Luna Queen Pariah

Chapter 5: Sterling the Suspicious

Sariah

My eyes snapped open. I shot up into a sitting position. I was panting. I looked around the room. I was greeted by the familiar sight of my floral wallpaper. The purple roses had paled over the years. I remembered begging my thrifty Aunt Ashlyn for this wallpaper and being shocked when she had actually said yes. I was in my room. That meant the incident with Stella had been an awful dream, right?

My door creaked open. I stiffened, somehow expecting a monster to loom at me from the darkness. Aunt Ashlyn poked her head in the room. Close enough. She sighed deeply when she saw that I was awake. I had a sinking feeling that the incident had not been a dream. Aunt Ashlyn stepped into the room, wearing her usual uniform: a black long-sleeved dress that was buttoned up to her chin. I did not know how she could stand to have that itchy fabric across her throat all the time. Her dark hair was swept up into a sleek bun. Her cold grey eyes refused to meet mine. They stood out, a shocking contrast with her toasted-almond-coloured skin. She seemed afraid to even approach me as though I carried some deadly and highly contagious disease. It must have really happened then.

“Aunt Ashlynn!” I cried frantically. “Did I…did I faint at school?”

“Don’t call me that,” she said curtly.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“I’m not your Aunt,” she said.

“What do you mean?” I asked, swinging my legs over the side of my bed.

She recoiled a little.

“I’m disowning you!” She hissed.

“You can’t be serious!” I yelped, standing up and rushing towards her.

She backed away from me and I stopped dead in my tracks.

“I tried to raise you right after your frivolous mother spoiled you,” she spat.

Anger flared up inside of me.

“If you’re disowning me, then you no longer have the right to criticise me!” I said softly but fiercely.

Ashlynn regarded me with a mix of pity and disgust.

“Pack your bags!” She said coldly.

“What time is it?” I asked.

She said nothing. She simply left the room.

“I’M INNOCENT IN CASE YOU CARED TO KNOW!” I screamed after her.

Silence. I knew she had heard me though. I fell to floor. All the tears I had held back earlier today came down in a deluge. I hugged my knees to my chest in an effort to stop myself shaking so much. The saddest part of all of this was that I was not that surprised, just deeply hurt. I knew she did not love me but I had hoped that she at least valued my company somewhat. I had thought she preferred my presence to loneliness.

Ashlynn was my mother’s younger sister though everyone had always thought Ashlynn was the elder sister because of her demeanour and the lines on her face from all that frowning. I had come to live with her at the age of twelve when my parents had taken their show on the road. It was supposed to have been a temporary arrangement but their tour bus had crashed. I shut my eyes tightly. I could not relive those memories right now. It was too much to bear right now.

I packed my bags, folding everything as small as possible so I could fit as much as possible in a backpack, two duffle bags and one trolley suitcase. I stashed the picture of my parents and me in front of their tour bus in my backpack. I stopped what I was doing. Where was I going? The money from my parents would not kick in until my eighteenth birthday on which I would die. If I wanted to live, I had to pack much lighter than this. I had to leave this pack permanently. The thought of disappearing and letting Ashlynn continue to use my parents’ hard-earned money made me sick but she had already had access to it for the past few years. My parents would want me to live. They would want me to run. They had never believed much in the pack life anyway. They had always been rolling stones. Perhaps, I was not meant to gather moss either.

If I was going to leave forever, I wanted to say goodbye to Rodney.

I packed only the essentials, travelling as light as possible. I grabbed my fake ID, the only good thing to come from my friendship with Layla. I was so mad at her. Nova’s actions were somewhat justified. She had already fled her old pack. I half-wished I could talk to her now. Maybe, she had some pointers for me. I wondered if the situation that had prompted her to leave had been as severe as this one. Perhaps some merciful Alpha would accept me into his pack too. Deep down I knew that was unlikely but it gave me a little hope. I knew Alpha King Sterling was widely feared and respected. I would have to be an alpha’s fated for him to be motivated enough to shield me from the likes of Sterling. I did not want my…Ashlynn to know when I left. I did not put it past her to call the pack police if she smelled my criminal intent.

I climbed out my window. I had never been more grateful for a bedroom on the ground floor. Ashlynn had insisted I stay downstairs because “all children are empty vessels and empty vessels make the most noise.” I had actually been a quiet child and now, I was a quiet teenager, not that Ashlynn had taken the time to notice.

