Ariadne: Almost an Alpha | ✓

Chapter 41 - A Mess

Chapter 41 - A Mess

    Mateus, of course, doesn't wait for me to come up from the locker room area. I've barely shifted and put on clothes when I smell him coming.

Knowing that the blood already on the new clothes is going to make it look bad, as soon as he opens the door, I say, "It's not as bad as it looks Mateus, just help me wrap it up for the drive to the medical facility please."

I hold out the bandage layers to him, and he takes them without argument.

I watch as he silently applies each layer of the bandage before helping him with the wrap.

"You're going to need more stitches," he says seriously, pulling away.

I laugh at him.

"Stitches are funny now?"

I drop my smile, putting on my best straight face and lowering my voice in a deadpan impression of him. "You're going to need more stitches."

Amused at my behavior, he smiles, the dimple in his right cheek peeking out. "That's not what I sounded like."

"Oh, but it was! My part in this whole tournament is over, my pack is going to be so excited! Stop worrying about stitches for a second."

He doesn't say anything to this. Meanwhile, I can't keep the smile off my face.

Maybe it's the adrenaline from the fight, the fact that I'm too happy to care about the consequences, or that his smile makes my heart do all kinds of crazy things, but I close the distance between us to press my lips to his briefly.

"Come on. Now we can go and talk about stitches. I know you want to."

"Do I?" He gently grabs my waist and brings me back in for a long, lingering kiss. When his hand slides higher, he stops immediately, feeling the bandage beneath my shirt.

He pulls away, letting out a sigh of discontent. "I do."

Mateus grabs my hand, and starts leading me out of the room.

I laugh at him again, and he shakes his head. "You've got to be the only person in the world who is this unaffected by the idea of stitches."

Dylan and Vincent are at the top of the stairs, waiting. Dylan frowns, and knowing the reason behind it, I quickly let go of Mateus's hand to pull Dylan and Vincent in for hugs.

The next few hours are surprisingly hectic. I sit through another round of stitches, and then the national council members here at the tournament insist on an immediate meeting with Dylan and me to discuss what happens next. We discuss land boundaries over a map of claimed and unclaimed pack lands and end by finalizing a date for the ritual.

~~~~~

"Alright, let's go home," Dylan says when it's all over, and we're back at Vincent's.

"Right now?" I ask.

"Yup."

"Dyl, that's like a 12 hour drive. It's already dark. Can't we wait until the morning?"

"I don't think it's a good idea to stay any longer than we already have." He gives me a pointed look.

"Don't give me that look," I say.

"I will when you stop being so foolish. Or have you forgotten that our worst enemy has access to everything that goes on in your head, and that as soon as he thinks there's the slightest chance that you're going to tell someone about what he did he's going to start sending his stupid little minions over here again?"

"Stop it. You know I've always put the pack first. That's why we're even here in the first place."

"Well then why are you giving him a reason to hunt us down?"

"If he hasn't cared about the pack stuff because I've kept my mouth shut, he's not going to start caring that I've finally made friends outside of you if I still keep my mouth shut." That's at least what I've convinced myself.

"Whatever is going on with you and that disagreeable alpha is not just a friendship."

"Stop being an asshole. You didn't have any ill feelings towards him until these past few days."

"Because I don't see what's so special about him that you've lost all your rational thoughts! Stop being selfish, Ariadne. You can't have a relationship with someone you constantly have to lie to anyway. End it."

"I can't," I admit.

He looks angry.

"I tried. I'll admit; I should've tried harder, but I can't now."

"What's so hard? Just don't talk to him again. Now that this is all over, that should be easy."

I bite the inside of my lip for a minute while Dylan sits in a silent anger.

"He's my mate," I finally say because I don't see a point in keeping it a secret from him anymore. The words feel weird coming out of my mouth after all this time. It's the first time I've said the combination out loud.

His mouth drops open. "What? Why didn't you tell me? Why hasn't he said anything?"

I have a hard time summing up the reasons, which included knowing that Dylan would freak out and not really even wanting to admit I cared about it myself. "I lied to him and denied it. The original plan was to not speak to him again, and I didn't plan on ever having to acknowledge it."

"What changed? Why admit it now?"

"I care about him."

Dylan sighs as he anxiously runs his fingers through his hair. "This is a mess," he says.

"I know. I'm trying not to be selfish. Being with me puts him in danger, but I'm struggling. It's so hard, Dylan."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know yet. Nothing until the ritual is over at least. I need to make sure the pack is set up and safe."

He nods. We sit in silence together at the edge of the bed for a while, and I can feel his anger dissipate.

"I'm sorry I lied to you," I tell him, finally breaking the silence.

He turns to me. "I'm not going to pretend that it doesn't hurt that you didn't come to me. We've been best friends since we were toddlers, but I think i get it. You've never easily admitted when you're struggling."

    I lean my head on his shoulder. "Thank you, Dylan."

~~~~~~~~~~

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