Chapter 19: Aria

Chapter 19: Aria

A cold sweat chased me as I followed Scott to the borders where my pack was waiting. Looming dread made every step feel heavy, my heart pounding so loud in my ears it drowned out all else. Even Lucas’ reassuring presence wasn’t enough to soothe my discomforts; icy anxiety shook me to my core. It felt like I was walking to my demise.

Eerie silence gripped the forest as we traveled further away from the safety of the Silent Shadows’ village. Not even the birds conversed overhead, merely observing from the treetops the wolf pack closing in on visitors to their territory. I held my breath at every movement between the trees, expecting my pack to step into sight any moment, wishing I could turn around and go back to Lucas’ flower-adorned dinner table and forget about the Grey Creek Pack entirely. After the complete and utter kindness of Lucas’ pack, I didn’t want to go back to the people that disdained me or felt sorry for me. I liked being appreciated and befriended and feeling valued. I couldn’t go back to the shifters that saw me as nothing more than a disappointing failure of an Omega.

But that fate became frighteningly real when the evening sunlight revealed Oswald, Mara, and a crowd behind them. My pack had unified to confront me.

This was my worst nightmare. The weakness in my knees nearly took me out, but a strong, warm hand on the small of my back kept me on my feet. Lucas hovered behind me, offering encouragement with his touch and murmuring behind my ear, “Don’t worry. This won’t take long.”

I met his eyes for a few trusting seconds. He smiled back at me, bending his head to kiss my brow. All at once, his closeness rushed in a lungful of his smell, and his affection warmed my nervous chill. I wanted so desperately to believe that Lucas intended to protect me, that I was worth protecting, but I knew the instant Oswald spoke, I would be reduced to nothing. In all my distress, I didn’t notice the pointed look Lucas gave in Oswald’s direction.

As we approached my pack, I flicked my eyes up at Oswald and immediately felt his anger and judgment bite into me. My shoulders drooped as I hesitated to get any closer. Lucas stepped around me, forming a barrier between Oswald and me. Behind the Grey Creek Alpha, Mara turned up her nose and looked balefully at me, standing as tall as her mate. My family lingered behind him, too: my father frowning, my mother swallowing her anger, only two of my sisters—Cassie and Emma—snickering between each other, making my stomach turn. To Oswald’s left, the begrudging scowl of my combat teacher, Mr. Ross, looking like he didn’t approve of Oswald’s decision to come here. Mr. Ross glanced at me, and I recognized the faintest flash of sympathy before he looked away.

I clenched my fists and forced myself to hold Oswald’s gaze.

The Grey Creek Alpha wrinkled his nose and sneered, but before he could speak, Lucas broke the silence.

“You must have gotten turned around on your way here,” Lucas said firmly, with a warning for Oswald to tread carefully.

The tone of the Silent Shadows Alpha made Oswald stiffen. like ice was driven up his spine. “We can resume the strategy meeting as soon as this first matter is resolved,” he asserted.

Lucas narrowed his eyes. “Which matter is that?”

A vein bulged in Oswald’s temple as he shifted his eyes to me, thrusting a finger. “You! Deserting your pack when you had promised to protect them against the Rogues! Crawling to Silent Shadows to skirt around your touch-starvation punishment, making Alpha Black feel sorry for you!” His malice turned back to Lucas. “I’m here to recover Aria Gunn, and I’ve brought packmates of mine willing to testify as to why she should be returned to us!”

It didn’t matter what they argued. I would know the truth. They didn’t want me back because they missed me or realized what I meant to them. They already knew what I meant to them—it was nothing. They wanted me because they wanted me dead! Fear bubbled up inside my throat, but I glanced sidelong at Lucas and found his sights firmly set on Oswald. He held firm against Oswald’s outrage.

“What makes you think you deserve to have her back?” Lucas growled. His wolf was bristling, baring teeth, accepting Oswald’s challenge with vigor. “When my brother found Aria at my borders, it was three days after the Rogue attack, and she was near death. She told me that you and your packmates abandoned her in the middle of the fight. Aria did protect your pack. Where else do you think she got these wounds? And you just left her!”

Oswald stiffened. “You think it would have been wise for me to sacrifice my life to a few starving Rogues? For what, honor? Aria could have retreated to the villa with us and made sure we returned home safely! It’s her own fault she let her wounds fester while she got lost trying to find her way to your pack. She should consider herself lucky even to be alive.”

“I do,” I interjected, voice shaking.

Oswald paused in surprise to hear me. “You what?”

“I do consider myself lucky.” Sucking in a deep breath, I forced the words from my throat. “I should have died in the forest after that attack. I’ve caused you and Mara so much misery. I should have let fate play out and punish me for all I’ve done. I’m lucky that Scott found me. I’m lucky that Lucas has been compassionate enough to give me shelter. But I don’t deserve it. You’re right… Everything I’ve suffered is my own fault. That’s why you gave me up to the Rogues after I saved your life, isn’t it?”

