The Night He Threw Me to Rogues and I Never Came BackChapter 3

The force of it was enough to leave half my face swollen and hot.

But I did not cry.

I smiled and bent down to pick up the gold coin, pressing it tight against my chest with both hands.

The day Red Moon Pack was purged, I held my parents' severed heads and wept until I nearly lost consciousness.

I had no fight left in me then, only the single desperate wish to die.

When the pack guards raised their blades toward me, I closed my eyes and refused to move out of the way.

It was Nara, my father's lover, who threw herself in front of me and took the blow with her own body.

Her daughter Mia was right there beside us, screaming as someone tore her clothes from her body.

Nara did not even look.

She only held me tighter and reached up to wipe the tears from the corners of my eyes.

"Leah, Alpha Howard and the Luna were always so kind to me. I have no way to repay that kindness except this."

"Please. If there is even the smallest chance of surviving, do not let it go."

I assumed she wanted me to survive for Mia's sake, but her smile was full of a grief that ran too deep for that.

"Your sister has always been sickly. If she dies, she dies. But you are different. You are the only one who can make sure this debt in blood is never forgotten."

I watched Nara be cut apart in front of me.

She would not release her hold on me even at the very end.

I could not leave a debt like that unpaid.

So when I learned that Mia had not died, that she had been sent to the border outpost as well, I bit down until something cracked, and I let go of the idea of dying.

I could be used and degraded until nothing clean remained.

But I wanted Mia to live with her dignity intact.

Alpha Kael would never know that a single gold coin thrown carelessly at my face was enough to keep Mia alive for half a year.

Mia had been growing weaker by the day, and I could not afford the moonlight herbs that might have helped, so I could only brew ordinary herbs to keep her breathing a little longer.

Every day Mia drank the medicine I made without complaint, smiling at me like nothing was wrong.

But I knew she spent every night writhing in pain.

I had already planned to do whatever it took today to satisfy the border warriors and earn enough for her medicine.

I had not expected to walk straight into Alpha Kael.

I pressed my forehead to the ground in practiced gratitude, gathered the coin, and began making my way toward the door on unsteady legs.

Behind me came his voice, cold enough to stop blood.

"Stop."

"When did I say that coin was yours to keep?"

I turned around, numb all the way through, and when I saw the hatred in his eyes my whole body began to shake.

I was still forming the words of a plea when the corner of his mouth curved into something amused.

Alpha Kael reached over and picked up a meat cleaver, then sent it skidding across the floor to land at my feet.

"You can keep the coin. But I should get something in return."

"I never operate at a loss. Since you are willing to do anything for money, how about this: one finger for one gold coin."

Kael and I had grown up together, and he knew I had always been afraid of pain.

What he did not know was that after years at this border outpost, I had been pushed to the edge of death more times than I could count.

The pain of losing a finger was nothing to me now.

I picked up the cleaver and gave him a smile that had nothing behind it.

"Alpha Kael is being so generous. I wonder, if I cut a few more, would you give me a few more coins?"

While he stared in shock, I raised the cleaver without hesitating and took off three fingers in a single stroke.

Blood poured out in a rush, but my smile did not waver.

I held back the pain that flooded through my bones all the way to their roots and prepared to collect what I was owed.

Then a soft, sweet voice drifted in from outside the door.

"Kael, Ella has been waiting so long, I had to come find you myself."

My head snapped up and I found myself looking into a face I knew too well.

Ella was dressed in fine, expensive clothing, barely resembling the girl from five years ago.

She threw herself into Kael's arms, and the look she directed down at me as she turned her gaze was full of triumph.

"Leah. What are you doing here?"

"What happened to your fingers? You're bleeding so much. Kael, I'm scared."

Kael covered her eyes gently with his hand, and when he looked at me he made no effort to hide his revulsion.

"Don't look, Ella. It's too filthy."

I could not hold back a laugh that came out wet with tears.

When I had first been assigned to Kael, Ella was my personal attendant.

The night our pack was destroyed, I was afraid of her being caught in the fallout, so I freed her from service, gave her everything I had, and told her to run as far as she could.

She had not run at all.

She had found her way into Kael's pack, and into the place closest to his heart.

The world turns in ways no one can predict. She was the one standing above me now.

I looked away without expression and pressed my forehead to the ground in front of her.

"Leah greets the Luna."

"This was Leah's fault for frightening you. Please punish me however you see fit."

Ella bent and helped me up, her smile full of provocation beneath a mask of sweetness.

"Leah, what a thing to say. How could I ever punish you?"

"We shared so much together. When I was your servant I spent plenty of time being scolded by you."

"Seeing you end up somewhere like this, Ella truly hurts for you."

She reached out and took hold of my injured hand with a smile, and then squeezed it hard.

Every nerve lit up at once and the pain nearly took me off my feet.

On instinct I pushed her away.

The force was nothing, but she staggered backward and went down hard, her hand landing directly on the blade and opening a shallow cut across her palm.

Kael swept her into his arms, his eyes red at the edges with concern.

He turned and drove his boot into my chest.

"Leah. You are the lowest shared omega in this outpost, and you dare lay hands on what belongs to me. It seems I have been far too lenient with you."