”.

“She’s just some rogue bitch,” Blake spat.

Crack. A soldier punched him so hard his head whipped to the side. He coward on the ground whimpering.

I chuckled. “He’s not wrong.”

Conrad’s eyes narrowed. “You fought like a trained warrior. What’s your name?”

“Didn’t you hear?” I shrugged. “Just some rogue bitch.”

His jaw tensed. “Rogues don’t defend packs. They destroy them to gain power and control.”

“Oh?” I arched a brow. “So, why are you here?”

“I came to protect,” he said firmly. “We’ve brought medical care, food. Your pack will be registered and cared for. If a suitable Alpha isn’t found—”

“You’ll handpick a new one who is obedient to you?” I cut in.

“I don't want obedience,” he said. “I want stability. Safety.”

“For wolves like us?” I laughed coldly. “We’ve never had rights. Don’t talk to me about your precious act.”

He took a slow step toward me. “What’s your name?”

I snarled back. “Not interested in bonding, Your Majesty.”

“I’m not here to dominate you.”

“No?” I challenged. “Then why call yourself King? Kings demand obedience, do they not.”

His voice dropped. “True Kings only want loyalty and respect.”

I stared him down. “Those are earned, not demanded.”

A gust of wind blew past me—carrying my scent straight to him.

His nostrils flared. His pupils dilated. His wolf surged to the surface, glowing with his golden gaze.

He staggered back half a step. “Mate.”

I froze.

No. Hell no.

He took a step forward. “You—you’re—”

“Not. A. Chance,” I growled, turning and sprinting for the trees.

“Wait!”

I didn’t.

I vaulted up a trunk and leapt from branch to branch, wild and fast.

“Track her!” he shouted. “Don’t lose her!”

I heard the panic in his voice, the Alpha command behind it.

But I wasn’t listening.

I wasn’t his.

I wasn’t anyone’s.

And I would never be a prisoner again.

Chapter 2

Rogue POV

It took me days to flee my old territory. The supposed Alpha King tracked me for 12 hours through the land before he called off the search. A few hunters tried to track me in the days after that, but I evaded them all.

Seeing my street come into view and the modest 4-bedroom house I called home come into view gave me hope that I had escaped that world again. I put my key in and turned it just glad to be back. “I’m Home”.

My room mate Kimberly is the first to great meet me. “Welcome back. How was the conference”.

“Uh, yeah it was good. Usual sort of Vet updates”. The humans I live with don’t even know werewolves exist, let alone that I’m a wolf. No way I can tell them where I was or what happened.

Michelle comes running up too me way to excited, “Well now that your back you need to get dressed up. We're going out to a wine bar tonight”.

I dramatically groaned. “No. Why”.

She just rolls her eyes, “Because I want to meet someone to have fun with and Kimberly is still looking for Mr husband material”.

I just laugh. “And what about Willow”.

“You know the only men she’s interested in are the ones in her books. Still more than you though”.

I’m the first ready and wait at the bottom of the stairs for my girls. Michelle comes down next in the shortest, tightest red dress she has ever made in matching 5-inch heels.

Michelle sees me and instantly rolls her eyes. “Why do you always dress like a bodyguard. Honestly how are you going to attract a man dressed like that”.

“A, who says I’m looking for one, and B, who is going to protect you from the ones who might actually try and eat you dressed like that”.

Her face lights up and she starts giggling. “I know, I look awesome right. Just need a man looking for a fun time tonight”. We look up the stairs as the other two girls make their grand entrance.

“Well hello commoners. Will you be escorting the ladies tonight on our outing’’, Willow calls out in a playful mocking tone.

Michelle just playfully snaps back. “You're just jealous I’m this hot and you’re not. Now hurry up we have a reserved booth”.

I wish I could be normal like them.

Walking into the dimly lit bar I check for exits and potential threats hiding in plain sight. I use my senses to check for other wolves. None. Since I know there is a threat, the coolness of my hidden blades against my skin always brings me reassurance as we walk towards our booth.

I’m stuck in my own thoughts, seeing those glowing golden eyes staring at me from the shadows and the word that makes by blood run cold replaying over and over in my head. “Mate”. Even now, I know he’s not here but it’s like I can sense eyes watching me.

“So, what about you girl. What’s new in your life”. I jolt out of my thoughts to see Michelle smiling at me.

“You know me, I never have anything interesting going on in my life. I treat people’s pets at the vet clinic. Make them better when I can and come home. I can tell you about a new surgery technique I’m researching as I want to improve my surgical capabilities. That and I’m planning my monthly camping trip for next week”.

“You really need to get a hobby or something”, Michelle groans why being dramatic.

