Valerie’s POV
The acrid smoke from Voss’s cigarette mixed with the stench of unwashed bodies and stale beer that permanently perated the rogue camp. I stretched languidly against his massive chest, my naked skin still gleaming with sweat from our latest encounter. Around us, the ramshackle throne room—if you could call this collection of stolen furniture and animal pelts a throne room—buzzed with the usual evening debauchery.
"Again," Voss growled, his massive hands gripping my hips as he pulled down harder onto his lap. His voice was rough with barely contained lust, the sa tone that had made a dozen rogue soldiers beg for their turn with earlier.
I threw my head back, golden hair cascading over my shoulders as I moved against him with practiced expertise. The power I wielded here was intoxicating—not just over Voss, but over every male in this godforsaken camp. They fought each other for the privilege of warming my bed, and I used every single one of them to forget the humiliation the forr pack had put through.
"My lady is insatiable tonight," one of Voss’s lieutenants, called out from across the room where he lounged with Anna. She was draped across his lap like a cat, her bleached hair wild and her lipstick sared.
"Can you bla ?" I purred, trailing my nails down Voss’s scarred chest. "When I have such... capable warriors to choose from."
The room erupted in appreciative growls and crude laughter. These animals were so easy to manipulate, so desperate for female attention that they’d do anything I asked. It was almost too simple.
But my mont of satisfaction was shattered by the sound of running footsteps outside. The heavy wooden door to our makeshift throne room burst open with enough force to rattle the entire structure, and a lone figure stumbled inside.
The ssenger was barely recognizable as one of our own. His clothes were torn and blackened, his face streaked with soot and blood. One arm hung uselessly at his side, and he could barely stay upright as he staggered toward us.
"Voss!" he gasped, falling to his knees before the makeshift throne. "Sir, I... the mission..."
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. Voss’s hands tightened on my waist, his muscles going rigid beneath as predatory alertness replaced lazy satisfaction. Around us, the other rogues fell silent, sensing the importance of whatever news this man carried.
"Report," Voss commanded, his voice carrying the lethal authority that had made him king of the rogues.
"It was a trap," the ssenger choked out, his words coming in ragged gasps between labored breaths. "They knew we were coming. Sohow, they knew exactly what we were planning."
Ice water flooded my veins. I jerked upright, suddenly not caring that I was naked in a room full of leering males. "What do you an, they knew?"
The ssenger’s eyes found mine, and I saw sothing there that made my stomach clench with dreadâ€"not just fear, but the hollow look of a man who had witnessed total defeat.
"The Alpha King... he pulled back his patrols just like we wanted. Made it look like our attacks had worked, like his forces were too depleted to maintain border security." The man paused, wiping blood from his mouth with a shaking hand. "But it was all fake. A trap to lure us into the open."
"Impossible," I snarled, sliding off Voss’s lap to pace across the rough wooden floor. "They’ve been taking casualties for weeks! I saw the reports myself—wounded soldiers, decreased patrol frequency, all the signs that their defenses were crumbling."
"That’s what they wanted us to see," the ssenger continued, his voice growing stronger with desperate urgency. "When our teams moved in to probe their ’weakened’ positions, they were waiting for us."
Voss rose from his throne like a mountain coming to life, his massive fra radiating murderous rage. "How many?" he demanded.
"Both assault teams," the ssenger whispered. "Gone. Captured or dead. I’m the only one who escaped, and only because I was stationed as a lookout on the ridge."
The silence that followed was deafening. Forty of our best fighters, gone in a single night. Months of careful planning, weeks of successful raids, all undone by one perfectly executed counter-strategy.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" I shrieked, my voice cracking with fury and disbelief. "They’re weak! Broken! I’ve seen their wounded soldiers, their exhausted patrols. There’s no way they could have orchestrated sothing this sophisticated!"
But even as the words left my mouth, a terrible understanding began to dawn.
"Tell everything," I demanded, grabbing the ssenger by his uninjured arm. "Every detail about how they knew, how they prepared, everything!"
He winced but didn’t pull away. "The timing was too perfect, my lady. They didn’t just happen to have explosives in the right places—they were placed specifically to target our retreat routes."
"Who?" Voss’s voice was barely above a growl, but it carried enough nace to make every person in the room flinch.
"That’s the thing," the ssenger said, his eyes darting nervously between Voss and . "The other rogues, the ones who’d been monitoring their communications... they’ve been hearing talk about a new Luna. Soone with special abilities, soone who’s been healing their wounded and giving strategic advice."
The world seed to tilt sideways. Luna. New Luna. Soone with healing abilities and strategic intelligence.
"Describe her," I whispered, though part of already knew the answer.
"Dark hair, green eyes. Used to be an oga, but sohow beca an alpha. They say she can heal mortal wounds with just her touch, and that she’s the one who ca up with the plan to trap our forces."
A sound escaped my throat that was part scream, part animal howl. Everything I had worked for, everything I had sacrificed, and that pathetic little oga had not only stolen my place beside Damien but had actively orchestrated the destruction of my new life.
"SERAPHINA!" I shrieked, the na tearing from my throat like a curse. "That fucking bitch! How is this possible? She was nothing! A nobody! A worthless oga who should be dead!"
Anna sat up straighter, her face pale with sudden understanding. "Val, if she’s really beco Luna..."
"She hasn’t beco anything!" I snarled, spinning to face her. "She’s a fraud, a pretender who’s sohow fooled everyone into believing she’s special. But I know the truth. I know what she really is."
Voss was watching with calculating eyes, his earlier rage giving way to the cold intelligence that made him a formidable enemy. "You know this woman."
"She’s my stepsister," I spat, not caring anymore about maintaining the fiction that had helped gain acceptance here. "The oga brat my parents took in out of pity. She ruined my engagent, stole my rightful place, and now she’s destroyed my chance at revenge."
"Then we kill her," Voss said simply, as if discussing the weather.
Yes, he’s right. Kill, I’ll kill her!
I leaned into his touch, but my eyes remained fixed on the ssenger who had brought us this devastating news. Soon, very soon, Seraphina Knight would learn what happened to oga bitches who forgot their place in the world.
She’d stolen everything from , but I was going to take sothing from her that she could never get back.
Her son. Her mate. Her life.
All of it.
Reviews
All reviews (0)