The Rogue Alpha’s Claim

“What have you done?”

The man at the door was like nothing she had known; he was seething, his mouth pressed in a thin line, and the worst was that it was all directed towards her.

“I don’t understand Toby. What did I do?” Ariel’s brain was still jumbled from waking up from sleep before her wake time, and that was the easiest way to get her pissed.

“Your Instagram.”

“What happened to my Instagram?” She peeped my head outside, her eyes scanning the hallways for anyone that may be passing. These werewolf folks are very notorious for eavesdropping, and the last thing she wanted them to know was about their talk.

“You posted Kane on your wall last night.” He said, and now she became pissed. Ariel slightly tilted her head to the side, her brain still trying to process why that should be the reason he was angry.

“And if I did, how does that concern you?” She folded her arms below her breast, quite aware of how transparent her nightwear is, but she refused to acknowledge it.

There were mightier issues at hand than if her pink buds were exposed. Toby was the perfect gentleman, and he kept his eyes on her face, never once straying away from it.

He took a deep breath, not believing he was dealing with this first thing in the morning. He had been scrolling through Instagram when he saw her post, and dear goddess, he almost choked on his tongue.

He had sent her various messages, persuading her to delete them, but after a few minutes and they were still marked as unread, he knew he had to deal with it himself.

Kane wasn’t on Instagram or any social media at that, but that doesn’t mean his enemies weren’t, and goddess knows what they would do with this information.

“You have to delete it, Ariel.”

“Excuse me?” Ariel’s voice went up a notch, all traces of sleep vanishing from her eyes. “Why would I delete it?”

“Oh, fuck this.” Toby said under his breath, his hands massaging his temples as if he were in pain. This was the last thing he was expecting. “Look, there are some things I can’t say right now, but just delete them, and we could talk.”

“I am sorry, mister, if you don’t give me a good reason why I should delete my post. It is going to stay there forever.”

“Ariel.” Toby growled out, his patience running thin the more time they spent arguing. “Why can’t you just listen for once?” He said through gritted teeth. His hands were balled up in a fist, and he had never wanted to punch a wall so bad.

“Don’t tell me you are jealous.”

“What?” Toby’s mouth hung open at the accusation; he wasn’t sure if he was angry that she was being stubborn or the fact that there may be an atom of truth in her words.

“Oh please.” Ariel rolled her eyes, not ready for all this. “I am aware of your little ‘crush’ on me. I am not dumb, Toby; I have seen how your eyes follow my body whenever we are together, and I am well aware.”

“Ariel, you are mis-”

Ariel held her jaw as if she were in deep thought, tilting her head to the side. “I wonder what Kane would think when his alleged ‘best friend’ is in love with his girlfriend.”

Each word sent a jab straight to his heart, and he clutched it in his chest, robbing it in a circular motion as if to ease the pain.

Maybe it was the truth in her words, or the fact that they now had a term for their relationship, or even the fact that Kane was definitely going to kill him if he learned the truth.

But he was tongue-tied, his words tangled in his tongue like a knitted rope.

He had been so rendered speechless that he didn’t see Ariel close the door until he heard the loud bang on his face.

“Wait Ariel.” Toby pounded on the door. He had already wasted so much time, and the goddess knows what the enemies would be planning with it.

“If you are not ready to explain yourself, I don’t see the need to continue talking. I need to get back to sleep.” Ariel yelled from behind the door, and Toby groaned.

“Fine. Just open the door so we can talk.”

“Spill.” Ariel said that as she opened the door, all traces of sleep were wiped off her face.

“I think you already know who we are. And somehow, like Kane, he has a lot of targets on his back, and given his line of work, there are people that may want to go after him or even you, just to hurt him.”

“And what exactly is he, Toby? I thought he had a distribution company or the like. Why does he have enemies who want to kill him?”

She should be afraid that she has somehow unknowingly become a target, but none of that could concern her.

“I am sorry, but I can’t say.” Toby lowered his head, avoiding all sorts of eye contact with her. “I think Kane should be the right person to tell you.”

“Now, Toby, let me get this straight with you all. I don’t give a fuck about a target on my back. And until I get the whole truth, I will keep doing whatever I want to do.”

“Ariel, don’t be like this. You are not familiar with our world and how it works. Just delete the post, and this whole thing will be over.”

“I am tired of everyone telling me I don’t know about this world!” Her hands flew to the air in wild gesticulation. “I am a part of this world now, and I should know everything there is to it. You can’t keep me in the dark and expect me to listen to every whim. I am not like that!”

“Ariel-”

“Don’t cut me short!” She was practically seething, and Toby unconsciously took a step back, not sure he could handle this version of her. “I will repeat this again in case you are hard of hearing. If you are not ready to tell me the truth, don’t ask me anything.”

Bang!

He was merely inches from the door when it shut, and the additional clicking sounds were enough to tell him that she was going to see through to her word.

“I should have told Kane from the onset.” He whispered to himself, already dreading how he was going to report this to his Alpha when he should have done it first.

He was thinking it was something he could talk her into doing, but he should have known that Ariel was very set in her ways.

They fit each other, although a little part of his heart was rather happy with her response.

It was evident that she wouldn’t be swayed by people-an excellent quality for a Luna-and he had no doubt she would make a great one.

Now it was time to relay it to Kane.

***

The pounding on the door wasn’t going away anytime soon. Ariel was well aware of the fact, yet a tiny part of her-the sadistic one, probably-wanted to wait it out and see how it would end.

“Ariel.”

Her breath caught in her throat as she heard the voice, and she was already standing up to open it, but she came to her senses just as she took the second step.

“I know you were walking towards me; there is no need to stop.” Another gasp tore out of her vocal chords. “I am a werewolf, baby. You should know I can hear the ticking of your clock and even the rustling of the papers on your desk.”

Ariel glanced at her desk, and true enough, the wind had been rustling the papers on her desk. She hurried to her desk, placing a book over the papers before she got to the door.

“Kane.” She sighed like she had just seen the messiah, and she was beating herself up with her reaction.

Hell, they just went on a date yesterday, but she couldn’t get enough of him.

“Ariel.” He breathed out her name, and she closed her eyes, allowing his voice to caress her.

His gaze was a sultry whisper, caressing her skin and leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake. Ariel folded her arm across her body, regretting why she hadn’t bothered with a robe.

His gaze had the ability to strip her bare, leaving her all hot and bothered, and she closed her legs tightly, embarrassed by her body’s reaction to this male in front of her.

She saw his nose flare as if he were sniffing the air, and for a moment she froze, her cheeks aflame as she feared he could smell her body’s response to him.

Kane cleared his throat, his gaze shifting to her face. “Toby has told me everything.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.