Blood Moon

Chapter 17: Sandalwood and Neroli

~ A broken dream makes way for a new one to appear ~

"THAT'S EVEN FUCKING WORSE! YOU DISGUSTING WASTE OF SPACE! HOW COULD THE MOON GODDESS DO THIS TO ME?!" he yells, pacing back and forth. "HOW COULD I GET SUCH A VILE MONSTER FOR A MATE! AND WHAT?! SUCH A CREATURE IS SUPPOSED TO BECOME LUNA OF THIS PACK ONE DAY?!" he shouts, his voice laced with pure hatred, such contempt. His words cut deep and I feel Kali sob in my mind. I begin to shake, fear taking hold of me. He's not going to hurt me is he? He's not going to kill me... right?

"THE FUTURE LUNA OF THE SILVER MOON PACK IS A... I CAN'T EVEN SAY IT! I'M GOING TO BE SICK! TO THINK I EVEN CONSIDERED ACCEPTING YOU! THIS MUST BE SOME KIND OF SICK PRANK!" he continues, causing me to tumble out of the bed as I back away, panicked. "I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" he howls, turning to face me his eyes begin to darken.

"I, HUNTER GAUTHIER, REJECT YOU, WANETTE-" he starts but before he can finish his eyes turn completely black and his clothes begin to rip. I close my eyes as I hear bones crack. Please... don't hurt me. Standing before me is a large grey and black wolf - Ace. He begins to walk around the bed, cautious; trying not to scare me. I spring to my feet, grab the box of medication on the bedside table and sprint for the door. I need to get out before he does something to hurt me!

I rush past Ace who doesn't even try to stop me and hurry down the winding hallways. I eventually find myself at the front of the packhouse where Jacques is waiting in his truck. I jump in. Without a word he speeds off as fast as he can, taking me away from this hellish place and most importantly my mate. 

"Scarlett is already at the safehouse and I've destroyed any records or evidence of you both as well" he states, not taking his eyes off of the road for even a second. Hearing this eases my mind. At least I know that we can't be tracked this way. He comes to an abrupt stop outside of the wooden house. I turn to him. "Thank you Jacques... for everything" I say before opening the car door to get out. "Don't mention it! It's my job after all" he smiles, his cheerful side starting to come out again. He waves and then drives off.

I make my way into the house. Once the door is closed I lean against it and let out a sigh of relief, glad to be away from Hunter at last. Still think we should give him a chance, Kali? I receive no response to this question. The things he said back there must've really hurt her, I would be lying if I said that they didn't hurt me too. I'm glad Ace stopped him though, I fear that completing the rejection right now would've killed me considering how weak I still am. Guess I should start avoiding him like the plague until I build my strength up.

I walk into the living area where both Rue and Kyra are already seated. Rue hurries over and engulfs me into a hug. "I'm really sorry Wanette, this must be so hard for you" she says, rubbing my back as I begin to sob into her shoulder. "I know how much this must hurt right now but this was for the best" she continues, trying her best to ease my pain. I take a seat beside them on the sofa and we all just cry together; letting out all the pain that we've had to endure over the past week. We stay like that for hours until the sun begins to set.

As the moon starts to rise I make my way to my bedroom, in desperate need of some rest and alone time. I go to draw the curtains but stop when I see a wolf peering up at my window from the forest entrance. I sigh. Hunter. I quickly close the curtains and try to forget about his presence. Just ignore him. I can't let him reject me right now anyway.

For the next 2 weeks this continues. Every night either Ace or Hunter stands by the forest entrance just staring up at my window. I have not left the house this entire time, focusing solely on Scarlett's recovery and my own. My little sister woke up about a week ago and since then she's been going in and out of consciousness, unable to stay awake for more than 30 minutes at a time. Despite this, she seems to be on the mend albeit slowly but surely. I have been taking my medication and now feel stronger than I've ever been. Rue and Kyra have given me some scent masking deodorant because apparently I'm beginning to smell like a werewolf, so it would seem that the silver really was making me appear more human than I actually am. Guess I got something from my father after all. Kali has become a lot more vocal the past week or so, she keeps annoying me with her whines for Ace. She keeps telling me that I should tell Hunter the truth. I know it's just because she wants her mate and can't stand to be away from him but I fear that ship has already sailed. I don't think there's anything that he could do to come back from all that he's said and done and I don't think there's anything I could say to change his mind either. 

It has currently been 3 weeks since my father turned our lives upside down, 3 weeks since The Blood Moon Ceremony. There have been no updates given to the CWA yet on his whereabouts. I'm not quite sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. We're all on edge from the lack of information, there is no way for us to know if the BWA have found both Fenwick and Cain or not. There's no way for us to be sure that they're still in the UK either. All we can do is just sit back and pray to the Moon Goddess that they are found and dealt with accordingly before they can find us.

I glance at myself in the mirror, taking note of the few extra pounds I have gained over the last few weeks. My bones have become significantly less visible but I still have a ways to go. I put my brown contact lenses in and place my glasses over the top of them. I grab my backpack and ready myself for my first day back at school. So far, I've only managed 1 day of classes and I've missed everything else. Hopefully I won't end up missing anymore...

I make light conversation with Kyra before parting ways, going to our respective schools. Right, time to get this rejection over and done with. I walk inside and am instantly met with a faint smell of Sandalwood and Neroli. It's not strong and intoxicating like the Cedarwood and Vetiver that I am used to but rather subtle and delicate. Kali hums in my mind, curious about this new scent. I begin to follow the weak trail, desperately wanting to know who had left it. 

I find myself approaching the back of an incredibly tall, muscular man taking a book out of his locker. He turns around abruptly, as if he knew that I was closing in on him. 'Mate?'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's note

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. As of right now I plan to release 1-2 chapters every Friday. Any feedback both positive and negative will be greatly appreciated. This is my first time writing a story like this so I hope that it turned out alright.

Thank you for reading!

Yours,

xgwenux