The Scent of Destiny

Wolf's Bane

I started to wake up and slowly opened my eyes. The first thing I noticed was that I was in the middle of an empty room with one light shining above me. , I thought to myself. My head was pounding, the pain on the side of my face still lingered and my lower lip felt swollen. As I looked down, I noticed little drips of blood on my pants. I tried to reach for my face and check where the blood was coming from, but quickly noticed that my hands were bound to the chair's arms.

"What the...", I tried to use my strength to break the binds, but it seemed impossible. I was weak somehow, and couldn't tap into Kida's power anymore.

"Kida? Are you OK?", there was no reply coming from her. She was there, I could feel it, but she was somehow out of commission. As if she was asleep. It was impossible. She had never done this to me before.

"So you ARE a freak, aren't you?", I recognized Claude's voice as he walked out of a dark corner of the room and stood right in front of me. He looked down upon me with a malicious grin, "And I mean, only a freak would be able to resist the amount of wolf's bane you inhaled, and even then, it still wouldn't completely affect you", he said with some concern.

"Wolf's bane?", I whispered to myself in disbelief.

Of course, my mother had taught me a long time ago about the properties of Wolf's Bane. A few of them included sleeping effects on wolf spirits and preventing their human counterparts from shifting or communicating with them, also making us weak in the process, and if it was somehow consumed or injected into our system, we could immediately die from intoxication.

"Why would you use Wolf's Bane? For what purpose? Its use is forbidden". It was banned within our kind. Its use, even in war, was considered a serious crime in the eyes of all Alphas, even a crime against the moon goddess.

"Can't tell", he smirked.

"Why are you doing this to me? Let me go! I've done nothing wrong!", he laughed at my demand.

"That's where you're wrong, dear Alice", he crouched and looked straight into my eyes, as he traced a path from my knee close to my crotch, tapping his index and middle finger again and again, "You see... you are hiding two traitors, and that's also considered treason", he said while he gave the tip of my nose a little tap with his finger, as if he had just explained something to a child.

"They aren't traitors, they were attacked by a pack leader! If I can just talk to Carlise and explain...", Claude suddenly slapped me across the face right on the side I had just been hit before, making the pain even worse. I shed a small tear and looked back at him with hate.

"When Carlise finds out what you're doing to me, you are going to regret this", I threatened him.

"These are Carlise's orders, Alice". I opened my eyes wide with shock, realizing how stupid I was for coming here by myself. I should've known better.

"I bet you regret not accepting me as your mate", he got closer to me, too close to my liking, gently caressing the side of my face he had brutally slapped moments ago, as if he enjoyed seeing me like this, "Gotta admit, you do look stunningly beautiful, despite your abnormalities and all. That's why I was so angry when you rejected me. My wolf still goes crazy with your scent. It makes me even more angry. I haven't been able to find another mate ever since you. I've had to f**k a couple of she-wolves to calm my wolf down, but even then, I can't seem to get off if I'm not thinking of you", by using the tip of his finger, he gently made a path from my cheek, down to my neck, then down my shoulder, "Everyone desires you, you know? Even Carlise. It really infuriates me", when he started to get closer to my breast, anger filled my chest and I headbutted him straight on the nose. He fell backwards and he writhed in pain, grabbing his face between his hands, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Don't f*****g touch me!", I roared furiously.

Claude slowly stood up, his face was covered in blood but the anger in his expression was obvious. He came up to me once more and grabbed me by the neck, choking me.

"You are going to regret that. You should've picked me!", my vision slowly began to blur, and I could feel myself fading, but right before it happened, the door slammed open behind him, letting in a bright white light. A shadowy figure came through the door. Claude immediately let go of his grip and as I gasped for air, he turned around to see who was coming in through the door.

"I thought I ordered you not to touch her", said Harald with his deep voice, bitter as always. He walked towards him at a fast pace.

"Sorry father, I was trying to interrogate her and...", Harald punched Claude right in the gut, making him fall to his knees with both hands on his stomach.

"When I order you to do something, you do it EXACTLY as ordered", he knelt beside Claude and got close to his ear. He clearly was trying to invade his personal space to make him uncomfortable, "Do you understand?", he said directly in his ear.

"Yes...", Claude whispered.

"Yes what?!", Harald yelled, this time to his face.

"Yes father, I understand!", he yelled while coughing, red with anger and shame. I didn't blame him for feeling that way; Claude was a piece of s**t, but Harald was ten times worse.

Harald stood up and briefly stared at me with contempt and then turned around, making his way out the door. Claude got off the ground and quickly followed behind him. He didn't look back this time.

I was all alone now. My body was tense because of all the recent events. I laid back and relaxed as much as I could on the chair and stared at the only light that illuminated this goddess' forsaken place. Tears started rolling down my cheeks as I thought to myself .

I must've fallen asleep at some point because, when I opened my eyes, the door in front of me opened again. The creaking sound of the old wooden door woke me up, startling me. As I tried to look up towards the door, there was a sudden pull on my neck muscle that made me groan in pain. The stiffness in my neck due to the uncomfortable position I slept in was the cause of it, I thought.