I just laugh at her expression. “Hiking and camping is a hobby”.

“You do the same hike and go to the same place each time. How about just going somewhere new and exciting. Some were more beach-like with cocktails and cabana boys”.

I just shrug at her. “What can I say, I’m a creature of habit”.

Kimberly suddenly gets very excited and starts frantically tapping my arm. “There is a guy at the bar checking you out”.

I roll my eyes, “Please, I’m sitting next to Mish. His eyes are probably wonky from too much wine”.

A waitress brings over a very expensive bottle of wine to our table. In her best customer service voice, she tells us, “Ladies, this is from the gentleman at the bar”.

Michelle looks over and blows him a kiss. He slowly starts to walk over. In an expensive, fitted three-piece suit, muscle physique, and emerald green eyes solely fixed on me.

Shit. A hunter from the Alpha King’s pack has found me.

Chapter 3

Eve POV

“Hello Eve”, he smiles as he greets me.

I do everything I can to hold in my growl. Through gritted teeth and a low threatening tone, I demand, “What do you want”.

He’s trying to be gentle and reassuring but this does nothing to calm me down. “He wants to see you”.

“I don’t care what he wants”. I just glare at him while using my peripheral to decide on an escape plan.

I look across the table at my girls and get a mix of excited and angry faces. They had missed some huge gossip in my life after I just said I had nothing going on.

Michelle as usual is the first to pipe up. “I’m sorry, our friend here has clearly not filled us in on the details. Who wants to see her”.

“Billionaire Conrad Strongheart”.

Their eyes are so wide now that with the smiles on their faces, they look like Disney characters.

Kimberly instantly goes into her sickly sweet voice, “Why don’t you join us and tell us all about him and what he wants with our Eve”.

I protest as they don’t know the risk he poses or that they need protection right now. “What about girls only for the first two hours”. They quickly look around at each other and they give each other knowing looks.

“You’ve been outvoted. He’s joining us”, Michelle says proudly. “Firstly, what’s your name and what is your link to Mr. Strongheart”.

He pulls up to the seat next to me and starts addressing the group. “My name is Connor, and I work in his security team. My specialty is surveillance and intelligence, so I scope out and gather information to ensure the safety of the team”.

Kimberly and Michelle are currently swooning over his words and batting their eyelashes for attention. Willow seems to be deep in thought and analysing his words.

“Does he run the Strongheart foundation. There are several artifacts on display at work in the museum from his collection”.

“Yes, he does, among many other things”. He turns to me as he can now feel the blade I am holding against his femoral artery under the table. Let's him know I have control of the situation and that if he does anything to threaten us I will either kill him or cut off his manhood. He starts to squirm slightly in his seat to move away but I just apply slightly more pressure.

The girls don’t notice this interaction at all, while Michelle is furiously typing on her phone.

“OH. MY. GOD. Is this his picture? He’s Gorgeous. Is he really a billionaire? What does he want with Eve? How did he meet Eve? Why didn’t he come?”

Connor starts laughing. “That’s a lot of questions at once. Yes, he really is a billionaire. He met Eve a week ago during a mission and was very impressed. I think he has a bit of a crush on her as he has been moping around his house since then hoping she would come to him. He didn’t come as he tries to keep a low profile as he is very recognizable and that is why he sent me”.

With my anger growing, I ask him the only thing I needed to know. “How did you find me”.

“All soldiers wear cameras so we have footage from that day. We got a still of you and sent it to a hacker friend. He searched your picture and found your driver’s license. That gave us your license plate and your address, so I followed you here”. Connor starts to look at me very concerned as he can sense me getting angrier. He keeps trying to talk in a low calming tone which is difficult when I'm holding a blade to him. “We’re not your enemy Eve. He just wants to see you and make sure your OK”.

“I’ve been OK for years and don’t need him or any of you”. I stand up to leave hiding my blade from view under my jacket.

“You know he won’t do that”.

“Then I’ll just disappear again”.

He grabs my arm to try and stop me. I use the knife to slice his hand just enough for him to let go, get the message, and pull away. I re-sheath it before anyone in the bar notices but my girls are staring at me in shock. They look very concerned and scared now as they have never seen me like this before.

I start to storm out of the back of the bar making sure my girls are in front, and I can hear him yelling after me.

“He will keep looking for you if you don’t go see him and you know why”.

“I already told you, I don’t care what he wants or why. I’m not going back”.

As soon as the cold night air hits me I start to feel like there is not enough air in the world. It gets more difficult to breathe and the world gets smaller as my adrenaline rushes through my veins. I need to get home. I need to get us to safety. The girls know not to argue with me and get in the car.

