CHAPTER 4: Rebels And Rogues

Aurielle's POV

Pain was the first thing I felt.. A sharp angry ache in my neck… then in my arms… then everywhere.

I groaned softly and opened my eyes. It was dark... deep night... and a smell of wet earth filled my nose. A campfire crackled a few feet away, throwing orange light across the trees. I tried to sit up but something heavy yanked me back down.

Chains… Thick and ugly chains wrapped tightly around my wrists and ankles.

“What... where am I?” I whispered.

A burst of laughter answered me.

“Well, well. Sleeping beauty wakes.”

I jerked at the voice. A man sat near the fire, grinning with broken teeth. Three others lounged around him, all dirty, all armed and all smelling like they had not bathed since the last century. Rogues…

One of them nudged another.

“Told you she’d wake before midnight.”

“Shut up,” the other snapped. “You heard what we were told. Don’t annoy her.”

Annoy me? While I was chained like a goat about to be roasted? Really?

I pulled at the chains hard, just in case but nothing.. not even a small give.

“Stop struggling, Princess,” the broken-tooth man said with an almost bored tone. “These chains were forged with silver. Even your wolf can’t break out of ’em.”

My stomach dropped.

“Princess..” one of them repeated dramatically, bowing at me with exaggerated flourish. “We know exactly who you are, Princess Aurielle Draqueen. Last heir of the Lycana bloodline.”

I froze. They knew! My voice wobbled.

“Why are you doing this? Who are you giving me to?”

The broken-tooth man grinned wider, showing every disgusting tooth he owned.

“To the Blood Binder, of course. Lord Melgaron will pay handsomely for you.”

The name shot ice through my veins. Melgaron..?!

The reason whole villages whispered at night.. the enemy of my father and the enemy of every Lycana heir since forever.

“You’re… you’re lying,” I whispered.

“Wish we were.” Another rogue shrugged. “But you’re too valuable and with that dart we used on you...”

“What was in that dart?” I demanded. My arms felt weak, my wolf quiet. Too quiet.

“Oh, that?” One of them laughed. “Suppressor venom. Can’t shift. Can’t use strength. Can’t do anything fancy tonight, Princess.”

Suppressor venom. Of course…

I swallowed hard, trying not to panic but failing completely.

“Don’t be scared,” another rogue added, chuckling. “We got a little surprise for you anyway.”

A surprise?

I stiffened.

“What surprise?”

The rogues exchanged looks and then someone stepped out of the shadows beyond the fire.

A woman with a familiar silhouette. She walked closer, pulled off her cloak and smiled at me.

My heart stopped.

“…Seraxa?”

My cousin.. my best friend and my partner in secret escapes. She looked down at me with a face so cold it didn’t feel like hers.

“Hello, cousin,” she said sweetly.

I shook my head, refusing to believe what my eyes were showing me.

“Seraxa… what are you doing here? What... how...?”

“Oh please,” she sighed. “Don’t act shocked. You practically handed yourself to me.”

My mouth opened but no sound came out.

She continued with her voice sharp as needles.

“Do you know how long I’ve waited for this?”

“For… what?” I whispered.

“For you to finally be out of the way.”

The fire popped loudly like it was reacting with me.

“Out of the way…?” I repeated.

She stepped closer, crouched in front of me and grabbed my chin.

“I have been standing behind you my whole life,” she hissed. “Always second. Always compared. Always watching you soak up all the attention, all the praise, all the ‘future queen’ nonsense.”

I stared at her, stunned.

“But Seraxa… you never said...”

“Of course I never said anything!” she snapped. “Why would I? I needed you to trust me. And you did. Stupidly.”

Her words stung harder than the suppressor dart.

I felt small.. hurt and betrayed in a way that made my chest twist.

“My father will never let your family take the throne,” I said quietly, even though fear wrapped around my ribs. “You know that.”

“Oh, cousin…” Seraxa smirked. “You forget something. Once you’re gone… the only remaining royal blood is my father.” She tapped her temple. “And who cares if he isn’t ‘pure Lycana’? Power is still power.”

“You’re insane,” I whispered.

“Maybe.” She shrugged. “But I will be princess. And nothing... especially not you... will stop me.”

She stood up, turned to leave, then looked back with a cruel little smile.

“Enjoy your stay, Princess. And please… die quietly. I don’t want this traced back to me.”

My heart cracked. Then she was gone into the trees, her cloak sweeping behind her.

The rogues cheered after she left and started drinking like idiots. The camp grew rowdier. Someone began singing loudly and badly. Another argued with a tree. I lay there on the ground, helpless, trying to fight tears.

I pulled at the chains again. Useless.

My strength still wasn’t back. Then... everything changed.

It started with a sound. A faint one. A quick rustle. Then a thud. Then a scream.

“What was that...?”

“WHO’S THERE?!”

Another scream and a blur shot across the camp and a rogue dropped dead before he even understood what happened.

The whole camp erupted into panic.

“It’s them!” one of the rogues shouted. “The Veylon Brothers!”

My heart jumped immediately at the name.

Three shadows crashed into the clearing with terrifying speed. One of them... massive, dark... was in wolf form, slamming into rogues and tearing them apart like paper. The other two fought with blades, deadly accurate, every strike clean and final.

Rogues shifted into wolves but it didn’t matter. They were cut down in seconds.

Everything happened too fast. Firelight flashed across metal and fur. Screams echoed. Bodies fell. Flames flickered wildly. It was a storm of violence, so precise it didn’t feel real. Then silence. Smoke drifted over the clearing.

Most of the rebels lay on the ground, dead or dying. The last few ran into the trees, abandoning their camp entirely.

I stared at the three men in shock. Whoever they were… they were strong. Too strong.

“Did… did my father send them?” I whispered to myself.

But then... A sudden tug in my chest made me gasp.

No. Not just a tug. A bond. The mate bond and it hit me like a jolt of lightning and not once. Three times.

Thump.

My breath hitched.

Thump.

My heart jumped.

Thump.

“Oh no,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “No, no, no... don’t tell me…”

The three men turned slowly toward me.

The firelight hit their faces.

Dark hair. Sharp jaws. Same eyes.

Brothers.

My three mate bonds pulsed again. Strong. Terrifying. Impossible.

“Moon goddess… you have GOT to be joking,” I choked.

The man in wolf form stepped forward and shifted.

The transformation was fast and smooth, and when it finished...

My heart stopped completely.

His face.

I knew that face.

It was older and sharper but still the same.

“Raeyan??!” I screamed.