A gasp rippled through my pack. Opposite of them, behind me, the members of the Silent Shadows that accompanied us murmured with disapproval toward Oswald. Nobody had seen me interrupt the fight that Oswald was losing, but he still bore the wounds inflicted by the rogue attacking him. Where my pack whispered accusations against me that I might be lying, the Silent Shadows Pack believed me wholeheartedly. Mr. Ross was the only one who looked shocked and disappointed at Oswald. He’d seen my fighting skills firsthand—he knew I was telling the truth.

Oswald knew I was telling the truth too, but he’d never admit it. He curled his lip in disgust and looked at Lucas. “Her arrogance knows no bounds! Do you really believe this melodramatic runt and the stories she tells? The longer she stays in your pack, the more she corrupts all your minds with her lies. Let me do you a favor and take her back home.”

“Enough, Oswald!” Lucas interrupted, raising his voice in rare anger. “I believe her more than I believe you. Aria has been nothing but sincere and helpful while in my care, and I have no reason to believe she’d act otherwise anywhere else. The fact that you slander her and paint her in a light that is so clearly wrong convinces me further that she’s the one who has been wronged. I don’t know why you have it out for Aria, but I’m putting an end to it!”

“She’s manipulating you!” Oswald snarled.

He just wouldn’t let it go. I couldn’t understand why Oswald hated me so much—I thought I knew because he wasn’t attracted to me and resented that he was stuck with me for a mate, but being mated to Mara should have solved that problem. Why couldn’t he just let me live in peace? I felt an anger similar to Lucas’ boiling in the pit of my stomach and couldn’t help firing back at Oswald, “You’re the one who’s manipulating people! You turned my entire pack against me!” Oswald had become my worst enemy, but the tears prickling in my eyes were a close second. I didn’t want anyone to see my outburst of emotion, least of all Lucas, but it was impossible to hold it all back with Oswald attacking me so viciously. I had to defend myself, and maybe I only felt strong enough to do so now that I had Lucas by my side. “You made my life a living hell! Why? You act like I’m trying to ruin your life, but all I want is to be useful to my pack. You reject me at every turn. You’ve stolen everything from me! Even my own family wants nothing to do with me, and it’s because of you. But everything you’ve ever said about me is a lie, Oswald!”

Arguing with Lucas might not have been enough to make Oswald lose his cool, but as soon as I raised my voice, I saw the steam spout from his reddened ears. “You little delinquent—!”

“Alpha Moore!” Lucas snapped.

I took the interruption as an opportunity to keep going. “I know why you want me to come back,” I said. “You don’t want me to sustain your numbers or to redeem me of my bad behavior. You don’t want to give me a chance to find my place because you’ve already decided where my place is—in the dirt!”

Another surge of murmurs bolstered me.

“I don’t know why you think that me being around causes so much trouble, but it’s clear now the only value I’d be to you is as a dead wolf. It would be much more convenient, wouldn’t it? No more fated bond tugging at your heart. No more of my hijinks as I try to find my purpose in your pack. No more guilt, as you and my family treat me like shit. Everything would be easier for you if I were dead!”

Oswald’s face contorted into disbelief, then exasperation. “Don’t be so dramatic!”

“She’s right,” said Lucas. “Even I can see how blatantly you despise Aria being around. You’ve done everything you can to alienate her, weaken her, and make her vulnerable to threats. Hoping she would die. Don’t bother denying it any longer, Oswald. At this point, I’d be a moron to hand her back over to you. Doing so would be sending Aria to her death.”

The Grey Creek Alpha faltered. It was one thing for me to defend myself, but it was another beast entirely for Lucas to openly rebuke Oswald, addressing the obvious truth of his crimes. Oswald could always claim I was lying, or delirious, or some other bullshit—but how was he going to contest Alpha Lucas Black? He couldn’t. That was why his mouth hung agape, and he found himself at a sore loss for words.

Seeing this only made me feel more confident. I shifted closer to Lucas, daring to reach out for his arm. “Do you really wish I’d stay here? With your pack?”

Lucas blinked down at me. “Of course, Aria.” He turned his body to face me, clutching my arms with a gentle grip. “I want nothing more than for you to join the Silent Shadows Pack. It’s clear that Oswald and the Grey Creek Pack don’t appreciate you. They don’t deserve you. I’m serious when I say I want you to stay here with me.”

Every word made my chest burn hotter. I could tell it made Oswald burn too, but in the absolute worst way. He simmered with indignant rage while I glowed with the embers of Lucas’ acceptance.

But before I could give my final response and bring the discussion to an end, the silence was broken. Not by Oswald, but Mara.

“This is outrageous!” she cried, drawing all eyes onto her. “You trust the word of an Omega over your own fellow Alpha? The Council of Seven cannot abide this!”

“What do you know of the Council’s opinion on the matter?” challenged Lucas.

Mara’s eyes widened and glistened. She stood straighter, as though empowered by all the attention, her façade honed and ready. We all waited, but none of us could have expected what she would say next.

“I’ve spoken with the Council,” she said, her voice trembling, like she was fighting for the strength to challenge me. “They have reason to believe that Aria Gunn… is an imposter!”