The Scent of Destiny

What we left behind

Three hours had passed ever since Kida and I escaped the packhouse. We were still forty minutes away from where we had left Kate and Natalie. Flashes of memories kept coming back. The images of Carlise touching me and kissing me still made my eyes swell up with tears. I tried really hard to keep it off my mind, but I was still in shock because it happened. I let Kida control our body so I could try and recover. We hadn't said a word to each other the whole time, she gave me space.

"What happened to you, Kida?", I finally asked her, "We were poisoned with Wolf's Bane. I couldn't reach you, and I thought I was never going to be able to, but you came to rescue me. How?", she recollected her thoughts. She wasn't sure how to answer.

"I was... trapped in darkness. My senses were numbed, but I could still hear you, yet you seemed far away from me. It was terrifying knowing that I was there and not being able to reach out to you", she said calmly, yet disturbed.

"You could hear me the whole time?".

"Yes, but barely. I could feel everything you felt, and I know at a certain point I made you headbutt someone".

"You'll be glad to know it was Claude who we headbutted. That fucker deserved much more than that.", I spat.

"At least we made him bleed", she said, bitterly, yet somehow amused, "I saw something, Alice. I saw a glade, and then a forest. But unlike any forest I have ever seen. It was so surreal, and everything was full of life and colors. It was... magical", she then continued to explain about how she entered a cave that led her to the moon goddess, and how she fought a wolf made out of darkness, and how she was able to defeat him and get out of the daze of the Wolf's Bane.

"It sounds so similar to what I've experienced before...", I said, amazed. We had both seen the same glade, and the same forest. I wanted to talk more about it, but there was something bothering me that I needed to tell her. "Kida... Carlise said we were his mate", I explained to her with a broken voice.

"What?", she paused briefly, analyzing what I had just told her. " Its... impossible".

"I'm not sure if what I'm about to tell you is correct, but he implied that he wanted us for something, that we had been in front of him the whole time, or something like that... We made a huge mistake going there alone. Even if we are strong, we aren't enough to fight thirty or more warriors that defend that house, and to make it worse, warriors who have experienced battle before. It was stupid of me to think the plan of sneaking in could work, and it was stupid to even think we could convince Carlise".

"It's my fault, Alice. I got overconfident and convinced you to do so. I'm supposed to help you, but I only made things worse for both of us", she admitted with remorse.

"Don't do that to yourself. It's a decision we made together and now we have to suffer the consequences of our actions. There's nothing we can do about it now, but you are right, we have to leave forever", I said, unsure whether we would succeed or not.

"I hope our parents can find us", she said with concern.

"I hope so too".

Both of us grieved in silence about this life-changing event. We just hoped our parents wouldn't turn their backs on us, that they would at least give us a chance to explain. At this point, it was very likely that everyone in the pack was informed of our supposed treachery, which made things worse for us. They were Carlise's best assets, but we only hoped that, despite their position, they would have the heart to listen to what we had to say. We also discussed the twins being traitors and giving information to the rogues on our borders.

"Do you believe what you saw?", she asked.

"It looked real, but I would believe Carlise edited the pictures only to have a reason to kill them in front of the whole pack. We have to hurry and get the twins, and ask them about it before we decide to take them anywhere with us".

"They are coming with us regardless, Alice. If they were dangerous, they would've shown it already". I hated when she was right. If they were, they would've tried to harm us when they had the chance.

After a while, we finally reached the clearing before the mountains. I stopped briefly just to grab a few sips from the pond.. As I got closer to it, I noticed that there were more footprints than usual, but worst of all, they were wolf prints, and not the ones by regular wolves; they were werewolf prints. I opened my eyes in shock. I feared the worst. We ran up the road as fast as we could.

"How!? How did they find them?!", I asked her.

"Alice, we were out for hours. Who knows for how long they've searched? And, your father may not be here, but Marco is still second best at tracking".

"How could I let a detail like that get over me? Of course Carlise would send his second best to track them!", I yelled in her mind.

"Let's just focus on getting there. I just hope it's not too late...", she said, but I knew she wasn't certain that the outcome would be good. The prints were visible on certain parts of the road uphill, they were definitely close to where we had hidden them. We hurried, with hopes that they hadn't found them already.

As we got near the entrance to the cave, I sighed in relief. Nobody was here yet. I ran towards the cave, but stopped quickly as I noticed a silhouette in the dark of the cave, heading towards the light. The figure that came out was Marco in his wolf form, holding one of the twins between his jaw. She was limp, hands hanging on her sides and blood all over her. We took a fighting stance and growled challengingly. We had to rescue her from him. She seemed badly injured and, by the looks of it, I couldn't think of anything but the fact that maybe she was already dead.

