CHAPTER 4: THE CAMP OF THE REFUSED

CECELIA'S VIEW

The first thing I felt was warmth.

Not the burning, bond-severing kind. The real warmth of dry blankets.

A fire crackled somewhere nearby. Then I smelled smoke and a wet dog.

I slowly opened my eyes.

A canvas tent blanket. A camp bed.

My body felt like it had been used as a target. My chest was empty.

The tape was... silent. Not completely gone. Just silenced.

I had survived again. It almost felt gruesome.

"You are awake."

The voice was deep and full, warm and soft like melted chocolate. It made me feel a little safer. I turned my head and saw a man sitting beside the cot. Dark hair, black eyes, and striking features. No golden wolfish gleam in his eyes. Just the calm serenity of a human being.

I recognized that face.

Adolfo. He belonged to the Moonfang pack.

I saw him once at the border treaty. Two steps behind his older brother. The heir.

I tried to sit up. Immediately, a sharp pain shot through my spine.

I sank back down onto the bed.

"Slowly," he said, already reaching out his hands towards me. They hovered above me without touching. "You completely exhausted yourself running away. You were unconscious for two days."

Two days.

Conan.

The rejection.

I felt sick.

A deep growl came from the tent entrance. My head snapped around.

A dog filled the entire entrance. A huge German Shepherd. Enormous. A black scar ran through the fur on its muzzle. Its muscles were built for killing, its eyes a bright, sharp blue.

The guard dog of the Moonfang pack.

I had overheard the Silvercrest guards whispering about him. "That thing doesn't bark. It doesn't play. It kills. Without mercy."

He stared at me. Adolfo sighed. "Razor, get out. She is..."

Razor ignored him. He stepped into the tent, his claws clicking on the wooden floor.

Every muscle in Adolfo's body tensed.

I couldn't move.

Razor stopped by my cot, sniffed me, and then very carefully lowered himself onto the ground beside me. He laid his head on the ground, right next to my cot, without touching me.

Just being near me, as if he were keeping watch.

The tent fell completely silent.

Outside, a girl's voice whispered: "By the goddess... he lay down next to her."

Adolfo stared at him. "He hates people."

Razor's tail once gently thumped against the cot, almost as if he were apologizing.

I didn't know what to do with it, so I let my hand dangle over the edge of the bed. I didn't touch him. To be honest, I was a little afraid of him.

Adolfo was the first to recover.

His gentle smile returned. "Well. He likes you. That's new. Razor hasn't been near anyone but me for three years. Not since soldiers from your pack nearly beat him to death."

Three years ago, during the border treaty that degenerated into a war.

"Is that... something bad?" My voice was barely recognizable.

"Not for you." He stood up and poured water from a clay jug. "For someone new or who seems suspicious? Maybe. But don't worry. Razor has excellent judgment."

He handed me the cup and didn't let go until I had it securely in my hands. His fingers brushed against mine. They felt warm. The touch seemed deliberate.

“I am Adolfo,” he said, as if we hadn’t already met while I lay dying. “The second son of Alpha Kane from the Moonfang pack. Welcome to our camp for the rejected.”

I choked on the water. "Excuse me?"

His smile didn't fade. "Rejected people live here." He gestured around him. "At least those who survive. When organized packs cast out members they no longer need, we take them in."

He spat out the word *organized* as if it were a curse.

"So you mean..."

“We’re Rogues, but don’t worry. Despite everything you’ve been told about Rogues, we have absolutely no interest in terrorizing other packs. We keep to ourselves. And don’t feel bad. You’re not the first girl whose life has been ruined by an Alpha’s son,” he said quietly. “Just the first Razor has willingly sat next to.”

Footsteps approached.

The tent canvas moved.

A girl huddled inside the tent. Perhaps eighteen years old. Golden-blonde hair, eyes as black as if gazing into a storm. She carried a bowl of stew and an aura that made the air seem lighter.

She stopped abruptly when she saw Razor lying on the floor next to my bed.

"Hm," she said.

Adolfo's smile widened. "Cecilia, this is Celeste. She's been living here for a year. Originally, she came from the Blackmoon pack. Today, she's our healer."

She put the bowl down. She didn't look at Adolfo. Instead, she looked first at Razor and then at me.

"Silvercrest?" She nodded towards my neck. To the mark.

I touched it and flinched. It was still there.

I was marked.

Disfigured.

"Yes," I whispered.

Celeste's jaw tightened. "The Blackthorne boy?"

My stomach clenched. "You know him?"

"I know his type." Her voice was flat. "The heir of an Alpha? Too much power, too little backbone? Someone who lets his daddy decide who his Luna will be?"

Adolfo made a disapproving noise. "Celeste. Don't overwhelm her."

He sat down on the edge of my cot.

Too close.

"You are safe now, Cecilia. Organized packs can't harm you here. There are no Alphas, no Lunas, and no predetermined fate nonsense. We have our own laws to protect us."

Razor raised his head and growled at Adolfo.

Adolfo's eye twitched. He reached out to stroke Razor's head. Razor gasped, less than three centimeters from his fingers.

A warning.

Adolfo pulled his hand back, laughing. "See? Even the dog thinks you need some space."

Celeste snorted. "The dog thinks you're just talking rubbish, Adolfo."

She turned back to me. Her eyes seemed hard, but not unfriendly. Old. And somehow confident.

"Rest. Eat something. When you can walk again, I'll show you around the camp. We have a few rules here."

"For example?" My voice trembled.

Celeste's smile revealed all her teeth. "Well... rule number one: We don't bow down to alphas. Rule number two? We don't die for boys who think the *pack* is more important than people."

Razor snorted softly and laid his chin on the edge of my cot, as if agreeing with her.

He still didn't touch me, but simply stayed there and protected me.

He was incredibly cute.

And for the first time since the bond of comrades had been broken,

The emptiness in my chest no longer felt quite so empty.