Aria's  POV

"What?" Kael mutters in shock.

"I said, I'm a white wolf," I finished with conviction. "You can even ask Martha, she saw me and attests to it."

"We need a run, you know. I'm getting antsy." Willow says at the back of my mind. I ignored her for a bit.

"How have you been surviving without a run," He stares at me with worry, a bit of irritation showing on his face. "Your ability to heal now makes a lot  of sense though."

I wait in silence for him to add something else but he says nothing at all, just stares at me with no expression on his face. "Are you mad at me for hiding this from you," I say with a little guilt.

"I didn't know how to tell you, I've always felt like a freak, this was like an icing on the cake."

"How many times do I have to tell you, how much you mean to me?" He says firmly, picking me up and dropping me on his lap. "I will spend the rest of my days showing you just how much you mean to me, and how I will be with you every step of the way."

I give him a tight smile. Should I tell him about my rejection? He seems too good to be true though. I don't know if he will still want me after everything. I don't even want any trouble, there's no point bringing up the past.

"You mean the world to me, so who were your parents in the Blood Moon Pack?" He asks with genuine curiosity. "Willow mentioned that you were an orphan, but nothing more."

I take a deep breath, hoping this would not turn on me. "I was dumped at the pack borders as a child with no memories at all," I utter sadly. "No one ever showed me true care until I came to this pack."

"We will figure it all out together, my love," He encourages. "Together forever," He says, pressing his forehead gently against mine.

***

"Martha, we'll be late for training," I scream, my hands hitting her door hard.

"I'm coming, Douchebag," She says with exasperation, pulling the door open in haste.

"Whatever, you just love me," I tease with a full-blown smile on my lips. I pull her arms excitedly walking down the hallway.

The early morning breeze sweeps my hair back and forth against my face. We run at full speed towards the pack training grounds, just in time. We quietly settled out back, barely seeing much in front of us.

"As you all know we have new recruits that are joining us today, you all can pair yourselves with your partners and fight, hand combat for now." A loud familiar voice resounds from in front of us, addressing the crowd.

"I need to go to my partner, Besty," Martha murmurs, staring at a young she-wolf walking towards us. "Go find, Gad, so he will pair you with someone."

I nod in response with a smile, and my feet veer towards Gad, the head warrior. He stops his conversation mid-way with a group of younger males and walks towards me. "Luna, do you need something?"

"Hi Gad, I was just wondering if you could pair me with someone, today is my first day."

Gad gave me a little smile, "I know Luna, the Alpha informed me. He said he will be your trainer but it seems like he is running a bit late."

"Okay that is fine, I can just pair up with anyone while I wait for him to finish up with whatever is holding him back."

"Let me check if there is anyone that I can pair you with then," his eyes shift in the crowd, looking back and forth. "Anita, come over," Gad orders. A caramel-skinned beauty with a petite body and shiny hazel eyes sashays towards us.

"Luna," She bows slightly in greeting. "Head warrior," She bows once more. "I'd like you to spar with the Luna, and show her some basics in defense."

She gives me a bright smile and says, "It would be an honor to spar with you, Luna."

I give her a sweet smile in return, I'm not used to being treated with so much regard. Even after Kael's announcement, some members of the pack ignored my existence. I noticed that mostly those closest to Kael treated me with the utmost kindness and a few others. Most feel I am unworthy to fill the position since Jessica sparked the rumors of me being wolfless.

She walks a little distance, and I follow in tow. "I would like you to learn the basics of self-defense. Pay attention to her body movements, not just her strikes." Gad tells me as I face off with Anita. 

She waits patiently. My posture shrinks with discomfort and he seems to notice. "The very way you carry yourself, tells if you can easily be preyed upon." He then stands next to me, "Imitate my stance."

He has his feet apart with a foot slightly in front of the other. "Place your dominant foot behind," He explains. "Keep your hands up to block out any strikes and use it to cover sensitive areas like your neck."

