I groan and open my eyes slightly.

The sun is setting. Huh, I slept most of the day. Not bad.

The smell of vomit and blood is still heavy on the air but I'm used to it. This isn't the first time I've been caught by a pack and put in their prison.

The floor is cold beneath me. My enchanted golden chain necklace is a small weight against my neck as I look up at the ceiling. The necklace is how my rogues communicate. It lets them mind-link anyone else wearing one, no matter what race they are. Small enough not to slip over the head, anyone who tries to forcefully remove a Chain is burned.

And my Chain has an enchantment on it to prevent my clothes from ripping when I shift.

A lot has changed over the past year and ten months. For starters, I'm now a hybrid; I've been gifted with a witch named Lyria's power necromancy, talking with dead souls, and what she learned of telepathy. I can sometimes feel a dead soul pushing in my mind, wanting to talk to me. That took some time to get used to. Somehow, I've also gained the ability to create and control fire... Maybe that has to do with how Lyria died.

Her younger siblings Killian, Clove, Chase and Rhea and Killian's once-abused boyfriend Zaine, have become my family. All of them are witches/warlocks.

Killian's dark brown hair is short and his dark brown eyes often hold mischief, that little man-child. He's about nine months older than me and can enhance his abilities, like speed, strength or the five senses but he can only enhance one at a time.

Clove is a day younger than me and her power is telekinesis. Her auburn hair hangs in curls to slightly above the middle of her back and her brown eyes are usually eyeing up boys or helping to watch her younger siblings, Chase and Rhea.

They're twins, both with chestnut hair and brown eyes. They're only five, so they're still too young to gain their power.

Then Zaine, who's two months younger than Killian and can change his appearance, like Tonks from HP. But his real appearance is dark brown, almost black, eyes and black hair that he styles to look like Cole Sprouse. And no matter what, he can't change or use his power to hide a small swirl-shaped birthmark being his left ear.

Now me. Not too much has changed about my appearance. My black hair is still the same, long and straight. My eyes changed from black to red but it's not the usual rogue red. It's more fire-like, with hints of orange and yellow constantly swirling and dancing within.

Now personality wise, I've grown a lot more confident and brave. I'm not afraid of so many things anymore. But one fear has remained, even if it has lessened: the fear of facing my mate. He took back his rejection the day I was banished. I don't get it: if he was just going to take it back, why banish me?

I've only gone back to Moonblood once and that was seven months after I was banished. They didn't recognize me and I had business to do: killing my mother and Alpha Leon. I almost had my hands on Kia but she was saved by my twin. As much as I wanted to kill Kia, I can't hate my brother for getting in my way; he was just doing his duty of protecting his pack.

I've really made a life for myself and my non-blood-related family, even though we're rogues. Our rogue group is called the Royals. I'm the leader, the Rogue Queen. Killian is my best fighter, Clove is the hacker, Zaine is a great spy and Chase and Rhea supply stress relief. While we're out on a mission, the twins usually stay with the Healer or Unity rogue groups but that doesn't mean we neglect them.

But enough about the past. Live in the present. I'll explain more later along the way.

I groan and push myself up, my black hair still in a braid on my shoulder like Elsa or Katniss Everdeen. My gear is a bit dirty from the dust and dried blood. It's all black with a hood to cover my face. I have the fabric that usually covers over my mouth down around my neck. There's a hole in the left shoulder of my shirt, exposing my tattoo. I made the hole on purpose so that everyone can see my mark. The mark of the Rogue Queen.

I blink rapidly for a moment to wake myself up.

"Well look who's awake," says the rogue in the cell across from me.

He's in one of the rogue groups that follows Thatcher, the Rogue King, in attacking packs for the fun of it. That's what the King's side of the kingdom is, attacking for shits and giggles. Bullshit if you ask me but we don't hate each other.

