Alpha Female | COMPLETED

32| Lioness

-:Ashton's POV:-

She knew something was wrong. After all, Cecelia Rivers was not a fool. It didn't take long for her to figure it out. Especially since Julian, Aaron, and I all teamed up to try to keep her home. Then the next morning Julian tried stopping her again. She asked what was wrong. What were we hiding? But we didn't tell her.

Alpha Rivers had shed a lot of light on the situation. Now almost everything made sense. The rogue sighting, the attempted border breaches, the sudden increase in rogue activity, and the kidnapping.

Vincent Morales wanted her. 

She was oblivious to the fact that the threat was directly for her. She was so blissfully unaware of what she could possibly be.

A Moon Blessed wolf.

She didn't like being told what to do. In the short time I'd known her, she'd made it clear. Her decisions were hers. She was not afraid to call anyone out on their shit. Not her older brother. Not me.

She made a good point. We did categorize girls who'd sleep around as sluts and outcast them. We did judge them by their outfits. But why? Boys slept around too. But they were just glorified. They were idolized and wanted. The 'bad boy' persona was worshipped. Why didn't I ever think of that before?

We lived in a misguided, unfair society.

I also noticed how she was closer to Julian than to her own brother. I didn't blame her. She did spend the better part of the last six years in Julian's continuous company. But I did feel for Aaron when I saw him wistfully looking at his sister when she'd spend time with Julian and not him. Unfortunately for him, Cecelia didn't seem to notice.

Julian was like a big brother to her. Now that I had talked to Cecelia and we'd smoothed things out, I was more in control of my emotions than before. Xavier was harder to antagonize and it wasn't as easy to lose control. We had somehow found a common ground and wordlessly committed to each other.

We were sure and we were official.

It was easier to be civil with her best friend after that. Despite his continuous innuendos, he was actually pretty likable. I was glad she had had him in her darkest times when I failed to be there for her. He would never hurt her on purpose.

I trusted them both.

Julian and I had exchanged numbers. We were constantly keeping in contact and making sure at least one of us was with Cecelia when she was outside her room and when she went out the pack borders. We were worried about her safety.

When I picked her up for school that Monday, she gave me all her sass. Noel and Hayden were beyond entertained. I ignored them. I could deal with them later. She eventually caved and drove with us. That was going fine, till lunch happened.

Mathilda had always been the pack bitch. She was good looking and she knew it. And she flaunted it. But she was very insecure too, always in need of external validation. I would know since I'd been cornered more times than I'd like to admit. Some people just didn't understand the meaning of the monosyllabic word 'no'.

Alpha commands came in handy in situations like those.

I knew I shouldn't have let Cecelia go get her own water. I should've been the mate she deserved and went to get it for her. But she was adamant. Her independence was dear to her. She wasn't one of those people who'd swoon at such acts. She regarded me with a strange look which miraculously shut me up as she sashayed off to get her water.

She was on her way back when Mathilda intercepted her. I couldn't hear what Mathilda was saying, but as usual, Cecelia's voice was crystal clear.

It will always reach me, whenever, whatsoever.