1. Blood Moon Territory
Katie
I pulled my beanie hat, down over my ears, hiding my red hair beneath it. I turned up the collar of my jacket in an attempt to keep warm. I shoved my hands into my jeans pockets, feeling around for the change inside.
As I walked into the fast food place, I only had one thing on my mind, a cheeseburger, and maybe to keep warm for a little longer. It was January, and whilst there was no snow, the temperatures had plummeted.
I was glad there was no queue as I walked up to the counter. I glanced around quickly, glad that no one had noticed me. No one except the boy behind the counter.
He stared at me, fear in his eyes, I could smell it too, above the lingering smell of greasy burgers that permeated the air.
“Cheeseburger,” I stated flatly.
“You shouldn’t be here!” he hissed.
He looked around behind me at at the empty tables.
“You realised you’re in Blood Moon territory,” he whispered, a tremor in his voice.
“I don’t want no trouble!” he added.
I glared at him, “you won’t get any if you give me a fucking cheeseburger!” I growled.
He quickly grabbed a burger that was sitting under the grill, and put a slice of cheese on top. Once it had melted he chucked it in a bun and placed the contents into a polystyrene box.
“Onions!” I growled.
He rolled his eyes and opened the box. He quickly lifted the roll and chucked some onions on top. Closing the box, he shoved it across the counter.
I grabbed it and turned to walk away.
“Hey! You didn’t pay!” He yelled.
I turned and sneered at him, “it ain’t your lucky day is it, Alpha boy.”
I could smell his scent, he was clearly the pup of an alpha.
I hesitated for a few seconds, seeing if he intended to press the matter. He didn’t. I knew he wouldn’t, the cowardly bastard. Pack werewolves only ever wanted to fight if they knew they outnumbered you. Rogues on the other hand, wouldn’t take any shit.
There weren’t many benefits of being the daughter of Mason Ridgeway, but scaring arsey pack pups, was one of them.
He’d known who I was as soon as I walked in the door. I’d tried hard to disguise it, like my father always insisted. Luckily he was the only werewolf around. I’d still be in the shit though.
One I wasn’t supposed to leave the house where we were currently holed up. Two, the snot nosed pup would likely tell his Alpha daddy.
I munched on the burger as I headed back to the house. The streets were quiet, and I wasn’t being followed. Once I’d finished the food, I tossed the container away.
Reaching the house, I shoved the door open, and walked in.
My father glared at me with his deep blue eyes. His dark brown hair looked dishevelled. We weren’t really much alike, apart from maybe our tempers.
“Where the fucking hell have you been,” he growled at me.
I sneered at him, “out!”
I headed towards one of the rooms which was where I usually slept.
I didn’t even reach the door before he grabbed me, spun me around and backhanded me across the face.
The force of the blow sent me hurtling to the floor.
“I told you not to leave this house!” he growled, his eyes flashing black momentarily.
I put my finger to my lip, and wiped the blood away that had started to run from the split he had made.
I glared at him, “and I told you I was hungry!” I hissed.
I never found it easy to back down. I always had a smart mouthed answer. I always suffered for it. Today was no exception.
Before I could even blink, he grabbed my by the throat, and slammed my back against the wall. Then he yanked my hat of and threw it to the floor. My long red hair which had been tucked up inside, tumbled around my shoulders.
He let go of my throat and grabbed my hair, viciously yanking my head back. It felt like a thousand needles where jabbing in my skull. I refused to cry or make a sound though.
I knew better than to struggle, the more I struggled the worse it would be.
His eyes narrowed as he stared at me. My nostrils flared angrily, and my breathing became faster.
I felt my heart pounding in my chest. He would smell my fear, and that would probably make things worse.
“You’re just like your mother!” he hissed.
He held up his other hand, and I flinched slightly.
He smirked at me. He was a sadistic bastard, even to his own daughter.
Claws erupted from his fingers as his eyes turned completely black.
I whimpered as he dragged a claw, slowly across my throat. Enough for me to feel it without breaking the skin. Then he dragged it slowly across my cheek, deeper this time. Pain erupted on my face, and I felt blood start to seep out of the cut he had made.
“You better watch yourself Katie, or you might just end up like her!” he growled.
I felt bile rise in my throat, but I swallowed it back down.
He smirked and let me go.
I knew exactly what he meant. He didn’t mean that I would turn into a beautiful and sensitive young woman, like my mother had been. My red hair mirrored her own, as did my my hazel eyes.
