Ariadne: Almost an Alpha | ✓

Chapter 48 - I'm the True Alpha

Chapter 48 - I'm the True Alpha

I manage to fall asleep on the very short drive back to our house, only waking up when Dylan picks me up to carry me into the house and deposit me onto the couch in our living room.

"Is she alright?" I hear Mateus ask.

Dylan looks away from me and nods in the direction behind the couch.

"What time is it?" I ask Dylan and wince when I feel Cain pushing at my mental wall again.

Dylan frowns at me. "Nine."

"Carter needs to drive the council back to the airport. Can you call him to make sure?" There's no way I'm going to try to communicate with anyone mentally right now. I'd leave an opening for everyone else to come through.

"Yeah, of course," Dylan responds. He pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and steps away to call Carter.

I grab his hand, pulling his ear down to my mouth as I whisper, "And we're going to need 24/7 border rotations for the next few days. No one goes out alone."

Dylan hides his reaction well. "Understood."

Mateus comes around the couch, sitting on the coffee table in front of me. He sets a plate and a glass of water down next to him.

"You should eat again," he tells me.

I'm barely holding down the food from earlier. The pressure in my head makes me feel like I need to puke.

I look at the plate of spinach next to him. "Thank you, but I'm not in the mood for leaves right now," I joke, but my voice is flat.

He doesn't laugh. "There's chickpeas and other toppings on it too. You need iron and vitamins."

I stare at it. I really am not up for the whole eating process right now: the chewing of it, swallowing of it, and trying to to keep it down.

I sit up and reach for the plate after I see the "this isn't an argument" look in his eyes. I curl against the side of the couch and slowly eat half of it.

He hands me the glass of water. I know I'll need fluids to regain my strength, so I take it. I drink half of it before I feel the contents of my stomach rising up my esophagus. I force it back down and give Mateus the glass back.

Mateus stares at me in silence until Dylan comes back over.

"They're leaving now," Dylan says.

"Good," I respond. "We should talk."

I start to stand, and both Dylan and Mateus try to help me. Feeling crowded, I push them away and stand up on my own. My head immediately starts to spin, but I push through and walk all the way to my bedroom. Dylan follows, closing the door behind him. I sit on my bed immediately.

"I still have a connection with Cain," I begin.

He sits next to me, slumping over in defeat. "How?" he asks quietly. "When someone creates new pack ties, it should sever ties with their old alpha."

"That's the problem, Dylan," I say. "He was never MY alpha."

He looks confused.

I elaborate. "I didn't realize it, and I don't think he did until today either. Think about the lines you say when you create a line of succession and resign a position, the words Cain forced me to cite to hand the pack over to him. 'In the event that I am unable to act as alpha, Cain will be the first in line to act in my stead.' Then, 'I declare myself unable to act as alpha.'

"Five years ago, I made Cain the alpha, Dylan, but he was supposed to kill me after, remember? He didn't bother when you broke me out and we left because I had made myself unable to lead anyway. It would have been redundant. But today... today by connecting the blood of the council with my own blood, they deemed me able to lead again. As council alphas, their blood is stronger than my own, so it overrode the ritual I did with Cain. Now that I've been deemed able to lead again, the title reverted back to me, the only one remaining from my father's original line of succession. I think it's why it always hurts when Cain tries to force communication with me. My successor using what's supposed to be my gift is unnatural. I'm the true alpha."

"Fuck," Dylan whispers, at a loss of words. "So you're connected to all of them now?"

"All 600 plus of them."

"Fuck," he repeats.

"Because I'm so far away, he's still able to act in my stead. We're currently sharing the title, so the link isn't normal. It's uncomfortable, like 600 less painful versions of the one I have with Cain."

"He's going to come for you."

I sigh, a tired, defeated, and 'I really fucked up' kind of sigh. "I know."

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, Dylan. Right now, I'm just focusing on blocking everyone out."

"I'll lead all the patrols tonight. I know what his minions smell like; no one else knows what that scent is."

I pull at the roots of my hair, frustrated and on the verge of a mental breakdown, literally. "Thank you. I feel like I need to be doing something right now, protecting the pack, or coming up with a solution, or something, but I can't think. I haven't gotten used to the pain yet, and my brain is so tired from everything."

"Sleep. It's getting late anyway," he tells me. "You'll figure it out tomorrow. I know you will."

"Tell Mateus I've fallen asleep. I can't see him right now, Dylan. He's too perceptive, and I'm not in a state to lie well."

He looks at me with pity.

"I know," I whisper. "I can't tell him the truth about us, not after today. I don't even know what's going to happen with me. I can't drag someone else into this mess."

"I'm sorry," he says. "I wanted you to be happy."

He leaves the room to begin the patrols.

I should shower, but I'm so tired I think I'd fall asleep in the stall. Still covered in sweat and dirt, I lay back onto my bed and fall asleep almost immediately out of exhaustion.

~~~~~~~~~~

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In this chapter we got a little more of Ariadne's backstory. You'll get the rest REAL soon. We're also two chapters away from where the story starts to climax, so I'm hella excited to publish those chapters. 

Question of the week: The chapter suggests Ariadne is going to figure out a solution to the whole multi-alpha situation soon. Knowing her personality, what do you guys think she's going to do?