I knew this might be a potentially life-threatening move but I stole across my damp lawn towards Rodney’s house. Thankfully, there was a picket missing in the fence, leaving a wide enough space for me to simply pass through. I crawled through the grass, paranoid about the streetlights being on. I was not sure if the whole pack had heard of my situation yet but this type of news tended to spread quickly. I peeked into a lit-up window. Rodney, his brother and his father were at the dining table. The clock on the wall read seven exactly. Seven at night. I had been out for almost six hours. I wondered why I had not woken up in a hospital. I knew Sterling had come to take Stella to get further medical attention. I supposed Ashlynn had not seen the point in taking a good-as-dead girl to the doctor.

I needed to get Rodney on his own. I heard the faint ding of the doorbell. Rodney got up to answer it. His elder brother, Anthony, tried to stop him.

“I can get it, bro,” offered Anthony.

I watched Anthony pat Rodney’s shoulder. My heart sank. He knew. Rodney knew. Anthony and Rodney never missed an opportunity to aggravate each other unless there was something serious going on. I peered at Rodney’s face. His eyes looked a bit red. I should leave. What if he hated me now and there was no point in saying goodbye and explaining myself? I wanted him to hear the truth just once directly from me even if he did not believe it. I crawled under the window sill and kept going until I peeked around the side of the house to see who was ringing the doorbell.

My heart almost stopped. It was Stella! I looked at the street. There was a sleek black SUV parked nearby. I could not see who was in the driver’s seat as it was parked across the street, facing away from the house. The headrest of the driver’s seat obscured the back of the driver’s head completely. Someone rolled down the window and glanced back at the house from the passenger’s side. It was a good-looking guy with a medium brown complexion. He looked familiar. I stifled a gasp. This had to be Ruby’s brother, Beta Raphael. I was almost certain. My heart was beating rapidly. Did that mean the person in the driver’s seat was Sterling himself?! The very person I was fleeing from was a few yards away. A gust of wind whipped my already tousled waves back. The wind carried the most amazing scent with it. It was coming from the car. Probably some ridiculously expensive car air freshener. The car looked quite pricey. I did not know enough to identify it though. Wow. I inhaled deeply, obsessed with that smell. It was so good. There was something sexy about it. It was a woodsy sort of scent too. It was probably one of the guys’ designer cologne or something, not the car air freshener.

The delicious smell made me worry about my own scent being detected. I had to do something to change or mask my smell a bit. The shrubs and bushes I was hiding behind had a flowering plant among them. I plucked a few flowers and sniffed them. They were pretty fragrant. These should do for now. I rubbed the flowers all over my skin and clothes, hoping I didn’t get a rash. I left the flowers in the grass among the roots and brambles of the shrubs.

I turned my attention back to Stella who was talking with Anthony in hushed tones. Ruby was standing near the picket fence gate, waiting for Stella. Anthony let Stella in. I crawled back to the window.

“Your m…er…the Alpha King’s sister is here,” announced Anthony, looking at his brother.

Frankie, their Dad, gave Stella a polite smile.

“I see where Rodney gets his looks from,” said Stella, smiling brightly.

Frankie grimaced, seemingly uncomfortable.

“Shall we?” Said Stella, gesturing to the hallway.

I took a deep breath. Was I really going to do this? Yes, I really was. I kept my backpack on, hoping it would not throw me off balance. I used the one tree whose branches grew very closely to the house. I was not athletic to say the least but I managed to make it up the tree and across one of the thick branches, depositing myself right onto the balcony outside Rodney’s bedroom. Wow. I was honestly impressed with myself. There was a gap in the floor-length curtains hung inside. One of the windows was opened just a c***k. I stayed far from it, afraid Rodney would catch my scent on the wind.

I heard a door swing shut. I peered through the gap at Stella limping towards the bed. She sat and let out a theatrical sigh of relief. Rodney stood with his arms folded, looking uncomfortable.

“Hi,” said Stella shyly which was so unlike her.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Asked Rodney with a heavy sigh.

“Crumby,” said Stella.

Rodney gently moved Stella’s hair from her face and winced at the sight of her bruises. My chest hurt. He would think I had done that.

“I look awful,” mumbled Stella, putting the hair back to block her face.

Rodney sat next to her and hugged her. Stella burst into tears, weeping bitterly into his shirt. If I had not known this was all bullshit, I would have believed her myself.

“No, you don’t,” he said softly, grasping her chin. “You’re beautiful! If you were of age, I’d kiss you right now.”

Stella blushed and cozied up to him.

“Did you hear?” She said, sniffling.

“Sort of but I want to hear it from you,” said Rodney.

Stella stopped crying abruptly, a flaw in her performance.

