Rejecting my Alpha

Chapter 8: Desire

The rest of the day went smoothly. Angela showed me a secret training room which Adrian had built for her in the basement of the pack house. It was bigger than I thought it would be and it had everything we needed. Not only could it work as a gym to build up your muscles, but there was even a room with a long swimming pool and a sauna. One could say that he was spoiling and doting on her a lot.

“What do you think?” she asked me as she showed me the entire equipment and everything we had at our disposal.

“I have to admit, that’s way more than I would have expected,” I told her and she replied with a wide smile.

“I know. You see. Adrian is not that bad. You just need to get past his stubbornness and stupidity.” The way she emphasized those last words along with the expression on her face, I couldn’t help but laugh as well. Maybe she was right. In the end, I didn’t really know anything about my mate. I only met him twice, before he came to get me and we had never spoken previously. Since yesterday, when he picked me up from my pack and brought me here, we hadn’t talked properly either. Angela was a very open and straightforward person, so with her help, I might c***k the shell Adrian had put around himself and bring out my mate, which I had always dreamed of.

Angela let me taste a bit of her strength in a short sparring session. In the morning I’d had a short fight with Adrian and I could tell that his power was only brutal strength. Angela was shorter than me, with a thin body. She really didn’t look like a she-wolf, not to mention her Alpha genes. She should be taller and look stronger, but when you looked at this girl, you would actually assume she was just a mere human. I made a mental note to ask her about it later. I’d heard about wolves like her from my mom, but Angela differed from those Alpha females in my mom’s stories. Maybe she could tell me the reason.

Her combat skills were a different story. She was swift, precise and her movements had a purpose. After sparring I could already see that she calculated every single step and movement towards her opponent. She could follow and guess my own movements and dodge or counter my attacks. If she really were to challenge her brother, she would claim an easy victory. Adrian didn’t read his opponent. He simply rolled over his enemies with his power, and no strategy.

“You are really strong,” I told her once we had finished.

“I know. Åse taught me everything,” Angela told me, and I assumed the strange name she mentioned belonged to her wolf, but I’d never heard such a strange name.

“Åse, is it the name of your wolf?” I asked her and she confirmed.

“It sounds strange,” I told her and she nodded.

“It is an ancient name. It means goddess. She must have been a powerful warrior back in her time.” Angela looked at the wall but her eyes looked at something  beyond it. It almost looked like she could see the past she was talking about.

“What do you mean?” I asked her, curious about what she meant.

“You don’t know the story about the past of our wolves?” she asked me and I shook my head.

‘Leia? What is she talking about?’ I asked my wolf directly, but she kept silent. It looked like my Leia also did not know what she was talking about.

I shook my head, confirming to Angela that I didn’t hear about this story or whatever she was about to say.

“You see, when I was a little girl, one of our elders always told me stories and the long-lost history of humans. She was always telling me brave stories about women, warriors from different tribes around the world. Their lives were like a storm, taking everything with them, defeating their enemies and protecting their homes, and they died like real heroes. Even their fighting souls were too powerful for Death to take them and they became a spirit. Moon Goddess cherished them and granted them new life as wolves. Our wolves.” I didn’t know whether something like that was possible, but she was talking about the Moon Goddess, the mother of all supernatural creatures like us, so actually, anything was possible. It was strange that something like that wasn’t in the history books of our people. Surely, they would pass on such stories in every pack.

“And you think it’s real?” I asked her, and I guessed she heard the skepticism in my voice.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s real or not, but our wolves always come with names. Normal wolves can’t talk. Even in our wolf's shape, we can’t actually communicate with normal wolves, nor can our own wolves. This already means we are not that close to regular ones. Our wolves, and I am sure your own wolf included, are always teaching us how to fight, how to defend ourselves. They are teaching us about good and evil. How to recognize good from bad. They are too knowledgeable to be just ordinary wolves who became our half. So, I guess yes, I believe that something in these stories is right. I believe our wolves lived a long time ago and based on their knowledge, they must have been warriors, fighters and heroes in their times.” The way she was reasoning with me and explaining  her vision was somehow romantic. At some point, I had to agree that some arguments she said made sense. My Leia was also very knowledgeable, but they rarely had any memories of their previous life, so where did all that information and skills come from? I somehow liked the myths Angela told me.

“Maybe you are right,” I told her. She showed her teeth as her lips widened in a beautiful smile.

We sat for a bit longer before my stomach announced that it was time for dinner and Angela laughed again loudly  hearing my stomach rumbling.

“I don’t think I will get used to this, but I promise that starting tomorrow I will carry a muesli or energy bar with me to make sure your stomach is never empty,” she said while slapping my back.

“Not sure I appreciate that.” I replied while pursing my lips. It was really embarrassing and this was the second time I lost my awareness of time and my stomach made such horrifying sounds in front of her. At least my mate had been spared so far. Maybe I could hide it a little longer because I was sure all my plans made with Angela about cracking his icy shell would be in vain after hearing my stomach.

Dinner was simple and right after the meal, I went to my room. I took a long and relaxing shower before I went to bed. At first I thought I could watch some movies on my laptop but as soon as I lay down on the bed and looked again up the ceiling above, images of Adrian came to my mind. I was replaying the scene from the day before when he brought me to the pack and Emmett’s eyes landed on me for the first time. Right there, at that moment, Adrian's jealousy and possessiveness came forward, so he must have felt the pull.

This morning, especially when I recalled my outfit and the scene itself as I was sitting above Emmett’s chest, it must have provoked Adrian again. It was really my fault for not being able to read the situation or get information prior to my mate’s arrival. Now that I thought about it, I found out a year ago that he was my mate, but because of his cold eyes and his avoidance towards me, I never bothered to ask my mom about his pack. During the celebration of my sixteenth birthday he announced to my pack that I was his mate and the next year he would come back and take me with him. The coldness radiating from his words and eyes blocked any curiosity back then and even when my mom brought the subject up and wanted to talk about him, I simply waved her off. How stupid of me.

I was replaying what Angela had told me. The story about her parents and what happened to them. It was a really tragic love story, and it made me think about Adrian even more.

‘Leia,’ I called her again. Since the morning attack, she had been silent. I tried to call her a few times, but she never replied to me. She kept her ground against our mate and she was fighting him. I knew she was hurting because of that, but I couldn’t reach her to find out how she was holding up.

‘Yes?’ she finally replied. Her voice still seemed down, but at least she finally talked to me.