Luna Aria's senses caught the faint sound of a twig snap, and she quickly spun in the direction she had heard it.

  “Oh no!" Artemis mumbled. She slowly lifted her feet off the twig and was going to run when Luna Aria's voice came out serious and commanding.

  "Stop right there!" She saw a shadow of someone hiding in the woods with a sack in hand, then the scent hit her. Her face clouded darkly.

  “Your highness?" Artemis managed in a calm voice, trying to mask her fear. “I thought I caught your scent. Is everything alright?”

  The man behind Luna Aria furrowed his brows and held Luna's hand to keep her from going, but she yanked him off and took a step forward. “What're you doing here? And what did you see?" She asked, firmly, as her brows furrowed and her fingers curled into a fist.

  “She's cheating on the alpha; say it to her shameless face!" Sia hissed at Artemis.

  “I went to pick aloe vera for Doctor Dolly."

  “And what did you see, Starr?" She demanded, her voice threatening as she walked up to Artemis with calculated steps.

  “I thought you were in danger, so I came to help, I swear."

  “As you can see," Luna Aria continued. “I’m not hurt. But you will be more than hurt if you so much as breathe a word about this to anyone—”

  "C'mon, Aria, she's a loudmouth; they always talk." The man interrupted, his voice husky. He slipped his hand inside his pocket and pulled out a pistol, cocking it. “Let's just silence her once and for all."

  Artemis shrieked when the barrel was pointed at her face. Her heart began pounding loudly in her chest, and the sack fell from her hand as she quickly put her hands up.

  “Your highness, I swear I didn't see anything; please, spare my life." She begged, in a panicked tone,

  "What the hell is wrong with you?” Luna Aria turned to her companion, beating his hand down. "If she dies, my scent and yours will be all over her body. Think!”

  She turned back to Artemis. "If you dare tell anybody about what you've seen here…I'll make you regret it, understood? Get out of my sight.” The ‘get out of my sight' was uttered through gritted teeth with a disgusted tone, sending Starr nodding profusely before picking up her sack and scurrying off.

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  “You're making a huge mistake, Aria." Luna Aria's companion snarled, grabbing her hand and pulling her to himself.

  Their eyes met, but the anger in her eyes died sharply as they landed on his face. "I'll take care of it." She responded in a hushed tone before giving him a quick kiss on his cheek. “I have to now, Thane; the stupid alpha might be out of his office by now."

  At the mention of the alpha, Thane's fingers curled up. "You're taking it easy on him." He growled, “I’m tired of having to see you in the dark and once a week. One of these days I'll march in with my wolves, and we'll lay waste to everyone if you don't finish off that alpha quickly.”

  “Keep it down, will you?" Luna Aria sibilated, scanning their surroundings cautiously. "Someone might hear you. And as for the alpha, just relax and trust me, will you?"

  She turned, and without a goodbye, hurried back to the Blue Rock Pack territory.

  *****

  Artemis' POV

  “Slow down.” Sia shouted, snapping me back to reality, where I almost ran into a pack member. “You're out of their reach now.”

  I had entered the village and was subconsciously heading to my grandma's house. I dried my eyes, rubbing the right eye vigorously so my observant grandma wouldn't notice I had cried. In case she asked why it was red, I'd say that something fell on it.

  Just as I was about to knock on her door, it opened from the other side. A beta's face met mine, and he simply nodded, then shut the door so I could open it myself. There'd been rumors that in some packs, most high-rank wolves treated the omegas like shit, but here in Blue Rock, we were founded on equality and respect. Rarely would one hear of cases where a pack member is maltreated by a high ranker.

  I opened the door gently and walked up to the living room where a hunter lay before my grandma. With how he was clutching his leg, I could tell he was the man in need of the aloe vera.

  “You took forever." Grandma Dolly grumbled lightly without looking up. She removed the Band-Aid wrapped around the man's knee and signaled for me to bring her some of the aloe vera.

  I washed some as quickly as I could, trying to steady my breathing as images of the gun to my kept replaying. I was told that my father was shot in the forehead when I was little. He was our pack's strongest fighter back then, but one night, after he had returned from the human world from an undercover mission, right at the pack's borders, he was found dead. Hence my fear of guns.

  “You look awfully quiet. I need a relaxed aura if he's going to be alright." My grandma stated, as I handed the bowl filled with the washed aloe veras.

  “If Calum hurt you, tell him I'm coming for him—”

  "It's not Calum!" I rasped before I knew it. When I cupped my mouth, I knew she had already seen through me from the tone I had given her.

  "This should do, Chuck. You'll be okay in seven minutes, but I need the room.”

  Chuck, the hunter, held on to the table beside him and forced himself off the ground and cautiously walked out of the house, leaving me with my Doctor Dolly.

  She got up and faced me, but I averted my eyes to look down and was going to leave.

  “Starr, don't you dare walk out on me.” She ordered. My breathing began to hitch as the pounding of my heart started again. "Who hurt my girl—"

  “Nobody."

  “You will not insult me under my own roof, Artie. Look at me.” She demanded.

  My eyes and fingers began to tremble in her palm as I turned. Heat began to rise from our touch, and I could tell she was going to use her psychic abilities to find out what had happened.

  “The Luna." I said, my voice shaking as I forced myself free.

  “What did that vermin do this time?" She snarled. Ever since Aria became Luna of Blue Rock, my grandmother has hated her and her witch sister for reasons she hadn't disclosed to me, but I could tell were darker than what I imagined.

  “I caught her cheating," I answered, my eyes dashing to a corner to look at her. "She threatened me, and her partner pointed a gun at me—”

  My grandma snapped and began walking towards the door, but I crossed her, pleading with her not to do anything. Suddenly, I heard footsteps of someone running from the window's side. My grandma clutched her chest, trying to steady her breathing. She had a blood pressure problem that only came when she was overly angry.

  I guided her to her rocking chair and made a cup of herbal tea before going out to check who had been eavesdropping. At least to catch a faint scent.

  Just as I shut the door behind me, I locked eyes on Luna Aria and Catherine, who looked disheveled with claw markings on her face and two betas with them. Catherine was an omega like me, but I had something she had badly wanted all these years, and that is Calum, my mate.

  Luna Aria walked up to me, closing the gap between us. “I told you to be quiet. Now you have to suffer for it.”