Rogue (Blood Moon Series Book 1) Read online

  Rogue

  D. E. Bartley

  Copyright © 2021 D. E. Bartley

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  ISBN: 9798762200950

  Cover design by: Roni London

  DEDICATION

  To my husband Nick and our three boys,

  who have supported and encouraged me, whilst I try and make sense of my ramblings. Thank you for all the cups of coffee, glasses of gin, and space during my many meltdowns.

  I love you.

  Prologue

  Two years ago

  Gradually I start sensing things around me as I regain consciousness. I know better than to open my eyes; I have to ensure I’m alone first. I lie here on the mattress which stinks, and listen. I can hear the crickets as well as the familiar sound of the wind blowing through the trees outside. An owl hoot tells me it must be night-time, then nothing. I strain my ears to check; the tell-tale sign of his breathing is absent. I let out a sigh of relief; he’s gone, for now.

  Slowly, I start to open my eyes, but only one opens fully. From the pain, I know the other is swollen shut.

  The room’s dark, the only light coming from the moon outside and the light around the doorframe. Was it light when he last came in? The last thing I remember before the blow was the look of anger on his face. I’d refused him; I had fought him, attempting to stop him, begged him to leave me rest for one day. So he’d beaten me, knocking me unconscious. From the pain radiating from between my legs, he had taken what he desired, not needing me to be coherent, he never had before; why would he start now?

  Why had I fought him? I’ve promised to be a well-behaved loving mate and to work with him, to let him impregnate me with his pups. He’s going to build a pack, him at the head of it, me obediently by his side. Him, the undefeatable alpha and me, the magical luna, who can use their magic to ensure he’s the strongest he can be and protect his pack from any threat. All I must do is be good, listen and obey him, and, most importantly, behave how a luna is expected to behave. “You’re not his luna. He is not your alpha or your mate. Your true mate is out there. You’re worth more than this. Your true mate will show you what it means to be loved.” Shut up, just shut up!

  There she goes again, that voice in my head, my wolf, telling me to fight to be strong to do the opposite of what he wants. But where has that gotten me? Where am I? I’m lying on a stinking, filthy mattress, which is covered in every bodily fluid you can think of; most of it my own. Locked in this tiny little rundown room, with nothing but this mattress, a bucket to piss in, and a covered window. “Be strong. You’re giving up. Fight.” For what? Fighting has brought me nothing but pain and sorrow. As long as I behave, my family is safe; my coven is safe. That’s all that matters. The longer I do as I’m told, the chances of me seeing them again will increase. That’s what he keeps telling me. “If you keep listening to him, you will end up dead! Just like the last girl who he tried to make his luna! You know this; you heard it yourself.” Just shut up.

  The way she goes on, you would think I want this, I don’t. I want to go home, I want my family, I want to feel my uncle’s arms around me as he hugs me. I want to taste my auntie’s cookies, fresh out of the oven and so hot that the melted chocolate burns your tongue. I want to feel the sun warming my face, the grass in between my toes, to smell the rain, and feel the breeze on my skin. I want it all, but most of all, I want to be free, free from the pain, free from this room, free from him.

  “Then FIGHT!”

  Suddenly the sound of footsteps pierces the silence. I close my eyes and try to lie perfectly still, hoping he will think I am still unconscious. I hear the lock on the door click just before it opens. The door close, and his footsteps get closer.

  “Time to wake up, sweetheart.” He whispers as his fingers brush the side of my face. Over the bruising on my cheek, I instantly flinch from the touch and know I have no choice but to open my eyes now. The first thing I see is his dark grey eyes looking at me, then that smile. How can he smile when he can see what he has done to me?

  “Because he likes it, he’s a sadist, he likes the pain he inflicts on you.”

  “Do you realise what tonight is, sweetheart? It’s a full moon.” Oh no, not already. I’m hurting enough, not tonight, please. “I was going to let you out with me to run. You’ve been so good, so well behaved. But then you ruined it, so now you’ll have to stay here again.” The softness leaves his face, that look which screams a warning of the pain that’s on the way replacing it. I quickly sit up; I can feel the tears burning in my eyes.

