012 Scent Of Blood

Lilith’s POV

I almost ran.

I didn’t think a guard could check my lie so easily with a Beta, but if he was mind-linking Grant, then he would definitely arrest me-- I didn’t know all the pack laws, but “lying your way into the Alpha House” definitely violated some of them.

But I couldn’t. I couldn’t outrun ordinary wolves, let alone a guard with a rank. I was out of options.

“Of course,” He said, a wider smile crept onto his face, as he ended the mindlink with the glowing in his eyes faded.

“Go ahead, Miss,” The guard bowed in an exaggerated but sarcastic way after he opened the iron door for me, “but I’ll keep the handkerchief though, for...proof?”

He was making fun of me. That much I was sure. I didn’t know what Grant told him on the other side, but I wouldn’t imagine Grant lying for me. Even so, he still let me in, only at the price of taking away the handkerchief so I wouldn’t be able to borrow his name again?

I’ll take that.

“Thanks! I’ll be quick!” I bowed to him genuinely. For what it was worth, Grant did help me. Several times now.

The moment I ran in, I pulled to a halt, lost.

[Lycoris, now what...?] I mumbled.

The reason why I couldn’t contact Leo directly these months was because he had no wolf. I couldn’t mind link him, and could only trust Orion’s words that he was doing okay.

Sure I got in now, but I have only been inside the manor exactly once before today, and that was the day when I came to the pack with the Alpha. I have absolutely no way to look for Leo.

Now what.

[Walk around, maybe I can pick up his scent,] Lycoris suggested.

Right, to pick one particular scent across thousands of acres. We were THAT lucky.

[I can try to find Aurelian?] Lycoris sat up straight, her eyes closed and her mind focused, [I can only feel a general direction, and it’s even fainter after you renounced the bond--]

Aurelian was Orion’s wolf. A cute little innocent soul that Lycoris was crazy about.

[Yes! That! Let’s find Orion first!] I ignored the complaint in Lycoris’s tone.

She was still very much in love with Aurelian.

It was my fault, allowing Orion to mark me without the moon goddess’s blessing. One of the pack witch’s most asked and most important responsibility, is to ask the moon goddess, on behalf of lovers, if their bond would be blessed -- if they were fated mates.

I guess there was a reason why that blessing mattered.

Orion and I didn’t do that. Partly because we were rogues with no access to a witch’s help, and partly because neither of us thought there was anything that could do us apart, not even the moon goddess herself.

Turned out, it didn’t even take the goddess to decay our bond. Orion did it all by himself.

[That way,] Lycoris shot open her eyes, the purple glow in her eyes still fading.

Lycoris was so unique in so many ways, and it was not even about her noticeably small size. It was her color.

Werewolf’s power was a type of magic, granted by the moon goddess herself. And that magic had its own color, which would show when we used that magic. For example, the weird guard’s color was red, seen when he mind-linked.

Werewolf’s color mostly fall in the range from red to golden, because it was part of our blood, so it couldn’t fall too far from our parents. Surely there are colors like green and blue, too, but purple is different.

Purple was not natural. It’s the mix of the reddest red and the bluest blue. Even if you get it directly from your parents, it requires both of your parents to be purple, or the color would easily tip to reddish or blue-ish.

But the thing was, the color was part of your soul, a strong reflection of who you are, so it was rare that two colors on the opposite end of the spectrum would want to be together. Not impossible, just unlikely.

Ever since I was a kid I have been wondering about my real parents. About why they left me in those woods. About who they were. Did I have the reddest mom, a woman sunny and fierce like fire? Or the reddest dad, a simple but honest, tough but caring dad that laughs like the sun?

When I get my mark back, I’ll leave the pack to look for my real parents. I had to put off this plan because there was no room for it in the life Orion and I painted for us, but this time, I wanted to try to live for myself for a change.

I just hoped that my reckless mistake wouldn’t leave too deep a scar on Lycoris.

[It’s Leo!] Lycoris suddenly yelped, making me shoot my eyes up.

[No way!] I frowned. My first reaction was to hide behind of the huge trees in case anyone was around to spot us.

The mate bond led us into a large residential area. On both sides of the road stand two rows of two‑story buildings. Judging by the distance between the doors, the rooms are tiny, tightly packed, and far from comfortable. This had to be where the Omegas live.

But still, it was too huge for one scent to stand out, not to mention that it also happened to be the one we were looking for?

[It’s blood! He is hurt!] Lycoris pawed at the ground in anxiety, [I can’t be mistaken! The smell is really strong, almost like when we found him!]

He was half dead in the woods when we found him!

I couldn’t wait even a minute longer.

[Lycoris, directions!]

[On the left...] Lycoris focused the hardest as she could, [...at least 50 meters forward--wait, behind it?]

I already dashed out the moment she said “left”.