A Rogue's Heart

Prologue

It was the summer of my tenth birthday that my whole life was destroyed. Everything and everyone that I knew no longer existed after that day. My dad was our Alpha’s best tracker, and even though I wasn’t a boy, Dad was slowly teaching me how to make my senses sharper.

Though he never showed it, he was proud of me. Once I heard him tell my mom that I was a natural. I’m not sure what Dad thought I drew my skills from, but I thought that with my voice gone, everything else increased to even the loss out.

Currently, everyone was getting ready for the pack barbeque and Mom had sent me out to play. I knew that she loved wildflowers, so I was just roaming through the woods, picking the ones that were most vibrant.

I had just gathered what I thought was enough and was walking back to house when the screaming and shooting started. I had just stumbled into my backyard when the back door opened and I watched as my mom fell out and onto the ground. She saw me and I watched as a look of sadness and fear.

“Run Jenny, run.” She yelled at me softly, tears streaming down her face. I just stood there shocked out of my mind. As I focused on Mom’s face, everything else seemed to become muted. Sticking out of her back was a curved blade and I knew instantly that it belonged to hunters.

Dad once told me that our pack wasn’t very well known outside of our little world. He said that for over 300 hundred years, our pack’s blood line has stayed pure. We are a part of the King’s secret service, but he hasn’t had need of our skills in years. Dad took me to his office and showed me a ring that had been given to my grandfather by the King’s grandfather.

If we ever needed to speak to him, but they wouldn’t let us in, all we had to do was flash the ring. He also showed me the things that were important to our family: the heirlooms, birth certificates, and deeds to the house and land. The key to the safe lay hidden in the locket around my neck.

I knew what I had to do. Turning around, I flew back into the forest to hide. I crawled into an old fox den and curled into a tight ball. For days, the screams filled my ears and I stayed where I was.

After five days, everything was silent. Slowly creeping out, I make my way through the trees like a ghost. The sight that awaited me was seared into my brain, thanks to my photographic memory. I finally reached my house and entered it slowly, the stench of death heavy around me.

I head straight to Dad’s office and remove the locked box. Once in my room, I put several mementoes in a small bag over the box and went back to the bodies. Dad’s laid just outside the kitchen, reaching towards the door where Mom was. Quickly covering him up, I slide the mate ring off his finger and then repeat the process with Mom.

I then take my necklace off and string their rings onto it. Picking up Dad’s cell phone, I dial the Council. Someone answered, but I hung up. I called them two more times and hung up after they answered. It was a code that everyone in the pack was taught since they could walk.

Taking one last glance around me, I left. Though tears were streaming down my face, I didn’t make a sound. I slipped into the forest and disappeared. At the age of ten, I became Rouge.