𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⸙

2.54༊*·˚

Liam did his best to keep his head down. The longer the Rogues stared the further the panic clawed up his throat. Liam wanted to freak out hours ago.

He had wanted to cry and to break down and beg Mira to let him go. By some miraculous miracle, Liam was calm. Well, as calm as he could be, given the extreme circumstances.

He tugged uncomfortably at the chain around his wrist. The metal was icy cold from lying in a pool of seawater, and red with rust, but strong enough for Liam to look like a fool if he tried to break free.

Mira sat on her own by the door, smirking proudly at the many spindly faces. How can she be pleased with this? Every Rogue was skin and bones, dirty, and depressed.

He eyed the Rogue sitting in front of him, the Rogue who had carried him through the woods and away from Baela, the Rogue who held his arm through the tunnel, and the Rogue who had chained him to the cave wall. Words formed, but he didn't voice them. He thought about speaking for almost ten minutes until stuttering,

"H-Have you... um-"

The guy lifted his head. Hollow eyes lingered on him, but Liam looked away.

"What is it?" he asked glumly.

"Um, have you always been a Rogue?" Liam pursed his lips as others close by looked too.

"I went Rogue fifteen years ago."

"You chose this?" Liam asked, astonished.

The guy nodded weakly. "The freedom," he mumbled.

Liam didn't see freedom, he saw fear, and a whole lot if it was stuffed inside a cold and damp cave.

"But this?" He glanced back to Mira, their substitute Alpha. Some wolves thought Zayn was a bad leader but this... Liam's heart ached at all the misery.

"I chose freedom," the Rogue repeated.

Liam felt sorry for him and wished he could let the Rogues see that whatever Mira had promised them wasn't worth it.

"What's your name?" he asked instead.

"Leo" he mumbled. "Short for Leonard."

"H- How long have you been a part of Mira's pack?"

Len shuffled away with a sudden frown, and Liam noticed Mira weaving through the wolves. She stopped by the chain, giving it a light kick.

"Don't talk to my Pack," she said before turning to Len. "Don't talk to him. He's a manipulator."

Liam had never been called that before, and he very nearly scoffed. "We were good friends once."

Then I abandoned our friendship for Zayn. I guess that was for the best. Liam wondered what else would've happened if he had stayed friends. She might've killed me ages ago.

"Once, and then Zayn Malik took you." Mira tilted her head. Shadows fell across her thin face, darkening her eyes. "And you never came back."

Liam sighed. "And you stood by a murderous Beta wolf who had Zayn's father killed because he was jealous of the power. You're not innocent." Liam's boldness earned him a slap on the side of the head.

"Shut up or I'll have your tongue removed" she hissed, slapping him again before storming back to her lonely corner.

Liam looked back to Leo. He stared hard at the uneven floor. Liam had never seen werewolves so scared of a human before. Well, Liam assumed most of the wolves had been there since Jaiden, and maybe stayed out of pity for Mira. Maybe they feared what would happen to them if they tried to leave. But they were Rogues, they belonged to no pack, so why were they together in the first place?