  The betrayal still stung and hurt.

  

      "That's bullshit!" the black wolf said turned a couple of heads.

  

      I shrugged one shoulder. "That's Alpha Holden."

  

      "Alpha Holden? Of the Silver Moon pack?" the Alpha repeated and I tensed. No. If they knew where I was from they would send me back.

  

      "Don't make me go back," I rushed out. "I can't go back after what they did."

  

      "We won't send you back," the girl said.

  

      "What's your name?" the Alpha asked. "You said you were the next Beta."

  

      "My younger brother will become Beta now." I answered. "But I'm Deanne Iris. I think I'm going to go by Dena for short. I could really use a change.

  

      "Well Dena," he said, "I'm in need of a new Beta, my old one is moving to another pack and you've been trained. What would you say to become the Beta of the Fire Light Pack?"

  

      I c

  Jason often teased me that it was magic that could also heal the dying. I regarded that notion in the same way I regarded the moon goddess. It simply did not exists. Whatever mystery force the pendant had, gods and magic had no part in it.

  

      I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. I pulled out a frying pan along with eggs and a package of bacon. I heard the rustle of the few other occupants as they woke halfway through cooking the bacon. I smiled to myself. The aroma of food never failed to get them out of bed.

  

      "Morning," Justin said as he sat down at the kitchen bar. Justin was the black man who'd been part of the group that found me when I first came here. I'd been wrong in thinking he was fighter. He was actually the next Theta. The position was passed down to him a couple years after my arrival.

  

      I set a plate of food down in front of him. "Who else i

  Hours had passed after I left the pack before my phone rang. I had forgotten I'd even had it. I answered it and put it on speaker without checking the caller ID. "Hello?" My voice was rough from crying so I cleared it. "Hello?"

  

      "Get your ass back here!" Ethan's voice filled the cab of my truck.

  

      "Ethan?" I asked surprised. "How did you get my number?"

  

      "Deanne come back, please," he begged. I'd never heard him begged, or say please for that matter. Why would he want me back? He rejected me.

  

      "Did you really believe that would work?" I asked. "Did you think that a phone call and the word please would make me go back? I'm not one of your subjects anymore, King Ethan. You don't control me."

  

      "Come back!" he demanded.

  

      "No." Silence. "Do you need me to explain what that means? You've probably never been told no before. It means that I am not going back. Not now, not ever. Why would I want to go back to the pack that turned its back on me? Why would I want to go back to you? I am never going back there. I'm moving on with my life. You should do the same."

  

      "We'll find you," he threatened. "I will find you and I will bring you back."

  

      "You can try," I said. "But you won't find me. You will never see me again."

  

      I rolled down the window and threw my phone out watching it shatter against the ground. Maybe I was being a little dramatic. I could have just taking the card out I supposed. But I didn't want the temptation. It would be hard enough to never see my family again. To never talked to them again.

  

      I lost count of hour many hours had passed while I drove but it was dark when I finally stopped and I wasn't really sure of where I was. That was concerning to me. The reality that I was now just a Rogue, a lone wolf that was free game for anyone, and not the future Beta of a pack weighed on me. I had no protect from other Rogues or from packs. I have no clue what I'm going to do.

  

      There were a few Alphas of other packs that I'd meet and might allow me into their packs but they wouldn't hide the mate of another Alpha. Ethan would find me. If I joined another pack I would have to tell them who I am and they would not hide me. So I couldn't join another pack but I couldn't really stay a Rogue.

  

      I was really hasty in leaving. No use crying over spilt milk. I left and now I have to live with that decision.

  

      I pulled over at a small diner and took a moment to pull myself together before grabbing my wallet and going in. People turned to look at me, or maybe I just imagined they did. "Hello, are you by yourself."

  

      "Yes," I answered but it felt like I was talking about more than just eating alone. The diner was fairly empty so I got a booth by myself. I ordered a hamburger with fries when a waitress whose name I didn't really bother to remember.

  

      I was too preoccupied thinking about my options. I barely even noticed when my food came and picked at it absently. I was somewhere else mentally and I was unused to having to watch out for wolves. So it was too late by the time I realized there was an Alpha in the diner. I froze. I could smell the power. It's a distinctive scent that all Alpha's carry. Most wolves wouldn't even know about it.

