The Rogue King

Tonya

They didn’t notice me at first. Then Angie turned, spotting me, she slid off his lap.

“Oh, perfect timing,” she said, reaching for the coffee. Zeke smirked and gave her a playful slap on the butt.

She squealed. “Zeke!”

He chuckled, standing up. “I’m off to training.” Then his gaze met mine, hard and cold. “Serve her well, Tonya. No delays.”

I didn’t know where all my courage came from, but I placed the coffee tray on the table, and said quietly, “Alpha Zeke, it’s unfair. I’m Gamma-born. Why did you demote me to omega status?”

He raised a brow. “Because I’ll do anything Angie says. Angie thinks since you are wolf-less, you are more suited for the kitchen duties. And don’t sulk about us.” He scoffed, “You were always temporary for me. Stop dreaming about me now.” Without another glance, he walked out.

Even as he walked out, I couldn’t help seeing his toned body. How his dark hair was ruffled, and how beautiful he looked. I loved him so deeply. Did he not have the same feelings for me even once? At that moment I wanted the earth to crack open and swallow me. I turned back to Angie, trembling, trying my best not to cry. 

“You should stop ogling at Zeke,” Angie fumed. “He was always mine. Keeping you close was my idea. You were like a nurse to him. Nothing more.” She circled me slowly. “And you watched us having sex.” She came to a stop in front of me with that smirk. “Did you see how I presented myself to his wolf?”

Her words were like a punch to my gut, but I refused to show her they affected me. “Yes, in my gown,” I retaliated in anger. When did she even steal it?

She slapped me tight. I screamed, falling on the floor. I covered my face with my hand as my cheeks burned. 

“You fucking jealous whore! Everything in this pack is mine. Do you know only a true Luna can fuck her Alpha in his wolf form? Not a wolf-less mutt like you. After our wedding, he will knot inside me in his wolf form.” 

I lifted my gaze to see her, but on the way, I saw blue marks on her inner thighs. 

She picked up the coffee mug, sipped the coffee, then grimaced and spat it out. “Ugh. Too bitter.” She tossed the rest of it at my feet, the hot liquid splashing on my skin. 

Pain burned through me and a whimper left me. “Ahh!” I didn’t have a wolf, and so I healed slowly. I knew that the burned skin would heal in a few hours against how it healed within seconds in normal wolves.  

“Clean it now,” she ordered.

“I’ll get a cloth.” I whispered, struggling to get up, feeling broken. 

“No, your shirt will do.”

My mouth dropped open. “What?” 

“You heard it. Clean it with your shirt.” When I didn’t comply, she came behind me, grabbed my hair and yanked my head back. She growled, “Do as I say, mutt, else I’ll make sure you are in the dungeons in an hour. Don’t test my patience.” 

“Y-yes,” I whimpered. She shoved me forward. I took off my shirt, bent down and wiped the floor with it, blinking back tears. She watched me the entire time like a queen observing a jester.

My hands shook as I picked up the empty tray and got up. As I turned to leave, she said, “Leave your shirt here.” 

“Wh-why?” I asked. “What will I wear?” I was in my bra. How could I give my shirt? 

“I don’t care!” she barked and snatched my shirt. “Now scoot!” 

Shocked, I turned, covering my breast with my hands. What was wrong with her? When I walked back to the kitchen, the cook looked at me with pity in her eyes and gave me her old shirt to wear. Thankfully, Angie didn’t call me for the rest of the day as I worked in the kitchen. 

I wasn't as good a warrior as other wolves in the pack because I lacked a wolf, but my father trained me well. He made sure that I knew the moves well. So from being a warrior to being a maid was terribly demeaning. 

That evening, I returned home with a broken spirit. Was this how it was going to be from now onward? Zeke’s betrayal was slowly killing me.  

Alicia stormed into my room with a bag. “Time for phase one,” she declared.

I cried, “I can’t do it!” 

“You will!” She opened the bag and pulled out a dress. If you could even call it that. It was black, short, and tight enough to cut off circulation. “Put it on.”

“I can’t wear that.”

“You can and you will. Tonight, we will go to Pete’s bar. And guess who’s always there?”

I swallowed. “Zeke.”

“Exactly. And Angie.” She winked. 

The dress was short enough to expose thighs. Its neck was deep enough to show my cleavage. It hugged all my curves like a second skin. “Goddess, what is this?” I remarked. I had never worn anything like this ever. Alicia pulled my hair up in a messy bun, applied lip-gloss, mascara and rouge. I looked at myself in the mirror and almost gasped at the transformation. 

“This is your revenge!” Alicia growled, looking at me satisfactorily. “Let’s hit it!” 

The bar was already buzzing when we entered. The moment I stepped in, all heads turned. I felt the heat of every eye on me—hungry, stunned, admiring.

“Is that Tonya Wilson?” someone whispered.

“Damn, she’s hot,” a guy said behind me.

“She's sexy as hell. I could do her now!”

“She seems unhinged!” Laughter followed. “Should I approach her?” 

Girls muttered insults under their breath, jealous stares thrown like daggers. 

“How embarrassing!” 

“How can she show her face?” 

“What an attention seeking bitch!” 

“She got royally rejected yesterday, and today she is hunting a new man?” 

I ignored them all. My eyes scanned the room, and found him.

Zeke. Sitting with Angie in the corner. They were making out her lips all over him. She was wearing my shirt? But his eyes... they weren’t closed. They were on me. And they were furious.

He shifted in his seat, pulling Angie off him. She pouted and tried to recapture his attention, but he wasn’t listening anymore.

Alicia nudged me. “He’s burning.”

I smiled faintly. For once, I felt good. Knowingly, I brushed my hair to the side to expose my neck, where his mark would have sat. He clenched his jaw, but I tore my gaze away from him, showing as if I wasn't affected by him, even though internally I was dying for him to come to me. 

I picked up the glass of wine in front of me, and sipped it, savoring the taste. Alicia sat proudly beside me in her jeans and tank top, looking like a diva as always. Some wolves raised their glasses to her. 

I spotted Zeke’s Beta, Daniel, staring at me with interest from across the bar. When I smiled at him, he got up with his glass of whiskey, and approached me. “You look amazing Tonya,” he said, looking me up and down. “Can I offer you a drink?” 

Before I could respond, a growl echoed through the bar. The growl wasn’t just a sound, it was a force.

Low. Deep. Menacing.

But it didn’t come from Zeke.

I turned, and the air around me shifted.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. Tall, wild, powerful. His presence sucked the air from the room. Muscles rippled beneath his dark clothes, his broad shoulders tense like a predator ready to strike. His golden eyes flashed like storms, swirling with fury. Blond hair, tousled and wild, framed a face carved in harsh lines. His jaw was clenched, mouth set, each feature screaming danger. He looked like he belonged to the wilderness, not civilization. 

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

“It’s him…”

“The rogue king!”

And he was looking straight at me with his nostrils flared, his fierce gaze pinning me in place. Not with desire. Not with amusement. But with pure, blistering fury. 

As if he was a predator and I was his favorite prey. As if he was here to hunt me.