"You're doing fairly well for a first-timer," He encourages. "Anita, strike now, not too hard though."

She gives him a nod and advances towards me, she's so fast and my back is on the ground in seconds. "Luna, you seem distracted, this is not a playground. Focus," Gad says with a hard voice. "You need to pay attention to her, so you can anticipate her strikes."

Anita gives me an encouraging smile and gives me a hand. I take it and return to my previous stance. "Again."

Anita pushes forward, this time I focus on her hands and feet. She is extremely smooth with her strikes and unpredictable. I am able to hold out for a little longer, probably less than a minute. She then has me on my back a second time.

"That's better," Gad says. "Again." Anita comes forward again, after my fall, she keeps coming. My body is getting sore with the light blows I'm receiving. At least I now last for some minutes. After what I thought was going to be my last spar session, Gad speaks. 

"Now I would like you to pay attention to her technique, does she rely more on speed or strength."

"Can I spar with the Luna, Gad," Jessica's perky voice resonates behind us. 

"She's in training, Jessica."

"Well, I know that. But at the rate Anita is sparring with her, she will never be able to defeat me. Maybe the Luna is just too scared to fight me" Jessica says with a condescending smile.

Anita shoots her an annoyed look, well it seems the annoying bimbo doesn't only irk me after all. 

"Anita is a seasoned warrior and you know it. She is teaching her the basics, there's no possible way she will go too hard on her."

"I'd prefer you spar with me, Blondie," Anita intercepts with a mischievous smile. "Maybe I can even whoop your ass as I did last time."

Jessica's face turns beet red in anger and embarrassment. "You were just lucky, little wimp."

"Maybe I'll get lucky this time too," Anita proceeds towards her swiftly.

Their argument was pulling a lot of attention to us.

"Enough," Gad breaks their little catfight. "You can spar with her, just one round. No shifting, not even partially. No cheap shots or you will be disqualified," He says directly to Jessica. 

"Anything else?" She replies, sounding a bit pissed.

"No deadly shots either. The first whose back touches the ground loses." By now we have a lot of spectators.

"Show her what you got, Jessi," one of her minions screams.

She gives a sly smile in my direction, then Gad says, "Strike."

She races at me and goes for my neck immediately, I'm able to clumsily block it. It is just a distraction. She kicks me hard in the belly and lands a hard blow to my face. My ears ring, eyes see nothing but white sparks. 

"You can't lose," Willow encourages in my head. I force myself to kneel and not let my back touch the ground.

"Pathetic," She spits in my face. "You are nothing, nothing." A loud growl fills the air, it seems Kael is finally here.

"She dares taunt you," Willow growls with indignation. "Let me out." The searing pain makes me unable to hold her back and she is pushed forward.

I lift my face, and the blood spilling down my nose stops flowing.  A series of gasps fill the air, and whispers can be heard from multiple people. My eyes I am pretty sure have changed colours which is usual when your wolf is out.

"Wait, you have a wolf?" Jessica says more to herself, sounding confused. In a split moment, Willow takes hold of her right arm, twists it behind her with little to no effort, and lands a hard blow on her face. A loud crack is heard, and she falls unconscious on the cold forest floor.

Willow smirks at her deed and withdraws to the back of my mind. I stare at my hands in intrigue and shock. How was I able to do that?

"Did you see that? A pack member whispers behind me.

I lift my gaze and peer at my mate who is admiring me with pride in his eyes.

Gad walks forward, smiling, and says, "Luna Aria wins."

A burst of howls, whistles and cheering fills my heart with joy.

"She cheated and I have proof," The sharp feminine voice cuts short the excitement.

Aria's POV

My mate's once proud, vibrant eyes turn completely cold and unyielding.

"And how did she do that," He says in response to the allegation. Everyone's eyes turn towards where the voice came from, which turns out to be Alicia.