Marco opened his jaw and let the body drop on the ground. He stood his ground and slowly looked to his left, as if trying to show me something. I heard footsteps coming from within the cave, and then, right next to Marco, came out Riven, dragging the other twin on the ground, holding her by her hair. She screamed desperately, and struggled as she tried to release herself from his grip. Riven pulled the twin in front of him and picked her up, leaving her on her knees. It was Kate. I knew it because she always wore a black choker around her neck. Kida was ready to attack until he pointed a knife at Kate's throat. Kate sobbed.

"Uh uh, I wouldn't do that pretty wolf. She'll die first", he said as he secured the knife's edge to her throat as he grinned. Kida whimpered and lowered her head.

I took over and transformed back into my human form, and fell to my knees, covering my naked body as best as I could with my arms, "Riven, Marco, please, I beg you, don't hurt her. Please, let her have a fair trial", I cried.

"Alice, what are you doing?! You are defenseless this way!", she warned me. I did not listen.

"You know, I like it when you beg for once, Alice. It's hard being a male and having a f*****g girl beat you up all the time, but seeing you this desperate and weak, actually feels good", he said maliciously. What a f*****g coward.

"You monsters! You killed my sister! My twin sister! I felt her pain, I felt how she died! You monsters!", she yelled in the most horrible way possible, as if everything had been taken away from her. She cried inconsolably, "I just want to go with her. Just let me go with her", she begged. There was no hope in her eyes anymore. My jaw dropped. Natalie was dead.

"No... No... Please! Let her live! Let her have a fair trial! Please!", I begged once more, shaking in fear. Marco looked at Riven straight in the eyes. He smiled maliciously. He told him something though the mind link that didn't seem good.

"I'm happy to make your wish come true, you filthy traitor". He slashed her neck. Spurts of blood gushed out of the wound inflicted on her. She looked at me and with her lips she said 'I'm sorry'. Her body hit the ground, she stayed there for a couple of seconds, and with what little strength she had, she crawled her way to her sister. She went limp before she reached her. I let out a loud cry that resounded all throughout the forest. The birds in the area flew away with my agonizing scream. The pain I felt from the death of my friends was unbearable. They did not deserve this fate.

I heard Riven laugh, amused by their deaths, "She couldn't even make it to her sister, how weak". He then kicked her dead body, and laughed again. As painful as this was to watch, rage I'd never felt before filled my whole being and my sight turned red. I let Kida take over and we immediately ran towards Marco, who's sight was fixated on the dead girl's body. He got caught by surprise by my tackle and he flew towards the side of the mountain. He whimpered in pain. I then looked at Riven, his eyes were full of fear, fear which I enjoyed seeing in him. Before he was able to transform, Kida jumped on him and roared in his face, then she bit his head off with a single bite.

I quickly turned to face Marco, but he then tackled me on the side and I fell to the ground but rolled my body to quickly stand up. Before we could do anything, he quickly came towards me and slashed my face with his paw. I bit his leg and he responded with a bite on my back. I whimpered in pain and growled defiantly. I tried to return the attack, but he picked me up and threw me against one of the trees near by. I must've flown about ten feet before I hit the tree trunk and then fell on my side. I tried to get up, but the pain in my ribcage made it hard to do so and breathing was also painful. A couple of my ribs were broken. He slowly walked towards us and stood before me, looking down on me. He then growled viciously. I growled back and tried to bite his legs, but he stood on his hinds and landed on my ribcage, making the pain worse.

I knew it was over for me, I felt it, and Kida too. I closed my eyes and braced myself, hoping for a quick death, but before Marco was able to land the final blow, a female voice yelled, "Stop!". Marco looked in the direction the voice came from to face the person who had just given him an order, only to see my mother standing where the girls were dead.

"You better not touch my little girl, Marco Stronghold. I swear I'll kill even if its the last thing I do", he got off my chest and faced my mother. He slowly walked towards her, but he kept his distance. Whatever he told her, I couldn't hear.

"She's not a traitor, and these girls lying on the ground deserved a fair trial like everybody else, traitors or not. You f*****g piece of s**t monster", she yelled, furious. She remained silent as he listened to his answer.

"I could care less if you are my Beta, you weak f**k. And I would've done the same if I had seen someone murder a defenseless girl in cold blood. She was unarmed, and she had no wolf. How were they a danger to you or him? How can you excuse this behavior?", my mother was beyond herself in disbelief and anger. What they did was atrocious, it was a crime. Marco growled at her, threateningly.

"Call me what you will, but if Carlise did order this, then I want no part of this s**t wolf pack", whatever he told her, she opened her eyes and yelled, "No!". Marco turned around to face me and ran to finish off what he started. Suddenly, my father came out of nowhere in his wolf form and tackled him. Marco slid a couple of feet away from me. My father stood in front of me, shielding me, and my mother, already in her wolf form, stood next to my father.

Marco stood up and came and quickly came towards us with murderous intent. My mother ran towards him and they began to fight fiercely.

