Chapter 14: Aria

Chapter 14: Aria

It destroyed me to separate from Lucas. The entire walk back to the Grey Creek Pack was heavy with impending doom like I was walking to my death. The only thing that made it tolerable was Lucas’ company, but when we reached the borders of my pack territory in the early evening, he stopped us and touched my shoulder. “This is where I have to leave you,” he said softly. “I do wish you’d stay. At least tell me you’ll think about it.”

I owed him that much. “I won’t be able to stop thinking about it,” I admitted, then immediately regretted sharing that.

Lucas just smiled, squeezing my shoulder. “That makes two of us.”

Stepping away from me, Lucas paused to gaze in my direction as I headed back to the villa alone. I glanced over my shoulder and caught him watching me.

“I’ll check in on you soon,” he promised.

“Okay. Bye, Alpha Lucas.”

Lucas chuckled behind his lips. “Goodbye, darling Aria. Until next time.”

Darling…

My cheeks turned hot, ushering me shyly away so that Lucas wouldn’t see how deeply his kindness affected me. That’s all it was, right? Kindness.

The feeling stayed with me as I walked back into the claustrophobic walls of the villa. I clung to the warmth stirring inside me every time I thought of Lucas, comforting me while reality left me alienated once again. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do now that I was back home. I had no job to return to, no responsibilities to fulfill, just the isolation of hunting outside the villa. I stood there in the courtyard, feeling displaced and awkward as I tried to figure out what my next move would be. What would Lucas encourage me to do?

A couple of familiar faces caught my attention, cleaving my thoughts of Lucas in half. My mother and father were walking alongside Emma on their way from the fitness center. Emma was still wearing her soccer uniform, and all three of them were oblivious to me standing nearby. As I drifted closer, their conversation achieved clarity out of the murmurs of the evening.

“Thanks for coming to watch me practice,” said Emma, sounding not at all gracious. "It definitely made the other girls nervous with some higher-ranked wolf shifters watching.”

“Anything to give our baby girl the edge,” my father said warmly, clapping his hand over her shoulder.

All the warmth I felt from Lucas evaporated. I used to be my parents’ baby girl. Now they acted like I didn’t even exist.

“I wonder if it’ll have the same effect on your upcoming game tomorrow,” said my mother.

“Do you think you could get Oswald and Mara to show up? Then it’ll definitely make the competition sweat,” said Emma.

“I’m sure he’d be delighted to watch,” said my father.

“I want to win a goal for Mara,” said Emma, brimming with pride. “That would get me in her good books for sure.”

The thought of my family bending over backwards to appease Mara was too much. I stopped behind them, and my fists clenched, unable to keep the anger from spitting past my lips. “Shouldn’t you win the game on your own merits? I’d say intimidating the other girls into playing poorly is cheating, wouldn’t you?”

My family stopped walking, slowly looking over their shoulder at me.

Emma’s eyebrows rose in amusement while my parents only looked agitated. “You’d know a thing or two about cheating, huh?” she accused.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I countered.

“Haven’t you heard the latest gossip?” Emma turned around fully, taking a couple of daunting steps toward me. “Everyone knows you brainwashed Mrs. Foster into passing your Alpha training assignments. You did the same thing last week, giving her some sob story so that she would get you that job in the archives.”

Shock slammed my heart inside my chest. “You think I brainwashed her?”

“You’re obviously too stupid and inept to actually handle Alpha responsibilities. Look at you. You can’t even hunt by yourself without getting beat to shit. What, did a deer kick you in the head?” mocked Emma, gesturing at the assortment of bandages across my body.

How could they twist up my story so badly to make everyone believe I’d lied to Mrs. Foster and manipulated her into helping me? How could they think so lowly of me? What had I ever done to suggest I’d do such a thing? “This wasn’t from a deer,” I began.

But before I could finish, my mother stepped up beside Emma. “Whose clothes are those? You better not have stolen them from your sisters.”

“That blouse looks a lot like one that Lacey owns,” suggested Emma.

“They’re my clothes!” I argued. “Alpha Lucas got them for me from a shop in the Silent Shadows’ village.”

As soon as I said it, I wished I hadn’t. My lips were sealed as my parents, and Emma exchanged a glance. Mention of the Silent Shadows’ Alpha had attracted the attention of other passersby: girls from Emma’s soccer practice, packmates on their way back to their living quarters, even some of the soldiers making their way home from a day of training. All eyes were once more on me.

