Chapter 19

Aria's POV

Atlas came storming over to the cage I was trapped in, closely followed by Isla. He would help me. He would let me out and take me home. It would all be ok. Or so I thought.

"So, this is the rogue you were telling me about." He looked me over and took a deep breath in, "You're right it does smell weird, it's not part of a pack but she doesn't smell like a rogue, where did you find it?"

One of the guards who had surrounded my cell since I was thrown in answered, "On the east side of the territory, it ran from the woods, about 4 o'clock this evening."

He looked over at me and the rage I saw burning in his eyes shattered all dreams of him saving me. "That's when and where Aria was last spotted, what have you done to her?"

I curled up in a tight ball, my head on my paws, hoping Forest would forgive me for leaving him, not being able to tell Atlas that I didn't do anything to Aria, I was Aria.

The men surrounding me looked confused, not many knew who Aria was, who I was, but it was someone the alpha clearly cared about so they didn't question it.

One of the men from the woods came over and glanced at me in disgust, "We told it to shift, to ask it some questions, but it refused," I growled at him, I didn't refuse, I didn't know how to shift, I still don't know how to shift.

Atlas looked me over one more before he said the words that would seal my fate. "Well if it won't cooperate we have no further use of it, you can dispose of it." I wanted to scream, I wanted to jump up and yell it's me, Aria, I'm not a rogue, but all that came out were yips and barks.

"Wait," Isla's voice from the corner of the room, startled me, I had forgotten she was here, "Something about it, well I think I recognise it, something about it's scent." Maybe I still had a chance.

"Keep it locked in this cell until we figure out who it is." Atlas ordered, before walking out the room with Isla.

The guards all glared at me, their eyes full of disgust and hate. I hope I get out of here soon.

I lay my head on my paws, why didn't Isla and Atlas recognise me, they said my scent was familiar but according to Forest they should know it's me by my scent.

Something that Isla came back to me, 'When werewolves shift, their scent changes, it still has some of their original scent but it is mixed with the scent of their wolf,' That's why they don't recognise me. I have to shift back for them to recognise me, that can't be too hard, can it?

I'm sorry. I'm your wolf and I got us captured. I just wanted to go home, to be with our family. But now we're stuck in this cage and no one knows where we are.

It's ok, do you know how to shift back, then we will easily get out of here.

No, I only know how to shift, not how to shift back, your parents are supposed to teach you that, I don't know how.

Oh no. We're never getting out, I'm going to be stuck here forever. What if we never see Forest again.

No, I've got to stay positive. I will work on shifting back and getting Atlas and Isla to recognise me. I can't give up.

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Every day was the same in the cells. I hadn't seen Isla since the day I got caught and I only ever got a glimpse of Atlas as he passed by my cell, always in a hurry.

The guard rotated every three hours, eight rotations a day. I got to know the eight guards quite well. Most of them seemed half decent, but still wouldn't let me out. I guess they're just doing their jobs.

But one guard, the one I had from midnight to 3 Am, was horrible. Horrible doesn't quite fit him, he was horrendous, heinous, disgustingly cruel, and he hated me.

Every day, as he got on his shift, he made sure to drop my food all over the floor. "oops," He'd say, "Clumsy me."

I only got one meal a day, at midnight, and it was off the floor. I had to lick up the water from the dusty floor, cutting my tongue and drinking more dirt then water. Sometimes he would eat my food in front of me, just to show me he could.

Then, when the clock struck 1 Am, and the other guard's shift was finished, the torture started. Mostly it would be whipping, or cutting my pelt with his pen knife, or throwing glass at me. It all reminded me of being at my dad's, bring forth memories I wished I could forget. Once a day, for two hours straight, he would torture me.

Atlas was a good alpha, he didn't know what the guard did, he hid it well, only doing it at night and only doing it is places that you would have to look closely to see.

Every day, as the clock struck 3, he would turn to me grinning wickedly and say, "You can't tell anyone about this, even if you did shift, no one would believe a lousy rogue over me, I am the top guard after all." Every day he said that, and every day my determination grew to learn how to shift back. No one would believe a lousy rouge, but they might believe Forest's mate.

I wish Forest could be here, to save us again. My wolf whimpered. I wished I could see Forest again, I just want to go home. Forest, Isla and Atlas gave me the home I've never had. Even when my mum was still with us, it was still only a house, but now, with Forest, I've been given a home. That day when Atlas and Isla let me stay was the day my life changed forever for the better. I finally found the meaning of a family, of a home.

Half way through my torture the guard's phone rang, I heard over the line asking from his help with a rouge problem. "This isn't over," He said before he ran off and I was alone again.

My wolf disappeared from my mind to try to heal us and I drifted off to sleep.

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I woke up when someone came into my cell, it was Isla. "Hello, it's ok, I won't hurt you." She said, looking me up and down. "Now where do I know you from?" She asked, muttering to herself.

It's me, please, I want to go home. Please. But of course, like every time I tried, no one understood me.

"Are you a boy?" I shook my head, "Are you a girl?" I nodded. I hoped I could get my message across but however hard I tried I couldn't think of a way to say I'm your son's mate.

"Do you know how to shift?" She asked, and I quickly shook my head, I needed to know so I could go home.

"Just imagine being in human form, everyone's trigger thought is different, some people think about their toes, or fingers or human skin." I tried everything she told me, but it didn't work, I didn't shift back.

"Keep trying and you'll manage it soon, then come talk to me and we can figure out where you came from. I don't think you are a rogue."

I lay down, my head resting on my paws, wishing I was back with my mate.

Soon I would figure out how to shift, and then I would go home.

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Forest's POV

I still couldn't find her. Every day I went out searching for her scent. I had found it on the edge of our territory but then the patrol had gone over it and it had gone missing. I hadn't found it since then.

I had searched all over the woods and even checked inside the territory, in case she had gone there, but I still couldn't find her.

Once again, I arrived home with Aria still missing and still no hints as to where she could be. My parents were discussing the rogue in the cells, the one they thought might know something about Aria but won't cooperate, and since I couldn't find Aria I decided to see if I could help.

I sat down at the kitchen table with a sigh, the once lively chatter that flew round the table silenced, everyone was worried about Aria, we didn't know what to do.

"Why don't you just kill it?" I asked. They should be helping me find my mate, not try to identify a stupid rogue.

"Because," My dad said, confusion and stress evident on his face, "We know her from somewhere and we don't want to kill her before we know who she is."

My mum looked over at me, her face full of pity, "Why don't you come see her, you might know who she is."

I scoffed, "As if. I don't hang around with rogues." I went upstairs, bored of this conversation, wishing my mate was beside me.

I threw myself down on our bed, breathing in her faint scent left on the pillow. God, I missed her so much. I knew I had been rude to my parents, and I was being unfair to the poor rogue who was in our cells, but I couldn't bring myself to care, not until my mate was safely by my side.