“So I was in the bathroom this morning talking to my two closest friends. I knew I should not have told them that we suspect we’re mates so that’s on me. Anyway, I didn’t know Sariah was in there. There weren’t any feet under the stalls, I swear,” she insisted.

I had to strain my ears to hear from the balcony when Stella uncharacteristically began to whisper.

“I was walking during lunchtime in the school gardens when Sariah motioned for me to follow her. I told the girls to wait for me. I wanted to speak to her in private after Ruby told me she had reason to believe Sariah had eavesdropped on us earlier. So I followed Sariah to the old library. I thought she was leading me there so we wouldn’t be overheard. I was about to ask her if we could bury the hatchet and be friends. I know you’ve probably bad heard things about me from her in the past,” said Stella.

I actually had not mentioned Stella’s name before.

“No,” mumbled Rodney. “She has it hard at school. She talks about this one bully who sounds just…awful…like so cruel!”

That bully was Stella but I had never named her.

“Oh, well, the thing is that…” Stella paused, taking a deep breath. “Sariah is the class bully but because she’s bright and the teacher’s pet she gets away with pretending to be the victim a lot but not this time.”

Rodney’s eyes widened.

“Anyway so today she attacked me before I could even ask her anything. She punched me twice in the face, knocking me down. I punched back once, terrified. I wanted her to fall back so I could escape,” sobbed Stella, resuming the tears.

“She screamed at me while she was hitting me. She said, ‘Stay away from Rodney Firth! He’s mine! He’s been mine for years!’ Something like that,” said Stella.

I was stunned. She was lying even more than before.

“I told her I didn’t want to break up her friendship with you! I just wanted to fit seamlessly into my mate’s life! His friends and family would become my friends and family! And vice versa! Sariah would become my new friend! You would be the Alpha King’s new brother! Everything could have been perfect,” said Stella, her voice cracking. “I don’t remember much after that. I got hit really hard you see. I just remember Ruby showing up and helping me and then I remember being in the nurse’s room and then the principal’s office and seeing my brother’s furious expression! I don’t think I can save her, Rodney. I think my brother is hellbent on…I can’t even say it,” cried Stella.

Rodney held Stella tucking her head under his chin.

“I’m shocked,” he said. “Sariah is…like a wallflower you know.”

Ouch.

“She’s harmless. I…I don’t see how she could act like this. It’s so unlike her! I’m in disbelief,” uttered Rodney.

“You don’t believe me,” hissed Stella, pushing him away from her.

“I…just…I’m sorry,” said Rodney. “I didn’t mean to doubt you,” he said gently.

She slowly tucked her head back under his chin.

“I can’t stay long,” whispered Stella. “But I felt you deserved the truth from me directly. You’re such a great guy, Rodney. I’m so sorry I put you through this.”

“What? I’m so sorry I put you through this,” said Rodney. “I can’t help but feel like this is all my fault!”

“NO!” Exclaimed Stella, suddenly sounding a bit angry. “I mean, it’s her. She didn’t have to act like that.”

Rodney nodded.

“I care about you, Stella. My wolf says you’re really special to us but he won’t know if you’re the one until you get your wolf,” said Rodney gently.

Stella’s face was turned away from me but I knew she would be beaming.

“I know this is completely unfair of me to ask this of you but…could you do me a big favour?” Asked Rodney.

“Anything,” said Stella, nodding eagerly.

“Promise you’ll hear me out?” Asked Rodney.

Stella nodded.

“Do you think you could get your brother to spare Sariah’s life? Banish her. Exile her. Whatever it’s called. Something like that but just spare her life,” pleaded Rodney.

My heart sped up. My eyes filled with tears. Rodney really was a true friend.

“Sterling won’t go for that,” said Stella bluntly.

I hugged myself tightly. I figured as much. I had made the right decision to leave.

“Then I have a different favour to ask,” said Rodney.

“What?” Asked Stella apprehensively.

“Don’t hate me and please don’t sell me out!” Said Rodney.

“I could never hate you,” insisted Stella.

“Let me help Sariah leave the pack before the trial. I could drive her to the next pack over and leave her there but I’ll need you to get the guards at the border to not search my car. You said you don’t want her dead which is so forgiving of you. I know how kindhearted you are. You don’t want her death on your conscience even if she attacked you…” said Rodney.

“If she attacked me?!” Yelled Stella.

“Even though she attacked you,” said Rodney.

“You said if before,” snapped Stella.