  “I’m sorry, I really am; I don’t know what came over me. Please forgive me, Alpha, please don’t hurt me again.” I feel a sob escape my lips. He runs a finger over my cheek, collecting a stray tear, before lifting it to his lips to taste it.

  “Do you think I like hurting you? I wouldn’t have to if you did as you’re told. How can I trust you to come out with me if you won’t even sleep with your mate without fighting them?”

  “I’ll do better, I promise.” I watch as that grin spreads across his face, his eyes darkening. I shuffle back away from him until my back’s pressed against the wall, and I know I can’t go any further.

  “Oh, I know you will because if you don’t, I’ll start killing members of that precious coven of yours, one by one, starting with the leader, your uncle.” I jump forward to beg him to leave him alone, but he hits me with a back-hander across the face sending me back against the wall with such force I hear my skull crack as everything goes dark.

  Chapter One

  Daisy

  Just when I thought my sneaking in days were numbered, here I am doing it like a pro. Ethan Hunt ain’t got shit on a girl trying to avoid looking like she’s doing the walk of shame. I slowly slide my key into the lock of my apartment door. Cautiously twisting until I feel the mechanism slide with the slightest of clicks. Taking a deep breath, I ease the door open, praying to every God and Goddess I can think of that it doesn’t squeak, waking my sleeping friends inside.

  Ensuring there’s enough room, I squeeze through. Slowly, carefully, I release the key before removing it from the lock. Once inside, I slide the door back into place with just as much caution while holding the handle. It gives the tiniest of clicks causing me to freeze, listening to the silence for any sign of my friends stirring, nothing. Releasing the breath I’d held, I turned towards my room.

  Considering that was the first time I’ve snuck into this dorm at stupid o’clock in the morning, I think I’ll take this as a success. Tired and aching after the night’s activities, I creep to my room before repeating the mission of unlocking the door without waking anyone. I’ve just opened the door when there is movement from another room. Quickly I throw my bag through the gap onto my bedroom floor; knowing it is too late to hide, they’ll hear my door as it closes.

  “Daisy, is that you?” A voice comes from down the hall. I turn to see one of my dorm mates walking into the hallway. I let out a sigh of relief; it’s only Tony.

  “Yeah, it’s me. Sorry, did I wake you?” He yawns, ruffling his black curly mop of hair, before stretching as he walks towards me, wearing nothing but his boxers. I hold my bedroom door open for him so we can talk in private.

  “No, I was already awake. Did everything go okay last night?” he asks, I scrunch up my nose in distaste.

  “As well as it could have, I guess.” I can see the sympathy written all over his face. “What are you doing up so early?” I ask, trying to quickly change the subject.

  “I thought I’d get a coffee and chill in front of the TV for a bit before everybody else gets up.” Tony looks at me with his warm brown eyes, smiling gently. “Plus, I wanted to check you had gotten back okay. I was a little worried about you.” I’m about to scold him for worrying when he reaches towards me and pulls a leaf out of my hair. “It’s a good thing I saw this before one of the girls.” He laughs, waving the leaf in my face. I swat it away, which just makes him laugh more. “Wouldn’t want them thinking you were out for an early roll in the bushes with some strange local, would we?” he adds, wiggling his eyebrows at me playfully.

  “You’re such a child,” I mutter whilst turning away, smiling, heading to my small bathroom. “I’m going for a shower. I’ll be back in fifteen. I expect there to be coffee in the pot and toast on a plate.” I stick my head out of the door and point at him. “And put some damn clothes on for the love of God; we don’t need to see those chicken legs this early in the morning.” I can hear Tony chuckling to himself as I head back to the shower as he walks towards my door. Although, to be fair, his legs are far from weak looking, his body isn’t a bad sight either.

  “Oh please, you just hate seeing what you can’t have, witchy bitch.”

