A Luna for Alpha Kieran-Chapter 56: Bleeding

Her ribs ached. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Her wrists bled.

She hung upside down, ropes biting into her skin, arms numb, eyes swollen. Her breaths came ragged now. Not just from pain.

Something else churned in her gut.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

The world was a dizzy, blood rushed haze of green and brown, punctuated by the leering faces of the rogues as they circled her like vultures around wounded prey.

Dreck grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"Look at that," he sneered. "Still got some fight in her. Ain’t that cute?"

Autumn spat in his face.

The rogue holding her legs barked out a laugh as Dreck wiped the spit off with a slow,menacing swipe of his thumb. Then he backhanded her so hard her teeth clacked together, the metallic tang of blood flooding her mouth.

"Bitch," he growled.

Autumn grinned, blood staining her lips. "That all you got, fuckface?"

Dreck’s nostrils flared. He nodded to the others. "Hold her still."

The rogue at her legs wrenched them apart while the third one...knuckles still bloody from earlier...dug his fingers into her ribs, pressing hard against the bruise forming there.

Autumn hissed, her stomach lurching violently as a wave of nausea rolled through her.

Fuck. Not now.

She swallowed hard, forcing it down. Her stomach twisted again...like it had been doing for sometime...but this time the nausea punched up her throat so violently, she gagged.

"Aw, what’s this?" one of the rogues sneered, crouching beside her dangling body. "You crying, sweetheart? Finally?"

She coughed...She had been exhausted before, but this? This was different. Her body was betraying her in ways she didn’t understand.

Bile splattered against the dirt, splashing the boots of the nearest man.

"Holy fucking ...!" he barked, leaping back. "You nasty little whore...what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Can’t handle a little foreplay, huh?" another spat. "Lightweight."

Autumn gasped. Not for air...but because her stomach cramped again, sending a sharp pain radiating through her lower belly.

Not normal. Not fucking normal at all.

She blinked, dazed. Was it dehydration? Or...

No. No time to think.

Dreck leaned in, his grin widening as he dragged a knife from his belt. The blade glinted in the fading light. "Let’s see how loud you scream when I start peeling that pretty skin off."

Autumn’s pulse hammered in her throat, but she refused to flinch. "Do it, coward. Or are you too fucking scared I will still gut you before I die?"

He pressed the cold edge of the blade against her collarbone, just hard enough to draw a thin line of red. Autumn sucked in a sharp breath, her muscles locking as fire licked along the cut.

Then...A sudden, vicious cramp twisted through her abdomen.

Oh, fuck.

Her breath hitched. It wasn’t just pain. It was wrong. Deep, gnawing, like something inside her was being torn apart.

Rough hands grabbed her again. They cut her down from the branch and she hit the ground like a sack of meat.

One of them pressed a boot against her shoulder. Hard.

"Get up," he growled.

She didn’t move.

So he kicked her. Square in the abdomen.

Autumn screamed...actually screamed...for the first time that night.

A piercing, unholy sound that startled even her.

The pain wasn’t like before.

It wasn’t just an impact. It was inside.It was deep and it felt wrong.Blood pounded in her ears.

Sweat poured down her neck.

She heaved again, dry retching now.

One of the rogues crouched beside her, tilting his head. "You been starving yourself, darling? You look pale as fuck. Smells like rot in here too."

He sniffed again, closer, and froze. "What the hell...?"

Another leaned in.

"Is that...shit?"

"Hey," one of them muttered. "You think she is infected? Rabid or something?"

"Doesn’t matter," the leader grinned. "We ain’t kissing her. Just fucking."

He reached down again.

Autumn slashed out with what little strength she had left, catching his forearm with her claws.

"You bitch!" He slapped her so hard her vision went black for a second.

Still... her body curled again, arms instinctively over her abdomen.She was trying to protect something. A reflex even she didn’t understand.

The leader spat blood from his lip, then glanced at his men.

"Hold her down. Spread her."

"Wait..umm" Dreck frowned. "Boss. I dunno. What if...what if she’s got a mate? You saw how she reacted. That wasn’t normal...may be she is..."

"Shut the fuck up," the leader snapped. "She is rogue trash. And if she has a mate, he is a pussy for letting her run wild. No one’s coming."

Another bout of nausea curled through Autumn’s belly. Not just fear.Her body was rejecting this. Fighting in a way that felt like instinct beyond instinct.

Dreck, surprisingly,stepped back. "I don’t wanna do this," he muttered.

"Fine," the others grinned. "More for us."

Dreck paused, tilting his head. "What’s this?"

Autumn clenched her jaw, but another spasm wracked her, sharper this time. A cold sweat broke out across her skin.

The rogue at her legs frowned. "The hell’s wrong with her?"

The leader smirked. "Maybe she is pissing herself. Wouldn’t be the first."

Autumn’s vision blurred...like it really went out of focus. She could feel it...something wet, warm, trickling down her inner thigh.

No. No, no, no... shit!

The bare chested rogue sniffed the air, then recoiled. "Fuck. She is bleeding."

The leader glanced down, then laughed. "Oh, shit. You are not just some lost little wolf, are you?" He grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him. "You have been breeding??Huh? "

Autumn’s blood turned to ice.

Pregnant???

The word slammed into her like a bullet.

How? When?Not a chance!

But the rogues were already laughing... jagged... cruel.

"Well, well," One crooned, dragging the knife lower, over her stomach. "Guess we get to have two kills for the price of one."

Autumn snarled, thrashing against the ropes. "I WILL FUCKING END YOU..."

The knife bit deeper.

One of the other rogues grabbed her by the ankle.

That was when the wind shifted.

A sound came from deep in the forest.

A howl.

Low.Very low!

All of the rogues froze.

"...Did you hear that?"

The leader scowled. "Probably just a mutt sniffing for scraps."

A gust of wind rustled through the trees...carrying with it a scent.

Fresh...Young.

Autumn’s heart stopped.

No!! A twig snapped.

And then, from the shadows, a boy stepped out.

His mop of dark hair clung to his forehead with sweat, his chest rising and falling like he had been running for miles.

In one hand, he clutched a dagger...shaking...but held out like it meant victory.

His eyes burned, wide and furious.

The rogues paused, blinking at the sudden intrusion. "Who the fuck...?" the one with the bleeding thigh scoffed.

But Autumn...

Autumn’s body went cold.She knew who the boy was... The brave Curzon boy...The one she had seen protecting his sister.

"No," she rasped, struggling upright as much as she could with her wrists still bound. "NO!"

The boy didn’t flinch. He stepped forward."I said let her go!" he yelled, voice cracking but bold. "Right fucking now!"

The rogues looked at each other, then erupted into laughter.

"Oh, hell," one wheezed, pointing. "Is this real? Is that a kid?"

The leader sneered. "Fucking adorable. What now, little hero? Gonna stab us all with that toothpick?"

But Autumn wasn’t laughing.

Her panic spiked like a scream through her blood.

"Rory!" she shouted, heart in her throat. "What the hell are you doing here?"

The boy didn’t even look at her. His eyes were locked on the rogues.

Jaw clenched.

Hands trembling.

That dagger shaking in his grip.

"Get away from her," he growled. "I swear to the fucking moon...I will kill you."

"You are going to die, pup," the scar faced rogue sneered, stepping towards him.

Autumn thrashed, screaming, "No! RORY, RUN! Don’t be a goddamn idiot! They will kill you!"

But the boy didn’t move.

He lifted the dagger.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m