Moonlit Desires: The Alpha's Awakening

~Adora’s mystery~

Adora remains settled beside the tranquil fountain after Elio and Ares have made their way back into their bedrooms, her mind a swirling tempest of thoughts where each one is a puzzle piece waiting to be discovered. Despite Bella's explanation, a lingering sense of curiosity lingers, leaving a void in her thoughts that begs to be filled. The thought that there could be more to it than meets the eye only works to cement a determination to find out more. With a languid stretch of her body, she looked up at the vast expanse of the sky, its infinite beauty mirroring the vastness of her confusion. What was she to do with the newfound knowledge of her connection to Efe's reincarnation? The answer eluded her, like a delicate butterfly dancing just out of reach.

‘I need to read about Godmother and Efe’ she sighed heavily as she relaxed her body, so she was lying down beside the fountain, basking in the beauty of the moonlit night as the night's breeze danced across her face in gentle waves.

“Oh goddess, Adora, why are you out here? Hold on, did you spend the night here?!” Ares asks in awe. He had been the one to stir Adora awake with gentle shoves, the latter having slept off the night before while lost in her thoughts.

“Good morning,” she greets with a yawn, stretching slightly as she did. “I guess I dozed off. What time is it?” She asks, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“The time you are supposed to be getting ready, but here you are being your human self.” Adora felt her heart plunge the moment those words reached her ears. A melancholic sigh left her lips the more aware she grew of the new presence. Rising gracefully from her place on the ground, she extends a courteous greeting to him, though her heart weighs heavy with the burden of their tumultuous connection.

Bilal's gaze bore into her, filled with an unmistakable vexation. The intensity of those eyes revealed his frustration, as if he wished his piercing stare alone could rid him of the burden that Adora's mere existence posed in his life. If only his gaze had the power to extinguish the annoyance she caused, his eyes would have accomplished that very task.

“Why are you still standing here?” Bilal asked after a few more seconds of Adora awkwardly shifting on her feet under the weight of his gaze.

“Sorry, I was just about to leave,” Adora replied, giving in to the burning urge to roll her eyes at his constant hot-heartedness. As she was about to move, his voice, irritated as always, stopped her.

“Do you have anything to say to me?”

‘There it is’ Adora mumbled under her breath, noting the spitefulness in his tone.

“I'm talking to you, Adora. Do you have anything to say to me?” He repeats his question but is yet again met with silence when Adora only tilts her head in confusion, before her head dips into a bow where she starts to play with her fingers, ignoring him.

Bilal feels himself almost losing the fight to keep his jaw in place, utterly shocked at the scene unfolding in front of his eyes. Still in disbelief, he turns to Ares, his eyes holding a question, ‘Are you seeing this?’ almost like he hoped he'd imagined the blatant disrespect Adora's lack of a reply and general demeanor meant. Adora seemed oblivious to the hierarchical dynamics of their world, unaware that her silence, coupled with the fact that she'd gone ahead to busy herself with something else instead of acknowledging his presence, was a direct affront to his authority. As her mentor and potential future Alpha, Bilal felt the weight of his position and the need for her to acknowledge it.

“Are you going to just stand there and act like you're not being spoken to?” Bilal questions further, disbelieving the fact that she just remains standing, albeit still now. His frustration doubles, and his voice climbs higher as he continues to question her, gaining a bit of attention as Bella and Elio now rush out of the quarters, curious as to why Bilal was all but yelling at something at the break of dawn.

“What is going on here?” Bella asks Ares the moment she arrives at the scene with Elio in tow.

“Finally, Bilal's reaction! I was starting to wonder when he would confront Adora after that stunt she pulled last night, and it looks like Adora isn't making it any easier for herself either.” Ares replies, the rest of the Elites deeming their intervention unneeded as they now stand by the side, hands folded and silently observing the drama unfolding before them.

“You know what? I have had it with you. Why are you so rude and mean? What wrong did I do sleeping outside? I didn't sleep in your room or your bed. So, why the hell are you so worked up over it?” Adora finally spits, her voice echoing with a mix of frustration and defiance as she addresses Bilal.

Her words, like a symphony of determination, pierced through the air. "What do you get out of being so mean to me? What wrong did I do? Why are you so perturbed by my choice to rest outside, underneath the open sky? I did not intrude on your personal space, nor am I laying a claim on a space labeled as exclusively yours, so, I ask you, why is it that you've allowed yourself to be completely consumed by hate? Because I'm sick and tired of your unkind and demeaning attitude towards me!” When she finishes, her chest heaving with the weight of her words, Bilal only narrows his eyes even further, jaw clenching almost painfully before he starts, quietly, voice laced with venom.

“The nerve of you to question me. Adora, do you have no respect for the rules in our world? Maybe I've been too easy on you this whole time for you to think you could talk back to me after the stunt you pulled just last night. What? You're asking me what wrong you've committed?” A burst of laughter leaves his lips at that, void of any traces of amusement, icy and bordering on murderous even.

“You put all our lives and yours in danger by following us into the woods when you know nothing about rogues or our world. This is your fourth day in this academy, if I'm not mistaken, yet you seem to only be dwarfing in knowledge if anything. Have you even picked up a book throughout your stay here?”

“Have you thought about questioning the reason why you're even here? Why did your loving godmother pull you out of your normal schools filled with humans and insist you be put in an academy filled with supernatural beings? Do you even know what powers you hold? You know nothing! And you're so comfortably ignorant, yet you call me unkind and rude, and I am filled with hatred for you?” There's a pause, where he looks to be reeling himself back in, the air still crackling with tension.