  “Really? Why would I want what everybody else has already had, Demon Boy?” I call back; I can hear him laughing as he closes my door.

  Have you ever met someone and wondered where they’ve been your whole life? That’s what it was like when I first met Tony. Not in a romantic way, not at all. Instead, we just became instant best friends. I’d been worried I’d be on my own here,
but meeting Tony has been a blessing. I can honestly say having him as a friend will make this journey a lot easier. I let out a deep sigh as I stepped back into my room and take it in. Home sweet home.

  Two weeks ago, I moved into the student dormitories at a university in North Wales. I’m twenty-two living away from what little family I have left for the first time. When I was six, my mother died suddenly, my father, whilst visiting family in Ireland a year later was caught up in an IRA bombing, his body was never found. Luckily, I was taken in by my auntie Mary and uncle Nigel; they’ve brought me up, they’ve loved and cared for me like I was their own child.

  Turning to my chest of drawers, I look at the picture of my auntie and uncle I have next to one of my parents and me, just before everything changed. I wonder what my auntie and uncle are doing now. I am sure my auntie would be baking some goodies for my uncle’s breakfast whilst he reads the paper in his favourite chair in the kitchen. I miss them so much.

  I quickly grab my phone and send a text, letting them know I survived last night and that I would call them later to tell them about my first day of classes. Then, I grab my wash bag before heading back into my tiny shower room.

  Once there, I start stripping as the shower warms up. Catching my reflection in the large mirror over my sink, I stop in my tracks. Thank the goddess; it had been Tony who caught me sneaking in, and I’d been covered up. It would have been harder to convince the girls I hadn’t been up to something if they’d seen all the mud up to my right arm and across my shoulder. I turn and look at my back. Yep, there would have been no excuse for this amount of mud on my body. I guess I could’ve told them the truth. I can just hear how that conversation would have gone. “The thing is, girls, I was curled up under a bush in the middle of nowhere where I spent six hours as a wolf.”

  That’s right, surprise! I’m a werewolf. Last night was a full moon, so I’d snuck into a local woodland, curled up and hidden from the world, to ride out my forced shift. Guess you can see now why I can’t tell people the truth about where I’ve been. Of course, Tony is aware, but that’s only because he’s also supernatural, a fire demon, to be precise. Hence, he understands a little about what I go through. He is part of our world, the girls who also live here are not, so we keep what we are from them. Thankfully we have each other.

  I hate being a werewolf; even the word makes me feel sick. Changing into a wolf once a month is still new to me, as I wasn’t born a wolf.

  Two years ago, I was changed against my will, not long after I had to learn to deal with what’d happened to me, alone. Because I am not part of a pack, I am known as a Rogue. This means I had nobody to teach me or help me learn how to be a wolf or control her. Getting the courage to approach a pack for help has always been difficult for me. What if they treated me the same way as the asshole who did this to me? Would they treat me differently as I have heard they don’t trust witches?

  That’s right, I hit the supernatural jackpot; two supernatural abilities for the price of one, a magical werewolf hybrid; yay for me! Yes, witches and sorcerers are real too. I was born a witch, every member of my family is of magical blood. They are also all in the same coven. My coven has never left my side through it all, but I have never been able to go back to any meetings. The main reason being they are usually on a full moon. Yeah, I’m a little preoccupied those nights. Secondly, I’m ashamed of what I’ve become; I don’t feel I deserve their loyalty. Thirdly, my magic has never been the same since I was turned. It’s much weaker, and we have no idea why; I miss how it was before; I was stronger with it, it was part of me, it was my birth rite.

  I quickly snap out of my thoughts before jumping into the shower to wash away all evidence and memory of how I spent my night. Plus, I really need my morning coffee.

  Once showered and dressed in my favourite jeans and hoody, I head into the kitchen, where Tony is now sitting fully dressed, nursing a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal.

  “There’s coffee in the pot.” He says as I walk in. I thank him before heading to it; goddess, I need coffee.

