~Roselyn~

I walked back to the base slowly, my head racing. I'd never imagined that seeing my grandma would result in me leaving more stressed than when I arrived. A part of me wanted to think this was a bad dream, but dreaming would still mean something weird was going on with me. For a wolf of the Sol, dreams were a way for broken souls to heal by drawing power from stronger connections and magic. Since dormants had no such connections, they didn't dream.

Oftentimes, a dream would involve a loved one and provide subtle warnings for the future or hints from the past. Sometimes even both, but the dream always led to one of two things: the source of your power and the connection used to fill in the gaps of a damaged soul—your Beta, your Alpha, or your mate. In my case, the latter, since I'm a...

"Ughhh," I groaned in frustration at even the thought of the word. "This is BULLSHIT!" I shouted into the empty forest before looking into the sky. "You both think you're so damn smart, don't you?! Well, this isn't fucking funny!" I said, throwing snow into the air.

"What's not fucking funny?" Jodi said from behind me.

"Gods, Jodi!" I gasped, nearly jumping out of my shoes. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Oh, screw your heart!" she said with an attitude. "We've been searching for you for hours! Where the hell have you been?!" She poked me in the chest.

"I—I went to see my grandmother," I said, rubbing my arm like I was in trouble with a sheepish grin. Jodi could be pretty scary when she was mad.

"How would you have—y'know what? Never mind. We have a problem. Come on." She motioned for me to follow her.

"What kind of problem?" I asked, walking with her through the snow.

"A newbie showed up today," she said, scanning the surrounding area.

"Why is that a problem? We welcome newbies all the time," I said, confused.

"He knew your name, Lyn. Like, he specifically came here for you, and he's weird. I don't know how to explain it, but he has this scent on him. He also seems really afraid. You'll see what I mean in a minute." She opened the door.

"Wait." I stopped her from opening the door. "What do you mean 'scent'? You can smell his scent?" I asked, and she looked at me as if I'd caught her doing something wrong. "Uh, I—"

"We'll talk about it later," I said, cutting her off, trying to reassure her and hoping she'd share the same reaction when I revealed my secret as well.

Upon entering the building, something felt wrong, and like Jodi said, there was this horrible smell. My instincts had the hairs on the back of my neck standing at attention. The closer we got to the main hall, my senses seemed to go into overdrive. Then I saw him, and my ears started to ring so loudly that I doubled over in pain, but it only lasted a few seconds.

"Lyn, are you okay?" Jodi asked, concerned, but I ignored her.

Without hesitation, I grabbed a syringe full of blue liquid from a nearby crate and beelined for the small man. A swift kick in the back of his knee and a handful of his hair as I put the syringe to his neck. "Who are you, and what the fuck are you doing here?!" I asked.

"Wait, wait, please! Rose, I—"

"Don't call me that!" I said, yanking his hair angrily and cutting him off.

"Lyn, don't you think—"

"Not now, Izzy!" I snapped, cutting him off as well. "How did you find me?" I asked, pressing the syringe harder against his neck.

"Y-your scent! I picked it up in the area when I was close by. I remembered it from when we were kids," he rushed to say, earning a few gasps and weird looks from the crowd of dormants.

"Liar! I don't fucking know you, and I don't have a scent. No one here does. We're all dormants," I said angrily with a scowl.

"Please, I'm telling the truth. I don't mean you or your people any harm. I just thought you'd help me. Please!" he begged. "He's woken up. Alec is free from the curse, Rose."

When I heard that name, it was as if the floodgates of my mind opened, and my heart plunged to the pit of my stomach in fear of the memories, followed by a burning rage. The images in my head were so vivid it felt like I was living through them all with every passing second. Then the small man's face popped up—dark brown freckles danced over his gold skin and soft features, his curly black afro hanging over his big green eyes and button nose. The small Omegan boy I used to call "friend" now knelt before me as a grown man and my betrayer.

"Colby..." I whispered to myself as the memories flowed, tightening my grip on his hair and baring my small fangs. My breathing became erratic as I spoke to him through clenched teeth. "Why should I help you? You didn't help me!" I said, pressing the syringe against his neck so hard it drew blood.

"IM PREGNANT! Please, you know what that means for me! Please, Rose," he begged as he began to sob.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" I snarled.

I battled my rage with clenched jaws, trying not to make a revenge-fueled decision that would make me seem cruel to the people I'd only ever shown kindness. Jodi put a hand on my shoulder, seeing my internal struggle and snapping me out of my thoughts. "Lyn, give me the syringe," she said gently.

"We can't trust him!" I said, tears falling from my eyes as the memories continued to fill my head making me dizzy.

"But if he's telling the truth, the suppressant could kill the pup. I don't know what he's done to you, but the baby is innocent. Do you really want that on your conscience?" she asked as she slowly took the syringe from me.

I released my grip on the crying man with a violent shove and heavy, heated breaths. "Lock. Him. Up," I said coldly, and two dormant guards escorted Colby away. "And have Senex give that bastard a pregnancy test!"

"Are you okay?" Jodi asked, rubbing my back.

"I—I'm fine," I said, wiping my eyes and moving away from her touch because it hurt more than helped.

"What did he mean by your scent?" Izzy asked, looking me up and down.

I sighed heavily, trying to regain my composure before speaking. The old, yet new memories still swirled around in my head, making it hard for me to focus. 

"W-we need to talk. I—I have something to tell you guys, a few things actually," I said, looking between them.

Izzy looked at Jodi, who nodded in return. "I think we all have a few things to talk about," he chuckled nervously.