“Give me a break. My childhood best friend is going to be killed for attacking my mate and I’m the reason my mate got attacked in the first place. It’s devastating. It’s like two heartbreaks, maybe three,” said Rodney.

Stella was silent.

“I don’t think I can get the guards not to search the car. It’ll be suspicious if I send an order like that to the borders. They would try to confirm it with my brother who would just override it and figure something was amiss,” said Stella.

“Right, if it was just me in the car. Not it it was you and me together,” said Rodney.

Stella sighed.

“I want to help but I’m too afraid to be near her again. She’ll just attack me again,” said Stella.

“Stell, look at me. I would never let that happen in my presence ever! Also, something crazy must be going on with Sariah. She never got over her parents’ being killed in that tour bus accident. Maybe this drove her over the edge,” said Rodney. “I feel so responsible…I should not have led her on the way I did before I met you over the summer. I blame myself.”

“Led her on?!” Squeaked Stella, panicked.

“Yeah, when she would sob about her parents and her shitty Aunt, I would promise her we would be roommates in a house by the sea. She’s never seen the sea, can you believe that? Anyway, she probably took it romantically. My careless words put my mate in danger. I’m sorry, Stella! Girls can get a bit crazy you know. I should have known better,” said Rodney.

“I’ve never seen the sea either,” said Stella sheepishly.

That was a bold-faced lie. Our pack lands were inland but Stella was always boasting about travelling. I had seen a picture of her in a bikini on a private beach on her social media. She would probably have to curate her social media to reflect her new lie. If only I had my phone with me to screenshot the bikini-clad proof. I was sure she still had that photo up. Rodney hardly ever logged onto social media so he would probably never see it.

“I’ll take you to the sea,” promised Rodney, shattering the splinters left of my heart. “It can be during our first vacation together,” he suggested. “What do you say?”

“Yes!” She said without hesitation.

“And about helping Sariah escape with her life?!” Said Rodney.

“I…I need more time to think of how to do it, if it’s even possible,” said Stella, stalling. “My brother is waiting outside tonight with his Beta. They’re parked across the street,” she explained, telling the truth for once. “Ruby is waiting out front too!”

Rodney nodded.

“How long before your brother arrests Sariah?” Asked Rodney.

“Why do you care so much about her?” Asked Stella, not able to pretend for much longer. “Look at what she did to me,” she cried, gesturing to her injuries.

Sariah managed to make herself cry. She sobbed brokenly.

“I should go,” she spluttered, pulling away from him.

.“Wait, I’m sorry! Look I shouldn’t have asked so much of you,” said Rodney quickly. “I’ll figure something else out! Please don’t think I don’t care about you!” He beseeched her.

She sniffled. He hugged her, rubbing her back. He cupped her face when they parted.

“I’m sorry, Stella, for making you feel like I don’t care about you! Nothing could be further from the truth,” he insisted.

Stella nodded. The slam of a car door made me jump. It was Raphael walking towards the house. I crouched lower, flattening myself close to the floor of the balcony and praying he would not look up. He did not and I breathed a sigh of relief. I heard the faint ring of the doorbell.

“That’s probably just my brother,” said Stella. “See, he won’t let me out of his sight now!”

Rodney nodded. He embraced her warmly and then led her out of his room. I could hear their voices but I could not decipher the words. I watched as Stella was escorted out of the house by Raphael and Ruby. The parked car remained right where it was. Why weren’t they leaving?

Rodney returned to his room. It was not as though I could go anywhere else with that car parked there. The Alpha King himself was in it. Up the street, there was another similar black SUV. This one probably housed his security personnel. I took a deep breath to psych myself up. Rodney had pleaded my case.

He cared about me, I assured myself.

I mean he cares about me, I corrected myself, using the present tense.

I knocked as softly on the balcony door as I could while my eyes kept darting back to the parked cars. Rodney did not seem to notice. I kept tapping lightly on the door. I saw him furrow his brow. He got up and looked outside. He lowered his gaze and spotted me crouched in the darkness. He slid open the glass door slightly and silently without making eye contact. I crawled into his room through the space provided for me. I did not dare stand up until I had crawled all the way to the other side of the room, far from the balcony door and windows. Rodney had stepped out into the balcony. He was looking up, pretending to stargaze in case someone had seen him open the balcony door. He finally came back into his room and shut the door. He stared at me. I stared at him. I was now standing leaning against the wall with my arms folded.

Rodney walked towards me, his jaw set. For one terrifying moment, I thought he was going to hit me as retaliation for what I had allegedly done to his mate. He did no such thing. He gave me a warm hug. I tried not to fall apart in his arms but the tears began to flow. He held me at arm’s length and looked me in the eyes.