  “You look knackered. Didn’t you sleep after you shifted?” Tony asks as I sit opposite him at the table, shaking my head.

  “Nope, never do. My hearing becomes too sensitive, so even the silence is noisy.” I reply as I take a big sip of my coffee, relaxing in my seat, savouring the sweet-bitter brown nectar. I rely heavily on my morning caffeine to help me function. Plus, I really want to avoid all questions regarding last night. Tony seems to realise and thankfully changes the subject.

  “Are you ready for the first day of classes?” I nod, unable to answer verbally as I have a piece of toast hanging out of my mouth and am busy tying my chest-length dark blonde hair into a messy bun on the top of my head. Tony just smiles at me before carrying on. “Yeah, me too. Feeling nervous as hell, though.”

  “I’m sure it will be fine.” I take another sip of my coffee then smile at my friend. “Just think in about five years when we are high rising lawyers, taking the supernatural world by storm, today will feel like a lifetime ago. We will look back wondering why we were so nervous.” Tony glances up at me from his cereal bowl.

  “Don’t think I will let you forget about our plan to become business partners.” He winks playfully.

  “Oh, don’t worry, I won’t. I can’t wait to have you as my coffee bitch.” I laugh.

  “We’ll see, pretty sure it will be your bitchy arse bringing me my coffee, not the other way around.”

  Tony and I sit and talk until an hour before class. Then, Tony heads out to meet a couple of the guys we met yesterday. I decide to head off early myself, as I will pick up a few of the cafeteria’s muffins before class. They are so good they always sell out quickly. I missed out yesterday, and I don’t plan on making the same mistake twice.

  Chapter Two

  Daisy

  I pop into the cafeteria for the muffins as well as a bacon sandwich to eat now. The four slices of toast I ate with Tony earlier didn’t fill the bottomless pit that is my stomach.

  Tony is always laughing at me as I eat continuously. The high metabolism is a significant perk of being a shifter; we quickly burn off the excess calories. As a result, it’s nearly impossible to gain weight, which makes this twenty-two-year-old extremely happy. I loved my food before I became a wolf, but being able to eat as much of it as I want now without the fear of going up ten dress sizes is fantastic. However, I’d give up the unlimited food if it meant I’d no longer be a wolf in a heartbeat.

  When I get to the cafeteria, I’m shocked at how busy it is. I’ve never seen it so packed at nine-thirty before. I guess people are all up early, ready for the first day of classes, as Tony and I were. It takes a while for me to get to the front of the queue, but luckily there are still plenty of muffins left, so I grab one of each. Hey, I’m not kidding when I say they are amazing, no judging, okay!

  For the middle of September, it’s still surprisingly warm. The grounds are all filled with bright flowers and leafy trees. The witch in me longs to spend some time in nature. I check my watch, realising I have a bit of time before I need to start heading to class, so I find a bench to sit and read for a bit.

  As I’m rummaging through my bag searching for my book, my wolf perks up “wolf”, the scent hits me as I’m about to question her. Shit, there is another wolf. I turn to face the direction it is coming from. Two men are walking towards me, deep in conversation. “Wolf.” My wolf repeats; it can’t be one of them, surely. I subtly sniff the air again, shit it is.

  My heart starts racing as I take in the two men; I realise that the shorter of the two is Martin, the head of the Law Department. I met him briefly a couple of days ago. I know I hadn’t picked up on a wolf scent then, so it can’t be him. I look over to the other guy; my stomach drops. Holy shit, he is hot. Not just desirable, but clamp your legs tight to try and stop the aching in your lower stomach hot, I want; no, I need him, now!

  I look at this definition of pure sex walking towards me; he must be at least six foot eight, as he is towering over Martin’s short five-and-a-half-foot frame. He has dark brown hair, which is slightly longer on the top, just long enough for me to entwine my fingers into it to pull his gorgeous kissable lips to mine. What the hell? Get a grip, Daisy! As much as I try, I can’t tear my eyes away from him. It’s like I can’t see anything but him.