"I'm sorry they left you in such an uncomfortable chair, Alice", said Carlise in that particular seducing tone that sent shivers down my spine. He looked down to where my hands were bonded and untied them, "Let's get you out of these". He then looked at me and smiled with such charm that I almost fell for his usual kindness towards me, "I'm sorry for Harald and Claude's treatment. They've been dealt with. The way you were treated was unacceptable, but you did try to enter the packhouse without permission. Their actions were somewhat justified, but I had exclusive orders to not touch you". He seemed saddened about how I was treated, but I didn't fall for it. At the same time, thoughts about him giving orders to not touch me made me uneasy, "You are putting me in such a difficult position Alice. Those orphans assaulted my pack leader, and they have to be punished accordingly".

"Alpha Carlise", I named him respectfully, trying to sound convincing. I stood up and tried to keep my balance, my body still felt weak, "I came here to speak on their behalf. I've been with them long enough to know they aren't bad people, and they only ever intended to defend themselves. One of them has marks on her neck to prove it. They are twins and their connection is far more complex than anyone can imagine. I've seen it. When one feels something, the other one feels it or suffers it as well. She acted out of desperation for her and her sister. If they can come here and..."

"Be quiet, Alice", he said as he put his index finger on my lips. There was that awful bad vibe in the air. He was trying to use his aura to intimidate me, "As Claude told you before, they are traitors. The reason they were questioned was because we found evidence proving they were working against us. They helped the rogues on our borders", he then pulled out some pictures from his back pocket and showed them to me. Some pictures showed Kate, Natalie, or both, with strangers on our borders, giving them documents, or just speaking to them.

"No... It... It can't be", I couldn't believe it. It had to be a lie and those pictures had to be fake. There was no way those were real. They both even said they weren't allowed to go anywhere outside the packhouse unless invited to do so.

Then it hit me; my parents and I had talked before their departure about the rogues possibly being organized, testing us and evaluating our limits. Were they a part of them the whole time?

"As I said, you put me in a very difficult position because my future Luna has been mingling with, and hiding traitors, and that's unacceptable".

"Future... Luna?", I asked, incredulous at the revelation.

"I was preparing a special ceremony to announce this to you and the whole pack, after I had spoken to Eric and Maya previous to this, of course. It was only recently that I figured out that the moon goddess chose you to be my mate, and don't worry about your condition, Alice, you are strong, fearless, fierce and beautiful. You've proved many times over that despite you lacking a sense of smell, you are powerful on your own accord. The Wolf Bane's resistance you have is enough proof of this".

"Kida, please wake up!", I cried out in my mind, trying to get her to react. I could feel her presence again, stronger than before, but she still felt numb and sluggish because of the poison.

"Alpha I...", I stuttered for a moment, recollected my thoughts, trying to pick the right words and continued, "With all the respect you deserve, I am not a fit mate for someone of your position. Besides, I can't feel the affection you feel for me".

"That's no problem for me, my dear. But, there's something you and I have to do first", his gentle gaze was set on me, he slowly evaluated me from head to toe and caressed my cheek, "Remus has been restless ever since we walked in the room". His hand made its way down my neck, and then he stopped there, "What's this?", he quickly noticed the pendant that hung right below my chest and took it between his fingers. Amused by his discovery, he scrutinized the stone with curious eyes, "Such a beautiful stone, I've never seen anything like it. Was this a gift from Maya?".

"No, it was from my father", I analyzed him, trying to figure out the reason behind his sudden curiosity for something as simple as a necklace. He then smiled broadly, his eyes gleamed with excitement.

"You've been right in front of me, all along...", he seemed ecstatic about his sudden discovery. Did it involve me somehow? Whatever it was, it wasn't good, "All this time, trying to find the moonborn in all these girls, and to figure you've had this all this time...", his gaze was fixated on the necklace, and then looked at me with fascination and something else I had seen in his eyes before; there was carnal desire in his eyes, "Oh what a couple we'll become, Alice, the most powerful couple among all Alphas and Lunas. You have to be mine now!".

Carlise pushed me further into the room and I found myself falling backwards on a bed I didn't know was there. I was terrified about what was going to happen, and even if I wanted to defend myself, my body was still weak from the Wolf's Bane in my system. There was no strength in me to try to defend myself from him, and without Kida, I was outpowered. I watched as Carlise took his shirt off and approached me. I didn't care if I was his mate, no she-wolf should ever be forced to have s*x with their mate. He came up on me and started kissing my neck while roughly caressing my thighs, "Please stop Carlise, you can't do this". He wasn't listening anymore, he seemed more focused on his most primal instinct. I tried to shove him away from me but my strength was close to none. I even tried headbutting him as I did with Claude, but with no success.

"Help! Someb...Mmmmmmhhhh!", Carlise put his hand over my mouth, muffling my screams.

"Shhhhhh... Hush sweetheart. I've been waiting so long for this moment. Even before finding out who you are, I desired you, but now my search is over, and you will become my Luna, Alice".

Tears rolled down my cheeks once again as I embraced the possibility that the inevitable was about to happen. My worst nightmare was becoming a reality. All I could yell in my mind was "Kida, please help me! Kida!".