“Did you even know what would await my sister and me if anything were to happen to you? Do you know the punishment for failing a task given by the head Alpha? Go ahead and tell me then, would you be coddling yourself if you were in MY shoes?” He questioned, pausing for an answer that never came, but this time, the dip in the bow of Adora's head was in shame.

“Oh, so now you have nothing to say to me? No smart words to hurl back at me? Good. And never let that repeat itself.” Not at all expecting an answer this time, he swiftly turns around and walks away, the weight of his words still hanging in the air.

“Wow, that was heated. I am sorry Adora. He didn't have to go that hard on you,” Ares says in an attempt to lighten the situation.

Elio, on the other hand, was not of the same idea, “He didn't say anything that wasn't true. Pointing out one's faults is not the same as being hard on them.” He tells Ares before turning to look at Adora this time, “This is him being lenient on you. If not for your connection with Alpha Devara and knowing how much you mean to her, with how angered he was last night, I was surprised he didn't beat the s**t out of you on the spot. I think you should do more to help yourself if you don't like his behavior towards you. Do better.” He ends with a finality to his tone before following the same path Bilal had now disappeared into. Bella regarded her with an unreadable expression, shaking her head before leaving as well.

Adora found herself frozen in place, unable to form words or even thoughts as the weight of their words bore down on her. No one seemed interested in understanding her reasons for venturing into the woods, eager to point out her flaws and misdoings instead. Confusion and helplessness weigh heavy on her shoulders and tears begin to well up in her eyes, reflecting her inner turmoil. She felt lost and unheard amidst the judgment. It felt unfair.

“Why did you do it? Why did you follow us?” Ares asks from where she'd forgotten he'd been standing as if reading her thoughts.

That causes the dam to finally break and the tears she'd struggled to hold back come pouring out. She finally heard the words she'd practically been aching to hear since the incident in the woods, there was an instant rush of relief, a glimmer of solace in a sea of confusion and doubt.

Sniffling, she wipes off the wet stains on her cheeks before narrating how she'd gone back to the game room after they'd regrouped in the main room, only to find Bilal's phone lying idly on the desk. She thought the device to be an important tool for the mission, which was why she rushed out in search of them, or whoever would be willing to help bring the phone back to him, but there was no one. Which was why she'd taken it upon herself to make the drive. She thought she was going to catch up with them before they advanced into the woods, but they proved to be faster than she'd expected, which led to her venturing into the woods since she had already made it there.

“I didn't mean to go that deep into the woods either, but….it felt like something kept pulling me and I just continued to walk. Before I could make sense of anything, I was already deep in the woods and in the hands of that rogue. I didn't mean for that to happen.” she finishes wetly, looking up at Ares with tear-filled eyes.

He hums in understanding, shaking his head sympathetically, “You should have started with this the second you regained consciousness back in the woods. Maybe Bilal and the rest would not have been so upset with you. But don't worry, their anger does not last long. I am sure before noon, they'd have forgotten all about it. You're safe now, aren't you?” He assures her, offering a comforting pat on her shoulder.

“Thank you, Ares. I wish he could be as gentle as you are,” she says, a sad smile following her words at which Ares laughs out loud.

“Who? Bilal? Don't worry about him, he just acts like a grumpy old man because it's easier to be like that. Once you get to know him, you'll realize he's just a big ole softy under all that muscle.” He replies, smiling brightly. Adora felt her smile grow wider at that, reminded of Bilal's interaction with his mother.

“Now go get ready so he doesn't have another reason to lash out at you,” he says jokingly, elbowing her in the direction of the quarters. She leaves with a broad smile and a wave, her pace quickening with each step.

After she disappeared through the entrance, Ares couldn't help but revisit her words with a brewing confusion. How could it be that she'd blindly followed them into the woods, and had almost found her way to them? They would even have met her at the meeting point had it not been for the interference of the rogue. Hell, that would mean she even found the rogues before they did. Something was off and the thought of it bothered him.

“Are you done playing house with her?” Bilal asks, when Ares walks into his room, a tone laced with sarcasm.

“That’s real mature, Bee.” He rolls his eyes before going straight to the point. “I'm here because something is off with Adora and you are the only one who can explain it.” Bilal puts a hold on what he'd been doing and turns to pay attention to Ares, waiting, so the latter continues.

“After you all left, I asked about her reasons for going into the woods, and she explained everything to me, but what I can't seem to understand is how she got the directions right to follow us all the way there and even found the exact spot where the rogues were. It's not clicking for me.” Ares explains and Bilal raises a brow in question.

“And she didn't say how she got there?”

“No, nothing. According to her, she had no idea how she got there either.” He supplies and Bilal just shrugs then and goes back to laying out clothing articles on his bed.

“That's not something worth my attention then, and before you ask, no. I will not try to find out how she did it.” Bilal says with an air of indifference.

“Now, go get ready. You do not want to keep the parents waiting. Remember we represent them and any mistake from our side would be a stain on their reputations.” Bilal says, dismissing Ares, who bids him farewell, almost sulky.

As Bilal watches Ares vanish from sight, he tries to go back to the task at hand but finds himself unable to. He pauses his activities and settles onto his bed, his mind consumed by a whirlwind of thoughts. Despite his outward demeanor of disinterest, a flicker of curiosity had been ignited deep within him, compelling him to seek further understanding. The desire to unravel the mysteries of what Ares had shared grows stronger within him. It seems like he's on the verge of embarking on a fascinating journey of discovery.

“Adora, what are you hiding?” He wondered quietly.