Chapter 7

• Arabella
• The Alpha King? Dammit…of all the Alpha’s I had to piss off and be pissed off at, it had to be the one who all other Alphas bend a knee for. I’m sitting against the tree feeling a laundry list of emotions. When I first turned around and saw him, I had to force my face to stay composed because he’s one, so tall that he makes me feel like a short person when I know I’m not and then I could tell he has a strong jawline even under his facial hair. Then his hair, it’s dark brown and short on the sides and slightly longer on top, I only had a moment to take him all in but when he pushed me up against the tree and came dangerously close to me and his scent was filling my senses made something stir in me that never has before. Even Maya and Aurora were enjoying him being so handsy so it was all on me to maintain the strong front as far as being angry at him.
• “You’re all hot and bothered by him aren’t you?”
• Maya crudely asks me, “I am not going to admit that the one who broke our leg last night turned me on.”
• I hear her and Aurora laugh at me, “You do know that we felt the heat between your legs spike as soon as he put his hand on your stomach?”
• I was about to speak and then Aurora spoke up, “And did you smell him?”
• I was about to roll my eyes at her but then a thought crossed my mind, “I have a question for the two of you, what does Alpha Zeke smell like to you?”
• They feel hesitant to answer but Maya speaks up, “I don’t know he smells kind of earthy to me, like I rubbed my nose in dirt or something.”
• “Aurora?”
• “He doesn’t smell like anything to me.”
• I feel my brows furrow slightly at my next question, “And Alpha Peirce?”
• I feel Aurora searching for an answer, “He smells like pine, mixed with…something else.”
• I sigh and lean my head back on the tree, “Pine after a rainfall?”
• Aurora’s ears perk up, “Yeah? What does that mean Ari!?”
• I know what she’s getting at, “I…I don’t know, I didn’t think that something like this could happen, all three of us smelling the same thing and being drawn to it.”
• I feel Maya push forward slightly, “Do you…do you think it’s possible to have one mate that fits all of us?”
• I sigh again, “There’s nothing that I have found researching our situation, and my dreams don’t seem to have any useable information, so I honestly don’t know.”
• We stayed by the lake for another hour just thinking about what we are going to do when my stomach started screaming at me and I forgot that I only had an apple to eat this morning so that probably didn’t help my mood with how much I snapped at Alpha Pierce. So I start making my way back to my house so I can eat something and there is one thing I am for sure certain of, I will absolutely be testing his patience again.
• I’m almost back home when I feel the mind link open from Alpha Zeke, “Ari, come to the packhouse.”
• I sigh slightly, “Can I go home and get something to eat first?”
• “There’s food at the packhouse.”
• I felt his tone become a little bit more stern so I turn around and start walking to the packhouse, “Okay I’m on my way now.”
• He cuts the link and I try to put all my thoughts together so I can keep an even temper. I’m walking up the steps and I hear someone come up next to me that I don’t recognize.
• “So you’re the one who took a chunk out of Alpha Ryker?”
• I look up at him and he’s tall too, but I just raise an eyebrow at him, “Alpha Ryker?”
• He nods at me, “Right you guys use last names, Alpha Ryker Peirce.”
• I furrow my brows while huffing and look back ahead of me while he just laughs, “Wow he wasn’t kidding when he said you were angry at him.”
• I sigh slightly, “He didn’t have to go to such extreme lengths.”
• He keeps walking with me towards the doors, “Yeah his wolf can get a bit sensitive sometimes.”
• I reach for the door, but he grabs it first but just holds it, “I’m Damon by the way, Alpha Ryker’s Beta and I’m glad he got an ass whooping last night.”
• He winks at me then opens the door for me but doesn’t follow me in, as soon as I walk in, the packhouse is well…packed with new and familiar faces. I walk up the stairs to head towards Alpha Zeke’s office and the closer I get the more I can smell Alpha Ryker, so I take a few more calming breaths and when I reach his door I knock on it.
• “Come in Ari.”
• I heard Alpha Zeke speak in a mostly calm voice so I open the door and my nose leads me to Alpha Ryker leaning against the wall directly to my left so I can’t stop my eyes slightly glaring at him. I hear my dad clear his throat indicating that I need to stop and sit down, so I close the door and sit down in front of Alpha Zeke feeling the eyes of so much testosterone on me.
• “Calm down Arabella, we’re just going over performance evaluations from last night.”
• I bring my eyes to my dad who seems to be upset with me but is mostly masking it, “Performance evaluations?”
• I hear Alpha Zeke clear his throat, “Yes Ari, everyone got one and you’re the last one since you didn’t come to the packhouse this morning.”
• I don’t know why being disrespectful is at the forefront of my mind, but it just is, so I take a small breath and ask as politely as I can, “Then can this be done in private?”
