Heart of a rogue

* Chapter 1.2 - Prologue - going rogue

Everyone was just as shocked by Declan's declaration as I was. I'd just turned sixteen! No one found their mate so young. Sure, it happened, but rarely.

As we all shifted back to our human forms, my father stepped protectively in front of me. "She's still a child, Alpha Declan Sullivan," he said firmly.

Declan's piercing gaze swept over me, and anxiety made me shrink back, hiding behind my father. My mother's reassuring hand on my shoulder helped, but only a little. Declan gave my father a respectful nod. "I can see that, Alpha Theodore. My wolf's just a little on edge. I'll go for a run to settle him. We can talk after." His words weren't meant for me but for my father, and he turned and disappeared into the woods before I could say anything.

My aunt hugged me tight, whispering, "It'll be okay, honey." Then, turning to my father, she murmured, "She's so young, Theo..."

"I know she is! She isn't ready to be anyone's Luna." My father's frustration simmered under the surface, and hearing them argue about me stung. I felt like crying, a bystander in my own life, powerless over decisions made for me. Why did he run off like that?

Once we got back home, my parents sent both me and my little brother, Isaac, to our rooms. They'd barked at us to stay there, but Isaac soon crept into my room. "Are you staying?" he whispered.

I hugged him tightly, voice low. "I... I don't know. Did you see how he looked at me?" The memory made me feel small, like I wasn't enough. "There was no kindness or warmth. Just... indifference."

"No way. You're so pretty!" Isaac tried to cheer me up, taking the necklace Alpha Declan had given me and fastening it around my neck.

The gesture was sweet, but a nagging thought remained—I wasn't some woman who could handle the world like him. I was just a girl, and a girl with no experience in the world of relationships or pack politics.

A few moments later, the sound of the front door opening drew me downstairs, where I sat just out of view, eavesdropping.

"She's too young for a mate," my mother said, her voice calm but firm.

Declan responded, "I agree, Luna Harding. She's far too young, and age is... well, a problem."

"Then what?" my father's voice asked. "Every instinct in you must be begging to claim her."

A tense silence fell. Then, finally, Declan replied, "My wolf is. But I can't, and I won't. She's far too young, unprepared. I'll return home without—"

Before I knew it, I'd pushed open the door. I stood in the doorway, meeting his eyes—those fierce dark green eyes, intense and unapologetic. "And don't I get a say in this?" I demanded. "I've come of age. Why doesn't my opinion matter?"

Declan's gaze darkened as he stepped toward me. "You should've stayed on the stairs," he growled, his hand covering my cheek entirely.

I forced myself to hold his gaze. "I wanted to talk to you. Not my father or my mother. Just you." My voice was barely above a whisper, but it was all I could manage in his intimidating presence.

He raised an eyebrow, then shot a glance at my parents. "Fine. But leave the door open." He smirked slightly as he added, "I've got more self-control than that."

His tone stung. I knew I was young, but his words made me feel like a child in his eyes. Annoyed, I muttered, "Whatever you want, Alpha." The formality slipped out before I could stop it.

He narrowed his eyes as if I'd insulted him, but he didn't say anything. "Your room even looks like a child's," he muttered, surveying the modest space around us.

I couldn't hold back my frustration. "I'm not a child."

He closed the distance between us, grasping my chin gently but firmly. "You are," he replied, not unkindly.

I frowned, more defiant than I felt. "Then how old are you?"

"I'm twenty-five. Nine years older than you," he said, running a hand over his face in apparent frustration. "And because of that, you're going to stay here, safe."

"Stay here, while you go back to your life and return whenever it suits you?" Anger flared up before I could stop it, and I didn't back down, standing firm before him. "You can't just decide my life!"

A flicker of something in his eyes, maybe sympathy, made him pull me closer until I was perched on his knee. My heart hammered as he placed a hand on my hip. "Lucy," he said quietly, "look at yourself. You're not ready. And I won't make you act like you are."

Tears stung my eyes. "So you just find me... unattractive?" I tried to wriggle free from his hold, hurt clawing at my chest.

His face softened with guilt. "It's not that. I can't... I won't mate with someone this young."

"Then at least be brave enough to reject me," I shot back, feeling a surge of painful determination.

He hesitated, then shook his head. "I'm not rejecting you, Lucy. Just wait for me." He still didn't move to leave.

"Fine,  you can fuck off too then," I whispered, fingers trembling as I reached up to the necklace. I yanked it off, throwing it to the floor before walking out of the room.

Downstairs, my father's voice stopped me. "Lucille, you're not going out. It's dark; come back inside!"

I looked back at him, my wolf's instincts already stirring, and then ran out, my body shifting in a surge of defiance and heartbreak. I let my wolf take me to the edge of the forest, a line I wasn't meant to cross. But tonight, I didn't care.

My mate didn't want me. My father wanted to control me. They all did.

As I paused at the forest's edge, I looked back to make sure no one was following. My family thought I'd come back to them, just a girl acting out. But not tonight. Tonight, on my birthday, I'd break free from the cage of their expectations and set out to live on my terms.

Everyone can just fuck off.