He meant I would end up dead.
He’d made me watch, when he killed her. She’d had enough of being a rogue. She’d found a pack that would take her, and me. She was running from my father. We didn’t get far. He called it the ultimate betrayal, and the ultimate betrayal needed the ultimate punishment.
One of the other rogues and held me fast, forcing me to watch as my fathers clawed hands plunged into her chest, and pulled out her still beating heart.
That was three years ago, I was only fourteen then. I still sometimes had nightmares, especially when my father threatened me with the same fate.
Before he killed her I had been a normal young girl. Despite never having a permanent home, my mother tried to give me some sort of stability.
That all changed when he killed her. I became a hard faced rogue. Even when he hit me, or worse, I never cried, not anymore. The sweet young girl was buried deep in side, never to emerge again. Being weak got you nowhere. I had heard my mother begging my father, saying how sorry she was. What good did it do her?
As I walked towards the bedroom, I heard Terence, one of the rogues that ran with my father, snigger.
“I’ll teach her some manners!” he smirked.
A shiver ran down my spine, I knew that Terence was a sick pervert. The way he looked at me sometimes, made me want to vomit.
“Lay one finger on my daughter and I’ll rip your heart out, just like I did her mother,” my father growled.
I smelt Terrence’s fear as I entered the room, then I heard my fathers voice, this time directed at me
“Make yourself scarce tonight, I’m having a meeting!”
Meetings only meant one thing, a group of Male, testosterone filled rogues, getting drunk. Not a good combination when you’re an unmated female.
It also meant that he was going on another killing spree.
I couldn’t believe he would do this here. The Blood Moon Pack was the strongest in the country.
Rogues didn’t care about that though, they just attacked with impunity.
Maybe I was like my mother. Even though I’d been born a rogue, I didn’t understand why they needed to kill like that. It was pointless. It never really achieved anything, other than to piss off the other alphas. I never expressed these views, if I did my father would probably kill me without a thought.
I looked around the makeshift bedroom, it was actually more of a storeroom, that a mattress had been chucked into. I didn’t mind too much, at least it gave me a little privacy. I took off my coat and folded it up to use as a pillow. Then I settled myself down on the mattress. I cautiously touched my face, despite being a werewolf, I didn’t seem to heal as quickly as the others. Maybe it was because they were adults. They never seemed to scar either, but I did.
It didn’t seem to stop him being a sadistic bastard. He would often inflict pain on me if he thought I’d crossed the line.
I never cried now, not even in private. Crying was a weakness my father didn’t tolerate. The last time I did was when he killed my mother. He had sneered, and called we weak and pathetic. He’d said he would soon toughen me up. I suppose he had.
My mother had told me, he wasn’t always like this. I wasn’t sure. It seemed like all Alpha’s were the same. My father had been an Alpha of a pack, until another Alpha had decided he wanted the territory for himself. When the Alpha killed my father’s mate, his Luna, he escaped with a few warriors, swearing revenge. He apparently met my mother soon after. He took my mother to his bed in an attempt to sooth his rage. When she found she was pregnant, she stayed with him. Perhaps my life would have been different if she hadn’t. I knew my mother loved me. I sometimes questioned whether my father did, but then he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to get us both back. I’m sure he was disappointed when I was a girl. He probably would have loved me more if I’d been a boy.
I heard raucous laughter from the next room, my fathers and that of some other men. I guessed I wouldn’t get much sleep tonight.
I was right about that. Although not in the way that I thought. A couple of hours after the other rogues arrived, my father opened the bedroom door.
“You stay here,” he growled, “we’ll be back later,” he hesitated, “if you go out while I’m gone, you know what will happen!” he threatened.
I nodded my head, but I should have known that wasn’t good enough.
He leant over, the smell of alcohol on his breath. He grabbed my face roughly.
“Am I clear!” he growled again.
“Yes, sir,” I muttered.
He stood up and grunted.
A short while later I heard the outer door slam.
I slowly opened the door and peered out. The rest of the house was empty, but the living area looked like a bomb had hit it.
There were empty pizza boxes, along with empty bottles. The bottles had contained various types of alcohol. They had been tossed on the floor. Some of these people really were animals.
I walked into the kitchen, found a cleanish tea towel, and soaked it with some water. I cleaned the cut on my face as best as I could. I figured I might as well try and get some sleep so I headed back to the makeshift bedroom. I lay down on the mattress. Closing my eyes, I slowly slipped into a light sleep.