• Alpha Zeke raises his eyebrow at me, and it was a warning, I felt it then I heard Alpha Ryker speak, “Evaluation and criticism from who you faced last night is the best way to get the most honest opinion.”
• I snapped my eyes to him and felt the anger boiling back up, “Ari, this isn’t the place to do this.”
• Aurora’s voice calms me down only slightly, so I look away from him and back at Alpha Zeke and try to soften my face, I feel like I’m back in school being graded on an assignment I didn’t know I had. Alpha Zeke went through the reason for the training exercise which made sense to me, all of it made sense. Alpha Zeke looks at Alpha Ryker, so he clears his throat and looks at me and I have to use every muscle in my body to not stare him down in this room of all places.
• “I was fairly impressed with your ability to go head-to-head with me for so long and the fact that you showed no fear against someone who was clearly bigger than you.”
• I’m waiting for a but, because I have a feeling that he is going to find something stupid to criticize so I brace myself for it as he continues, “However, even though you and I went toe to toe and you didn’t let me get too big of an advantage on you, at what point did you mind link for help?”
• “Is he going to make us say it aloud?”
• Maya’s fur is ruffled as she asked and I was thinking it too and I feel my face scowl just slightly, “When you broke our leg.”
• I said it flatly and I can feel the sour taste in my mouth, and I see his jaw clench at my tone, “You should have mind linked for help earlier, arrogance and ego have no place when fighting someone who is clearly stronger than you.”
• Maya is growing more angry along with me, “Is it arrogant and egotistical, if I am willing to die for the safety of my pack?”
• I see his lip curl up slightly but then comes back down, “That’s it Ari, keep ruffling his sexy fur.”
• “Shut up Maya.”
• I don’t need her distracting me, “Dying for your pack, as honorable as it can be, should never be something given up so easily, you are a good fighter and to lose someone like you would be highly detrimental to the overall health and wellbeing of the pack.”
• I’m biting my tongue so hard I taste blood then I see him take a small breath, “Like I said you are a good fighter, probably one of the best female fighters I have come across because you took a pretty good bite out of my face.”
• “Ari don’t say it…”
• Aurora tried to warn me, but I can’t stop the words, “Apparently not good enough because your face looks just fine to me.”
• “Ari!”
• Alpha Zeke snapped at me, not in a loud tone but with just a hint of his aura so I look away from Alpha Ryker who had also slightly shifted and tensed at my comment, I feel my nostril twitch slightly but bring my eyes down and away from him to the floor in front of me.
• “Apologize Arabella”, my dad says flatly.
• I feel an overwhelming amount of anger washing over me faster than I can prepare, and I feel myself grit my teeth, “No.”
• The second the word left my mouth, the word that every Alpha despises, I felt all of their aura’s trying to crush me, I feel my skin shudder and through gritted teeth while still looking at the floor I snarl out my reply, “I am not…apologizing for his face until he apologizes for breaking our leg.”
• I didn’t even realize Maya had come up with me until I heard her voice mixed with mine, “Push her back down Ari.”
• Alpha Zeke’s voice and his aura was pushing harder against me, and I could have sworn I heard her talking to Apollo who did not sound happy, but Maya backs off and I feel the crushing weight lessen.
• “Perimeter laps, go.”
• “Gladly.”
• Alpha Zeke gave the command coldly, so I quickly stand up and leave the office before my stupid mouth says anything else to get me in anymore trouble. I storm out of the packhouse, and I must have been emitting an aura as well because the second that I come down the stairs everyone moves out of my way as I walk towards the doors and open them with such aggression it brings attention to the few people who are outside. Then I just start jogging towards the closest perimeter and I don’t intend on stopping until the adrenaline can work itself completely through my body because I am fuming.
• The perimeter as a whole in a circumference is about twenty miles and I don’t know how long I’ve been running but it’s dark now and my legs are burning. Perimeter laps can only be done in our human form because using our wolfs form defeats the lesson, I know I overstepped my bounds and I’ll apologize for the disrespectful tone but that’s it until I get my apology.
• “I think you should stop; you’ve been running for hours, and you haven’t eaten anything except that apple this morning and it’s dark now.”
• I shake my head at Maya as the sweat rolls down my face, “No, I don’t want to go back yet.”
• I feel Aurora push forward slightly, “If you don’t stop you’re legs aren’t going to be able to carry you back to the house.”
• I ignore her and keep running, which has now mostly turned into a lazy jog and after I don’t know how many more minutes I feel my legs slightly buckle which brings me to my knees, so I crawl to the closest tree and lean up against it.
• “We should mind link someone to come get you.”
• Aurora is trying to be nice, but I shake my head as I slink down the tree to lay down, “No that would just be embarrassing, I’ll just rest for a bit and head back after.”