I'm the only one from the Royals that's locked in here. I was helping Thatcher rescue some of his rogues and mine that were caught by this pack but then we got caught too. Fabulous rescue, I know. This pack is a lot stronger than we thought. We shouldn't have underestimated them.

Thatcher King is in the cell with me and let me say, it's even worse than going to school. He keeps hitting on me, no matter how many times I turn him down, the persistent little bastard. His mate, a beautiful woman named Pearl, was killed by a pack a few months before I met him.

Thatcher's rogue group is called the Rulers. Royals and Rulers. The Royals is a much better name and I've made that thought known to Thatcher quite a few times. Anyway, the Rulers include Thatcher's younger brother Daring, who acts a lot like Killian. Daring's mate Four, the weapons specialist. If you need a weapon or want to know more about it, Four's your guy. Then there's Maximus, or Max as he prefers, and his normally silent mate AJ.

Lastly, the slutty bitch Darcy. She hates me and my Royals because Thatcher's attention is always on me, not her. Like I actually want Thatcher to always be staring at my chest or ass whenever I see him, Darcy can have him.

As much as Thatcher annoys me, it's because of him I've made it this far.

I hear a door open and footsteps coming down the hall, making Thatcher's rogues start howling and jeering. Like most of my rogues, I scoff and roll my eyes but I do sit up to see who it is. The person stops in front of the cell Thatcher and I are in. I don't move at all, seeing it's just one of the guards.

"Aw, what's up Reina?" the guard says. I can hear the pout in his voice and my eyes snap up to meet his when I hear my nickname. It means queen in Spanish. My name is Rei (Rei, Reina, get it?). And I'm the rogue queen. So yeah, it fits pretty well. "Are you not happy to see me?"

The rogues stop shouting and I see them all smirking and hear their laughter. They know who it really is. I get up and stand a few feet behind the bars.

I look at the guard, chuckling. "I have to say, I'm impressed, Changeling. This has to be one of your best times yet."

Zaine laughs. "Yeah, but it's not the best look. I'm way hotter than this guy."

Zaine gestures to himself, referring to the man he's impersonating. Times like these are when his ability to change his appearance is really useful. That's why he's the best spy.

"Can you let us out now?" Thatcher asks, a smirk on his face.

"Of course, your majesty," Zaine says with a mocking bow. He unlocks the cell door, allowing Thatcher and I out. Zaine hands both of us some keys, "Now help me unlock the rest of these bad boys and we can make our great escape."

The three of us start unlocking cells, letting the rogues out. They wait by the door and in the hall until all the rogues are out of their cells.

Zaine has turned back into himself, running a hand through his black hair. "They should be in place by now."

"What's the plan?" I ask.

Zaine smiles, "Flash and Strange are hidden outside and we have a few rogue groups from both King and Queen waiting on the other side of the pack's territory, ready to attack and cause a diversion."

I nod and look at the rogues. "Ready for your evening exercise, guys, gals and everything in between?" I get a series of cheers and whoops in return. "Let's go."

I see Zaine's eyes fog over as he mind-links my rogues to attack. We wait a few minutes so all of the pack's attention will be on the diversion before we head outside. Clove and Killian appear beside Zaine and I, both of them smirking.

"Nice to see ya, Reina," Killian says.

"Likewise, Flash," I reply with a smirk of my own.

Killian's, Zaine's and Clove's nicknames are based on their abilities. While Killian can enhance more than just his speed, he uses speed more than anything else so we call him Flash. Zaine, with the ability to change his appearance, is Changeling. Then Clove with telekinesis is either Doctor or Strange, as in Doctor Strange.

I shift into my wolf and we start running, heading towards the edge of this pack's territory with the rest of the freed rogues.

"Freedom!" Killian yells.

Thatcher, who's also in wolf form, howls loudly.

When we reach the edge of the territory, most of the rogues head off with their groups, moving away from the territory before the pack realizes their prison cells are empty. I call off the diversion, telling my rogues that they can stop and leave. Thatcher's rogues will either get the message and abandon the attack or continue just for the fun if it.