"Well how is it possible that she won, Jessica," she continues with arrogance. "She is nothing but a wolfless Omega." A loud growl rumbles in Kael's chest, it does not seem to stop her though.

"Come to think of it, how did the so-called 'Luna's' abilities surface just now? It does not make sense to me at all." Loud murmurs fill the training grounds, Alicia sports a smirk on her face, probably happy she has successfully planted doubts again in the minds of the pack members.

"I am still waiting for the foul she committed that you can prove," Kael says impatiently.

"I just told you, it is impossible a wolfless wolf should have such strength, she probably had some witch place a spell on her so she can be this strong." She utters with conviction. "Jessica is a fully grown and trained warrior with Beta blood, a measly wolf has nothing on her."

"Let me come out and show her how strong the 'witch's spell' made us," Willow growls in annoyance." A low chuckle passes my dry lips.

"Usually when a witch places a spell on an individual, she leaves a mark behind her ears. I will give it a check so we can see." My mate then walks towards me and pushes each ear slightly forward to show. Loud murmurs filled the air once more, and my heart beat hard against my chest. Did they see something?

"As you can all see my mate is by no means a deceptive person, you will all do well by respecting her and acknowledging her as your Luna." Kael's authoritative voice resounds through the training ground.

He then gives Alicia a deathly glare, "Also if anyone dares to accuse my mate of anything without proof no matter how small will face my wrath." Her face turns completely white with fear. My mate can be scary when he wants to be, in fact, he always looks scary.

"Now back to training," Gad orders, Anita then walks up to me. My mate gives me a long stare and then heads towards the pack house.

"You were pretty bad-ass Luna, I was so happy you knocked her out. It will shut her loud mouth a bit." I give her a bright smile in response.

"It felt so good, I can hardly explain it." We burst into fits of laughter.

She then looks behind me briefly, "I think we should start training, Gad is on his way here."

I throw a light jab to her belly, and her eyes widen in surprise. "Not bad, I like the idea of using the element of surprise." She then gives me a sly smile. "But do not expect it to work on me again."

"That's better I thought you two got distracted talking rather than training," Gad finally arrives behind me. Surprisingly I heard him approaching though he was light on his feet. It seems as though my senses are sharper than I thought.

"Try picking up her technique or any weak points you can see," Gad says, testing my skills since I could take Jessica out.

I take a deep breath, this time relying on my keen senses. I saw the hit before it came, smoothly evading and then landing a light surprise blow to her neck, cutting her air supply. She chokes lightly, coughing.

"Good work, you're free to go now. Enough practice for one day." I give him a nod while gently patting her back. She soon stops coughing.

"Do you feel better now?" I ask with concern.

"Yes, I do Luna, hopefully, we are paired permanently." She walks into the crowd and then screams after me, "See you tomorrow."

"See ya," I answer softly, hopefully she hears me. 

Everyone else seems to still be practicing so I can not wait for Martha. My feet hit the hard forest floor, and I walk briskly toward the pack house. My entire body is sore from today's training. Immediately I step into the dark hallways leading to my room. The air feels heavy making me uneasy.

It seems like someone is here, but I can not pinpoint where exactly. I take a pause and look around.

"So the little trick was real," the familiar masculine voice of my ex-mate resounds behind me. If this was another time I would have been overjoyed that he was paying me a bit of attention. But the attention he is giving me irks me to no end.

I spin and fold my arms giving him a look of disgust. "What do you want, Alpha? Ooo wait I meant Omari." I say with sarcasm, his eyes darken slightly. I can not keep allowing past fears to creep in and make me scared whenever he appears.

"It sorta skipped my mind that you are nothing but a regular wolf, since your inability to keep your pack safe." I taunt.

"You seem to have forgotten what happened last time if not for your nosy little friend, she is not here now." He threatens with a glint in his eyes.

"What do you want?" I repeat with indignation.