“How dare you slander the good name of Alpha Black,” hissed my mother.

“Don’t speak such nonsense, Aria,” commanded my father. “You’ve already wounded the Grey Creek Pack’s image by dragging Alpha Black into your hostility against Mara. Now you expect us to believe he took pity on you, enough to buy you those new clothes? How could you insult him like that?”

“You probably think I brainwashed him, too, right?”

“No,” said my father. “What you speak is a blatant lie.”

“When would he have taken you shopping, anyway?” asked Emma. “You’ve been banished to the outskirts of the territory for days!”

“Exactly!” I squeezed my fists again, resisting the urge to step closer. My parents were on the defensive. I didn’t want them to think I was about to attack anyone, even though my anger was already manifesting into action. “You have no idea what I’ve been doing except for hunting. Or trying to, without you sneaking into my cache and destroying everything I caught.” My eyes burned into Emma.

She knew I was referring to when she and Cassie sabotaged my food stores. Her lips tightened into a smirk as she folded her arms. “How sad. You can’t even take responsibility for your failed hunts when the evidence is right there.”

“This isn’t evidence of a failed hunt,” I said, holding out my arm where a deep bite wound had been wrapped up in bandages by Esther. “This is the result of a Rogue attack!”

A gasp spread through the crowd that had gathered around us. Emma’s arrogant smirk weakened, clearly thrown off as the attention left her and shifted to worry about the news of a rogue attack.

“What? Haven’t you all heard?” I looked at my packmates around me. “Didn’t Oswald warn you about the Rogues?”

“Enough, Aria! There’s no need to spread frightening rumors,” said my father.

“You have no idea what I’ve been doing. You didn’t even realize I was missing yesterday, did you?” I latched my gaze onto him now, the hair on the back of my neck prickling.

“It’s not our responsibility to know where you are. You’re not a child anymore, Aria,” scolded my mother.

“Yet you would have neglected me no matter how old I was,” I fought back. “Even if I was still a child, you wouldn’t have defended me from the rumors, Emma and Cassie’s sabotage, or Mara’s claims against me. You would have let it happen no matter what because I’m not as pretty or charming or perfect as them.” I was beginning to see the truth of it all. This entire time, my only redeeming quality was that I had been Oswald’s fated mate, and now that Mara was his mate, I was worth nothing to them! “That’s why you treat me like an outsider, isn’t it? You act like I’m… some kind of leper! Like having sympathy for me will cause the rest of the pack to look down on you!”

“You brought it all on yourself, the way you acted with Mara!” shouted my mother.

“I didn’t deserve any of it! I was trying to be the best Alpha Female I could possibly be! But when I lost my chance—because Oswald never wanted me—you turned your back on me!”

“We all had to make sacrifices, Aria!” My mother’s voice rose in a way that made me want to flinch, her tone cutting. “You know that everything your father and I do is for the good of our family!”

“So, what? Am I not considered part of your family anymore?”

I could tell my mother wanted to snap back at me, but with the crowd around us, she kept silent and only glanced at my father.

The rest of my packmates heard the argument, developing opinions of their own, and to my surprise, not all of them seemed to take my family’s side.

“I’d think Aria’s made enough sacrifices,” said one of the girls on Emma’s soccer team. “It’s not like she tried to force her way back into the pack after Oswald’s punishment.”

“That’s right,” said somebody else. “I haven’t seen her since Oswald ordered her to be touch-starved. She did as she was told.”

“Her sisters are the ones tormenting her, trying to keep her from eating.”

“Hey!” Emma barked at the crowd. “You don’t know anything about us. Or her! Aria’s an irresponsible, jealous brat, but none of you realize it because she’s been putting on the illusion of being this hard-done-by little girl. Being Oswald’s fated mate made her entitled and spoiled! She thinks the world owes her something when really it doesn’t!”

“I’m not putting on any illusion!” I argued. Had it not been for Lucas, I might have thought Emma was right, but I realized now that the way my family was treating me wasn’t right. No family should treat their daughter like she is an outcast for being rejected by her fated mate. I’d done nothing wrong. I worked hard every day, even after being rejected, cast aside, insulted… The Silent Shadows Pack saw the value I possessed. My family turned a blind eye to it simply because it didn’t match the narrative they spun about me. They were the ones who were wrong!