  

      I looked up and spotted him. It wasn't one I recognized. I was caught between fear and relief about that. He had three wolves with him. Two were male, one was black and looked to be the same age as the Alpha who looked to be twenty if I had to guess. The other looked younger, closer to my age. He was handsome too, blonde and smoldering blue eyes. The last wolf was a female. A small Hispanic girl.

  

      The Alpha and other wolves, I would guess they were fighters, stalked towards my booth, surrounding the female. From the way she and the Alpha move I think she was his Luna, his mate.

  

      I am screwed. With his mate here I am considered a bigger threat than just some trespassing Rogue. The Alpha and his mate sat on the other side of the booth and the two males slid into my side blocking my in. I resisted the urge to tell them the table was occupied.

  

      "Hello Alpha," I said softly so the humans wouldn't hear.

  

      They all seemed surprised that I knew I was in the presence of an Alpha. "Why are you here Rogue?" he spat as I chewed on a fry.

  

      "Gee, I feel so welcomed," I replied sarcastically. I was tired and emotionally drained. I just didn't have to energy to play nice. "I just can't wait to discuss anything with you. My attitude was rewarded with dark looks. "Tough crowd." The Luna giggled at that and the Alpha shifted so she was partly blocked by his shoulder. I raised an eyebrow. "Really?" I asked. "What could I possibly do? Attacking her in the presence of an Alpha and two fighters is stupid and suicidal. I'm neither so don't insult me."

  

      He growled lowly. "Why are you here?"

  

      "In the diner?" I clarified knowing perfectly well what he meant. "Couldn't possibly be to eat. Oh, wait." I looked down pointedly at my plate. "Who would have guessed?"

  

      "Why are you trespassing?" he demanded with clear frustration.

  

      "The sign on the door said come in." He growled again. I was tired of playing around. "It's a very long story."

  

      "Well then you should be talking."

  

      I sighed. "What makes you think I want to tell you my life story?"

  

      "Your life depends on it," he answered.

  

      I scoffed and turned to look out the window. "Before today that threat might have gotten you somewhere."

  

      "What happened today?" the girl asked and her mate growled. "Jason look at her, she's just a kid."

  

      "While I appreciate the support, you don't know me so please don't patronize me," I said to the girl.

  

      "You should watch your tongue, Rogue," the Alpha said.

  

      "I'm not a Rogue," I said. I shook my head closing for my eyes for a moment. "Well I guess I am now, but I wasn't this morning."

  

      This piqued their interests. "What did you do?"

  

      I let out a bitter laugh. "That's the funny thing, I didn't do anything. It was that pompous ass of a future Alpha!" I guess I was still very touchy.

  

      "Future Alpha?" the girl asked.

  

      "Of my old pack," I sighed. I might as well tell them. "And my mate."

  

      "You have a mate who's a future Alpha," the Alpha questioned tense. He was thinking about the implications of threatening me.

  

      "Something went wrong, didn't it?" the girl questioned. "Otherwise there would be news of the celebration and instead you're here as a Rogue."

  

      She was smart. "He rejected me." The booth went silent. Rejecting your mate when you were an Alpha just wasn't done. "Happy birthday, huh?"

  

      "You're sixteen?" the black wolf asked.

  

      "As of yesterday." I pushed the plate away an inch.

  

      "You shouldn't be on your own," the alpha said softly.

  

      I gave him a forced smile. "I wasn't really given much of a choice. I was actually going to be the future Beta. But when my Alpha found out that his son rejected me he stripped me of any position and threatened to banish me if I ever gave him the slightest chance. He and my pack turned their backs on me."

The betrayal still stung and hurt.
  
      "That's bullshit!" the black wolf said turned a couple of heads.
  
      I shrugged one shoulder. "That's Alpha Holden."
  
      "Alpha Holden? Of the Silver Moon pack?" the Alpha repeated and I tensed. No. If they knew where I was from they would send me back.
  
      "Don't make me go back," I rushed out. "I can't go back after what they did."
  
      "We won't send you back," the girl said.
  
      "What's your name?" the Alpha asked. "You said you were the next Beta."
  
      "My younger brother will become Beta now." I answered. "But I'm Deanne Iris. I think I'm going to go by Dena for short. I could really use a change.
  
      "Well Dena," he said, "I'm in need of a new Beta, my old one is moving to another pack and you've been trained. What would you say to become the Beta of the Fire Light Pack?"
  
      I considered it for a long moment. "I think that I would say you owe me a vanilla milks

Chapter 7