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The Marking
Last Updated:
2025-04-19 12:50:12
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Scent of Betrayal The Prophecy
Aria The head band around my head feels both restricting and comforting, and when the girl trying to tie the accessory tugs again, I let out a tiny, "oomph" sound. "I'm sorry, Luna. Is it uncomfortable? I can adjust it." The girl dressing me is nearly half my size, which is peculiar in itself because I'm considered quite lean back at the Shifters realm. Her fingers feel too delicate, and too thin. I almost want to ask if she's okay, if she didn't have such a wide smile on her face. "No, thank you. It's fine. The head tie is very beautiful." I answer. It's no secret that when I'm not around Kaidën, I suddenly don't know how I should act around these strange people. It's almost amusing how I am still a Luna, yet the circumstances are so different, it feels like I'm not even one. The girl pauses again, and flashes me another one of her bright smiles. "Thank you very much. The best for our Luna." She sounds very excited to be doing this, and I furrow my brow in confusion. From t
Last Updated : 2025-04-19Scent of Betrayal The Beginning of Trust
Aria Kaidën looks at me like he can read my mind, and see all the questions in it. I'm tempted to ask him if he can, but I'm still bothered by what the girl who'd just left almost said to me. Suddenly, I feel his strong arms on my shoulder, like he's trying to shake me awake. "What? Did you say something to me?" I peer at him dazedly. I haven't been listening. "I asked if you were alright, Aria?" He sounds a little worried, and my heart warms again at his gesture. Anytime, Kaidën acts the way he does to me, I sometimes forget he's not my real mate. That everything is simply a sham. An elaborate one at that. I shake my head, and reach for his hands on my shoulder. "I'm fine, Kaidën. What are you doing here?" The quicker I am at changing the topic, the less the chances he is of asking me what I was just talking about with... I didn't even ask her name. How do I ask her about the prophecy again? My eyes meet Kaidën's deep ones. Or should I ask him myself? I remember the girl
Last Updated : 2025-04-19Scent of Betrayal The Gift
Kaidën "No need to keep looking back so much. Tonight is to celebrate the Luna. After tonight, you can have her all to yourself, Alpha." Riven enunciates on the "Alpha" like he's teasing me on some joke I'm not aware of. I shoot him a playful glare. "I'm just worried she'd be nervous around everyone. This place is still new to her after all." At this, Riven peers at me intently. He's always had a skill for reading people. It's a surprise he hasn't read through our lies already. We both slump on a seat near the far end of the party. At least from here, we reduce the amount of people coming over to greet me, and if I focus hard enough, I can hear the light twinkling of Aria's laughter from here. "Here," Riven says, as he passes me a cup of alcohol. I stare at the swirling black liquid for a while, before throwing it back down my throat. "I'm sure she'll be fine. She may not look it, but she's strong." He whispers fondly. Of course she is. She survived everything they did to he
Last Updated : 2025-04-19Scent of Betrayal The Shadows and the Girl
Kaidën "That's more the spirit. After you, Alpha." Riven suddenly seems more energetic, as he walks me through the brightly lit walls. He enjoys places like this. We call it- the "omega hole" and for good reasons too. The walkways are designed to lull you into this false sense of security and lack of movement of time. The omega hole always has shiny lights, and everyone you pass always has a smile on their face. It's like once they're in here, they have no sense of the world outside. As we walk, a tall lanky girl with overflowing bosoms stop in front of us. Her eyes fleet over to Riven, who offers her a smooth smile and back to me. Her brain seems to click in place when she realizes who I am, and she crouches just a bit before slipping into a sultry voice, I can only imagine she practices every day in front of a mirror. "Oh, Alpha. What have we done to be graced with your presence today." Her fingers brush over my outfit briefly, before her eyes meet mine over lowered lashes.
