Ellie POV

I wake to the scent of ammonia as a fist connects with my face.

"That's for earlier," I hear him say.

I go to move my arm in case of another hit, but it only moves an inch before being seared by the silver shackle. I wince at the burning before opening my eyes to my new jail cell.

Pulling my mind away from the fog of the drugs, I look at my position. I am strapped to a metal chair with silver shackles around my wrists and ankles. I pull against the silver rigorously before giving up, "That's not going to work. Struggling will just cause you more pain."

I look up at the voice of the same man who had taken me from my cell.

"I'm guessing you're the interrogator," I tell him, "I'm not who you're looking for, and even if I did know who it was, I wouldn't tell you."

He gives me a smirk before replying, "Looks like we have one with a brain," he goes to the corner and drags another chair. Setting it in front of me, he takes a seat and leans in, "But I don't really care. You see I have a job to do and I have a good feeling about you."

"If you are going to try to beat an answer out of me, let's just get this over with," he laughs at my snarky attitude, "What's your first question?"

"I knew I would like you," he tells me, leaning back into the chair, "What do you know about the missing Luna?"

Shock and fear fills my body when the words leave his mouth. My mind is running a mile a minute as I think who is looking for me. Is it the rogue or the alpha? As my mind worked all the possibilities, I show no reaction to his question on the outside.

"Who?"

The second the word leaves my lips, his fist collides with my face again. I spit out the blood that's filling my mouth as I stare back at him, waiting for him to ask again.

He smells like a rogue. Does he figure out we are a luna? Raelynn calls out to me.

I don't know, but we can't let him know it's us or Zea will be in even more danger, I respond to her.

"Let's try again. What do you know about the missing Luna?"

"I don't know who you are talking about."

Another punch.

After about ten times of asking the same question and getting the same result, he turns to a different tactic than punching my face. As a black eye forms over my bruised face, he starts to cut my arms with an array of silver blades.

"You will tell me," he says as he digs the knife into my skin once more.

"I don't know what you are talking about," I scream out as my skin burn at the contact, "Whose missing Luna?"

He stops cutting and sits back in the chair from before, "The missing Luna of Black Stone."

"How would I know anything about a missing Luna," I breathe out as my skin burns from the cuts of silver, "I'm just a member of a pack. I have no connection with Black Stone," I lie through my teeth.

"What about the child?" he ask.

Before I could hide it, he catches my reaction of shock over how he knew about Zea, "What child?"

"Oh, I think you know," he smiles as he holds up the knife.

"I don't know anything about a missing Luna or a child," I try to sound convincingly, but I know he caught my fear when he mentioned Zea.

"You see I think you are lying to me and if you are, it's not going to end very well for you," he says before stabbing the blade right into my leg, barely missing the femoral artery.

I scream out as pain radiates everywhere.

"Stop please!" I scream. He twists the knife deeper into my leg, sending silver through my blood stream, "I don't know anything about who she is."

He pulls out the knife slowly as my blood feels like it is being boiled over smoldering coals. The silver's radiating throughout my whole body, setting everything on an invisible fire.

"Well, I'm going to let you sit here and think about what you know. See if you come up with anything," he says before he exits the room.

The second the metal door slams shut, I start to try and move out of my shackles. Even with the silver coursing through my system, I am still strong enough to break out. My little girl is depending on me to be.

Twisting my wrists, I can feel about two inches of slack around them. I try to maneuver my hand to make it small enough to fit through the hole, but my thumb continues to stick.

This is going to hurt, I tell Raelynn as I realize what I have to do.

Grabbing my thumb with my fingers, I pull with everything I have. I hear the bone snap out of place as pain screams through my hand. Biting my lip to stop from screaming, I pull my hand through the hole.

As quick as I can, I remove all the shackles. My hand burns from the silver, but it's nothing to how the rest of my body is feeling at the moment.

I hear his footsteps start to come back towards door. Moving quickly, I hide myself behind the opening door.

"What the-" I cut him off as I lay my foot into the back of his shin, snapping it in half.

He screams in pain, falling over. I grab his hair in my hands, slamming his face repeatedly into the cement floor of the room. His blood spatters on impact as I smash his face to death.

Moving as quickly and quietly, I take off down the hall. The corridors are a maze of twists and turns. Running down the hall with my bloody feet, I race to the first door I see. But standing in front of it are two rogues. They stand at the ready as I notice the exit sign above their heads.

They are not stopping us from getting out, Raelynn tells me as we charge them.

I hit the first one in the chest, causing him to flip before jumping onto the other. I dig my nails into his eyes before snapping his neck. Jumping off him as he falls, I turn back to the first one. I spin and kick him in the face, knocking him out completely.

"Stop her!" someone yells down the hall.

I don't give them a chance as I push open the door. I'm blinded by the sudden brightness of the sun as I escape. The second I see the forest, I take off as fast as I can.

Once I reach the edge, I disappear into the woods as more rogues chase me. Before they have a chance to catch up, I shift into my wolf. I move faster from the prison they had constructed.

I escaped.

I'm coming for you, Zea, I call out to her in the link, not knowing if she will hear me, I'm coming.

*****

Darkness takes the forest as night settles in the air. The creatures that were hidden during the day start to emerge from their hiding places to enjoy the freedom of the night. I listen as an owl calls out into the night, asking about who is crossing his path.

Running quickly, I fly through the forest. I have been running for hours before I finally spot the sign I have been looking for since I left the prison.

The border tree still stands in majestic glory as the glow of night creates a look of beauty for the old magical tree. Running towards it, I hear the howl of the rogues behind me. They have been on my heels for the last ten miles, not seeming to give up.

I push more until I feel the familiar tug of crossing line. I'm back.

We're home, Raelynn whispers.

This isn't home anymore, I tell her as we stare into the forest, waiting for the sentries to pick up my scent.

I hear a snarl behind me as the rogues cross into the pack's territory after me.

Without skipping a beat, I run towards the pack house. I know the patrols will pick up the rogue's scent before ever finding mine. As soon as the thought reaches my brain, I hear the fight break out. One loud howl sounds as they signal to the rest of the pack about the victory over the rogues who crossed the border.

Knowing I don't have much time, I run until the pack house is in my view.

It's the same as before. The old-style three-story building looms over everything in sight. It's oak structure and beautiful wrap around deck looks like the same perfect home.

Going to a nearby tree, I change back into my human form before stepping in front of the massive house.

Once we go in there, there is no going back, Raelynn tells me.

Zea is here. We have to, I tell her.

As much as I know I need to go in, I just stand there and look at what the building is for me. It holds all my greatest memories and the one memory that changed my entire life.

The one I wish I could forget.

I am about to step forward when I smell him. The same scent from so many years ago. The one I had come to love. Fresh rain and honey.

"Ellie?" he calls out to me. His voice sounds almost broken at my sudden appearance.

I turn to his call as I take in his appearance. He looks almost the same as the day I lost him.

"Axton."