Chapter 5 LOST SCENT: A ROGUE LUNA

Aria

(Back in the present.)

They are all staring at me.

Whispering, pointing.

"She has no scent," I can hear them muttering under their breaths.

A shifter without her scent is no shifter at all.

"Pi-Piper?" I whisper shakily.

My best friend has her arms wrapped around Cassius-my mate-her grip is possessive around him.

How can she do this to me?

How is this even possible?

She scoffs. "What happened to you, Aria? Aren't you the supposed Luna of the Shifters realm? Where is your wolf?"

I can hear the mockery in her words. She doesn't care that I'm too weak to stand.

Or that my own pack members don't recognize me.

"Piper, please. Help me." I whisper.

I'm still weak from what happened when I was taken away.

I don't remember how I got here except for a man draped in shadows who carried me.

I thought I would be safe in my pack, but I was wrong.

"Aria, you know the pack rules. What kind of wolf doesn't have her wolf? It would be a mercy to banish you to the rogues."

Her words shatter all hope left in me, and I slump into a gasping mess on the floor.

This can't be happening.

We were abducted together. She had wanted to go on that walk. I followed her. I trusted her.

How did I lose my scent, while my best friend got my mate?

"What is wrong with her?" Cassius calls out beside her.

I scramble to my feet. "Cassius, please. Help me. You know me. It's me, Aria-your mate."

My hand grabs his feet, as I beg desperately.

If anyone can recognize me, it's my mate. He can help me.

Piper latches her arm unto him. "I think she has got you mixed up, mate."

Cassius raises a brow at me. "My mate is Piper Redding, Luna to the Shifters realm." He sounds mechanic.

What has she done to him?

Hearing Cassius sound like he's being controlled causes me to clench my fist.

Before I can stop myself, I lounge at Piper.

"I trusted you. You betrayed me. You stole from me! You're a monster!"

I don't stop trying to pull at her, even when the guards attack me.

They roughly pull her me away, until my arm twists into an add angle. My shoulder cracks.

Guards who would have done everything to protect me, now have been bound, willing to put an end to my life.

Tears flow down my face freely. I can't stop it.

The whispers continue.

"She tried to kill the Luna."

"She must be working with the rogues."

"She should be beheaded."

I heave and cough, unable to catch my breath.

Piper gives me a coy look, "I would have spared you, and have you banished to the rogues camp, but not after that display, Aria."

While I'm being held down by the guards, she stops beside me. "You can see, that your people want your head."

Cassius turns to me angrily. "You dare lay a hand on my mate. I Alpha Cassius Emberwing of the Shifters realm sentence you to-" he's cut off.

"No! Stop!"

Relief floods through me.

Someone believes me. I turn to see my grandmother heading towards me.

Her face is twisted in pain, and tears slide down her ashen face.

"Grandmother, please. You have to believe me. I don't know how I lost my scent. My wolf..." I trail off, crying.

But she just shakes her head. "As the leader of the Flynn pack, Cassius. I am begging you to spare my grandchild."

Then my grandmother drops to her knees before Cassius.

My eyes widen, "No, grandmother, please." I cry.

Cassius looks down at her, and says words I never knew possible. "I can only spare her if you take her place."

No.

No.

No.

I'm screaming, I'm crying, I'm yelling.

Even the guards can't hold me down anymore as I try to reach my grandmother.

He can't do that. Cassius would never ask that of her.

He can't.

But I'm helpless.

I don't know how long I scream. How much the guards have to hit and restrain me.

I don't feel the wounds they inflict on me, because I watch as my grandmother agrees to his request.

"No, grandmother, please. Please don't do this! Cassius, I beg you. Piper please!" I cry out.

Desperate.

"I'll do anything. Please don't hurt grandmother. Please!"

But they don't listen to me.

And I watch in horror as Cassius raises his sword.

I watch as my grandmother's head rolls to the floor in front of me.

It tears one last scream out of me, before everything goes black.

***

I wake up screaming and shouting, crying for my grandmother.

I wish everything is all a bad dream, but when I see the man beside me, in front of a burning fire, I know it's real.

My grandmother is dead-she gave her life for mine.

"You're awake. I still can't detect any scent on you."

It's the stranger who found me after that witch stabbed me, and did those things to me.

In the light, I can see his face clearly, and it's not something I expect.

His eyes are a startling shade of grey, strong and fierce. His hair is darker than a moonless night.

He has a very captivating face, the kind of face the goddess would only give to an Alpha.

Is he...

"My condolences for your grandmother." His words startle me, and I wrap my hands around myself.

"W-who are you?" I ask in a broken voice. My voice raw from screaming.

"Pardon my manners. I am Kaidën Darkhaven, King of the Rogues. I don't believe you know me."

What?

A rogue?

What does he want from me?

"I know you must wonder why I saved you, and why I've brought you here," he continues.

"Just like you, I'm without a mate, and I know your scent was stolen. I know who stole it, so I have an offer for you."

His voice is dark and husky, like the skin of a strong wolf.

But how does he know all these?

"W-what?" I ask.

He gives me a dark look, before saying words I could never have imagined.

"I can help you get your revenge on the Shifters who murdered your grandmother, but in exchange, you have to be my mate, Aria."