From Rougue To Luna novel Chapter 1

Six years. I hadn't been back in my home pack's lands in six years. I never thought I'd actually be able to make it on my own when I walked across our southern border and out into the world at seventeen with nothing but a duffle bag and the clothes on my back.

As I stepped back across the border now at the age of twenty-three, I could barely even remember that girl who'd left so many years ago. She was just a child full of desperate sadness and loss, yet filled with hope and wonder for her path ahead of her. She had been courageous and strong, never looking back at the pack who'd shunned her for simply being born without a father.

Once my mother had died, I knew I couldn't remain as a solitary omega in the pack. If I was going to be forced to live alone, then I was going to do it own my terms. I'd had no idea how hard that would actually be.

But now, after everything that had happened, I had no other choice but to return home. He'd kept me on the run for three years, and I was out of places to hide. It was time to face my demons head on and find a way back into the pack. If I wanted to survive, I'd have to.

As I made my way slowly through the woods, memories of my childhood began to flood into the forefront of my mind. I could see my mother as clear as if she were right in front of me. She'd tried to make my life as easy as she could given our outsider status. No matter how often I'd asked, she would never reveal who my father was, or why she willingly let us live the life of omegas in our own pack. It was something we'd fought often about, but now she was gone and I was more alone than ever, with an ever-constant shadow following me. As I crossed the border, I couldn't help but think of her.

I miss you mama. I'm home now.

I could hear her singing softly to me as I cried myself to sleep each night, wishing that the moon would have given me a mate like all of the others. The day the oracle revealed that as an Omega I was not entitled to a mate given by the heavens, I was heartbroken. I'd seen my mother live through her pain every day without her mate. It was a loneliness I did not wish to inherit.

Now I'd give anything not to be living with a constant demon following me everywhere I went. I was completely isolated and yet never fully alone, always waiting for the other show to drop as I moved to the next town to avoid detection. He was never far behind, which meant I couldn't stay in one place too long. I can't believe I'd fallen for him. I had been so stupid to believe his lies, and now I'd have to live with him following behind me for the rest of my life. I'd forever be looking over my shoulder while I waited for him to find me.

Six Years Before

I stood abruptly from my chair, pushing it back with the force of my movement. I walked woodenly over to the closet and grabbed the duffle from the top of my closet and began shoving the essential items I'd need into it. I wasn't staying here. I wouldn't live like my mother. I couldn't.

If I was going to be forced to be alone, then I'd do just that, but on my own terms. I had no idea what that meant, or how I'd manage, but I didn't care. Life as a Rogue would honestly be just as bad as the one of an Omega with no other family. I was seventeen, old enough to figure it out. My first shift wouldn't come until later in the year on my eighteenth birthday. I'd just have to endure it alone. I'd seen first shifts hundreds of times, but I knew it was nothing compared to actually experiencing it yourself.

My stomach knotted intensely, but I pushed it deep down inside of me, taking deep calming breaths as I zipped my bag closed. Guilt panged my heart at leaving so abruptly, but I knew if I didn't go now, I'd lose my nerve. I slung the bag over my shoulder and took a final look around our little cabin on the edge of the pack lands. It wasn't much, but it had been our home.

I'm sorry mama. I just can't stay here. I can't live that way like you did. I love you. I wish you were still here with me.