Kalopsia
(n.) The delusion of things being more beautiful than they really are.

I woke up feeling eerily blissful. The dark sheets beneath me were unfamiliar and that intoxicating masculine scent surrounded me.

I sat up quickly, watching the world around me spin for a second before slowly shifting back to focus. My neck felt stiff and I winced when I touched the left side of it.

I gasped, remembering what happened last night. Aurelius bit me. He marked me.

Feeling movement from the corner of the room I turned to see Aurelius sitting in a chair, watching me. His expression as usual was unreadable, but I could see past his indifferent front. Regret and guilt swam in his eyes tinged with slight anger.

"You marked me,"

He remained silent, not responding to my accusation.

"My wolf, I couldn't control him. It was just a matter of time," He finally responded. I seethed at his words. What kind of half assed shitty apology was that?

"You bite me like an animal without my consent and this is how you apologise?" I stood up from the bed, not able to look at my so called mate any longer.

"I'm an alpha. My instincts are stronger than normal werewolves so naturally I would have to mark you. Plus my pack would get suspicious if I didn't," he shrugged and looked away, out of the window.
I wanted to be angry with him, to unleash my beast but the stupid mark was still fresh and feelings of soft pleasure and contentment still coursed through my veins, making my body betray my emotions.

"Why are you like this Aurelius?" I blurted. He frowned, his eyes dark.

"Like what? This is me," he grunted.

"Why are you hurting me like this?" His face fell, a series of emotions flashing over it before his usual mask resettled.

"It's nothing personal. You're a rogue and I despised rogues long before I met you. The moon goddess is clearly making some kind of sick joke pairing you with me," I ignored the harsh jab at my chest that I felt from his words.

"But why do you hate rogues so much?" I asked exasperated.

"Because you're all filthy traitors who don't care about anyone else. You're selfish and unstable and don't belong here," he bellowed. His breathing was shallower and faster and he looked ready to snap.

"That's not true. We're not all criminals. Some of us didn't even choose to be rogues. I didn't ask for my family to be killed or to be left alone in the wild to fend for myself!" I yelled.

The huge mark on my neck was no longer tingling with pleasure but rather pulsing with pain. The stinging helped fuel my anger.

"You think I wanted to have a mate, a cruel alpha no less? You torture people like me, heck you tortured me leaving me to rot in that cell for two weeks. You think I want that? That I want a pathetic mate who hides behind a mask of anger and cruelty?" I snarled. He growled back at me.

"I don't know what exactly your issue is or what demons you're fighting but you can't use your past as an excuse for your shitty behaviour. And until you can man the fuck up and tell me what your real problem is, I'll be out doing my duties," I finished.

I rolled the covers off me, padding out the door and next door to my room. I quickly showered before dressing in some sportswear. I had such pent up anger that I would need to work out of my system. 

As usual, I greeted the cooks and maids in the kitchen, sitting at the island to eat some breakfast. My mind was racing and the ache on my neck was slowly getting worse.

I quickly left the house, heading to the training field where Zayn asked me to meet him. Warriors were training there as usual and I found Vaughn at the weapons table.

Jogging up towards him, I looked at the array of weapons on display.

Much like the dagger I had picked up last time, they were a deep midnight blue, appearing violet sometimes when the light hit them different. They all had that strong earthy scent.

There was a longer dagger, a couple of arrows, some throwing knives, a long sword and an axe.

I picked up the sword first, testing it's weight finding it to be extremely light. I touched the blade and frowned.

"That looks painful," Vaughn spoke up. I glanced at him sideways to see his eyes trained on my exposed neck. My hair was in a neat and high ponytail to keep it away from my face.

I touched the side of my neck, wincing at the sharp pain I felt from the still open wound. It still hasn't closed shut and I was beginning to worry.

"It is," I muttered angrily. I headed over to a target, pushing the sword into the abdomen of the dummy. It shattered from the force and I pulled it out, frowning.

The axe was slightly better but it chipped after the second blow to the dummy. The arrows were next but the wolfsbane tip broke off from the rest of the arrow and remained lodged in the dummy.
The daggers and throwing stars however remained intact even when I threw them with all my strength into the bark of a nearby tree.

"I suggest we stick to the smaller weapons," I spoke, turning back to Vaughn who was now joined by Zayn.

"Maybe keep the arrows as a one time use to weaken a werewolf," I suggested.

"I'll keep that in mind," Zayn mused, smirking at me. "Wanna duel now?" I smirked back at him, nodding.

My sparring session with Zayn went well since I had learnt most of his tricks already. He taught me some of his moves while I showed him some of mine, to make him less predictable.

It was a good sweat session to distract me from the pain in my neck and the ache in my chest.

"Hey quick question, why aren't there any female warriors?" I asked after we both sat on the grass, sipping some water. I figured I could get Zayn's opinion on the whole matter.

"I'm not sure exactly why but the she wolves are encouraged to have more domestic lives, to stay safe and look after the pups," he shrugged. I hummed.

"I don't see how that would make them more safe. All werewolves regardless of age and gender should have some basic survival and defence skills," I answered. He snorted in agreement and I was glad that he was on the same page as me.

I had a feeling Aurelius would be the hardest to convince on the matter and thus, I needed as many people on my side as possible.

Suddenly there was shouting and yelling from the distance. The warriors all froze and Zayn stood up, tense and eyes distant. He growled loudly, barking orders for the wolves to split up in their groups.

"Luna, I need you to head back to the pack house. We're being attacked," I was pulled up by an unfamiliar man and escorted back to the pack house, my protests falling on deaf ears.

Just as I entered the house, I caught Aurelius leaving, running past me and bursting into his pitch black wolf and disappearing into the woods.

The pack house was quickly filling with children and women all being ushered in and for once I wasn't sure what to do. My instincts were telling me to go outside and fight.

"Luna! There you are, we must go to the halls," Gen rushed, quickly grabbing my arm and pulling me along.

I had to push my instincts aside and focus on finally being the Luna everyone wanted me to be.