The Attraction Left

Aria

"The one who left because you were 'obsessed' with someone who'd never come back?"

The words were like a slap. "How did you?"

"Pack gossip travels fast. Even to hunters." She turned away from me. "Her timing is interesting."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, she's been gone for six months, and suddenly she comes back right when alphas start dying? Right when you need her support to maintain pack stability?" Aria shook her head. "Either she has the worst timing in the world, or the best."

What she said hit me like a physical blow. "You think Sophia is involved?"

"I think everyone's involved until proven otherwise. That's how you stay alive in this business."

She was right. I knew she was right. But the idea that Sophia, the woman I'd married to satisfy pack politics, might be connected to the murders was almost impossible to process.

"She left me," I said quietly.

"People leave for lots of reasons. Doesn't mean they don't come back when it suits their purposes."

I looked at Aria, noting the careful way she held herself, the professional distance she maintained even after saving my life. She'd left too. But she'd come back.

The question was why.

"I should go," I said, standing up carefully. The wound pulled, but the silver poisoning was already starting to recede.

"Yes, you should. You have a reunion to attend."

There was something in her voice, not jealousy exactly, but something close to it. For a moment, I let myself hope that maybe she still cared, even a little.

Then I remembered the look in her eyes when she'd said she wasn't here for closure. The way she'd pulled away every time I tried to apologize or explain.

Some things couldn't be fixed. Some damage was permanent.

"We'll figure this out," I said.

"Yes, we will. Because that's the job."

I headed for the door, then stopped. "Aria? That thing you did in the woods. The howl. Where did you learn that?"

She was quiet for so long, I thought she wouldn't answer. Then: "From someone who understood what it meant to be rejected by their pack."

The door closed behind me, leaving me alone in the hallway with the scent of her blood and the echo of her words.

Someone who understood rejection. Another exile. Another person cast out by their pack.

How many others were out there? How many people had the supernatural community failed?

And how many of them might want revenge?

 Aria

I tried to maintain my composure and not act like I said Sophia was suspicious because I was jealous of her. I thought I wasn’t at first, but then the thought of how I felt when I heard Kieran was getting married to her few days after I left the pack, did something to me. But one part of me still wanted to believe that my hunch was right. 

It was strange that she chose that moment to come back. And what? She wanted to help him so they could fight together? That was bullsh*t. 

I noticed the hurt that flashed through Kieran’s eyes when I mentioned my suspicion, and it made me wonder if he would be okay with discovering that he had been betrayed by one of his own again. 

Because, for obvious reasons, we had managed to establish that the killer must be from his pack, and he must be someone who knew enough about him and I, and my rejection. 

I began to reminisce over my rejection as I tend to my own wound. It wasn’t serious, but it just wouldn’t stop bleeding. If it wasn’t a silver-coated weapon, I’d have been healed already. I hope Kieran healed faster because his wound was deeper than mine. 

If not for the howl sound I made, we wouldn’t have made it out alive. And I owe that to Margret. 

After I started my journey as a wolf hunter, I met Margret—she was also rejected like I was, just that pack politics or the elders didn’t fuel her own rejection, it was solely a decision made by her mate. I could only imagine how she had felt. 

Kieran rejected me out of internal pressure and because of pack politics, but I couldn’t have imagined how bitter and full of hatred I’d have been if he had rejected me just because he didn’t want me for himself.   

I went back to the files I had arranged carefully on my desk before we left for the Thornwick pack. From their genealogy, to the strange symbols surrounding their death, I knew I was getting closer to figuring out who the killer was, but if the killer already knew somuch about us, even to the extent that he knew we were going to Thornwick, then Kieran and I needed to be careful because we might just be the next target on his list. 

It was at that moment that I realized that I shouldn’t just sit back at the Marriott, waiting for clues until something bad happened to Kieran, so I picked up my phone. 

After the third dial, he finally picked up.  

“Hi, Marcus,” I greeted, rubbing my hair with my free hand, still unsure if I was ready to do what I had in mind that made me call Marcus. 

“Hey, Aria. How’s it going?” I heard shuffling over the phone, and I could tell he was in his office, and I was on a speaker. I was sure he had no company, because he always ensured that whatever we both discussed was kept secret. 

I waited for a few seconds before I finally decided to go for it. “Can you make it happen that I move into the pack for a few days?”

I could hear him freeze at the other end. 

“What pack?” Now, he was feigning ignorance. He knew the exact pack I was talking about. 

I decided to humor him since I had no time to waste. “Crescent Moon.”

“Oh my!” He gasped. “I thought that would be the last place you’d want to set foot in. 

I inhaled a sharp breath. “I fear Kieran might be in danger, and I also suspect the killer must be very close to him, and that makes him an easy target.”

“I didn’t know you cared about Kieran that much,” he said, probably trying his best to hide the mischief in his voice. 

I placed my hand on my waist, tired of the game he was playing. “Do you want me to barge in there myself?”

“Of course I’d do it for you, as long as your reason is valid,” he said, making me wonder what he meant by that. “You are just going there to find the killer, right?”

I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see. “Why else would I go there?”

“You know Sophie is back, and you might want to…”

“No, it’s not that!” I snapped, my chest falling and rising.

How did he even know that? I knew nothing flies past Marcus a long as it’s related to the pack’s gossip, but Kieran left my side not long ago, so it was quite impressive that he had gotten hold of that information already. 

“I just want to find the killer,” I said, looking down at my feet. “And also protect Kieran.”