The Alpha's Daydream ✔️

Chapter 2

1504 words

"Do you want to tell me about last night?"

Ariella shook her head, then winced from the pain that still wrapped around her body. She'd taken a pretty nasty fall into the river, and if her dad hadn't been there to rescue her, she'd surely be dead.

The vestiges of the cold memory still wrapped around her in icy fingers, clutching and dragging her down to their dark depths, but if she stared out the window at the golden sunlight and vivid green tree, she could keep the fear at bay.

"I know your father was angry with you earlier, Ari, but he has good reason to be. You can't keep sneaking out like that."

Having expected this lecture, Ariella sighed and squeezed her eyes shut. They would never understand why she'd been so foolish. But then, did she really? With her face buried in her pillow, Ariella still heard every word her mom was saying from where she sat on the edge of her bed. She felt her hands gently stroking her hair, and it calmed her.

"If Charles hadn't heard the back door open quietly and followed you out into the woods, you might have almost certainly drowned. Don't you realise your fanciful notions could one day end in disaster?"

She nodded her head, all the while feeling a hot tear slip out of her eye and soak into her pillow. Many times, she had tried explaining the things she's seen and heard, but they would never believe her. So she'd stopped trying.

Her mom sighed, knowing it was useless to push her, then began unwrapping the bandage on her arm. It still ached a bit, but the deep scratch had stopped bleeding. Sitting up so her mom could wipe it clean and apply a fresh bandage, Ariella avoided her watchful eyes and instead looked at her hands, at the scratches that were nearly faded. The memory of escaping that wolf, of running through the trees for her very life, would hurt for much longer. They were certain to remind her never to accidentally cross the border. She'd had a far closer brush with danger than either of her parents had realised, but it would only worry them to explain that it felt predestined. As if she was meant to run from that wolf and fall from the cliff.

As if, even after breaking the universal pack rules by trespassing, she had done nothing wrong, instead being led each step of the way. By whom, she wasn't sure. What for, was even more hazy in her mind. But Ariella was certain it would all become clear. A peace settled around her, even as the frown deepened on her mom's face.

"And what about your neck. Let me check the bruises," Lexi gently turned her head to examine her, then felt along her back where more bruises lined her ribs. Her mother had carefully patched her up when Charles had carried her home in the early hours of the morning, and though Ariella was grateful, she could feel herself healing and didn't know what all the bother was about. Wolves were tough, weren't they? Just because she'd broken her arm falling from a tree at eight years old didn't mean she was forever made of porcelain. She loved her parents, but their protective tendencies were frustrating at times. Like now. With each touch of her mom's fingers, each frown and clucking of the tongue, all she wanted was to escape. To feel the sunshine on her skin and fresh breeze in her hair, and write down her midnight adventure in her picture journal before she forgot any details.

"Your ribs still feel broken. I think you should stay in bed—"

"Mom, I'm fine!" Ariella snapped, her words tumbling forth like a match that finally bursts to flame. Then like watching a house catch alight, she regretted the tiny action that could cause so much damage. She regretted the harsh words that suddenly cast a shadow over her mother's kind face.

Lexi pursed her lips watching Ariella with a careful expression. "I know you are darling. I'm just...it's hard for me sometimes....." her mouth twisted as if she was fighting something, then started again. "I don't want to lose you too. I don't know what I would I do.."