"Rei," Thatcher says. I look up at him, since I'm still in wolf form while he's shifted back and is now standing naked in front of me. "Thanks for the help. See you soon, Queenie."

I nod and he shifts and heads off with the rest of the Rulers.

Ready to head home? I ask.

"I thought you'd never ask," Clove says dramatically. "I need my beauty sleep."

"And I need my evening fuck," Killian adds, looking at Zaine, who smirks and nods.

Horny dogs, I mutter to Clove.

Yeah, but we ship 'em, she replies.

We start walking back to our house. It's in unclaimed territory, a small human town. Our house is a cozy place, the living room, kitchen and one bathroom are all on the first floor. Upstairs holds four bedrooms, one for me, one for Clove, Killian and Zaine share a room and so do Chase and Rhea and each room has a small en suite bathroom.

When we get back, I head up to my room.

It's mostly black, white and grey. Grey walls, black bedspread, white decorative pillows, white carpet with black swirls. There's three doors, one leading to the en suite bathroom, another to my closet and the third leads into the hall.

Tired, I take a quick shower to get rid of the prison scent, then crawl into bed.

Soon, I'm asleep.

➵

Stupid sun. I'd do anything to make it go back down for a few more hours... Or days.

I get up and stretch with my hands above my head before heading into my en suite bathroom, doing my business then going to my walk-in closet and getting dressed. I wear a simple, tight grey t-shirt and black skinny jeans. The bottom of the lowest claw mark on my tattoo on my left shoulder is just visible from underneath my t-shirt.

I brush my hair and leave it down, resting on my shoulders. Normally I'd put it up in a braid, but today I'm not doing anything too exciting. Today's a day that I'm going to spend relaxing.

Barefoot, I head downstairs. I find Killian in the kitchen with a girl who has long blonde hair and blue eyes. The girl is wearing Zaine's clothes, that's how I'm sure it's actually him, not some random hoe Killian picked up on the streets.

"Morning Reina," Killian says.

"Flash," I reply with a nod. "Changeling, what are you doing? That look does not suit you at all, unless you're trying to look like Regina George or one of her Plastics."

Zaine shrugs, the blonde hair resting on his shoulders. Since energy is only used while he's changing, not while he's in another form, he tends to use his ability a lot. A lot more than Killian, Clove or I. Lucky bitch.

"I wanted to try something different. How do you and Strange live this life with these boulders?" He says, holding his breasts. I roll my eyes; he changed his voice to be high-pitched, girly and way too sweet to be heard without cringing. "I can't figure out how you run or fight with these things bouncing around."

"That's why we wear bras," I reply, holding back a smirk.

Killian turns back to what he and Zaine were doing before.

"I think we'll just need one more," he says.

"What are you two doing?" I ask.

"Putting away last night's spaghetti leftovers," Zaine replies.

He holds up something rather fat and long.

I blink. "Is... Is that a condom...?"

"Full of spaghetti," Killian finishes, grinning. "We didn't have any clean bowls or containers, but we had clean condoms. And we were too lazy to wash the dishes. It's not like we ever eat leftovers anyway so we're all good. Ya know, what would this be called? Spaghetti condom, or condom spaghetti?"

I cringe. "Please, never say those two words together ever again."

Clove chooses this moment to enter, yawning and still looking half asleep.

Killian holds up one of the spaghetti-filled condoms, grinning. "Hey Strange, look at my latex noodles."

I roll my eyes and face palm. That's Killian for you. Cheeky and fun but also skilled and dangerous. He doesn't always act like it but he's one of my most powerful rogues.

Clove looks at Killian, her eyebrows raised. "How am I related to you? No, change that. Why am I related to you?"

"You love me," Killian replies, still grinning.

"Only because I have to, brother dear," Clove looks at Zaine, who's still a girl. "That look really doesn't suit you, Changeling. Change back to yourself before I get your brass ring and force you to."