“I expect you to tell me truth,” he said sternly. “The whole truth!”

I nodded.

“Be honest. I won’t get mad. Just don’t lie to me,” he said. “Did you do it?”

I took a shuddering breath. I shook my head.

“No,” I said.

“Then what happened?” He asked.

“I went to the bathroom with no intention of spying on anyone. It was before school started. I heard Stella and her friends come in so I hid my feet, bringing them up while I sat on the closed toilet lid. I could not help but overhear what she said about you possibly being her mate and that you two wanted to keep it secret. I planned to keep your secret for you as well. Then, at lunch, Stella exchanged numbers with Layla claiming she wanted to invite all of us to her birthday party next week. Layla and I got into a little argument after Stella left and I went to sit in the classroom. Layla texted me asking me to come to the old library so we could talk. I went there and called out to Layla but Stella and Ruby were there instead. Ruby smacked my phone out of my hand and its screen smashed on the ground. Ruby kept me restrained and Stella slapped me,” I said softly, scrutinising his expression to gauge whose version he believed, mine or Stella’s.

“Stella said she knew I had overheard her secret and she told me our friendship was over,” I said.

“You and me?”asked Rodney.

“I nodded. She said she was your best friend now,” I said simply.

Rodney sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his index and his thumb. He only did that when he was stressed and felt a migraine coming on.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“I thought you said you didn’t do it!” Said Rodney quickly, his eyes wide.

“I didn’t!” I hissed fiercely. “She attacked me. When she let me go, I ran back to the classroom but then Stella showed up minutes later to class with even worse bruises than me and she told everyone I attacked her and demanded that she stay away from you. I wouldn’t do that, Rodney,” I said in earnest, my eyes pleading with him to believe me.

He was silent.

“Did you mean what you said to Stella about me? Are you gonna help me escape?” I asked.

Sterling

My little sis, Stella, hopped back into the car’s backseat just as I got out of the driver’s seat.

“What are you doing?” She demanded.

“Sterling?” Said my best friend, Raphael, giving me a quizzical look.

Raphael’s younger sister, Ruby, said nothing. She just stared at me from the backseat next to her “bestie”, Stella.

I walked towards the house my sister’s alleged mate lived in. I moved mindlessly up as if entranced.

Something. Smelled. Amazing!

There was this otherworldly beauty and mystique to the aroma that was emanating from somewhere within the property. I was hesitant to ring the doorbell. The delicious scent reminded me of desert flowers and it was concentrated by the shrubbery at the side of the house. There was a flowering plant growing there with blossoms who hung their heads down as if in sorrow. Did these flowers smell so damn good? No way! Impossible!

“Um, Alpha, is everything okay?” Asked a familiar voice.

I looked up to see Frankie. I was familiar with him and his hardware store. My mother used to buy materials to build birdhouses from him. My heart hurt a little just thinking of her

“Do you have a daughter, Frankie?” I said, knowing very well he didn’t but there had to be a she-wolf of some sort in that house.

The smell was very feminine.

“No, Alpha. I’m afraid I only have two boys,” he replied patiently and politely.

“How about a niece? Or a cousin? Are there any she-wolves in your home at all?” I specified.

He shook his head.

“No, Alpha,” he answered respectfully. “May I ask why do you ask?

I sighed, feeling a bit foolish.

“Can’t you smell that?” I said, gesturing towards the shrubs and the flowering vine. “The flowers can’t possibly smell that good,” I muttered more to myself than to him.

Frankie shuffled down the short flight of steps leading from his front door to his front yard. He sniffed the nearby shrubs. I caught a look of recognition in his eyes. He knew this scent. It was familiar to him. He walked around the side of his house and picked up a fallen flower. He sniffed it.

“Ah, yes. Here,” he said, handing me the flower.

I inhaled its scent. I shivered. It smelled heavenly.

“So unusual,” I muttered.

“They’re pretty fragrant, Alpha,” he said.

Why did I get the feeling he was lying to me?

“Lily of the valley. That’s what you got there!” Said Frankie.

I sighed.

“Lovely,” I said softly as I regarded the flower with suspicion.

I walked back go the car.

“Night, Alpha,” called Frankie.

I gave him a half-hearted wave before I got into the driver’s seat. My eyes were still on the bell-shaped white flower.

“Is that for me?” Asked Stella pointedly, her eyes sweeping over the flower.

No.

“I’ll get you flowers for your birthday,” I promised.

I was keeping this flower.