Ayla: Always an Alpha

Chapter 38 - Something Cool

~Ayla~

3 Days Later

"I don't get why you're so nonchalant about it," Nikolay said after some deliberation.

The warrior had taken to joining me through my daily surveys of the territory. It had been nice to have company, and since he wasn't with me the whole time, I still had time to reflect alone on the day prior.

"Other packs can go on believing whatever they want to believe. Noah and I are never going to get married. Eventually people will realize it's not going to happen."

Nikolay couldn't comprehend why I hadn't done everything I possibly could to dispel the marriage rumors. As soon as my father and Noah's had put out the press release without our consent, we'd both known that nothing would stop the gossip, and I didn't particularly care what people outside of my pack thought in that regard. It didn't help that Noah and I were such good friends, so a billion images of us together existed as fodder to it all.

What I cared about was that my father had completely undermined me. I'd quickly let my pack know it wasn't true, but everyone had already seen the original article. "Noah Martin Sr. and Thomas Huxley announce the engagement of Ayla Huxley to Noah Martin Jr." Me stating otherwise confirmed my father had gone behind my back, and when I confronted him, he hadn't even been apologetic about it.

During our fight, my father's lack of faith in me as a leader had been clearly evident. He had kept saying that Noah would be able to take good care of the pack and provide for me as if I was some toddler that needed looking after. According to him, I wouldn't be able to dedicate as much time to the pack when I became a mother. When I had pointed out to my father that I did not want children, his face had went red.

As he'd ceaselessly yelled that it was my duty to the pack to have children, I'd felt like I was 13 again. It was if I'd been caught hanging around the practice grounds instead of in whatever class he'd signed me up for that week. I'd walked out and had ignored my father since.

Construing the angry look on my face as one directed to him, Nikolay began apologizing.

"That question was not me judging you in any way." He clarified. "I admire your attitude towards it. I wish I cared less about what people think of me."

"I wasn't mad at you," I assured him. "There's just a lot on my mind."

A small frown formed from Nikolay's lips. It quickly dissipated as his next thought took hold. "I know what'll help. Want to see something cool?"

There was a mischievous little spark in Nikolay's eyes, so of course, I agreed. Anything that could take my mind off my father was a welcome distraction. "Oh, you're not going to catch me missing out on 'something cool.' Lead the way."

Thought you'd say something like that." He'd already started walking in the direction we'd just come from, but he paused to smile at me over his shoulder.

I followed him for a few minutes until we stopped at a large tree. Without a word, Nikolay began to climb. For someone so large, he was unexpectedly nimble.

"Hey, tree hugger," I joked. "What are you doing?"

"Just come up." His wide smile turned to a teasing grin. "Unless you're scared."

I grabbed onto the nearest limb and began pulling myself up

"Boy, I'll have you know, I've been climbing these trees since I was old enough to walk."

"Good." Already far above me, he stopped climbing to wink down at me. "We're about to go to the top."

"You're lucky I wear sneakers on these walks."