We all decided to get Zaine a ring made out of brass, his weakness. When his emotions get really out of control, his power tends to go wild, causing him to involuntarily change. While he's wearing the ring, he can't use his power and his appearance will go back to his real one. Why he shifts back to himself with the ring, we're not sure, but he does. Killian voiced his reason for the ring was so that Zaine would stop changing while they were making love.

"Fine," Zaine says. His eyes glow and fade to their normal dark brown and the blonde hair retreats back into his scalp, changing to black. His body grows an inch or so taller and more muscled as it becomes his real body. "You and Reina should've seen Flash's face when he woke up and saw some blonde girl in bed beside him."

Killian pouts. "It wasn't that funny. I didn't know where you were and I hate the idea of cheating on you."

Zaine nods. "I know you do. Remember when I tried that loyalty test on you and your bi ass? Turned into some hot chick and tried flirting with you and you said, and I quote, 'fuck off, if you're so desperate, why don't you go use your mother's vibrator?'"

"How could I forget?" Killian replies, smirking. Then his face turns serious. "I love you, and only you Zaine, nothing's gonna change that. Now stop hiding your scars. How many times have Reina, Strange and I told you that no one cares if you're scarred? Most of Reina's rogues are scarred and they don't try to hide them."

"I know, but they just make me feel like I stand out in our group," Zaine mumbles, looking down as his eyes glow again and his scars appear on his body. He sometimes tries to use his power to hide them. "The scars make it obvious that I was abused."

"Zaine, you know the scars are part of who you are," I say, putting my arm around his shoulders even though he's taller than me. "It doesn't matter what you look like. We love you for who you are, the scars don't change that. And if someone tells you that you're ugly, then they can go fuck themselves."

Zaine is my first rescue, the first person I saved as the Rogue Queen. He was abused mentally and physically by his coven. His father left him after his mother died protecting him. It took a while, but together, Clove, Killian and even Chase and Rhea managed to free Zaine from the mental chains his coven trapped him with. He grew especially close to Killian and now they're a couple. Their relationship is more than just boyfriend and boyfriend, but they're not engaged yet. Clove and I have a bet going to see how long until one of them proposes. Fifty bucks and the loser has to do the winners chores for a week.

Anyway, getting back on topic, Zaine is one of us now. He's a Royal.

Zaine smiles and Killian crashes his lips onto Zaine's. Clove whispers to me, "They're so cute together." We watch the couple, fangirling at our OTP until Killian's hands start to slide under Zaine's shirt and down to his ass and Zaine moans loudly.

"OK, go to your bedroom!" I shout. "We eat and make food in here, none of that shit will happen in this kitchen!"

Without breaking the kiss, Killian picks up Zaine and carries him out of the kitchen and up the steps.

"And try not to wake Chase and Rhea!" Clove calls after them.

Yeah yeah, we know. Geez woman, give us a break, Killian says. And the walls are soundproof, remember?

Can you not stop eating Zaine's face long enough to just shout that? I ask.

No, Killian replies simply.

"Chase and Rhea are back?" I say.

Clove nods. "Yeah, I went to get them last night. Almost had to drag them away from the Unity group."

"They love that group," I chuckle. "So do I. The orphans all look so happy and at home when they sing together."

The Unity rogue group is a choir I made. It's for orphans, to give them a sense of family. There are nine orphans who are thirteen or under and eight adults to take care of them. All of the kids sing and will perform if asked to. The Unity group has two leaders, me and a young woman named Quira. We both love music and the choir.

I love this life. Sure it's dangerous and exhausting, but it's thrilling. Honestly, I'm glad I was banished. If I wasn't, I never would've met my best friends, my family. I do miss Raiden and my dad, but I know they're happy and at home with Moonblood pack.

This is my life now. Rescuing those who need it, whether it's saving them from abusive parents, alphas, coven leaders, or themselves. I love that I can give these people a new hope in life. I love the feeling of freedom I have that I never had before.

I love this life.