THE SCENT OF BETRAYAL

Fate is Cruel

ALYSSA’S POV

If there was one thing that I would never be able to forget about the day my father was killed, it was the scent of the wolves that killed him. Not only was it hard to forget the scent of those dawned wolves but it was also hard to forget the scent of my father’s blood as if emptied out of his body. I had to train myself to forget the smell of my father’s blood so that I could focus all my senses on finding the rest of the wolves that had killed my father.

Their scent was the only thing that I had that could lead me to them and I had told myself that I would have to remember it for as long as I lived so that I would be able to identify them. I needed to get answers as to why my father had suffered such a fate at the hands of these wolves. I had so many questions, and currently, I have no plans for how to get answers from these wolves. What made things even harder for me was the fact that the prince was involved, which is why I realised my best bet was to find the other wolves, because I figured they would be the weakest link in this.

I may not have gotten the chance to find out how these wolves looked but one thing I was sure of was their scent. I knew how they smelled and it was imprinted in my memory just like the image of my father dying.

I just never thought that my memory of that night would be jogged so soon. As soon as I walked into the ballroom, it felt like I was back in the room where my father was killed. I swear I could smell his blood mixed with their sweat and I couldn’t help sniffing around. The worst part of this wasn’t that I could smell them but that my mate was here too. Why would the moon goddess do this to me today?

The prince was already here but so were the two wolves that had been accompanying him that night. I was more motivated than ever to find these wolves.

“This is going to be so much fun,” Amy said, taking two glasses of champagne from the waitress who was serving at the door. She handed me one glass and I barely took a sip of the champagne. Of course, Amy was excited about this party, these were the type of things that excited her. We were very different from each other, and that showed in our interests, but then again, Amy hadn't been through what I had been through. So maybe if she had, she would understand why I was so absent-minded.

“Why do you suddenly look so gloomy?” She asked me, “Didn’t you promise me that you would have fun tonight?” She asked me, and I nodded, barely paying attention to what she was saying. For some reason, I felt like listening to her going on and on about things that I didn’t care for distracted me from doing what I wanted to do.

“Can you just stop talking?” I snapped at her, and she stared at me and frowned.

“At least tell me what we are looking for so that I can help you find it teamwork makes the dream work you know” she joked annoying me even further

“Can you just stop…I am trying to focus’

“Focus on what?” She asked me looking around as if trying to find what I was looking for before I did.

“Is he here?” Amy asked startling me and distracting me from what I was trying to focus on.

“Oh come on Alyssa just tell me if he is here or not” She complained,

“Who is here?” I asked, trying to focus on her, but my wolf simply refused to let go of the scent that I had picked up.

“Your mate is silly, who else can I possibly be talking about?” she asked me with a smile.

“Amy…the killer is here,” I said, and she instantly stopped smiling. I couldn’t tell her that even the prince was a part of the killers yet because this was something that I didn’t want to be caught saying especially because I didn’t have any

“Then we will have to go back home, if you can identify his scent, won’t he be able to identify yours?” she asked me, but I didn’t care about that right now.

“I know you probably feel safe because there are a lot of wolves here, and maybe you think these wolves won’t do anything if they realize you recognize them, but I assure you that they will. They will lure you to a secret place and kill you” she said

“My mate is also here, I am sure he won’t allow anything to happen to me,” I said and his eyes seemed to widen in excitement but then they dropped again

“if your mate is really here, what makes you think he can protect you?” she asked me “the prince is your only option in my opinion but he is probably too busy today and wont have time. I say we just leave and go home, your mate will find you at dome point” she said

“I don’t care, I am going to find him,” I said turning to leave but she pulled me back

“Oh, come on, Alyssa, you can’t possibly be serious. You are risking your life, and you don’t even have a plan,” she pointed out, and she was right. The only thing I could do now was confront him and expose him in front of the prince but that probably wasn’t going to help. However, I didn’t care, I was going to try everything I could to make sure that he was exposed.

