Ariadne: Almost an Alpha | ✓

Chapter 25 - Feeling Free

Chapter 25 - Feeling Free

By the time we make it to Mateus's territory, he had answered a billion of random inquiries from me without any hesitation. For instance, his favorite color is a dark green (I guessed correctly, may I add), he hates mayonnaise, and he can't stand when his pack members leave the cardboard tubes on the toilet paper holder instead of replacing it with a new roll.

Joshua, Mateus's beta, appears on the packhouse doorstep seconds after Mateus gets out of the car.

I smile at the brunette as Mateus opens the car trunk.

"Good afternoon, Ariadne," he greets me in response. Then, he addresses Mateus. "Alpha, Alpha Thomas just called to inquire about the date of the next board meeting."

"Very well," Mateus states, straightening his spine, "I'll be in my office then."

He enters the packhouse without another word, leaving an awkward silence in his wake.

"So Joshua, how are you doing?" I ask, trying to fill the void in conversation as I dig around in the trunk to grab my luggage.

"Good," he replies, pulling out Mateus's suitcase, "glad to have the Alpha back though."

I give him a sympathetic smile in understanding. "Too much pressure?"

Suitcases in hand, we walk into the house as he responds. "Definitely. I may be beta, but I don't think I could ever handle taking over this pack."

As Joshua leads me upstairs, escorting me to the room I had previously stayed in, a familiar pain makes its way into my head. Although weak and more half hearted than usual, it was still unwelcome.

I slide my shoes off and quickly crawl into the bed in order to focus on forcing it away, on building up an impenetrable wall. After a few minutes, it dissipates, and, wanting to go running before nightfall, I hurriedly put on exercise clothes, slipping outside without seeing anyone.

Picking a small path in the woods, I release all the pent up energy from the car ride, willing my legs to go faster. Soon, I'm flying down the trail with the wind licking at my face and my hair whipping out behind me. Feeling free, I jump up at a hill on the path, flinging my arms out wide and allowing the change to take over my body. Releasing an echoing howl of happiness, I come down on all fours and continue running down the trail at a faster rate.

Minutes later, a shape appears in a blur on my right, and I slow down a bit to focus on it. When the brown head turns towards me, blue eyes shining, I recognize it immediately as Mateus. I bark in greeting and speed up, wanting to play a game of chase. He follows, eyes filled with determination, and when I have to slow down for a turn, I feel a tap on my hip as he passes me.

He looks back and barks, challenging me, and I put all my will into speeding up. Eventually, I catch up to him, poking his side with my nose before overtaking him.

He quickly reaches me but keeps pace until we reach the small, slow-moving river, where we both come to a stop, our energy depleted.

Mateus taps me on the shoulder with his nose, and I turn to give him a halfhearted glare before collapsing on a soft spot of grass to catch my breath. He lies beside me, a hair's width away from touching. I put my head down on my paws, too tired to scoot away, and close my eyes, simply enjoying the sounds and smells of the woods.

Sometime later, I feel him nuzzling my side, and I open my eyes to find his wolf standing above me. He motions up to the sky with his head, and, understanding his message, I get up and head to the direction of the house.

Turning in the other direction, Mateus barks at me, signalling me to follow him, before leading me to a shed in the forest. Still in wolf form, he jumps through a large dog door on the side then comes back out through the normal door wearing pants within seconds. He shrugs on a shirt while holding the door open with his hip, giving me a brief view of his tanned olive chest.

I walk through the open door and make sure Mateus has closed it completely before quickly changing back into human form. To my surprise, the shed has a variety of clothing sizes and undergarments, and I quickly change into a fitted T-shirt and exercise shorts.

"I'm keeping this shirt," I tell Mateus upon exiting. "It's soft and comfy."

He briefly smiles in amusement, bringing his hand up to his hair to smooth out the waves as we start to head in the direction of the house. "Dinner will probably be ready when we get back to the house. Do you want to train after?"

His movement reminds me that my hair likely looks like a frizzy mess, and I run my fingers through a side only to be stopped by a knot within seconds. I grumble about chopping it all off under my breath, and Mateus chuckles before returning to his normal serious mode..

"Ariadne, do you want to train after dinner?" he repeats.

"Oh yeah, sure, sorry," I respond although I'm tired and worn out from putting all my energy into my run.

We walk in silence for a few minutes as I fiddle with the knots in my hair. Eventually, I give up, opting for conversation instead.

"So when's the next board meeting?" I ask.

"Two days," he answers.

"Alright, I'll be sure to stay far far away from the meeting room. I wouldn't want to run into that asshole Alpha Thomas."

"I was actually going to ask you to join us."

I pause. "We're talking about the same meeting, right? You know, the one that only official alphas can attend?"

"Right," he responds seriously without a hint of teasing in his voice, continuing down the path as if he hadn't just said something crazy.

I follow after him. "Well," I begin, trailing off, "you might have let this little bit of information slip your mind or something, but I'm not an official alpha. I can't really attend the official alpha meeting..."

"It's in my meeting room, isn't it?"

"Well yes, but.."

"If I say you can be there, then you can be there."

I stop trying to argue, intending to make him handle the huge fit Alpha Thomas will certainly have upon seeing me in the meeting room. "Thank you, I guess."

"If you're going to be an alpha, you're going to have to attend these anyway. You might as well start learning now."

"This is exciting!" I exclaim, smiling, "I feel like the infiltrator of a super secret society."

"Trust me," he says, "they are far more boring than exciting."

~~~~~~~~~~

I've noticed a few comments with a tinge of annoyance (dare I say) in them, particularly pertaining to Ariadne's personality. I'm not going to make her perfect right off the bat; she's supposed to have faults, so by the end of the story, she can improve herself. (Ever heard of character development?) Also, perfect characters are boring and unrelatable, soooo... I'm going to leave it at that.   

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