The Alpha's Beta.

Chapter 1.

Ayla held her breath and gripped her shoes tighter in her hand, praying she didn't alert the entire house to her presence as she snuck through the darkened hallway, slowly creeping up the stairs and letting out a shaky breath of relief. Her destination was in sight. Now all she had to do was get to her room before anyone noticed that she was gone. 

She took a step forward, the floorboard under foot creaking slightly, causing her heart to beat frantically and eyes to widen with fear. She paused, letting her senses take over,  listening out for any sign of movement and only moving herself once she was convinced it was safe. Her slowly calming heart echoed in her ears as she made a dash for her room, swinging the door open and letting it shut with a soft click behind her. Finally letting out the breath she was holding,  a wide smile spread onto her face–she had gotten away with it! But as suddenly as the thought entered her mind, the air was knocked out of her lungs and she was on the floor, a large weight on her chest, pinning her down into the hard floorboards.

"You. Complete. Bastard!" She huffed, looking up into the face of a smug looking Aaron, who laughed and looked down at her with a smirk.

"Is that any way to talk to your Alpha?"

"Oh please," She scoffed shoving him off and sitting up, "You're not the Alpha, yet. Besides, as your best friend I can talk to you however I like."  She stood up and poked her tongue out with a cheeky look, earning a laugh from him at her immature antics. Smiling to herself, she heading over to her wardrobe, pulling up her hair and glancing over her shoulder, seeing him drop down to lounge on her bed.

"Don't you have your own room to invade?" She questioned, eyebrow raising as she shot him a mock stern look. Of course though, she didn't really mind. This was usual for them. Having grown up together, Ayla was used to Aaron always being around. They were best friends since birth and, when the time came for him to be the Alpha, she would be his Beta. Much like her father was to his Father and so on– their families had always been tied in that way. They had to have been considering they shared a house. It was almost as if they were one big family rather than two separate ones and she loved it. The fleeting thought made her smile as she started changing for bed, completely lost in thought.

"Earth to Ace!" Aaron called, the pillow he tossed at her head skilfully dodged, "You completely blanked out for a minute. What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing," She shrugged and laid down on the bed with a stifled yawn, staring up at dark ceiling. After a few moments of silence she felt him shift beside her, "Aaron?"

"Mmm?"

"Do you think Mara is your mate?" It went silent for a few moments before he turned his head to face her.

"I hope so." 

She smiled lightly over at him for a moment before her face took on a more serious expression, eyes flicking back to the ceiling, "I'm scared, Ron."

"About?"

"Finding my Mate." She whispered, silver tears glistening in her eyes that she fought back. He sighed and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her tight against him as she shifted to bury her face in his chest, breathing in his familiar and calming scent, "What if he doesn't want me?" She sniffled, squeezing her eyes shut and his arms tightened around her instinctively.

 "What makes you think that?" She could hear the frown in his voice.

"Just... a feeling," One she'd had for a long time.

"Well he'd be a fool– I'd kick his arse if he didn't want you." She bit back the urge to snort in amusement, pulling back to look up at his face, his words making her feel miles better.