Ariadne: Almost an Alpha | ✓

Chapter 42 - Our Family, Our Home

Chapter 42 - Our Family, Our Home

    We agree to leave the next morning, and Dylan allows me to leave to go say bye to Mateus without another argument.

    I walk to the pack house. There's a bunch of people hanging around. Some of them whisper at the sight of me, but Mateus is nowhere to be found. I start roaming around the halls. Maybe I should have texted him?

    A door I've passed opens, and I turn to see Mateus peeking out.

    "Ariadne? What are you doing?" he asks. There's a phone in his hand, and I can hear people talking on the other line. He notices me looking at the phone and adds, "It's on mute."

    "I was looking for you," I answer, "We're leaving tomorrow, but if you're busy, I can just come back in the morning."

    He shakes his head, "No, come in. I'm on a conference call, but it should be over soon."

    He disappears back into the room, and I follow, closing the door behind me. He sits on the edge of the bed, and I remain standing.

    I hear what's being said on the phone now, and it sounds like they're discussing my pack.

    "It's about you, yes," he answers my question before I even ask it.

    "Should I really be listening to this then?"

    "We're just talking about the addition of your pack into my region right now. We finished all the shit talking already." He winks.

    Did he just make a joke? Voluntarily?

    I'm still shocked as he unmutes the phone to say something into the mic before muting it again.

    "Why do you look so surprised?" he asks. "This comes with being an official pack."

    I can feel my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "That's the first time I've heard you joke around... it was funny."

    "Don't be so shocked. I can be really funny when I want to be," he says, smirking, a playful edge to his voice.

    "How so?" I play along.

    I have to wait for him to elaborate because he unmutes the phone again as they all start wrapping up the conversation. He keeps his gaze on me the whole time.

    The call ends, and he slowly walks towards me.

There's a glimmer in his eye, so I'm confused when not even a foot away, he asks, "How's your side? Is it sore at all?"

    "Not really," I respond, trying to figure out where he's going with this, "gotta love modern medicine, and you know, the werewolf perks."

    "Good," he responds, and suddenly, I'm being picked up, spun around, and dropped on the bed.

    "What...?" I'm cut off by a fit of giggles as he starts to tickle my torso.

I curl up, trying to protect my stomach, but his fingers find a way anyway. "Not fair! This doesn't count!"

I can feel my face get hot from all the laughter as the tickle attack persists, even as I squirm around trying to avoid it.

Finally, it stops, leaving me smiling up at him, trying to catch my breath.

He stares at me for a while, my favorite dimple on display, before he shakes his head and backs away to lie down next to me.

I turn on my side to face him.

"I brought your knives with me," he remarks, looking at the ceiling. "You and Dylan are driving back, yeah?"

"Yeah."

    Still staring ahead, he reaches for my hand. "You've been okay?"

    "I have. Dylan's been with me these past few days."

    He bites his lip. "I figured."

    Mateus is silent for a few minutes before he finally turns his head to look at me. His blue eyes look straight into mine. "Will you stay with me tonight instead?"

    I look away, unnerved by the eye contact. I think about my argument with Dylan. The pack comes first, for now.

    "I can't tonight," I respond, and deciding it's best if I don't stay any longer, I add "I'll see you soon."

As the alpha of the region's warriors, he's required to come to the ritual.

I let go of his hand and get up off the bed.

    He sits up. "The knives are by my bag."

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    Dylan and I get back to Washington at dinner time. Everyone is the same as they always have been. Old Mac is barefoot, one foot propped up on the bench as she chews tonight's pack dinner. Clip is telling some kind of story, exaggerating the details with wild gestures.

    But at the same time, everything has changed. Sterling and Joshua sit with Carter, fitting right in with the younger crowd. Nora is at their table as well, but even from a distance, I can see she hasn't completely acclimated yet. Three other warriors were kept here after Mateus left, and they've made themselves at home. One's playing with the kids, picking up and swinging them around in circles as they giggle and beg to go again. Another is helping to clean up, and one is chatting animatedly with Dr. Maria.

    God, I missed them all. I smile as I climb out of Dylan's truck, ready to surprise them. I told Carter not to say anything because I wanted to be here when they found out.

    As we walk closer to the pavillion, people start to take notice.

    "They're back," I hear someone say. "Isn't it soon? I hope it didn't go badly."

    I stand up on the first bench I see and start talking.

    "Four years ago, Dylan and I had been on our own for a while when we ran into Sam in Nevada. Sam had left his pack voluntarily and missed the kinship of werewolf society. We formed a family that day, the beginnings of a bond that grew stronger with each new addition.

"Today, I am thankful for each and every one of you. We all may have lost our families, but we've found another here on this land. So today, I feel very fortunate to be able to tell you that I've completed the tasks assigned to me by the council, and in a week, we'll be able to develop our familial bond further. We'll be tied to one another, we'll be able to communicate, and we'll be more able to protect our family. I'm proud to say that finally, four years after we met Sam and decided to settle here, we'll finally be able to officially call this land our home."

    I finish, and Dylan steps up on the bench beside me, handing me a beer before shouting, "So now it's time to celebrate, y'all!"

He raises a beer to the roof in a very non-traditional toast, one typical for our pack. "To new beginnings!"

"To family!" I add.

Carter stands up on his bench, "To home!"

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Mateus seems to have broken out of his shell. How do you all feel about him?

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