"You don't know what someone has been through until you go through it yourself, Alpha Connors." I whispered quietly, my eyes downcast, avoiding his patronizing gaze.
"I wouldn't need to know exactly, I just... Where did you get those scars, sunshine?" He ran four fingers carefully over my face, on my scars. I shivered lightly; it felt amazing. His fingers curled back and he cupped my cheek. I pressed my face into his hand, my wolf fully in control.
"I-I don't... I don't know, Alpha." I responded as quietly as I could, so his temper wouldn't arouse.
It worked.
He leaned down and softly whispered in my ear, sending shudders up and down my spine.
"We'll have to jog your memory, princess."
***********************************************
Rogue Castle isn't what she sounds to be. She's an Omega, the lowest of the low in a pack, the most pathetic. She must respect everyone, especially if they bully her, physically or verbally. It's usually physical.
This was what she'd been taught her entire life, by her parents, the higher-ups, even the bullies. They beat it into her, of course, but Rogue knew no other life.
Until one day, when Rogue accidentally stood up to the bullies. By accident, of course. And, to prove how unfair her life, her pack is, the Alpha, Alpha Wolf, kicked her out. Stupid name, yes, even worse personality.
Now Rogue was exactly what she was treated as. A rogue. And she had to survive as one. But when she stumbled across a pack after years of being alone and packless, a prankster of sorts, she couldn't believe her luck, and she was curious.
Because her mate was in that pack.
And he was the Alpha.
And as they say, curiosity killed the wolf. And her human.
Every half century in a small little town hidden in the woods, a beast comes out from the forest to claim his bride on the night of an eclipse. The people of call this phenomenon "the taking". This beast is said to be very dangerous. It roams door to door searching for the woman whose being calls to his animal instincts. He will kill, mutilate and destroy everything in his path until he finds his bride. In the past, the townsmen have tried to hunt the creature and kill him before they can steal one of their marriageable daughters, but the beast does not hunt alone. He has followers among the shadows to make sure his goal is accomplished. Once he finds his bride, he carries her back to the forest where she is never seen or heard from again.
Celeste believes this so-called "legend" is just some scary fairytale her grandmother made up to scare her. But was she ever wrong when a pair of moonlit eyes stared straight at her through her bedroom window and entered her room. Next thing she knew, she was being carried out the house and into the woods by a half-naked man who called her his.
Who would have thought? Grandma wasn't crazy after all.
Young Adult novel. Paranormal/Comedy-Romance @2014