Claimed

Chapter 2: Revenge

Red's POV:

My eyes opened to see cushions of a burnt-orange couch that had seen better days. The stitching that was meant to make up some kind of square pattern was probably originally white or something close to it but was now yellow and more like deformed blobs than actual squares. Before I fell asleep for the very brief amount of time I was asleep, I decided to not question what the stains were because it wasn't as if I had a lot of options and it was better than sleeping outside or on the floor whose stains were somehow even more questionable.

It wasn't that I'd been asleep and woke up to see this. I'd been awake for a while but wanted to pretend I had some semblance of normalcy and was really sleeping like everyone else was. I'd been up all night comforting a pregnant Talia over the loss of her mate a few months ago, and the mourning that the baby inside her would grow without every knowing their father. Then I was up with Diego, promising him he'd have a chance to be ranked as soon as we were in a stable place. Sleep was the least of my priorities last night.

I rolled onto my back and glanced around the living room in the small hostel. There was absolutely nothing in this room, or really in almost the whole apartment, except couches. Couches meant to hold us rogues who had nowhere else to go.

I quietly rolled off the couch and to the floor, dropping into pushups. It didn't matter if I was tired. Rogues didn't have the luxury of being tired. I still had to be ready for anything. I left it at a hundred then reluctantly stood, wiping my hands off on my pants and making a face at the stained carpet.

Just because it was my only option, didn't mean I liked it.

I carefully tiptoed over to the front door and opened it as quietly as possible, slipping out and closing it with the softest click I could manage. It was going to be a long day, a long night. My pack needed to be ready for that.

"Awake already, Luna?"

I glanced to the side, finding Darius sitting on the ground with his long legs stretched out in front of him, hands crossed over behind his head, and eyes closed. The sun reflected off the sheen of sweat on his forehead, making his rich umber skin reflect a little extra. If his eyes were open I'd be able to see that little bit of gold in what normally seemed to be solid dark brown eyes. He was one of those people that enjoyed feeling the warmth of the sun on his face. I was too, normally, but after spending months in colder areas, the sticky heat of the South was no longer what I was used to. My black hair was already sticking to my neck before I did those damn pushups. Still, a tan wouldn't kill me. My skin tanned easily but rarely burned, I at least could let that happen since I was going to be hot anyway.

"You already knew that, Alpha," I said, nudging his leg with my foot before leaning over the bars of the second-story porch and watching the sun continue rising higher, the orange and red streaks in the sky becoming paler and paler.

Technically speaking, we weren't a pack. I wasn't a pack leader and he wasn't either. But fuck technicalities and fuck the supernatural law. We were a pack whether the Elders wanted to acknowledge it or not, and Darius and I were the pack leaders whether they liked our different situation or not. Normally, pack leaders were mated pairs, if not fated mated pairs, they were at least claimed mated pairs- claimed as in chose each other to be their mate instead of going along with the Goddess's plans of a fated one.

Dari and I were neither.

I was a Luna because I was born to be. It was in my blood, whether my family acknowledged my claim or not. It was in my blood and they couldn't take that away. It was not in Darius's blood. He would technically be an Omega if you went by bloodlines alone, but anyone that thought that was the wise way to go was a fucking idiot. Darius was a natural born leader, a natural Alpha. He may not have come from pack leaders but it only took one look at him to know he had what it took. He had the confidence, the strength, the compassion, the loyalty, and the love, all in one giant intimidating package. He was the only Alpha I would ever feel good working alongside. I fucking hated Alphas. Dari was the only exception.