Ariadne: Almost an Alpha | ✓

Chapter 16 - My Only Job

Chapter 16 - My Only Job

"You fucking asshole!" I yell, pushing Mateus's chest away once we made our way outside the medical cabin.

After delivering the wolf to Maria, I suggested leaving the cabin to give the injured wolf privacy during the change, but I really just wanted to give Mateus a piece of my mind.

When, instead of an apology, I get a blank stare, my anger rises even more. "You had no right!" I shove him again.

I hear the door to the cabin creak open before seeing Dylan stroll out, notice my livid expression, and walk back inside.

"Hey," Mateus suggests, "why don't you calm down a little?" His hands move to my shoulders, and because I'm wearing a tank top, his fingers send sparks through my upper body. Stupid sparks.

I push his hands away from me. "Why don't you stop telling me what to do?"

He catches on. "Look," he begins, his face almost tired, "I didn't want..."

I cut him off. "You didn't want? You don't control me! I do what I want, not what you want or don't want."

"It was safer for you..."

"This is my pack! Yes, I agreed for you and your stupid warriors to stay, but you don't have any say over what goes on here. If I want to go inspect a rogue, then I can, and I will. It is my duty to this pack, and it is my duty to everyone who comes here for safety. You can't dictate what I do, and I will not allow you to keep telling people to stop me. I didn't fight you on having Sterling and Nathan tail me all the time because I didn't feel like arguing, but I don't want them following me around anymore."

"Sterling and Nathan are for your protection," Mateus insists. "I'll never tell them to stop you again."

"Do you give all the alphas in your region bodyguards?" I ask, making my point.

"No," he admits, "but.."

"No 'buts.' The whole point of this is for this pack to be treated like the other packs, Mateus. That means no bodyguards and no mass amounts of warriors."

"What about the attacks?" he asks, trying to make me change my mind.

"Other packs have rogue issues too. Do your men a favor and send them home."

I look into his blue eyes, refusing to break eye contact to show I mean business. They flicker with different emotions, and he looks torn.

"Ok," he acquiesces.

"Thank you." I do my best to sound appreciative and then go back into the cabin to check up on the girl.

I make my way into the new arrival's room, and find a willowy young girl lying in the bed. While Maria is fussing over her thigh, I smile and introduce myself again, "I'm Ariadne, the leader here." "What's your name?"

Less afraid now that we haven't tried to kill her, she speaks softly, looking down at the bed,"Nora."

"How's Nora doing, Maria?" I ask the women.

"I'm draining the wound right now," Maria replies. "It's going to be sore for a while, but after we get her patched up properly and on some antibiotics, she'll be good to go. We'll need to change the dressing and check for infection every day, but that's routine stuff."

"Heard that, Nora?" I ask the girl, reassuring her again that she'll be okay. "You're safe here."

Maria looks up, smiling, and Dylan walks in, carrying an array of bandages and gauze.

"I didn't know which ones you wanted, so I brought all of them," he explains. He drops them on the table near the bed and turns to Nora.

"Nora, this is Dylan," I tell her, not sure if he's introduced himself yet.

Dylan gives Nora his largest happy-go-lucky smile, and her lips twitch upward in a small smile back.

"We're glad you came," I assert. I tell all our new arrivals this, but it's true. Everyone who has found his/her way here has done so for a reason.

After a while of staring at Maria's work on her thigh, Nora looks up at me. "Are you going to make me leave?"

"Oh no, honey, you can stay here as long as you like," I respond.

"Permanently?" she asks, looking down at the bed again.

"Of course," I declare.

"Thank you," she says, momentarily glancing upwards.

"Welcome to your new home, Nora."

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That night during the pack dinner, Dylan and I sit alone. We discuss Nora, and I brief him on my agreement with Mateus.

"Ari," he interrupts my rant about the Warriors, "I think they make everyone here feel safer."

I look around at the pavilion. The Warriors had stopped sitting at their own table a long time ago. Instead, they now mingled with my pack. I smile when I notice two at Clip's table, laughing with him about their battle stories. One has even joined Old Mac, and he's showing the kids a jagged scar along his calf. Both Old Mac and the Warrior have their feet proudly propped up on the table.

"Do you think Old Mac's only foot problem is her ingrown toe? She swam out here once, and her feet have never been the same."

I remember the dimpled smile and laugh he gave me in response, and my eyes catch his from across the pavilion. Now, he's not smiling. The dimple is gone, hidden in some deep abyss.

"Ari." A hand comes into my field of vision, snapping.

I look to my side. "What?" I ask Dylan.

He looks to the area I was so focused on before turning back to me. "Nothing," he says. "You didn't respond. You were off in your own little world."

"Sorry," I apologize. "What were you saying?"

"I think the people feel safer with the Warriors here."

This time, the words hurt me like they should've when he first said them.

"They didn't feel safe before?"

"Ari," Dylan sighs. "Ok, maybe I should've used a better word. Everyone was kind of on edge after Sam's random attack. Then, you were attacked so close to the main house, and it made it worse."

"I didn't know they didn't feel safe." I failed. My only job is to take care of my pack, and I haven't. They didn't feel protected.

Dylan, always catching onto my mood, reassures me. "Hey Ari, it's not your fault."

"But it is, Dylan."

"No it isn't. We don't have very many middle-aged people that can patrol. The three daily patrols weren't enough to catch those rogues. You have no control over the number of people in this pack."

"But I could've rescheduled the patrols times or made several small ones instead of the main big ones or..."

"Ari, stop." He covers my hand with his. "I know you're not going to stop worrying about this, but for now, I think you should tell Alpha Mateus you changed your mind."

"But we'd become dependent on them."

"No, we wouldn't. You're still in charge. You can send them home anytime.

I sigh, ready to do anything that is the best for my pack. "Ok," I agree.   

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