The Hidden Luna

Chapter Twenty-One

Scarlett lunged, the chair the man was tied to flung backwards and her knees slammed onto the concrete as she straddled him. Her hands snaked around the man's neck and his eyes bulged. From behind her, she could hear something thumping down the basement stairs and she thought they were going to stop her much like Asher was as he kept pulling on her shoulder. But with each pull, she simply squeezed the man's throat. When the man realized she wasn't going to ease her grip, he uttered his final confession as best he could. "Delilah..." his face turned a deep shade of red, fading into purple. "...was your mother."

Scarlett let go, her hands falling lamely at her sides. The man wheezed and coughed, trying to regain proper air flow.

Asher pulled her up by her elbows and held her close. Meanwhile, it seemed Mr. Argent was the one who stomped down the stairs as he proped the man back upright. The man looked up at the alpha, his eyes wide when he took in the person before him. Before he could utter a word, Mr. Argent took the man's face in his large hands and twisted, his neck releasing a sickening snap. The man fell limp and Mr. Argent turned to Asher and Scarlett, seemingly unbothered he just killed a man. He rolled up his sleeves of his dress shirt as he maintained eye contact with them. "I have to dispose of the body, meet me in my office in an hour."

He untied the body and hefted it on his shoulder, barely breaking a sweat or show any signs of difficulty as he climbed the stairs, leaving Scarlett with Asher.

He tried to bring her close, but she shook her head, pushing him away. "Ash, don't."

Asher dropped his hands. "At least we got something from him."

Scarlett tore her gaze from where the man once was tied to the chair, her jaw dropped open. "I almost killed him, Asher. And when I didn't, your dad did. I'm turning into a monster. I'm angry all the time. I wanted to be a nurse before all of this, to save lives, not try and end them."

Asher's shoulders slumped, he looked just as tired, just as defeated as Scarlett felt. "You're not always going to feel this way. The transition is hard. You don't just change physically, but mentally too. It takes a while to get used to, but eventually this won't be as hard as it is. You won't feel this way forever."

"I'm tired, Ash," she said. "I don't understand why this is happening but I wish whoever is doing this would come for me and not the people I care about. It would be so much easier."

Anger took over Asher's features. "You don't mean that."

Scarlett stared at him hard, her eye contact never faltering. "I do mean it. If this person would have gotten to me first than Zoey, Leon, and Zion would still be here. My house wouldn't have been burned to the ground and I wouldn't be spending every fucking day petrified that I'm going to lose you or Carter or Hunter."

Asher took a step toward her, his hazel eyes met her intense stare. "You aren't going to lose me or anyone else. That is a promise I have every intention on keeping."

She was too tired to argue. Too tired to point out that Zion, despite being within the pack house perimeter was attacked and killed. Too tired to also point out that Hunter, Asher's omega, had also been attacked within the pack house perimeter. Although his intentions were true, she knew no matter how hard he tried, his promise may not be kept.

###

An hour later, Asher and Scarlett sat across from Mr. Argent. He was no longer wearing his dress shirt he wore while disposed the man's body, instead opting for a basic v-neck. Scarlett held the photo of her and her mother in her hands.

Mr. Argent eyed the photo and held out his hand. "May I see that?"

Wordlessly, Scarlett handed him the photo. She watched him inspect it, front and back. "I accidentally broke the frame and I noticed the names on the back weren't right. I thought maybe the man in the basement may know something about it since he made comments about my parents." Mr. Argent didn't say anything and Scarlett panicked, quickly adding, "Sir."

Mr. Argent looked up, his expression troubled. "And he said your mother's name was Delilah?"

Scarlett nodded her head. "But it wasn't, her name was Heather."

Mr. Argent looked even more troubled at Scarlett's response. He set the photo down gently on his desk. He wouldn't meet Scarlett's gaze. "I'm afraid the rogue was correct."

Before Scarlett could reply, Asher leaned forward in his seat. "Bullshit."

Mr. Argent shot his son a look of warning but Asher didn't back down. Instead of fighting his son, Mr. Argent focused back onto Scarlett. "I know this is true because I knew your mother when she went by her true name."

Scarlett scoffed, wracking her brain to any incident where Mr. Argent and her mother would have met, would have recognized one another. But quickly, she realized there was never such occasion. Her mother was always working at the hospital and Mr. Argent hardly made himself known in town. Even when Scarlett first met him nearly two months ago, she had no idea who he was until he basically spelled it out for her.

"I only met her once," he began. "She came to me, baby on her hip begging for me to help her. She said her husband was in another pack and that he was dangerous and needed protection. I agreed and then handed her off to one of our members. He created some fake IDs and helped her find a job. I never knew what came of her, I just knew she was safe. Had I known she stayed--" he stopped and shook his head. "--had I know you were her daughter, I would have handled everything much differently."

Asher glared at his father. "So you handed her off to be someone else's problem and didn't give a shit what happened after that?"

Mr. Argent clenched his jaw. "Back then, I had both you and your mother to take care of, the pack to take care of. I didn't think to check up on her because quite frankly, I didn't remember her until now. Until I heard the name and saw the photo."

Scarlett swallowed the anger that threatened to escape her once again. She couldn't believe after all this time, Mr. Argent knew her mother, had handed her off to someone else and forgot about her completely, not caring if she had gotten the protection she had begged him for. She took a few deep breaths before she spoke, keeping her voice as level as possible. "If this is true and my father is from another pack my mother needed protection from, why did I not shift until I was bit?"

Mr. Argent let out a sigh. "Half-breeds are unpredictable. They either shift before puberty or they don't. I suppose, you were the latter."

Scarlett gripped the arms of her chair, feeling the wood scrape under her fingernails. "Do you at least remember what pack my father is allegedly from?"

"All I remember is that she was desperate to get away from him, he was abusive, bruises littered her skin," Mr. Argent shook his head. "She knew he would find her if she didn't get the help of werewolves. She was human, she knew he would track her in ways that weren't human."

Scarlett let out a frustrated sigh. It seemed no matter how much information she got, she had at least ten more questions in place. All she knew was that she didn't know anything at all.