4

We woke up with the sun high in the sky, meaning we overslept again! Shit! I didn't realize how exhausted we would both be. Tamisra didn't seem too concerned, so I guess it didn't throw us off schedule too much, but I really did not want to spend the night in the rogue areas.

'You worry too much; if we get started now, we can clear the area by nightfall.'

'Yeah, that's great and all, but I was hoping we could eat. We'll need energy if we encounter any rogues, and we haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday morning.'

'Fine, I'll block you out and catch us a quick snack. Any preferences? Deer, fox, maybe a wild boar?' she said while snickering at me as I gagged. She blocked me out, and I just went to the deep recesses of my mind and curled up.

Now that I had time to let everything sink in, I didn't feel so broken over this. I worried my mate would still want me if I bore another man's mark. I would explain everything to him and hope for his understanding. Most people don't save themselves for their mates; some do, but not all. I had no desire to be an almost 21-year-old virgin, and Felix didn't care that I wasn't "pure." A lot of the men in our packs wanted their women to be pure for them, but no one could really get mad when they fucked around too. Our mates are meant to be the perfect match for us, and if the true mate bond is anything like my mother and Sophie described, the pull is impossible to fight. Chosen mates and rejected mates are scarce because the level of attraction is supposed to be beyond the charts, making it extremely rare to be able to defy a bond. Thinking this made me feel even dumber for not questioning my lack of attraction for Felix.

I kept pondering what my true mate would think and if he would reject me simply for being a dumbass when Tamisra eventually called me to come forward again. God, I hope she at least ran away from whatever she munched on before I take my sight back.

'I thought about making you see it just to fuck with you, but we'll be coming up near some rogue camps soon, so I need you not to pass out. Next time though.'

'Gee, thanks. Ever the considerate one you are' I rolled my eyes.

It wasn't long until we caught the scent of rotting leaves and decay. We slowed down, making sure to stay downwind from the rogue camp, and tried to pad quietly through heavily bushed areas, all of our senses on high alert. We cleared that camp, only to be hit in the face with rogue stench even stronger than before, meaning they were closer. We paused, locating the source of the stench to our left. Probably 100 yards away, a sickly-looking rogue was staggering, trying to walk a path. His fur was wholly matted, and saliva dripped out both sides of his mouth. We continued to move, deciding we could easily take him if he spotted us, but he didn't even react if he heard something.

The thing about rogue wolves is that they lose their sanity very quickly. Wolves are meant to live in packs, and although some rogues collaborate to attack other packs, that still isn't enough. Being a rogue is dangerous; they're always a target, even in wolf form, so shifting back to their human form is inevitable suicide. Eventually, the wolf part of us goes rabid, losing all of our humanity. It's not a life anyone hopes for; rogues are typically wolves who were banished from their packs. It's infrequent nowadays that a wolf is born rogue. It wasn't always that way, there would be women and children who were rogues, and it got to the point that there were so many rogues around that if one day they all conspired against packs, it would be an easy takeover. So to prevent this, most packs would give asylum to rogues so long as they weren't rogue for committing a crime. Eventually, the only rogues left over were the criminals, but they were few and far between. However, that being said, if we encounter one while in these lands, that means it will be a sure fight. I was not a trained warrior, thank you, Red Moon Pack, so my only hope is to get through here unnoticed or, at the very least, not be swarmed. I have enough training under my belt to take on one or two, especially if they're already weakened.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts when I hear a feral growl right toward where we're walking, and Tamisra freezes. I see the rogue sniff the air and mentally slap myself for not spraying more anti-scent spray on me, it shouldn't have washed off because we haven't been in any water, but clearly, this rogue smells something. We're practically not breathing when he starts sniffing the area, coming up right to where we're hidden. I brace myself for a fight when another rogue jumps out of the bush across from us onto this one, and a brutal fight starts.