Last Updated : 2025-04-19Scent of Betrayal The Party
Aria "Oh, Luna. Come dance with us." Someone says, but everything feels hazy around me, and I can barely focus on one thing. The girls in front of me look around my age, and their dresses, although shorter than mine, are equally as strappy, and see through. Their giggles grow louder the closer they come to me, and someone stretches a drink towards me. "I think I'm okay. I don't want to-" "Have fun with us, Luna." Something about the way their voices swim around me, causes my thoughts to swirl further from me. I accept the drink one of them is handing to me, and take a small sip. The drink is surprisingly very sweet despite the dark green color of it. I don't think I've ever seen a drink like this, and I almost want to ask them what it is, when my feet start to feel a little heavy under me. "Luna?" The girl closest to me peers at me intently, her smile still firmly in place. My mind struggles to wrap around where I am for a moment, and I stagger onto what I can only assume is
Last Updated : 2025-04-19Scent of Betrayal The Reunited Love
Kaidën Her hands immediately leave my torso when she hears her name, and she takes an involuntary step back. "Alp-Kaidën." She whispers, still behind me. I sigh to myself. This is all my fault. With everything going on concerning my real mate, and then getting Aria to pretend to be my mate, I forgot all about her. "Eliana, what are you doing here?" I turn slowly, slow enough that I don't startle my shadows into going into defense mode. And Eliana? My gift? Anger bubbles in me when I realize what this means. Is she one of those omegas now? Her covering slips to the ground, and she seems to stand straighter. "I missed you." "Missed me? What do you mean?" I ask, already getting agitated with whatever it is she is doing. I have a lot of questions, but not the patience to stay here while she answers. My mind goes back to Aria, and how she must be doing at the party. Is she getting along well with the other omegas? I should have instructed Riven to go back to her a
Last Updated : 2025-04-19Scent of Betrayal The Shadows
Aria "Who are you?" Kaidën's voice is thick, and holds the kind of authority familiar to Alphas. The kind that has you submitting to them whether you want to or not. It's a trait most Alphas have. It makes me wonder what kind of life Kaidën would have lived if he'd not been born a rogue. He probably would have still ended up an Alpha just like Cassius. So who was his father then? A former Alpha I haven't heard anything about? Part of my Luna training has been to learn the history of most of the Alpha's and Luna's before me. I try to move the rope tying my hand together again. All these aren't important when I've been abducted again. It seems the moon goddess has forgotten me these days, or maybe bestowed a curse upon me? Why am I so unfortunate? First it's my best friend that betrays me. Then I lose my scent and my mate. And my grandmother... Now, I'm tied up somewhere I don't even know. And yet again, it's someone in the rogues camp that's kidnapped me. If I remember it
Last Updated : 2025-04-19Scent of Betrayal The Other Omega
Eliana I part my lips in a crooked smile. Kaidën is staring at me with a vicious look in his eyes, like he can't see me, and in a way maybe he can't. Maybe all he can see is his mate-his precious chosen mate, giving to him by the moon goddess. I almost let out a hysterical laugh. What a hypocrite! What about to all the hate he's harbored for the moon goddess and all the other goddesses? All the nights we've spent together, staring at the moon, and wondering why her goddesses have decided to fail us. Has he forgotten everything just because of her? Because he's been given a mate? This time the laugh bursts out of me, and I can't control it. Soon, I'm holding my stomach, and clutching it for dear life, because it's so funny. Kaidën shoots an irritated glare at me, before he asks. "What do you mean by when she's gone?" I'm not surprised. She's still all he can think about. He's practically been bewitched by her. By her long flowing golden hair, and her soft features, that no
Last Updated : 2025-04-19
Latest chapter
Scent of Betrayal The Imposter
Kaidën Finally feeling a different type of soil under my paws, I shift back. Stretching and groaning to ease out my stiff muscles. It is safer to do this as often as I can, so my body can get used to it, but I don't care. It will be better if I lost the ability completely, than shift anymore behind my camp members back. When I'm done stretching, I walk down a further path, trying to find the exact spot I'm looking for. It takes me more than a while, due to the darkness-even though every time I come here, it's under the cover of darkness. Maybe my mind likes to believe meeting up here is something of a make believe. Something I can't possibly be doing, but I'm desperate. I hate that after seeing Eliana's slumped body, dead and without life, my first thought hadn't gone to her killer. No, I had shamefully been more worried about who was after Aria's life again. I shake my head, and clench my fists in annoyance. "This is even worse than a mate bond." I mutter to myself, sudde
Scent of Betrayal The Shifting Rogue
Kaidën "Alpha, where are you going? Is everything alright?" Riven tries to step in front of me, but I shove him out of the way. A surprised look appears on his face, but he resumes what he's been trying to do. "Did Eliana tell you something? Please talk to me," he pleads again. I stop, finally realizing myself. "You were down there for six hours. Did you discover something?" My eyes shoot towards him when he says that. Six hours ago, Riven had come down to the place Eliana was locked up to find me. My eyes had been shaky, my breathe coming out in ragged breathes, my body as stiff as stone. He hadn't been able to tell what was wrong, and I'd been too dazed to explain to him that the woman in front of me was dead. Riven hadn't noticed, and I hadn't told him. Those empty eyes still feel like they're haunting me even as I walk as far away from that place as I can. She's dead. My only remaining family is gone. I'm not too surprised by the guilt I feel-maybe if I hadn't locked
Scent of Betrayal The Massacre
