I Refuse to Be Your Luna

Ch. I Refuse to Be Your Luna 337 I Refuse to Be Your Luna 337

Chapter 337 A Familiar Scent

Alpha Damian’s POV

The scent team brought the samples inside while the patrols remained at the perimeter.

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I had ordered them not to discuss their findings over the mind link, so the warriors gathered in the estate’s side room, where the doors could be closed and the samples examined without drawing Amara into another round of speculation.

Flourish stood beside the table with her arms folded. Amara had gone upstairs with Mira, though she had insisted she was not afraid.

I had not argued with her. We needed her safe, and we needed clear answers before anyone made a move.

The scent specialist placed two sealed containers on the table. “Both traces were left on surfaces where they would be easy to detect.

The one by the fence is older than the one near the service road, but neither is fresh enough to tell us when the person was there.”

“Can you identify the wolf?” I asked.

“Not from these alone. There are overlapping scents, and something has been used to distort the trail. We can compare the samples against our records, but I can’t promise a match.”

I nodded for him to begin. While he worked, I leaned over the first container and took a breath through my nose.

The scent was faint, mixed with damp soil and the sharp smell of the stone where it had been left. The second sample carried the same masking agent, but beneath it was a trace I knew.

My wolf lifted its head.

“Wait,” it warned.

I drew back and looked at the specialist. “Run that one again.”

He glanced at me but followed the instruction, separating the sample and testing it against the archive list.

I stayed quiet as the equipment processed the comparison. The result was not a full match.

It showed a partial similarity to an old entry in the Stonehedge records.

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Chapter 337 A Familiar Scent

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I knew the scent before I saw the name attached to the file. It belonged to a former Stonehedge operative who had worked on field assignments before the Eastern Army confrontation.

The operative had been reported killed during that clash, and the report had been accepted by both packs.

For a moment, the room seemed to narrow around that single detail. I kept my face still, but my wolf paced hard beneath my skin.

“That can’t be right,” one of the warriors said, reading the result over the specialist’s shoulder.

“Then we verify it,” I replied. “We don’t declare a dead wolf alive because a machine found a similarity.”

The specialist turned the screen toward me. “The match is partial, Alpha. The sample shares several markers with the archived record, but it is not conclusive. The masking agent could have affected the reading, or someone could have used a preserved sample.”

“Could it be a different wolf with a similar scent?”

“It could. We need a second comparison and a better sample before we can say more.”

I looked at the two containers. Whoever had planted them had made sure they would be found, but the traces had not been left carelessly.

The scent had been mixed with something intended to interfere with identification, and now we had a result that could send us chasing a dead operative.

Flourish moved closer to the table. “Do you recognize the name?”

“I recognize the file. The operative served Stonehedge before the confrontation with the Eastern Army. The death report was filed after the engagement.”

“Did you see the body?”

“No.” I hated that answer as soon as I gave it. “I was not in charge of that recovery. The said the remains were identified, but I haven’t seen the original evidence.”

report

“Who signed it?”

“Stonehedge’s field command submitted it. We’ll need the full record before we draw a conclusion.”

Flourish studied the result. “If someone is copying the scent, they may want us to believe this person survived. If it’s genuine, they may want us to know the death was staged.”

“Both are possible,” I said, “Neither is proven.”

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Chapter 337 A Familiar Scent

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I sent a mind-link message to the perimeter commander, telling him to preserve the locations and keep the warriors away from the traces.

Then I contacted Stonehedge’s records office and requested the original report, the identification notes, and any stored medical or scent records from the operative.

I asked them to send copies through a secure channel and not to alert anyone who had been involved in the old operation until we had reviewed the file.

The reply came back that the records were archived but would take time to retrieve. That was better than having someone rush the search and overlook a detail that mattered.

“Should we tell Harold?” Flourish asked.

“Not until we have more than a partial scent match. He should hear about it, but I won’t send him an accusation disguised as a report.”

She accepted that, though her gaze stayed on the screen. “What if the watcher knows we’ll find this?”

“Then the person wanted this exact reaction.” I closed the file. “They may be testing what we remember, or trying to make us distrust our own records.”

The specialist also checked the sample against the current Dartwood roster, then the records of known visitors who had passed through the estate during the previous week.

Neither comparison produced a stronger result. That ruled out an easy explanation, but it did not establish whose scent we had found.

The specialist sealed the samples again. I ordered him to preserve the remaining material and run the second comparison with a different method.

If the scent had been copied from an old sample, we needed to know. If it belonged to the operative, we needed evidence that could stand up to more than instinct.

A low growl rose in my throat before I could stop it. I forced it down and looked at the warriors waiting for orders.

“Keep the estate guarded, but don’t increase patrols in a way that tells the watcher we’ve found something,” I said. “No one follows a scent trail alone. If another trace appears, mark the Location and call it in.”

They answered together and left to carry out the orders. Flourish remained beside me after the door shut.

“You think the operative could still be alive,” she said.

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Chapter 337 A Familiar Scent

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“I think someone wants me to think about that possibility.” I took one last look at the partial match. “Until we have proof, the death report stands.”

My wolf did not agree. It remembered the scent, and it was not willing to dismiss it.

The reply came back.

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I Refuse To Be Your Luna