As we pull out, I see Conner watching from the entrance, wondering if he has done the right thing.

Chapter 4

Conrad POV

I’m up on the balcony waiting for the car headlights to come down the estate's driveway telling me Connor has gotten home. I can feel my wolf Jace pacing inside me getting more frustrated at second ticks away on the clock.

Since I saw her last week, she has plagued my thoughts. Her flowing chestnut hair, sapphire blue eyes I got lost in, the pale silk-like skin I wanted to kiss all over, and curves that make me want to hold tight and never let go. Even the amount of disrespect in her attitude was amazing. The fire and passion in her words make me want to tame her more. Make her mine.

At 1 am I see the headlights so bolt down the stairs to meet him at the front door.

“How did it go”. I couldn’t contain myself and was talking as soon as Connor opened the door.

Connor can’t make eye contact with me as he talks and just stares at the ground. “Her friends seem nice, but she was furious. Sorry Alpha King but she won’t come”.

The noise woke my Beta Liam’s and his half asleep brain starts to slowly put things together. “What the hell did you do”.

“Nightstalker found her, so I sent Connor to make sure she is OK. She’s been living with humans since she was 13. Can you believe that”. I can’t help the pride in my voice that I found her after she escaped the hunters.

Liam’s face starts to go wide-eyed with frustration. “YOU SENT A HUNTER AFTER A ROGUE AND YOU'RE CONFUSED AT WHY SHE’S PISSED AT YOU”.

When he phrases it like that it does sound bad. It’s not how I intended it to come across. Surely, she can see that as she wasn’t attacked. Right.

I try to defend myself to Liam. “You know that’s not what I did. Connor was under strict orders not to harm her or her friends. Just ask for her to meet me. And that’s what you did right”.

I look over at Connor who is nodding but I can tell he is leaving something out. “What else did she say”.

He takes a deep sigh and avoids eye contact again. “She said she is fine on her own and if we ever go near her again, she will disappear again”.

My heart dropped. I start running my hands through my hair to calm myself down. Jace is howling inside me and I can feel my breathing increase and my heart beating in my throat. How did I screw up this badly? I just wanted to see her again.

Liam can sense my turmoil and starts planning to resolve the situation. “Alright. Everyone into the study so we can work out what to do next. And you”, pointing a finger straight into my face, “you are not to do anything regarding her before running it past me. This girl is under yours and Jace’s skin you’re not thinking rationally. You’re also clearly not going to move on without some sort of closure so for your own sanity you follow the plan we come up with. Understood”.

Liam my be my Beta and second in command but he's always been more of a brother and so I always value his advice and support. “Fine”, I growl back.

Liam looks at me, a mix of concern and confusion on his face. “What exactly is your end goal here”.

The words leave my mouth before I process their potential reactions. “Jace says she is my mate, so I want her as part of the pack and to be my Queen”.

The study door shuts behind us and Liam turns to me with a horrified look on his face. “Are you insane. You know the dangers that poses to every member of this pack. Rouges have a permanent ban from rejoining all packs for a reason”.

Connor instantly agrees. “I get that she’s powerful, but she kicked our asses in the raid, has avoided detection in the human world since she was a pup and tonight, managed to slice my arm with a concealed silver blade in a public setting without a single human noticing. You need to get over this obsession and leave her alone”.

I charge across the room and before I know it, I have my claws out and my hand around Connor’s throat pinning him against a wall. My eyes glow with Alpha energy and I stare at his fear in his.

In a low growl, I sneer at him. “NO. She belongs with me”.

I feel Liam come up to the side of me and gently place his hand on my arm as he tries to get me to loosen my grip on Connor. “It’s alright buddy. Connor didn’t mean any disrespect. Let him go and we can talk about what to do next”. He always calls me buddy when he doesn’t know if it’s me or Jace who has lost control.

I release Connor and he starts coughing as he moves away from me. I go and get a drink of whisky from my office stash to try and calm my nerves.

I hear Connor mutter under his breath to Liam, “Could she really be his mate”.

I skull back the whiskey and feel the burn go down to the emptiness since I lost her. “Jace is certain. She’s mine”.

I can hear the hesitation in Liam’s voice as he asks for clarification. “I get that you or Jace might like her, but I have never known anyone to have mate bond. The stories we were told as pups of the Moon Goddess curse to take them away was just a fairy tale. Right”.

Doesn’t matter if this bedtime story is true or not, I can’t leave her out there to fend for herself anymore. I want her to come home.

