A wolf without a scent is unthinkable. It is just about the worst thing a werewolf can be.
In the werewolf world, scent is not just instinct; it is identity.
It is how a wolf announces their presence before their appearance, how they mark their territory, recognize people, and sense danger in the wind. Scent is memory and family, a living thread that binds werewolf to pack and mate to mate. Most importantly, scent is how fated werewolf mates find each other.
So finding a werewolf without a scent is next to impossible.
Pups without scents are instantly discarded, thrown into the forests or hills bordering the pack and left for the wild beasts to devour, leaving no trace of their exisitence.
Better one life lost than for an entire bloodline to be tainted by such a weakness.
That is tradition, how it has always been done.
That is what should have happened to me.
Not only am I born without a scent but my mother also dies while giving birth to me.
Ordinarily, that should have been the end of my story but my father is the Alpha.
Sometimes I wonder at the reason he saved me, maybe it was mercy or pride, maybe fear of what would be said about him, but it is definitely not because of love since he ignores me like I do not exist.
He probably does not want any reminders of the blemish on his legacy and the pack follows in his lead.
The result is I am shunned by the whole pack, mocked, cursed and treated like an unwelcome guest who refuses to leave.
For years, I cling unto a desperate hope that maybe my scent is kicking in a little late, by the time I turned sixteen I would get my wolf and have a scent.
Everything would be normal.
I am nineteen now.
Still scentless, without a wolf and hiding out in the library a few hours away from my mating ceremony.
"Where is that stupid bitch,"
Imogen's shrill voice shatters the quiet. My heart drops down to my belly.
What I have been avoiding all morning has finally caught up with me. Knowing that I will get it worse if I remain quietly hidden, I step out from behind the rows of books, my eyes on my feet.
Imogen, the most beautiful girl in the pack.
I envied her, she loathed me.
Ever since I could remember, Imogen had led the attacks on me. She had taken it upon herself to be my tormentor.
So far she is doing a very good job.
According to Imogen, vermin like myself are supposed to be trampled under feet and should not be able to look up at her. So I keep my eyes down.Â
"What did you see last night, dog?" She asks, her words bringing up images that I had tried unsuccessfully to remove out of my mind throughout the night.Â
Naked bodies writhing under the moonlight, the moans… I shut my eyes hard as if that can erase it from my mind.
"I didn't see anything." I say, as convincingly as I can and hold my breath as I wait for her reaction.
Suddenly she pinched my chin and jerks my face up. The utter distaste in her eyes makes me shiver, she looks like she has just picked up a roach in the garbage.
No matter how hard I try to avoid her, I somehow find myself falling into Imogen's trap.
"I am sure that you are excited about the ceremony later? Hmmm? You think that Axel loves you? Do you think he could ever want an abomination like you?" She throws every word at me, her knowing smile a sign of her delight at my pain.
Axel holds no appeal for me as a mate. It's not like I have any choice in the matter in the first place and I certainly would not have taken him as my first choice for mate.
Just a month ago after I turn nineteen, the Alpha declares that I am to be mated to Axel. He has not even given me the coursey of hearing it from his lips. I had only heard from May, my nanny.
"Broken." She whispers right in my face and yanks my face forward, shaking my heaf painfully as she does.
"Please." I whimper, the pain from her rough hold sending tears filling my eyes.
"I have been robbed of my fated mate simply because the Alpha could not do the right thing and dispose of you. I cannot wait for when Axel becomes Alpha, then I will do what should have been done when it was discovered that you are such a curse." She chuckles, twisting my hair even harder, sending me wincing to my knees.
She bends closer and I see the disdain on her face, the look that says I am forever beneath her. She spits every word in my face, repeating a song I have heard so many times it is now a song I can sing myself.
"I'm the only one he wants, you are just an unfortunate necessity. A stepping stone on his way to being Alpha and when he is done, you will be discarded like the filthy piece of garbage you are, no one wants you."
Like arrows reaching their targets, her words find and destroy all the secret hope I hold for my life.
My life is so pathetic that the Alpha had simply issues a decree and I am to follow up without question.
There is no point explaining all of this to Imogen. The fact that i am a victim does not matter to her.
Next comes what usually accompanies these 'talks', the beatings.
Every kick, every punch drives in an undeniable truth. I am just a useless nobody who can be erased with just the snap of fingers.
"Hurry, May is coming." A voice whispers urgently from outside and Imogen delivers one last vicious kick to my ribs.
"You are lucky." She says before running off.
A few minutes later I hear footsteps and a gasp.
"Even today?" May frowns as she kneels beside me and gently holds me up so that she can have a look at my injuries.
"It's not that bad." I say and try a reassuring smile which ends up being a grimace.
It is always like this, with May coming to my rescue. Without her I might have already died a long time ago.
"How are you going to walk in this state?" She mutters angrily and grabs me as I tilt and almost fall while trying to stand. "I should teach those brats a good lesson."
"What good will that do?" I ask wearily.
Doing that would only rile everyone up and cause a fight and then i am bound to receive punishment for being a disruptive presence in the pack. I just want to continue living my life as quietly as I can.
"Let's hurry up and get you dressed, your father won't be pleased if you are late." She says and walks slowly as she helps me get to my room.
-
I walk in slow painful steps down the aisle in a white dress that feels more like a shroud than a bridal robe.
Up ahead near the altar stands the imposing figure of my father, Alpha Edmund and beside him stands Axel, my mate to be.
Axel is undenaibly handsome, strong, everything that an Alpha seems to be.
However, I am not fooled, I am aware of just how despicable he truly is.
As I drew closer, the smug smirk on his face brought it all back, his hot breath on the side of my face, his hands probing as they slid where they had no right to be. Fighting him off had been useless, my hands beating at his chest feeling like underneath his skin was steel.
If someone had not come by at that time, distracting him and allowing me break free of his hold, I hate to think of how things might have ended.
And now I am being handed over to him.
I felt the hot burn of hatred and know who it was from before I even see her. Imogen with pursed lips and a knowing look as she watches me look at Axel.
I almost stumble but I quickly tear my eyes away and look straight ahead.
I get to a stop beside Axel at last.
This is it.
At least, just this once I am useful to my father.
The priest takes a step forward, his loud voice resonating through the hall. "We gather to bind two of these pack in this ritual of union between Axel and Xira…"
CRASH!!!!
The heavy doors of the hall fling open and the next thing I know, a dishevelled and bloody warrior runs in panting heavily.
"Alpha!" He gasps, "The Pack barrier has been breached and all the sentries have all been killed."