THE SCENT OF BETRAYAL

we meet again

DAMON’S POV

The most important and distinguished guests for the night were already here. The elders had arrived earlier than anyone, and they were ready for the announcement that I wanted to make. They didn’t know what this was about because I wanted to announce it in front of everyone. I just couldn't wait to see the elders' faces when I made the announcement to them. I knew that they were planning to use this mate thing as a way to keep me from taking the throne, but they had obviously underestimated me.

I was sure that no one was excited for the night more than Arianna was. This was the moment that she had been waiting for and the moment that was going to mark a great beginning for her. I just wanted us to get this over and done with so that I could be crowned the king and move on to greater things.

So far, nothing out of the ordinary had happened, but I suddenly felt a feeling of dread coming over me. I felt like something big was about to happen, but I just couldn’t figure out what it was. I looked around the room, unsure of what it was that I was expecting to see or who, but I knew there was someone here who was about to ruin my day.

"What is going on?" Noah asked me, catching me off guard.

"What do you mean?" I asked him."Is something wrong?" I asked, and he shook his head and returned to studying the crowd

"You look like you just saw a ghost," he pointed out, and I shook my head and tried to wave him off, but even I couldn't deny that something made the air heavy.

“A ghost...” I scoffed. “Don't tell me you believe in such crazy stuff” I sneered, and he sighed

“I thought this was a night that you were looking forward to” he kicked “and yet you look like you don't want to be here,” he said

“Why wouldn’t I want to be here?” I scoffed. “This is the night that all the kings before me looked forward to. It is the night that I am finally recognized as the new king,” I said

“Did you already speak to the elders?” he asked me and I shook my head

“I didn’t see a need to, i don't want them to think I planned this,” I said

“Are you planning to make Arianna pose as your mate?” he asked me, and I shrugged.

“I will just go with the flow and let things happen naturally,” I said, and he sighed. I kept looking around the room as if I was looking for someone, but I was still not sure who or what I was looking for.

“Why do you look so nervous?” He asked me

“I am not...it’s just” I scratched my nose

“It’s just what?” he asked me, trying to get my attention

"Can you pick any unfamiliar scent?" I asked him, and he looked around and slowly shook his head.

"It's hard for me to tell, I mean, there are so many wolves here I will only be able to differentiate a scent if I was close to that particular wolf," he said

“Most wolves here are wolves that I have never even been close to or even had a conversation with,” he said

"Can you smell someone who is not supposed to be here?" I asked him

“You mean like a foreign wolf?” he asked me. “Who would have the guts to invade us on such an event?” Noah asked me, and I shrugged

Arianna came and pulled me into a tight hug and placed a kiss on my cheek. She was the most excited about this night and probably couldn’t pick anything wrong here. Asking her if she could pick a foreign scent would not only be a waste of time, but it would also make her panic and probably cause a scene.

"Can you give me a moment, my love?" I said, kissing her on her cheeks, and she nodded and stepped away.

"Did you check everyone before they came in?" I asked Noah, and he nodded.

“How did you check them?” I was getting more and more paranoid because of this mysterious scent that was lurking on the wall.

“We did body weather and stuff like that,” he said

“Were you around when this was done?’I asked him, and he sighed.

“Come on, I had a million other things to do. If anyone who is not supposed to be here somehow manages to sneak in, the worst that could happen is that they disrupt the party. The guards understand how important it is for this place to be safe. So no weapon came in here” he assured me

"Noah, you better be sure of what you are saying because I don't want any surprises. This night better go smoothly or I will hold you responsible' I threatened and he sighed

"Maybe it would help if you told me what or who was making you so jumpy," he said

"I don't even know what to tell you. All I know for now is that someone who isn't supposed to be here is here," I said, and he nodded as if he could understand what I was saying, but I knew he didn't. Arianna came back and threw herself in my arms again. I wanted to send her away again, but I chose not to; I didn't want her to panic. I wasn't even sure if there was anything worth panicking about.

"I am ready," she said, pulling me for a deep kiss. I tried to refocus and be present in the moment, but that proved to be hard.

My eyes flew open, and I started scanning the room as I could now clearly feel who was there, and I could almost feel her eyes on me. This spelled disaster because soon Arianna would realize that my mate was here.

"She is here," I whispered, pushing Ariana off me and turning around. I was fully expecting to see her right in front of my face, but she was still a few steps away from me.

"What! Who is here?" she demanded, getting in my face and blocking my view.

I moved her aside only to be met by the most beautiful girl that I had seen in this pack. She was just a plain Jane, with no personality but beautiful nonetheless. The only thing impressive about her was her beauty, and her scent made her drew me to her in an uncontrollable way. I folded my arms and watched her as she made her way to me. I could already see myself obsessed with her and her safety. I could see myself losing my mind every time I couldn't figure out where she was or who she was with. I could see myself and feel my wolf growl at the thought of another wolf touching her. This only cemented the fact that I couldn’t keep her for myself. She was too dangerous to keep

I really didn't want to disappoint anyone today, but I guess the moon goddess had other plans for me. I was already thinking of ways that I could let her down gently when I noticed something in her facial expression. She didn't look like she was about to come over here to beg me to claim her. She looked mad.

I looked behind me to check if maybe she was heading for someone else, but there was no one but me and Arianna. Noah had left me with Arianna, so I was the only one that this foolish girl could have been heading to. I had almost forgotten that Arianna was right next to me, and that was another rude awakening for me.

If she really did not realize who I was to her.

However, when she got closer to me, her facial expression seemed to soften, and then tears welled up in her eyes as if she had just come to a tragic realization. This is definitely not how I would have ever expected my mate to react when she first met me. I had always thought that she would be the happiest female wolf the day she met me because I couldn't see why anyone would feel like being with me was such a bad thing.

And yet, here was this beautiful creature who I almost instantly loved looking at me as if I were a curse to her life. She looked like she wanted to kill me with her bare hands, and I just couldn’t understand why she was acting this way. I tried to think back, maybe I had met her before, and she had had a very bad experience with me, but I couldn't remember myself having such an encounter with her. Maybe someone she knew had had an unpleasant encounter with me, but I still couldn’t figure out who could have had a bad encounter with me and told her about it.

I didn’t even know who this girl was, and I didn’t think I knew anyone who knew her.