Chapter 33. Fake Scent

Something was happening. Something new. Something amazing.

Ria was an Alpha. Power and strength were not new to her.

But what was happening right now was beyond anything she had experienced

before.

She now saw fear in the wolf’s eyes. She inhaled his scent and smelled fear as

well.

She knew that she could crack that skull of his with ease with her bare hands.

And he knew this too. He could tell that his end was near and tried to distance

himself

from her but now she was holding him with her fingers dug too deep into his

flesh.

However, at the next moment, a beautiful grey wolf jumped at her enemy,

startling her and knocking her prey off her.

Riannon tried to steady her breathing. Everything around her seemed to be

happening in slow motion.

“Onyx,” she called her wolf, feeling how the two of them were together again. But

at the next moment, that feeling was gone.

Ria could barely breathe and felt warm blood trickling over her hand and belly.

The werewolf managed to cut her in a few places.

She saw the grey wolf dealing with him, while mothers were covering young

children’s faces.

And in just a few seconds Reid was next to her. Kneeling next to her face while

having no clothes on and making her come back to reality fast.

“Luna,” he took her arm and started looking at the wounds, “Sh.it. He managed to

hurt you.”

“It’s okay,” she hissed from the pain as he helped her up, “Just a scratch.” “It

doesn’t look like a scratch,” the lycan Beta looked worried, “Gideon will kill me for

this.

“Why?” Ria’s eyebrows shot up as the feeling of power washed away from her

completely.

“Why?” the voice of the mighty Beta was unusually high pitched, “Because he

entrusted me to protect you and this is what happens!”

“I don’t see how it is your fault!” she gave him a reassuring smile, looking around.

At least there were no other rogues in plain sight. Savannah walked in through

one of the doors, getting leaves out of her hair. And one of the women threw her

a shawl which she immediately something.

“Oh, my!” she looked at the two of them, “Reid, you are so dead!” “I know,” the

man chuckled nervously.

“What’s the big deal,” Ria shrugged her shoulders, “Just lick it and we’ll be done.”

The silence in the room suddenly got heavy.

“Lick it? As in lick you?” Savvy snorted, “Now you just want him to die, do you? Is

it like an old grudge or something?”

“No, I mean the lycan healing,” Riannon said, slowly realising what was going on.

There was no lycan healing.

“Oh, that!” Savannah couldn’t help a sly grin spreading over her face, “Lycan

healing. Duh! Why didn’t we think of that, Reid?”

The Beta turned away, trying to hold back a laugh and Ria felt like an i***t. She

was going to do what the rogues couldn’t. She was going to kill the lycan king.

Just then Gideon appeared through a wide passage and everyone started

gasping at the sight of their kind covered in blood. They could smell that it wasn’t

his own and a wave of sighs of relief rippled through the room.

In the meantime, Riannon forgot how to breathe, let alone what she wanted to

say. Her eyes were glued to his perfect body. She saw it just the previous night.

But back then only the moonlight was letting them see each other. That and the

werewolf sight.

But right now... In broad daylight, she couldn’t take her eyes off his stone-hard

muscles. Sculptures of ancient gods had nothing on that man. For his body was

immaculate. Each line was perfect from top to bottom. And even the line of dark

hair leading from his belly button all the way down to a piece of fabric he had

wrapped around his lower part.

“Brother!” Savvy snorted, “Riannon here is in need of some urgent lycan healing.

She asked Reid to lick her, but...

“I didn’t!” the Beta practically shouted as the princess giggled next to him. But the

next second the two of them were pushed away by their king, who grabbed

Riannon and lifted her in his arms effortlessly.

“I thought I told you to protect her!” he growled angrily at his second-in-command

as he clenched the woman he treasured to his chest.

“And he did,” Ria said finally, startled by everything that was going on, “He saved

my life.”

“I will take you to your room,” he said, ignoring everything else around him.

“There is no need,” she tried to protest, “I can walk myself and also... Don’t you

have more things to do here?”

“It all can wait,” he muttered walking away, “All the rogues are dead anyway. Reid

and Sawy will deal with everything else.”

“They were not rogues,” she said and he stopped, darting his piercing blue eyes

at her. “What?” Gideon furrowed his brows. He couldn’t believe what he was

hearing.

“Why don’t we go to the office?!” Reid appeared right next to them again, pushing

them slightly in the correct direction.

Gideon grunted but even he had to admit that this conversation had to take place

in private.

As soon as the door behind them closed, the Beta went to one of the drawers

and got a pair of jeans out of there, pulling them on quickly.

“Riannon, what did you mean just now?” he asked her while Gideon held her

pressed against his chest. Unknowingly, she leaned over him, relaxing in his firm

grasp. It did not even occur to her to ask him to put her back to her feet. He

seemed comfortable. And so was she.

The Beta had to cough a few times to bring their attention back to him.

“So, about our matter,” Reid tried to insist, “You said that they weren’t rogues?”

“Yes,” she nodded, “I am positive they are not rogues.” “Why?” this made Reid

agitated, “Their scent is pretty obvious.”

“I thought that they were rogues at first,” she said, “But then... When this wolf

was on top of me...”

Gideon growled. He hated the thought alone that she was this close to death.

She was his and they didn’t even get to be together properly. And yet he almost

lost her today. He cursed inside. This was outrageous!

“You know how rogues smell, right,” Ria was choosing her words carefully, “They

have that burnt scent. When they are exiled from their packs, the link on their

aura that connects them is burning out together with their true scent. They only

smell like fire or smoke. They cannot have any other scent unless they are

accepted into another pack and a new link is formed, restoring their aura.”

“Yes,” Gideon confirmed everything she said. but it was there. His true scent.”

“But that’s...” Reid rubbed his neck.

“Impossible,” Riannon agreed, “For a rogue. But if he isn’t a rogue. If he only

pretends to be one and this burned scent is fake while his own is suppressed...”

“Then it would explain a lot,” the lycan king and his Beta were now staring at

each other.

That indeed explained a lot. Because no rogue would be so stupid as to attack

the royal lycan palace.

“This was a very useful observation, Ria,” Gideon looked at her with gentleness

in his eyes, and she flinched as it was the first time he used her short name. It

sounded so nice on his tongue that she wanted him to repeat it. Their eyes met

and his got darker at once. At the same time, his grasp on her tightened.

“Check this out, Reid, and report to me,” the king said walking in the direction of

the door, “I will wait for your full report in a few hours. But right now I am going to

take care of the Luna.”

“Of course,” the Beta held the door for them, trying to mask his smirk with a

serious facial expression. But it wasn’t working that well.

Gideon took her all the way upstairs to the bedroom where they slept together

the previous night. Just the memories alone made his breathing speed up. He

carefully placed her back to her feet as she kept holding his shoulders.

“You are hurt,” he stated in a very low and husky voice, “I am afraid I have to

check your... wounds.”

“If you must...” was all she said.