Spots

Chapter 5

Aria didn't walk with the convoy leading her mate- no, not her mate. He was only a rogue. The leader of the rogues. Smelly, ugly, scary, ruthless, sexy, smart, smexy-wait, what? Regardless, as soon as she invisibly escorted the rogues off of her land, she changed into a leopard and raced back to camp... from the trees. She took out her energy and frustrations by jumping from limb to limb, ensuring that the slightest distraction or deep thought could send her hurtling towards the forest floor. It left no room for thoughts of mate- dammit, rogues!

After she arrived in town, she went straight to the Sisters to check on the cubs. She bumped into Nedra the second she opened the door.

"Momma? I thought you'd be with the elders discussing Maso- ...the rogue. Is everything okay here?" Aria's eyes shifted in worry, searching for the four cubs. 

"Oh, sweetie, everything's fine here. Jacob, the tiniest cub, just had a little bleed from his scruff." Nedra seemed reluctant to tell Aria that her toss to save the cub had hurt him. She knew her daughter well, and she knew that Aria would never intentionally hurt anybody unless she was defending her clan, but she also knew that Aria would beat herself up over any mistakes she made. Her daughter wasn't perfect, but she sure tried to be. "He's fine now; he's running around with the other cubs somewhere near the park."

"Thanks, Mom. I was just in such a panic, I honestly didn't mean to hurt him. I'll go find him, check on him, make sure-"

"Aria. Go home. You're tired, and you need to rest. You've shifted a lot today, and you've worn yourself out." Nedra shooed her daughter out of the Sisters' clinic/nursery/daycare and closed the door.

"Yeah, sure. Go home. Where he's downstairs, in my prison. Locked away. Alone. Hungry." Aria mumbled to herself before remembering her duties. 'Silver sentinels, take guard duty tonight. Take shifts of 5 people trading every 4 hours. Gold and Silver scouts, take turns running perimeter, double-run the east side. That's the direction they left in. I want those patrols out once every 3 hours. Jake, Tom, my house please.' She sent the orders only to the people involved, careful not to wake any more pack members now that it was nearing bedtime. Aria strolled back to her house, bare feet thudding softly on the sidewalk. Her clan's town was a time-line of their progression. One side was mostly the cabins and dirt roads that they began with, and it slowly progressed to more modern roads and buildings. The history of those cabins and the fact that some original owners still lived in them kept anybody from wanting to knock them down. Everybody had their own comfortable place in the small town. Maybe there wasn't a Wal-mart, but the Jeffersons' grocery mart and general stores kept in a steady supply of everything they needed. Auntie Mae's diner was only one of ten local places to eat. Of course, all 150 clan members were allowed to travel to other towns and areas, so long as they let Aria, Jake, or Tom knew where they were going and whom they were going with, just in case they ran in to trouble. It was a system built on trust, tradition, and honor. Everybody understood that the rules were only in place to keep them safe and happy.

Aria's reverie broke when she arrived at her house, and it suddenly didn't look as welcoming as a home should...  Here goes nothing.

With a deep breath and a soft chant of reassurance in her head, Aria strolled into the house. The warm scent of cookies and pie enveloped her, probably from her late night baking session yesterday. She baked when she couldn't sleep. Just as she was setting out cookies and milk, Jake and Tom barged through the door already raising their voices and arguing.

"He needs to be questioned!"

"He needs to be kept somewhere that isn't my sister's home!"

"Fine! Let me take him for a nice little walk-"

"Stop!" Both men turned to Aria with a slight shock, almost as if they had forgotten they were now in her presence. "He's here because I had him brought here, and I am responsible for choosing what to do with him." Aria's eyes blazed. Just because the rogue happened to be her mate didn't mean that she wasn't able to fulfill her duties as alpha. Tom and Jake immediately lowered their eyes after seeing her unspoken challenge.

"I just worry for you, Ari." Jake looked at her with those puppy-dog eyes, and all of her frustration faded away.

"I know," she said as she pushed the cookies towards them, "it's just been a long day. I just wanted to ask you guys to keep an ear out and check in on the patrols. Tom, you're in charge of the scouts, so have them report to you after every patrol. Jake, you check in with the sentinels after shifts. And don't you dare post any guards around my house, or I'll take them down before Mason even has a chance to."

Jake looked slightly disappointed that she had guessed his plans, but he and Tom nodded, finished off their cookies, and went their separate ways.

Now it was time for Aria to do the one thing she'd been dreading since seeing the rogues off her land. Her heart hammered in her chest as she unlocked the door to the basement. 

*~~* 

Hey everybody! Sorry for not updating for so long. This story was just supposed to be a way for me to get a dream I had on paper, I didn't expect people to actually like it *(^o^)* and I'm so glad you do. I'll work harder to update and keep it flowing. Just curious, how to you guys pronounce Aria's name? Like and comment and vote!!