The Scarred Mate

"Aria! Aria! Where are you?" My mother cried out after realizing that I had not yet returned to her side after throwing away my trash. "Mommy!" I tried calling for help, but was unable to scream. Someone's hand was covering my mouth almost up to my nose so I could just barely breathe. I kicked and fought, but it was of no use. I was being taken away from my home. My mother could not help me now because she didn't even know where I was going or with who. I always wondered why nobody had said anything as I was being taken from our pack. Did nobody care about a kid who was clearly struggling and did not belong to the person who was holding on to her? I thought our pack was better than that. At least that's what we've always prided ourselves on - protecting our pack at all costs, especially the women, children, and, of course, the Alpha. We were celebrating our pack's annual Orange Moonlight festival that day. Although the name implies that the festival would be strictly at nighttime-it is more or less an all-day event. During the day, we had a big barbeque that our alpha provided all of the food for. The omega's that worked in the pack house would take shifts cooking or serving the food and then once their shift was over they were free to enjoy the festival just like anyone else. Then, once nighttime came,the large clearing in the forest where our pack usually held all large meetings or events, would be turned into a carnival setting. By the end of the night, we would do an initiation of all of our new members (aka everyone who had finally gotten their wolf/come of age). They got the chance to lead our older members on a short mile-long run throughout our forest. Then, at the end of the night, no matter what rank you hold- you would go back home with your family or friends and spend the night appreciating what/who you have. My pack was very secluded, tucked away from the "regular" human world. However, there were a few that our pack trusted to be around and they were the same humans that would set our carnival up every single year. They never once questioned, judged, or spoke of what we are. The freedom to walk around in either wolf or human form and not be treated like a threat was exhilarating, or so I heard. We co-existed in peace for many years, so I'm sure you can imagine the surprise that my pack felt when I (the Beta's daughter) was taken by one of those humans. My head and my heart hurt thinking about that day. I could still faintly hear the cries my mother wailed when she realized that her little girl was gone and she didn't know what happened. It's been five years since my disappearance, and not once has anyone found me. Who knows if they were even looking for me? Maybe they realized that it was easier to be without me and pretend that I was dead. Hell, maybe they actually do think that I am dead. All I know is these last five years have been the weirdest and hardest years of my life. Granted, I was only thirteen years old when I was taken, so who knows how the last five years would've been had I been at home. All I know is now I am forced to deal with the consequences of my actions and I do not know where to begin. Let me walk you through the past five years.