Aria There's something my grandmother always tells me-Aria, being a Luna isn't all you're meant to be. The first time she said this, it was because I had lashed out at her, complaining about going for my Luna training. In my words, "my life isn't just made to be a Luna. I'm a person too, grandmother." Ironically, I wanted to escape my duties to hang out with Piper, and learning to be a Luna felt too stifling anyway. It isn't like some people don't get thrown into the position, and have to work with what they have. That is a natural possibility. Grandmother was just someone who didn't like being thrown into things. She always believed we must take our stand for what we wanted-that was the way of the Flynn women. A long standing line of strong Luna's, who had ruled beside equally strong alphas. Her words that day had been, "it isn't all you're meant to be, but it's a great honor, and something you should not take for granted." Then she'd taken me outside, "Look at
Scent of Betrayal The Dungeon
Aria The smell of body waste is the first thing that greets me when I realize where Piper has brought me. There are a few torches burning about. But none of them seems to shed much light; it is as though they are empty, sullen things. "No," my voice is a broken whisper, and I take a retreating step back. I won't let her lock me up in here. She'll have to kill me first. There is no way. People don't come out of places like this. I know a few people grandmother has sent here, and I don't think a lot of them are part of the living now. This is a place for criminals, the worst kind of people. The people who have committed crimes considered unthinkable. I haven't done anything! Why is she doing this to me? Why? What did I ever do to her? I loved her. I cared for her. She was a sister to me-my grandmother's second daughter. The girl I've always looked up to, and listened to, and now she's turned into this. This monster who wants to drag me through hell, and laugh in my face. E
Scent of Betrayal The Insider
Kaidën The dungeon has dark dim walls that don't allow any light to come in. Anyone trapped in here would lose a sense of time. It's like being trapped in perpetual darkness. Only the most horrible crimes deserve that. Surprisingly, the woman who kidnapped my supposed mate and Luna isn't locked in here. Her crime is worthy of it-no doubt, but she's not just a common criminal. No matter what, I have to remember that she's Eliana Greenleaf too. The daughter my father never had. The girl I grew up with in this place where family is a fleeting memory. In a separate cell, not too far from the dungeon is where I have Eliana locked up. Because whether she's like family to me or not, it doesn't excuse the crime she committed against her Luna. And that's where I see her-her mass of familiar dark hair falling over her face, as she holds her head down. Her hands are bound by chains connected to opposite ends of the wall. When I arrive in front of the cell, she doesn't rea
Scent of Betrayal The Plans
Aria "Get up!" Someone roughly drags me up as I groggily look around me in confusion. Where am I? For a moment, I'm deeply confused on my location, as everything around me doesn't exactly look familiar. "Bring her with me." Piper's force jolts a feeling of familiarity in me. Yes, I followed Piper and Cassius back to the pack shifters realm. I wince when I remember that I'd passed out after Piper ordered that man to hit me repeatedly. As if she knows I'm thinking about it, Piper gives me a smug dark look, and folds her hands over her chest. "Don't expect any warm welcome. The people still hate you for touching their Luna, and the ones who don't..." She trails off with the most vicious look a person can muster. I manage to look up at her, slightly worried for what she might say. It's no surprise that members of the pack still want me dead, but the ones who don't? I don't believe those even exist. Piper finally turns her back to me before she continues. "The members of the Fl
Scent of Betrayal The Shadows He Gives
Kaidën "Kaidën," the voice is like a breath in the wind. Aria. She's calling out to me. I can feel it in my bones. The pain she's feeling, her jumbled emotions. The way she's trying to breathe in roughly, but barely. I want to reach out to her, and hold her, but deep down I know I can't. Something is holding me back-my present self. Because it knows we're far from each other. Around me is what looks like a room covered in white walls, and I turn around, taking in this environment in front of me. My eyes widen when I notice the blackness creeping up onto the walls. Like flames spreading over a house on fire. The black shadows fill up the entire space of the room, until the once white room doesn't exist anymore. It's all just darkness. "Kaidën," I see a tear drop. No, it's not a tear drop. It's blood. My veins throb painfully. And it feels like someone has hit me. My knees drop to the ground forcefully when I feel the blow again. It happens again, and again, and again. U
Scent of Betrayal The Reason
Aria The ride to the pack shifters realm is oddly calming, and quiet. No one says a word to me, not even Piper who's not taken her eyes off me since we started moving. The barrow-like truck I'm inside jiggles a few times, and when it does, my body is aggressively thrown to the side. During these times, Piper's face darkens with a small smile, and her mood gets lighter. She's clearly glad to see me suffering. I want to glare at her, but the force keeping me sane has decided to force a serene and calm look on my face. I can feel the flickering movement inside me, as the truck moves. It trails from my finger tips, and doesn't stop till I can feel it wrap around my slim neck, and flicker all the way to my nose. The tickling sensation nearly forces a giggle out of me, but I sneeze instead. "Stay quiet, Wench!" Piper spits at me in annoyance, and I only stare at her oddly. Ever since I found out what a lying conniving person my best friend is, I've always wondered just one thing.
Scent of Betrayal The Caged Bird
Piper I almost want to laugh at the spectacle in front of me, even I'm not so pissed. Aria is clutching her chest, as she screams, and takes quick steps backward. All her false bravado is gone, I guess. I knew that fake bravery was a sham. The cut of the blade Kaidën held at my throat still stings slightly, and I grit my teeth at the memory. Why is he so protective of her? And why am I even angry? It's not like I care what the worthless rogue king does. As far as I'm concerned, he's nothing to me. The mate bond we had was just a senseless farce I had to get rid off, and I won't deny, I've been living the best life ever since I got rid of it. In fact, I'll be fine never seeing either of these miserable people's faces in front of me, but for some reason, Cassius wants me to bring Aria back. I don't know what he wants with her, but as his Luna, he's never failed to do whatever I've asked of him, so what's this little thing I can't do? Especially if it's for the man I love. C