Chapter 5

Eve POV

The next few days in the house are so tense it feels like walking through electric storms and just waiting for loud crack to disrupt land. I’ve started doing extra hours at the vet clinic just to avoid being in the house which they noticed instantly.

I come home and I’m greeted with Kimberly waiting for me on the stairs. She instantly runs up to me, jumps in my arms and starts hysterically sobbing.

I do my best to console her. “What’s wrong Kimmy”.

“Are you angry at us. Is that why you are avoiding coming home. We’re sorry that guy was there on girls’ night. We need you to talk to us about this. We don’t want you to disappear”. She breaks out in more sobs as she buries her head in my shoulder.

I don’t even know what to say. I can’t have the hunters or werewolves coming for my friends. They could be caught in the crossfire. What if I can’t protect them. What if they think they are the enemy. I can’t risk it.

Kimberly cry’s have brought my other two girls into the hug and we all head into the living room as all squeeze onto the couch as Kimberly refuses to let me go.

Willow being every practical starts planning. “We need a solution. None of us want to lose our best friend of over five years so you’re not running away. You have a life here and you shouldn’t be bullied out of it”.

“You have no idea what you’re asking”. I just look down at the ground. They will never understand.

“Then tell us. I have known you the longest and I know nothing about you before the day we met. Why don’t you trust us” Michelle says very firmly. She is clearly frustrated that she is still cut off from my life.

I start pleading with them. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. You’ll be in danger if I let you know. Everything I do is to protect you so please just drop it and let me work it out”.

“Well, you’re going to have to start telling us something because since Connor showed up, we have become involved. If we are going to develop a safety plan and be strategic, we need to know something even if that is just knowing how much danger we are in”. Willow always states things matter of fact which is annoying because I know she is right.

Maybe if I tell them, it will be easier for them to let me go.

“I’m not exactly human”. All three girls suddenly sit up right. Even Kimberly instantly stops crying and stares at me with wide eyes.

“Of all things you could have said, I was not expecting that”, Willow states with a shocked expression.

Michelle starts laughing “I had a bunch of theories involving government conspiracy theories but that was not on my list”.

Kimberly looks terrified. She looks to me with a trembling voice. “What are you”.

“Honestly, that’s not important. I left that life to live as a human and have done since I was 13. To them, I’m considered a deserter”.

Kimberly starts shaking, “are they going to hurt us”.

“I don’t know. That’s why I need to leave. To protect you”.

Willow stating very matter of fact again. “Do we know what they want. Connor only said Mr Strongheart wants to talk to you. Maybe he does mean you no harm and wants to something else”.

Michelle agrees “I didn’t get any weird vibes from Connor. He seemed to be almost gentle when talking to you and said he would follow you if you refused to talk to Mr Strongheart anyway. Wait, is he not human either”.

“Connor. No he is. He’s just a …… gifted one. Mr Strongheart is like me though”.

I can practically see the wheels turning in Willows head. “Well the most logical thing is to talk to Mr Strongheart and work out what he wants and then decide from there. No point running in the meantime if he is planning to track you any way”.

“He’s already told me what he wants. He wants me to go back to that life”. This has always been my biggest fear, and the girls can tell from how my voice shakes.

With a fierce determination in her eyes Michelle proclaims, “Then all of us will create hell to keep you here”.

Chapter 6

Michelle POV

We were all on edge after what Eve had told us. She was leaving on Saturday for her camping trip. We kept telling her not to go and that it would be safer to stay in the house. She kept telling us that it’s not her safety she was worried about but with one of my world-renowned death glares she shut up. We made it clear we were in this together.

I’m chilling on the couch with the girls while Eve does another late shift. “Alright. Operation keep Eve here is underway. Where are we up to”.

Willow shows me her phone. “I order these online and they came today. They’re tracking devices. I have hidden one in her car and in her camping gear. That way if she does run we at least know where she is”.

“Excellent. I have also hidden her passport so at least we know she can’t leave the country. Kimberly, any thoughts”.

She just shakes her head and hugs the pillow tighter. She has been a mess since all this came out.

We were all jolted out of the conversation when we heard a knock at the door.

“Are we expecting anyone”. I look at the other girls and they shake their heads no.

Kimberly instantly terrified trembled out, “what if it them. Eve not here to defend us. Do we pretend we’re not here”.

Willow rolls her eyes. “They know we’re in here. They can see us through the window. And if they were going to harm us they wouldn’t knock”. We got up to answer the door and figure with all three of us we could quickly slam it shut if need be.

We open the door just to the point the door chain allows and see him standing there. Conrad in his design suit and amazing smile. He brought another guy with him who was wearing sweats for some reason but with his singlet you could see his define muscular arms. Conrad smiles when he sees all of us looking through the crack of the door.

