His Rogue Luna

As Gen had told me, Aurelius and I sat at the head of the table, side by side. It was sad how happy the pack seemed at us being mates and ruling together. Did they know their leader was a fraud? Thankfully, I was soon distracted from my depressing thoughts by the food.

As I chewed the meal, I let my mind wander, thinking back to the interaction with the strange man that occurred only a few hours ago.

His deep brown eyes and his diamond shaped face looked so similar to Sophia and I was wondering if he was related to her.

Also, in my dream, it appeared that Cynthia was the name of of Sophia and Mica's daughter and that man had called me that. Did that mean what I think it did?

Suddenly, I was very eager to leave the dinner and find that man. I had a lot of questions that needed answering.

"Luna, are you alright?" Someone asked.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I turned to the voice, finding a concerned pack warrior.

"Yes I'm fine. Just a little tired after the long day I've had," I was hoping to use my exhaustion as an excuse to escape this dinner.

"Tired, from doing what?" Another asked. I turned to the new speaker, already hating the smirk on her lips. She had green snake like eyes that were so full of disdain. I didn't bother hiding my irritation at her. "That's none of your concern, Pack Member," I dismissed, enjoying how she scowled at my demeaning tone. Aurelius next to me cleared his throat, catching my attention.

Aside from occasional small talk with the warriors, he had remained relatively silent during the whole meal. I'd occasionally feel his eyes drilling into the side of my skull but chose to ignore it.

"Her name is Aerin. Her family and mine have a lot of history together," he muttered. Despite his quiet tone, everyone at the table had no doubt heard with their heightened hearing.

Aerin smiled smugly, as if that's what she wanted all along and I had to grind my teeth painfully to avoid snapping and growling at her.

Something about her rubbed me the wrong way entirely.

"My apologies," I said with an overly sweet smile. "What I meant to say was that my business is none of your concern Aerin so kindly remember who you're talking to," I smiled falsely.

Her smile vanished and she quickly broke eye contact, focusing on her plate.

"Luna," I turned my head to the voice. I looked at Zane and gave him a smile, nodding for him to continue. "We have a few more weapon prototypes developed. I would appreciate it if you could come down to see them."

I could sense Aurelius was about to snap at Zane so I placed my hand on his thigh under the table while I quickly spoke.

"I would love to. Tomorrow sound good?"

"Tomorrow it is," he nodded, giving me a quick smile.

Other pack members took that as a sign to begin making requests of me. It seemed that by agreeing to Zane's request, they were a lot more confident in asking me.

"Luna, our orphanage needs funding, please Luna, come down and visit to see it yourself," one woman begged. I frowned, a little concerned, but hurriedly agreed. It would help to visit the orphanage myself before I called a general meeting. "Luna, the pack school is overcrowding, we need to find a solution. Can you join us for a talk next week?"

I agreed to them all dutifully, playing the role of the perfect and attentive Luna. I couldn't help but feel guilty, that we were lying to these people. Their supposed leaders were nothing but frauds.

I pushed away my thoughts, taking a sip of water as I finished the food. I looked up and caught a pair of blue eyes. The woman sat at the other end of the table, her eyes trained on me, analysing me.

Her blood red lips were pursed, the colour matching her fiery hair and her dress. She was stunning and with the amount of red she wore, I was surprised I hadn't seen her before.

"That's Tatiana Graeme. Her family is related to the Alpha's," Gen whispered to me. I nodded gratefully towards her, deciding to save my burning questions for later.

The so called Tatiana kept her gaze on me, her otherwise beautiful eyes tainted with a resentment that surprised me. I was just glad my mind was preoccupied with familiar brown ones so I didn't lash out at her blatant disrespect.

The rest of the dinner passed by in a blur. I nodded and hummed and greeted and smiled and chatted with nameless, faceless people until the crowd dwindled down and I was eventually left alone with my so called mate.

"That went well," he spoke, plopping onto the sofa. He threw off his jacket and uncuffed his shirt. I admired him for a moment, my eyes roaming over his features. His once gelled back hair looked messy with a lock of hair sitting on his forehead. His eyes revealed he enjoyed this gathering as much as I did, which was not at all.

"You did well Artemis," the sound of my name from his lips warmed me more than it should and the way the corners of his lips were upturned gave me the butterflies. I quickly pushed away those feelings.

"I'm glad. I have to be a good actress considering the stakes are pretty high for me, paying with my life and all," I spoke with a forced and overly sweet smile

His face fell and he looked away with a clenched jaw before standing up abruptly.

"I'm going to bed," he declared before disappearing up the stairs. I used this moment to head to the empty kitchen and slip out the back door unnoticed. I walked around the back of the house, looking around for that familiar figure.

The man that appeared was not the one that had approached me earlier, but I still recognised him. He was the warrior I had locked eyes that day I had stumbled into the training area. "Luna?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper and his steps hesitant.

"My father sent me here to collect you. He thought it would be suspicious if he came to you himself," he bowed his head in submission waiting for my response.

"It's alright, but please call me Artemis," I said, placing my hand on his shoulder. He straightened up and with a nod, began silently leading me through the forest, heading East.

I didn't dare break the silence, instead choosing to memorise the path we walked. We approached a small hut that was clearly secluded from the other cabin homes I had seen.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

The man from earlier stood by the door, looking anxious before smiling brightly at us when he spotted us. As we neared, he pulled me into a tight hug.

"Cynthia I knew you would make it," I patted his back awkwardly and he let me go, quickly ushering us inside.

The hut was small and slightly cluttered, books of all kinds piling up in the hallways and the tables. I was led to a small sitting area and took a seat next to the man that led me here.

"I think introductions are in order," the man beamed, clapping his hands together.

"I am Diego Cruz Flores, and this is my son, Romeo Cruz Flores," he smiled, turning to me and watching my reaction.

"So you know Sophia Helena Flores?" His eyes flashed with sadness and he nodded.

"She was my sister," he choked. I let the words settle in my mind. "And you look just like her, your eyes, your face, your hair," he reached out and touched my face, his eyes looking distant before he pulled away. "And who is Cynthia?" I asked. That name kept rolling around in my head.

"Cynthia was my niece, the daughter of my sister that went missing only months after being born," he explained sadly.

"Yet you called me Cynthia," I pointed out.

"Yes, because you look just like her. You are her," he stated.

"How do you know? How can you prove it?" I asked. A part of me was so eager to believe his words, that I was a lost child and had found family again, but another part of me was more distrusting. He gave me a knowing smile, his eyes looking sad and Romeo shifted besides me.

"You bear the mark of The Gifted."