And now the rest of my pack was beginning to see it.

“I don’t know what you’ve been getting up to outside of the villa, but clearly, this is some kind of scheme to get revenge against Oswald,” said my father. “I won’t have it. Anyone who speaks against Oswald’s decisions may as well be declaring treason against him!”

The pack murmured.

“Do you think Oswald’s rejection changed her?” they said.

“No, she was always hateful. We just never saw it until now.”

“Oswald made the right choice turning her away.”

The inferno raged inside me as I heard my packmates call me hateful. Yet the ones who sympathized with me argued back, saying I only acted this way because of what was taken from me. The few packmates I had interacted with before came to my defense, but that was the downside of my intense Alpha training. I’d never been given the chance to make friends. I had nobody else to take my side except for the few who witnessed my training, and they were grossly outnumbered by the ones fearful of inciting treason. The topic of the Rogues came up again as my packmates wondered out loud why Oswald hadn’t warned anybody about them yet, but some brushed it off as a rumor. Others turned it back on me, accusing me of bringing the Rogues into our territory and planning the attacks in the first place.

Chaos erupted in the crowd as my packmates argued among themselves. Their oppressive judgment bore down on me, suffocating me. I hadn’t meant to cause so much drama, but it seemed everywhere I went, there was an argument waiting to explode. Even if I wanted to back out and flee from the argument, they surrounded me. I couldn’t leave.

Then a hush fell over the crowd. My eyes skipped over everyone, looking for an opening through which I could retreat, and when I saw people begin to step aside, I lunged—only to stop in my tracks. They were stepping aside to let somebody else through.

Late sunset reds washed over her ethereal silver hair, glistening in an updo atop her head, held in place by tight braids and coils. Her flowing lavender dress gave off the air of a goddess while her long lashes framed a gentle gaze cast upon me. Mara had appeared from nowhere, materializing right at the moment she sensed the pack needed her calming presence the most. When she could take advantage of the chaos for her own gain.

“Aria,” she uttered sadly. “What’s going on? Why is the pack in such disarray?”

I wanted to fling all my anger at Mara but swallowed it back even though she was the reason everything was taken from me in the first place. “Why didn’t Oswald warn everyone about the Rogues?” I asked instead.

Her eyes widened in fear. “The Rogues…! I’m so sorry. You’re right, Aria.”

I was… right?

Mara turned to look at the rest of the gathering. “Oswald and I were hesitant to bring up the Rogues… We didn’t want to frighten anyone. But look what they’ve done to poor Aria!” She gestured at me, using my wounds to bolster her caring, sympathetic image. “We were planning a meeting to warn the pack without causing any panic, but it seems we’re too late. Aria… I understand why you’re acting out now. Oswald and I have failed you. Please, accept my apology and allow me to make it up to you.”

I narrowed my eyes in immediate suspicion. She had never extended such compassion to me before. But surrounded by our packmates, I supposed she had to go the extra mile to convince them that she was the tender, caring heroine out of the two of us.

“We will make an official announcement tomorrow morning, and to unify our pack, I’d like to invite you and everyone else to participate in a pack run just beyond the villa. It will be a day of training—a bonding experience to prepare us for the threat of the rogues. Aria, you’ve faced off against the Rogues before. Would you be willing to share your experience with us?”

There was no way she meant this in earnest when earlier, she had made me out to be the villain. Now she wanted to turn the opinions of the pack around, asking them to believe me, to trust me?

Then again… I was the only one of them who had faced the Rogues, except for Oswald and Mara themselves. I was the only one who could prepare my packmates for the dangers lying beyond our territory. Maybe this could be my chance to redeem myself. I didn’t trust Mara worth a damn, but this wasn’t about gaining Mara’s trust. It was about proving myself to my pack.

I looked between everyone and slowly nodded. “Okay. I’ll prepare us for the Rogues.”

Mara clasped her hands together and smiled. “Thank you, Aria.”

But when I met her gaze, I recognized the deceitful glimmer in her eyes. I knew there was something brewing underneath that heavenly façade of hers. The fate of my pack lay in them being prepared to take on the Rogues, and she knew that.

Mara counted on me having no choice but to help them.