"Why did you not inform me that you saw signs of your wolf surfacing?" He says accusingly.

"Why should I? After everything your pack did to me, you expect me to tell you something so important."

"When did your wolf surface, Aria?" 

"Unfortunately for you and fortunately for me, you can not make me tell you, I am now your Luna remember?"

He then gives me a condescending look, "This same pack you are talking shit about, saved you and helped you survive. Without us, you might have been as good as dead."

"You made me wish I should have died for so long, you were supposed to be my mate, the one that would save me from any harm. I prayed to the moon goddess daily that my mate should come and rescue me." I scream in anger.

"Just when I thought she answered my prayers, you ripped that away from me by choosing Alicia and rubbing her in my face. Sleeping with her time and time again knowing it hurt so bad. Finally marking her as yours. Your cowardly pack does not deserve the least bit of kindness from me." Tears trickle down my face. His eyes widened in shock, I never stood up for myself and have always let them trample on my emotions continually.

"I hate you with every fiber of my being. Do not ever think for a second that I am that same weak wolfless omega. You people even referred to me as a human to insult me. If you cross me again I will make you regret it, including that daft mate of yours."

"You look so hot right now," he says, his eyes seeming dilated. In a second he pushes me harshly against the wall. He takes advantage of the shock just as I was about to push him off, a growl makes us both freeze.

"What the hell is happening here?"

Alpha Kael's POV

Omari turns slightly towards me, still hovering over what's mine. He then gives me a sly smirk. In a split second, I pick him up and fling him hard against the wall. A loud crack follows then complete silence. 

Aria stares at me with wide eyes, she shoots Omari's still body a swift glance and then stares at me. I growl at this. Why would she spare him a glance, does she still care about him? My large body steps in her line of sight blocking him off completely.

"Come and pick this filth from here," I order Aldin through the mind link. A loud chuckle follows. 

"Hello to you too, Alpha," he answers. "Who is this 'filth' if I may ask?"

"He's in the hallway," After this I blocked him out, hovering over my mate. She staggers backward slightly, her are filled with fear

"Y..your eyes are o...orange," she stammers in fear. I smile at her obvious observation.

"That should not be the problem right now, right?" I say a little too calmly, I'm sure my eyes look lethal. 

She drew in a sharp breath. "It's not what it looks like, Kael." 

"What am I supposed to believe mate, you didn't even tell me about your history with him," I growl holding her possessively.

"And worse, I saw you in a compromising position with him, what would have happened if I hadn't shown up?" I ask fury leaking from each word.

"I promise nothing is going on with him, nothing would have happened, I'm done with him." She pleads. 

I know I shouldn't feel like this, but the jealousy is eating me up. I have been taking it slow with her because I didn't want to scare her off or lose her completely. Here, she was basking in the arms of another man, letting him touch her. An overwhelming urge to mark her overrides my senses.

"Mark her, and make her ours," Alec growls possessively in my head. I land a hard blow on the wall until my arms bleed to distract myself with the pain, from those thoughts.

'We can't hurt, mate," I retort. He then growls in response and goes silent.

"Kael, please stop hurting yourself," my Kitten's soothing voice echoes in my ears. I can't stay here, my teeth are already protruding and my eyes keep veering toward the delicate part of her neck.

I take a sharp turn and leave, ignoring her so I can control myself. I then hear her loud sobs echo through the hallway. It takes every ounce of control I have to stop myself from going for her.

"Martha, please take my mate to her room and stay with her a bit, I need to go for a run," I  ordered through the mind link to my cousin.

My feet hit the wooden floor, leading outside. As soon as I make it in front of the pack house I shift mid-air, my paws hit the hot sandy floor. Most of my pack members litter all over, once they sense me they steer clear of me. 

I could barely make out the trees as I zoomed past them. I know every part of my territory like the back of my palms. I head north to a cliff where I can think with no interference.