'Quick, take off while they're still distracted! Go go!' I urge Tamisra

She wastes no time skillfully running through the dense forest we're hiding in. Obviously, she can't go too fast, but she's fast enough to get us away without them noticing. I let out the breath I was holding as we jumped out of the bush and ran through the forest, not smelling any rogues around Tamisra, running as fast as our legs would take her. We run until we scent another rogue way off in the distance and jump back into the foliage. Still moving skillfully so as not to make any noise. We pause again when we can smell the rogue getting closer and wait until he's walked past us before moving again.

We keep up that same dance for another 2 hours, thankfully never being noticed. Knowing we would soon be on safer lands, Tamisra sniffs the air before jumping out of the bushes again and taking off full speed. We're so close to being off rogue lands, so close. But then we run straight past a large clearing with a small hideout. I watch their heads instantly shoot up at the noise and start to panic.

'Run, run faster! They spotted us; if they get here, we're fucked'

Tamisra doesn't respond and starts running faster, we both hear the thudding of paws coming in our direction, but we don't stop. We're fast and always have been, so I hold onto that and hope it's enough to get us out of here alive. But apparently, I dream big because I feel someone snip at our ankle a second later. It's not enough to make us lose our balance, but it slows us down enough for them to pounce on our back.

Everything moves in a blur; Tamisra is snarling and trying to fight back. Eventually, all the other rogues catch up, and we're swarmed. I close my eyes and wait for death when someone takes a nice bite out of my shoulder, forcing me to shift back to my human form. I scream in pain, feeling my blood gushing out of my wound. I scream louder when I feel my calf in another rogue's jaws. This is how I die; at least I could see my parents. But as I continue to scream, I feel something snap inside of me, and a cold feeling so intense rushes through my body as I shoot my arms out, trying to get it off me; I feel it shoot through my fingertips, and the ground shakes under me.

Then, everything is quiet. I must be dead. I'm still in excruciating pain; I thought that went away when you died? Fucking false advertisement. This shit still hurts like a bitch!

'Amara, open your eyes.' Tamisra says, unamused by my inner monologue.

It takes me a minute, but I groan and open my eyes, expecting to see nothing, or maybe the Moon Goddess Realm; I don't know; I've never been dead before, so I'm just guessing here. But I don't; what I see before me is utter chaos. Blood is everywhere, and body parts are thrown throughout the forest. It looks like someone set off a bomb in the middle of us. I look down at my hands and rub them together; they still feel colder than any ice known to Earth. What did I do? More importantly, how? I thought the cold feeling was death forcing its way through me, but I'm very much alive, and the rogues are very much unlived.

'Tamisra, do you have an explanation for this?' but she seems just as shocked and confused as me as she peers through my eyes and looks at the carnage.

'I don't know, Amara...I felt you do that, I felt the power for the split second we had it, but I don't know what it was.'

Still confused, I go to feel my shoulder and hiss when I touch it. My werewolf healing stopped the bleeding, but it's still very much an open wound. I look at the rest of my body which is covered in gashes from claws and a couple of bite wounds. They're healing slowly, but it would probably take at least the night until I'm back to normal. I don't even think I could shift right now; both Tamisra and I are far too weak. But we have to get out of here; I'll figure out whatever weird witchy thing I did later when I'm not vulnerable to even the weakest rogue.

I spot my duffel bag and limp over to it. I get back into the bushes and start to crawl through, sending a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess to let me go unnoticed because I am nowhere near as graceful as Tamisra.

She must have heard my prayer because eventually, we get far enough out of the rogue lands to where Tamisra and I feel comfortable enough out of the bushes. No other werewolf scents are around, so when I spot a stream, I hide my bag and go get in it to rinse off. The blood was making me itchy, and the decaying dead leaves scent made me feel like my stomach would swallow my insides and spit them out.

I didn't bring any soap for obvious reasons, so I spent a long time trying to get the blood off me. Deciding I did what I could, I crawled out of the stream and let the wind blow on my skin to dry me up. It's sunset now, and I'll need to find a safe space to sleep if I want to make it through the night. I still don't think I could shift, and even if I could, it would slow down my healing, so I throw some clothes on and walk until I find a small thicket. It's probably a deer's hideout, but I don't care. Sorry, Bambi, you have a roommate tonight. I squeeze myself in as far back as possible, and I'm asleep before I can even lay my head down.