“Evening ladies. I’ve brought some wine and pizza as a peace offering if you will let me in to talk”.

Kimberly snaps back “Eve’s not here so go away”.

“I know she’s not here. I want to talk to you. I’m trying to get her to trust me and realise I’m not a threat. I’m hoping if I can get you to trust me, she might be more open to the idea of at least talking to me”. He really is laying on the charm.

We shut the door to talk amongst ourselves but ultimately Kimberly is outnumbered as Willow, and I want to know what’s going on.

“We will let you in but try anything and we will scream so loud we will be heard at the police station 2 kilometres away”.

He just laughs and nods. “Understood”.

We all move to living room with Conrad in the chair near the open entrance to the dining room and the other man in the chair. We all sit on the couch to share note during our interrogation.

I start first while Willow studies them. “Firstly, who is he. Secondly what do you want with Eve”.

“This is my assistant, Liam. I’m concerned Eve needs some support and I just want to make sure she has to opportunity to receive it”. That was to calm too not be rehearsed.

“YOU LIAR”.

“Excuse me”. He just stared in shock.

“Eve told us she is considered a deserter to you. She chose to leave and doesn’t want to go back so giving her support is a bullshit answer”.

He looked stunned at this. He looked over to his assistance like they were trying to work out what to do next. Like they’re going to get anything past us.

“It’s true, Eve is considered a deserter. But did she tell you when she left”. He seems nervous now. Right where I want him.

“Yes. At 13”.

“Did she tell you who she left or why”.

They can see my face change to one of sadness. How do they know something about her that I don’t.

“She left her family. She was horribly abused by them so had to escape to survive. She still went back to see them and support when she could. We met her when the government hired us to arrest the leader. She thought we were attacking the innocents in her family and so fought back. When we realised, she wasn’t part of the leadership we wanted to offer her the same support we did to the rest of her family but, she disappeared before we could”.

Then I ask the question all of us want answered and I don’t think there is a way to tactfully ask this.

“She told us you weren’t human. That your like her”.

Both men look at each other and laugh.

“We were wondering if she told you or not. What exactly did she say”. He is smiling at this and seems almost excited.

Willow speaks up as this is the only questions she really wanted the answer to. “She just said she wasn’t exactly human”.

“No, we’re not. Do you want to know what we are and what is really going on here. Are you sure you can handle it”.

I sit straight up and excitedly yell “yes”. I have been just as curious as Willow, but she thinks of this and the resolution to a problem, I’m just upset I’ve been left out of gossip.

“We’re werewolves” he states with a straight face.

“Honestly think we are going to believe that without proof”, Willow states and rolls her eyes while crossing her arms.

“Why do you think I brought him”, Conrad points to Liam in the corner. “Werewolves live in packs and that is the family I was talking about. The person who runs the pack is called an Alpha. The person who runs all packs is called Alpha King, which is me. If you want proof of all this, he can transform into his wolf for you”.

Me being very suspicious “why don’t YOU transform if you want us to believe you”.

Conrad just awkwardly grins. “My wolf can be a bit confronting so when we introduce humans to wolves, it’s better to start with his”.

Willow picks up on something he said. “You have shown other humans”.

“Yes. Mainly government officials we work with. Previous Alpha King’s have wanted to stay secret or worse, hunt humans. I’m working towards having both our societies operate together without fear or persecution of the other”.

We look at each other and decide we want to do this. We want to be in Eve’s life and help her like she has helped all of us.

“Ok. We will watch you transform”.

Liam stands up with a proud look on his face. “Just to warn you there will be some clicking sounds like crackling knuckles but that is normal. My wolf is called Valen and may look scary at first but honestly, he is very friendly and basically a Labrador so love hugs, pats and any form of attention he can get”.

I look around the room at the other girls and each gives a nod that they are ready.

Liam smirks “and one more thing. I have to be naked to transform so my clothes don’t rip. Still OK with that”.

“WAIT”. I go get the wine to fill up my glass, get comfortable in my chair so I have the best view. “Now you may continue”. If a smoking hot muscled man is getting naked in my house, I’m going to fully enjoy the show.

Liam starts laughing and turns to Conrad “I like that one” before he starts stripping.

Singlet first to reveal his impressively chiselled torso. Pecs and ab’s are pure perfection. My eyes quickly flick to the other girls who are hiding behind their hands, but I can tell they’re peaking. My eyes continue to drop down to the V that dips below his pants line and gasp as he drops his sweatpants to reveal his very impressive manhood. He instantly smiles at this. I will have to ask later about interspecies relations.

“You ready ladies”.