"Your mate is worried sick that you probably don't want her anymore, I'm pretty sure that's not the case." Martha says irritated.

"I'm coming, I just need to clear my head," I explained, as I arrived at the cliff up north. 

Martha then screams, "I don't care about all that, why did you block her out. She says she has been trying to reach you using the mindlink."

"I need to be away from her for now, for her own good."

"You know she will never have anything to do with that low-life, Omari. Please don't push her away, she needs you now more than ever, cuz." 

"I know that, bye for now," I block her out and everyone else.

"I thought we had overruled our feral side?" I ask Alec.

"No one has ever been able to do that, I think we just tamed it a bit but not completely."

"I guess you're right, mate just seemed so scared, you remember her incidents with the rogues which may be traumatizing." I answer, feeling horrible for scaring her.

The scene at the hallway replays in my head and I feel almost ashamed of myself. Instead of me comforting my mate I had accused her and pushed her away. Worse thing is I would have even forcefully marked her. I need to beg her even if it means groveling on my knees so she will still give me a chance. I overheard a part of their conversation which was how I figured that Omari was her first mate.

A faint scent pulled me from my thoughts, it smells like Jasmine mixed with an earthy scent. It is so similar to Margaret's. My head shoots up and I sniff the ground following the scent's trail which ends in a dead end. I think this whole situation is messing with my head. Margaret is gone and now the moon goddess has given me a beautiful gift in the form of my Kitten.

"You know something weird that I have noticed is that the pull I felt with Margaret is nothing compared to what I feel for Aria," Alec says thoughtfully.

"We'll figure everything out slowly," I murmur. "I should head back and talk to my mate."

I head back to the packhouse in a jug, my powerful strides hitting the bare floor and causing small prey to take flight. Soon I got close to the pack house, I picked up some shorts lying on a tree by the pack house with my jaws. Shifting in split seconds, I pull on the shorts racing towards the pack house.

My palms get sweaty and my feet jittery. I slowly approach her room door, taking a deep breath and knocking on the door. 

"Coming," Martha answers, the pity patter of her feet approaching the door. She pulls it open, and gives me a look of disdain.

"I should head out, call me when you need me, okay," She tells my mate soothingly and walks past me, without saying a word.

I walk in and shut the door behind me. She looks at me with pleading eyes, that are red and puffy from crying.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't tell you, It's just that I felt like I should leave everything in the past." I pull her into my arms, getting comfortable on her bed. "I thought the more baggage you knew about me the more reasons for you to leave me."

"Shhhhh, it's okay," I say with a soothing voice. "I should be the one apologizing, you were not at fault and I know for a fact that you didn't enable the nonsense he did." 

She then gives a look of doubt. "Then why did you hurt yourself and leave?"

"Because I know I don't deserve you, I'm ill tempered, possessive, and maybe overbearing. I was so jealous and I let it cloud my senses. I'm so sorry, Kitten."

She makes a sigh of relief and hugs me tight with her tiny arms.

"I'd like us to talk." I say as she slowly traced the scars on my face in silence.

"Go on."

"You remember when I told you that I had feral episodes after losing my first mate?" I ask.

"Yes I remember."

"Well, even though I have been able to suppress most of it. There are still traces of it when I am in a state of rage." 

"I didn't want to scare you off seeing the bad instances you have had with rogues." I finish looking deep into her eyes.

"I know you won't hurt me physically, Kael. You have shown me how much you care about me, even your wolf. I trust you, you've earned it."

"Thank you so much, Kitten. You mean the world to me." I say with a smile.

"I am so happy that you have forgiven me at least, because if you hadn't I'm pretty sure that my cousin would have had my neck by now."

Her innocent giggles fill the air. "I sure know who to scare you with."

I give her a playful glare. "Don't you dare."

"Watch me." I place her gently against the bed and begin to tickle the life out of her. Her laughter echoes across the room. 

"I want you to mark me," she says, my hands freezing at this.