I wanted everyone to know what these wolves had done to me and my father, and if that truth cost me my life, I was okay with it. I wasn’t going to allow these wolves to get away with this. I was ready to die just to get justice for my father because my life didn’t have value as long as my father wasn’t avenged.

“Trust me, you will get killed out there. Please don’t do this, let’s at least come up with a plan first,” she pleaded with me, but all my senses were overwhelmed by my need for revenge and the overpowering scent of my mate.

“I don’t f*****g care” I yelled back at her catching the attention of a few wolves that were standing next to us. Amy, visibly upset and uncomfortable by the sudden attention pulled me to the side to try and talk sense into me but my mind was made up

“This may be the only chance I get. What if he runs away, or what if he kills me before I expose him?” I asked her tears welling up in my eyes.

“he will kill you anyway if you try to expose him now,” she pointed out, and although I knew she was right, I simply could not let this go.

I walked away from her and allowed my wolf to lead me. I was a newly turned wolf, so my senses were extremely sharp, and there was no way that he was going to escape me even if he tried. Focusing on the killer's scent while my mate's own scent called for me was extremely hard. I felt like I was being torn in two but for some reason, his scent seemed to be coming from where the killer was.

Soon I found myself making a beeline for the wolf who had his back to me. I was so angry I could hardly see anything or anyone else. I was ready to get to him and reach for his throat when he turned around and I literally felt like a gust of wind was blown my way. I walked a little slower as I came to realize two things.

One, was that this was the wolf that murdered my father in cold blood, and like he was nothing and a nobody. And secondly, I realized that he was most probably the mate that I had also been searching for. Surely fate wouldn’t be that cruel to me, would it?

Why would I be given the wolf that caused me so much pain as a life partner? How was I supposed to live and accept him when he had already caused me so much pain? I had so many questions in my mind and no answer that made sense. Did he already know that I was his mate that day when he killed my father? Fid he purposely kill him, knowing that it would crush me, or was it me that he really wanted?

Although things seemed really bad for me right now, this still wasn’t the Worst of it, not only was this wolf that had killed my father my mate, but he was also the prince of the land. He was the future king, now suddenly I understood what was happening and yet nothing made sense to me at all. It suddenly dawned on me that this wasn’t going to be as easy as I had convinced myself it would be. The prince was in control of everything and everyone, and if I made this accusation right now, everyone would surely turn against me.

The last thing I wanted was for me to be punished for something that he had done. I didn’t want to be punished for seeking justice for the only family I had left. I wanted to let this go, I wished I could just pretend it didn’t happen and accept that bringing the prince to justice was a lost cause but I couldn’t. Not after seeing the way my father had been killed like he was nothing but a worthless dog.

“You killed-“ I don’t even know what came over me as I came closer to him, but he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into his arms.

For a split second, his warm fresh breath in my face made me forget why I was so furious with him and why I loathed him so much. His lips slightly brushed mine and he licked my bottom lip. I closed my eyes and waited.

I don’t know what I was waiting for, and I don’t know what I wanted in this moment, but it was as if I had completely lost control over my body. My wolf wants him to claim me right there and then, and yet my body refuses to accept his filthy hands claiming any part of my body. I bit my lip and opened my eyes. I was met by his ice-cold eyes; it was his eyes that reminded me what kind of wolf and monster he was. His eyes had no emotion in them, it was as if he couldn’t even feel these sparks between us.

“Let go of me,” I whispered, and he smirked and pulled me even closer. He was enjoying this, it was as if he knew that I had seen what he had done. As if he knew that holding me in this position fogged my mind and temporarily made me insane.

“Everyone is watching, it would do you good to watch what you say and what you do henceforth,” he said, and I didn’t miss the threatening tone behind his fake smile. If I had any second thoughts about ending him, I was certainly sure of it now. I wanted him to die by my hand, I wanted him to feel what my father had felt that day and I wanted him to beg for the mercy that he had never shown my father that day.