"Alice, can you stand?", my father asked me as he got close to me and sniffed me all over. I tried to stand, the pain was finally beginning to subside, but it was still intense. Still, I forced myself on my feet.

"Yes", I finally answered.

"Go! Now! I'll catch up!", my mother yelled at us through our mind link.

"Let's go, Alice. She'll be OK", said my father.

"But...", before I could say anything, my mother interrupted me.

"Alice, just go, I'll be fine. Go with your father and I promise I'll catch up", she said reassuringly.

I took her word and nodded at my father, and we both began our escape. We passed right next to where the twins laid dead. It was a horrible last sight to see before we left this place behind. If only I had got to them sooner...

We ran towards the southeast border. There was a route there my father knew that led to a forest outside of pack territory, "I'm so sorry Alice, for not believing you before", my father said with regret.

"No, I'm sorry. For all of this. I...", I started to cry.

"We should've believed you the first time you raised your concerns about Carlise. When we were on that mission, we heard some disturbing things the other members of our team whispered. We were ordered to attack this small lair full of rogues, supposedly. One of the men said something about recruiting whoever was strong, and to take back the youngest girls, and to kill the rest. One of them said that Carlise would have a field day with the young ones and that made me remember something you had told us before, about the same time Diane disappeared. We...", he was so full of regret at that point. It pained me to see him like this, "We are so sorry... We have failed you as parents", he seemed like he was about to break into tears, but he recomposed himself.

"At least you believe me now, Dad. That's all that matters", I told him. He seemed relieved by my answer. We continued to run towards the limits of the pack territory.

When we got to the border, we waited for my mother to show up. We kept trying to mind link her, but no answer came back. After awhile, we grew anxious and my father started pacing. Remiel was growing impatient.

"Alice, stay here. I'm going to try and link your mother further ahead, just to make sure she's OK", he finally told me.

"Dad, no, please... I'm...", I hesitated to tell him how I felt, I didn't want to seem weak, but I said it either way, "I'm scared", I confessed, about to burst into tears.

"Honey, I have to. I have to know she's OK. Please stay here, I promise we'll come back, but wait here", he said, and took off running.

"Dad!", I yelled as I watched him run towards the forest.

After a few minutes, I mind linked them over and over to try and see if they were OK, but with no success. I started to shake, fearing the worst.

"They'll come back, little one, they have to", Kida comforted me, but there was nothing that could make me calm down.

I waited for what seemed like the longest and most dreadful seven minutes of my life, and then, suddenly, I was finally able to mind link my parents.

"We are OK, Alice. We are almost there sweetheart", said my mother. I finally spotted them in the distance, about 100 feet from me. I paced right at my spot anxiously, ready to take off as soon as they got there, but in the distance, I saw a wolf running towards my father.

"Dad, watch out!", I warned him, but too late. Before my father could do anything, the wolf pounced on him. He landed on my father, and took a fatal bite to his neck. My mother stopped a couple of feet from where the wolf was, and looked at the attacker. He let go of my father's neck and growled at my mother. I recognized this wolf now. It was Remus, Carlise's wolf. The grey fur on his snout was covered with my father's blood, and he licked it over and over. He was enjoying it.

"I love you...", he told me, and the link slowly started to vanish. He was dead. I howled in pain. My friends, and now my father. Why was this happening? How?

My mother stood there in shock. Not a single muscle in her body moved. She was in disbelief. Her mate was dead, right in front of her. I couldn't even fathom how painful it must've been for her to lose the one person who's supposed to be with you for the rest of your life. Carlise howled. I recognized that particular howl; he was calling for reinforcements. I heard their response in the distance, they were close.

Through my connection with my mother, I felt how angry she was, how hurt, how heartbroken she felt. She then lost herself in that anger and attacked Carlise with all she had.

"Alice, leave. Run away and don't look back", my mother said, crying and raging in my mind.

"Mom no! Please, come with me!", I begged her.

"Kida, take her away! Don't look back! I... I love you both! Live and rebuild your life! I'm so sorry darling. I'm so sorry...", my mother told us as she struggled with Carlise. Before I could do anything, Kida took over and began running towards the forest. I tried to take over our body but she raised her walls and made sure I wasn't able to go back and help our mother.

"Kida! f**k off for once, let me help her! It's out mom! We have to f*****g help her!", I yelled. I was beyond myself with sadness and anger and desperation.

"No, Alice. I'm sorry, but I can't let you die. We can't die. Mother doesn't want that. She wants us to live", she said, trying to reason with me.

I struggled to try and take over so I could go back to help her, but to no avail. Kida was resolved on taking me far away from this place, and she ran as fast as she could. She ran for what seemed like hours, and then hours turned into days. Kida would barely stop to drink water, or hunt for a quick meal. She kept running and running, and as my mother asked her to, she did not look back, not even once. I cried for days and days inside my own body, heartbroken, as she kept running aimlessly, and that life we once knew, and the people we once loved, were left behind us.