The Cursed Alpha

Ariadne's POV and New Character Introduction

*A/N: There's a new character being brought in to this chapter. Aspen is Ariadne's chosen guardian (and maybe something more too?). 

Side note, the only photo I have of Aspen's model will be posted at the end as usual. I did do a little editing on this one (and please forgive my poor skills, I am a writer, not a digital editor). And just like with Johan(Lance's mom's boyfriend) from a few chapters ago, if you know the name of this model and have other photos of her, please comment to let me know!*

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The moment I stepped into the gym, I knew something was off. There was a scent that had commanded my attention over everyone else's even with my mate right next to me. Rain seemed worried over the smell but would not tell me why, or maybe she just didn't know why the aroma affected her in such a way. But when entered the room, the fragrance overwhelmed me directing my attention to one of the female guardians who seemed like she was having trouble containing herself.

Rain uttered only one word and then her worry had started to make sense to me.

Mate.

The guardian shifted into the most beautiful white wolf I had ever seen, causing a ruckus amongst the others of her kind. They all grabbed for her to hold her back, unaware of the real issue at hand. Every time one of them grabbed a handful of her fur to pull her back, I felt myself cringing in pain and wanting to cry for the poor baby.

Kain had tried to protect me when the wolf set her sights on me, but I could tell she meant me no harm. If anyone was endangering themselves in that situation, it was Kain when he decided to shield me from the wolf's view.

It took some convincing on my part to get Kain to let me go to her and even then, he had tried to keep me within his reach. The wolf growled at him, warning him to stay away. It appeared she thought Kain was a danger to me.

My approach was slow and calculated as I did not want to frighten her and have her go off on anyone else. As I examined her closer, I noticed her ears had black spots at the tips and a matching one at the tip of her tail. She's so beautiful.

This is impossible. Turn around, Ari. This is dangerous.

I shut out Rain's insistent commands and reached out for the wolf in front of me. He fur was so soft and I felt her relax under my touch.

"Its okay. I'm right here, beautiful girl."

A smile grew on my lips as she leaned her head into the palm of my hand, and I dug my fingers further into her fur. As I sunk to my knees in front of her, I could hear Kain suck in a breath and then I had a wolf's head on my lap. I ran my fingers through her fur over and over until I was sure she would not be a danger to anyone.

"Kain?"

"Yeah?" His voice sounded hesitant, like he as unsure if he should even speak.

"Have someone get a blanket, please."

"Okay." He was silent for a moment, I assumed he'd mind-linked someone in the pack. My assumption proved to be correct when Jonas entered the gym with a blanket. A curious expression crossed his face as his gaze landed on me and the white wolf that was cuddled up with me.

"Bring it to me. Slowly." Instead, Jonas had dropped the blanket to the floor and slid it across to me. Which, I guess, still ended up working out. An apologetic look shot in my direction, and I understood his apprehension. He didn't know what was happening and didn't want to become the she-wolf's next meal.

I looked down at the wolf who was nearly snoring and ran my fingers along her jaw, then focused on Kain's face the way Lance had taught me.

Get everyone else out.

Rhea... I don't know about-

Just trust me, please.

He sighed and instructed Jonas to lead the rest of the guardians out the side door.

Once the room was empty, I felt Kain's presence creep closer to me. "What are we going to do with her?"

"She's my guardian, Kain. Isn't that what we came here for?" I looked up at him and saw the worry in his eyes.

"Rhea... Guardians are incapable of finding mates. What just happened... It's not natural. We don't know what this could mean, what she can do. With no humanity, there's no telling what she will interpret this as."

"One step at a time, remember? I'm not sending her away after just finding her." I looked back down at my pretty she-wolf and motioned for Kain to leave the room with a point of my finger.

"I'm not leaving you alone with her. I can't protect you if I'm not here to see what happens."

"I will not need protecting with her. I can feel it. Leave us." He still refused to move until I looked back to him and said, "I will mind-link you if anything happens, alright?"

That seemed to be enough to convince him as I watched him leave through the same door as the others.

The sound of the door slamming shut had her standing at attention, ready to attack anyone who threatened us. I brushed my hand through the fur on her back and brought her attention back to me.

"Hey, Baby, it's okay. Come here." She obeyed on command and sat in front of me with her head bowed. "Can you shift for me? I would like to talk to you."

Her next motion had me standing as I watched her body change into that of a human's and her white fur retreat back into her body. I took a step back and took in her appearance only to find myself blushing and trying to keep my eyes on her face. Her long hair matched the color of her white fur with black at the very tips. Icy blue eyes watched me from about a foot higher than I could reach. I probably looked like a gnome in her presence.

I held out the blanket Jonas had brought since her clothes had shredded when she shifted. With shaky hands, she took it and draped it around her curvy body like a dress. I reached up and traced the line of her jaw with my fingertips causing her eyelids to droop over the ocean behind them.

"What's your name?"

"Aspen."

"Aspen." Her name felt like bliss on my lips and Rain, though uncertain, kept repeating it over and over. She didn't want to admit the feelings that we both felt, she was afraid of the unknown. "My name is Ariadne. And my wolf's name is Rain."

"Rain." A smile lit up her face and I found myself momentarily breathless. "Rain, what is this?"

"I'm not sure. But we will figure it out together, okay?" Aspen nodded in response, and then the door opened.

Kain's scent flooded into the room, but he did not enter, just watched us from the open door with cautious eyes. "Rhea?" His gaze went to the white-haired beauty in front of me. "I just spoke with Elder Phoenix, and I think we need to talk about this."

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*A/N: Aspen's character model:

If you couldn't already tell, it was the hair I edited (I needed to add black to the ends). I also did some small touchups to the face itself (you can barely notice though)

I've done a reverse image search on Google for this one and Johan's and also one or two other characters that haven't been introduced yet. But if anyone knows who she is (or Johan's model) please let me know!*