05

"Smells like a bitch," one with a crooked nose and torn red jacket sniffed in Jodie's direction, and she shuddered. He had a jagged scar running across his face and reeked of raw game.

"A bitch in heat, too," another one sneered. His face was caked in mud, and he reeked as badly as the first one.

It was three against one, and she had never fought in her life. Jodie had to think fast. She remembered the knife in her backpack, but how could she reach for it before these degenerates attacked? Maybe she could try pleading with them. It was a wistful idea because rogues were mad werewolves. Werewolves who betrayed their packs and were banished forever. Much like her situation except, she had never experienced the pack bond in the first place, so she couldn't miss what she never had.

Rogues, on the other hand, stayed on the brink of madness because of how much they missed their families and their bond. She had no idea when these creatures became rogue, but they looked well-mad to her. Another jolt of pain hit her, and she swallowed it.

The one who seemed like the leader suddenly bent before her and ran his dirt-coated finger down her face. Jodie shrunk back, and he laughed, showing his dirty, rotten teeth. He yanked her closer by her hair and ran his fingers through it. She was shaking now. Whether from the pain or the heat, she couldn't tell. The leader suddenly stepped back, and she took the opportunity to pull her bag away and blindly reach for the knife. The blade pierced her, but it was a little sacrifice for what it could do if she wielded it right. The leader suddenly shifted, and the others followed suit. They were going to take her in their wolf form. Bile rose in her throat at the thought.

Their wolves were different shades of brown, lean, and had sparse hair. Jodie clutched the hilt of the knife tight and pointed it in their direction. They growled at the weapon. It was a silver knife. Silver was meant to be lethal to werewolves, especially rogues, but only if stabbed in the right place, such as the heart or head. The first wolf attacked, and Jodie lurched the knife at it. She was clumsy and barely scratched the side of the wolf, but it clearly got him angry because he growled and jumped. She sidestepped the wolf in time as the other two wolves attacked. She bent low, grabbed a fistful of rocks, and threw them at the wolves. A rock hit one's eye, one in his shin, and the last on his side, on the same spot the knife grazed.

The wolves howled in pain and anger, but Jodie saw an opening to escape. It was a narrow opening between two of the wolves, and she took it. Running faster than she'd ever run before, Jodie swerved to the left and ran out of the cave. She would never be able to outrun three rogues, not in mortal form and certainly not when she was in heat, but she had to try. The bag slowed her down, and she threw it off. If she survived, she could search for it later.

The pain still curled in her lower belly, but she couldn't focus on it. She could feel the wolves hot on her tail. She had no idea where she was running or how much further she could go. She was already out of breath and moving solely on adrenalin. As she was about to dash behind a rock to slow the wolves down, she was suddenly dragged backward by her feet and pushed on her front. Jodie screamed and scrambled into a sitting position. Once again, she was surrounded by the three rogues. Her breath came out of her pants as tears streamed down her face. She was going to be taken by rogue wolves and murdered brutally, just as everyone in her pack had predicted.

The leader shifted to human form, leaving him stark naked. He fisted his penis and moved toward her, pure menace in his gaze.

'Weak and useless omega. Good for nothing, maid. She won't survive a day out there'. The words of her pack members hovered over her. Alpha Kenneth's words rang in her ears: You are weak, Jodie. The daughter of a maid, unworthy of my time or my pack.

Yet one phrase struck her. Her mother's last words. "You're stronger than you know, little Jodie." Not so strong now, mom...

As the leader descended on her, a ferocity she didn't know dwelled within her came to life, and she attacked him. They flew into a nearby tree, knocking it down. Jodie raised her hands and claws, which she never knew she had extended. She clawed out his eyes as he cried in agony. Next, she twisted his neck and snapped it clean. She turned to the other two wolves. They stared at her in fear. Little did she know that her bloodied and crazed appearance had them slowly backing away.

"Change," she commanded, and before either wolves could control it, they changed to human form.

One tried to escape, and she jumped toward him, pulling out his heart in one easy move. His eyes never closed again. The last one tried running too, but Jodie easily caught up with him and pinned him to the ground.

"Please don't kill me." The rogue pathetically begged. The smell of his fear was intoxicating to her. She smiled before cleanly decapitating his head with her bare hands. She stood and stared at the three dead bodies scattered before her.

Then she fell on her knees, exhaustion taking over. The forest was silent again. Her head lolled to the side, and she passed out.

"Don't touch her,"

"She's the evil one,"

"She's our damnation!"

Creatures yet to be seen whispered around Jodie's still body. In her sleep, she saw herself wielding a weapon of immense destruction. A man with beautiful dark eyes stood in front of her. His hair was nearly as dark as his eyes, and his jaw was perfectly chiseled. Jodie had never seen someone so handsome before. Not even Alpha Kenneth, with his bad boy good looks, could compare. Suddenly, her hand moved of its own accord, and she stabbed him. She gasped and woke up to the sun shining high above her, flanked by people she couldn't recognize. Except for one. The handsome man in her dream.