Chapter Five

Aria's POV 

“I accept”, I said with a daunting smile.

“What!!!”their screams reach my ears.

“Funny how you think, you stand a chance at me”, Jessica taunts, “A little attack took you out for days.”

A deep guttural growl from my mate for the disrespect makes the look on her face fade instantly.

“That should be my problem, right?”, I answer, a sneer appearing on my face, “Take your plastic self out of this room before I do it for you, doll.”

Kael and Aldin release gasps in pure shock, my usual timid self completely gone.

Martha sports a huge smile on her face, “This is interesting”, she exclaims, “I always knew you had it in you.”

Jessica quickly regains herself, “Do not think for a second that your little shenanigans mean anything”, she answers quickly, “I will crush you, you better watch your back.” She walks briskly out of the room.

“You definitely have your hands full with this one”, Aldin finally spoke up, finally recovering from his shock.

“I look forward to it”, Alpha Kael answers with  a warm smile, his blue eyes then peer in my direction, “I am not happy with this, Kitten.”

My brows rise in question, surprised at the endearment, “I see no problem with my decision, Alpha”, I reply, my face turns cold, “You should be happy that you finally have a chance to be with your "beloved” Jessica.” I throw him a challenging look, folding my arms.

His beautiful eyes meet mine…….wait did I just say “beautiful”? This mate bond is really something, but I will not let him in so easily.

I get lost again in those orbs, a loud cough breaks me out of the trance I'm in.

“I just remembered, we have eeemmmm some shelves to clean” Martha stutters.

“No we don't………….” She pulls a reluctant Aldin out of the room.

A deathly silence fills the room, it is almost suffocating. 

He kneels right by my bed, “First, I'm your mate you will not call me Alpha”, I gulp at his tone, “And I have the right to be scared, you're my mate for heaven's sake, Jessica is one of the best female warriors we have and worse with Beta blood flowing in her veins.”

“I can even find a way around it and prevent the contest as a whole”, he continues with so much conviction. 

“Wait a minute so you're implying that I am weak?”, I growl, “Not even the benefit of doubt, you feel she will definitely win, right?”

“You know that's not what I mean, I care about you, she just has years of experience and training on you”, he tries to reason.

The keyword “tries”, funny how my mate feels like Jessica is better than I am, that's all I can hear.

“We'll show him”, Willow states deep in my mind, “In fact we need this trial, mate, needs to understand that we are not some fragile wallflower that needs his saving, the moon goddess made us his mate and Luna for a reason, we'll work our way to the top.”

“Thank you, Willow”, I answered, “We're in this together.”

I pull myself from my thoughts, “Alpha”, I mutter a little too sweetly, “I'd like to join the pack's training sessions, as you mentioned I have a lot of catching up to do”, I said gritting my teeth in annoyance. 

He gives me a thoughtful gaze for a few seconds, “Sure thing, it would even help you socialize with your pack members before I announce you as Luna.”

My eyes roll to the back of my head at his assertion, but I'm too tired to argue. I hum softly in agreement. 

This will definitely be fun, I'm tired of being in the shadows and hiding myself, I think this is my second chance at life to make better decisions and find myself. 

“I'll let you rest a bit, your eyes are drooping already”, he says, “Good night, Kitten”. He pressed a firm kiss on my forehead before I could move away.

I shoot him a menacing glare which he just winks and chuckles in return to.

My eyes close almost immediately. I hear faint footsteps leave my room, and the door closes shut.

***

“I'm happy my bestie is finally discharged”, Martha giggles, trotting beside me.

My lips stretched to a full blown smile, “Same here, shorty”, I replied with a wink.

“How dare you, Ria”, she says, exasperated, pointing her fingers in my face, “You're just a few inches taller, idiot.”

“You sure about that?”, she gives me a hard jab.

“I am planning to run away, if you continue at this rate”, she continues, “You're worse than I ever was, and they call me a menace.”

We burst out in a fit of giggles. Martha has a way of making me feel completely at ease, as we are heading towards Kael's office. He has been trying to dissuade me from competing with Jessica for my position, but I'm aware that it's our tradition and it must be done.

Our feet pad softly against the wooden floor. My palms feel sweaty, I feel so nervous to ask my mate to join in training with other werewolves in the pack.

We arrive at his office door in comfortable silence. Martha threw me a wink and said, “Have fun, kiddo.” She leans against the wall, folding her arms.

Just as I was about to knock on the door, his deep voice reached my ears, “Come in, Kitten.”

My hands twist the door knob, pushing the door open. My feet slowly step into the office. My eyes reach his blue orbs, he leans back on his chair sporting a teasing smirk.

“I was almost sure you wouldn't come”, he says, “You've been running away from me, after being discharged.”

I give him a glare, “No, I've just been busy.”

“Busy? I've missed you so much, especially your sassy mouth”, he finishes with a grin.

“Is that all you called me here for?” I say with an attitude.

A sigh escapes his lips, “I want to spend some time with you, this was the only way I could combine you to meet me.”

“I told you I've not been running away, I've just had a lot on my plate these days”, I answer. 

“Aria, you said you would give me a chance but you haven't even spared any time for us to get to know each other, please give me a chance I won't ruin it again, please”, he utters with so much conviction. 

Butterflies fill my belly, I have missed my mate. Even my wolf, Willow howls at the back of my mind, eager to be close to him.

“Fine, I'll put in effort to make this work”, I reply, “Just don't push me away again because of your fears, okay?”

“I can't even push you away now that I have had you so close to me, it's taking every ounce of my strength to push back the urge of holding you in my arms.” He says, looking at me intently. 

My cheeks turn beet red at his confession.

“You know that's what has been on your mind though you put on a tough front”, Willow says with a smug smile in my mind.

“Shut it, stupid”, I retorted, “No one asked you.”

She chuckles sweetly, drifting deep into mind. 

Kael stood up from his chair, his solid footsteps approaching me swiftly with ease. I try shifting my gaze away from him but his fingers grip my chin mildly, making me face him.

“I do not want to ruin the moment but I'm scared of you getting hurt during the tournament, would you at least consider pulling out for the meantime.”

My defensive walls came up, “I won't do that…..”

“Wait, let me finish”, he interrupts me firmly, “I will let you compete against her but on one condition.” 

“Okay, what's the catch?”

“I would like you to begin training at the pack grounds, so that it'll be a fair fight at least”, he says staring into my eyes, “You are the strongest woman I know, please don't think for one second that…….”

A thrill of excitement shoots through my veins, without thinking I throw my arms around his neck in a tight hug.

“Thank you, thank you so much”, I interrupted him before he could finish. “Thank you for believing in me and even considering this, I accept.”

He gets out of the shock at my actions and wraps his arms around me tightly. 

“It's so hard for me to keep my world at bay and make this arrangement but at least, this is a compromise”, he says with a smile. “The smile on your face though makes this decision totally worth it.”

I try to pry my hands off him, but he pulls me closer to him, holding me against himself.

“Maria mentioned that Aldin is in charge of training with the Enforcer, so who would be my trainer since I'm starting completely new”, I ask.

He chuckles softly, “You think I'd let anyone else train you mmmmmm?”

My brows knot in confusion, “I don't understand?”

He rolls his eyes, “You're mine in every way and mine to train, now do you get it?”

I blush deeply “S…sure”, I stutter and get shy.

A smile lit his usually cold demeanour, his scars making him look so handsome. 

“I have one last request to make of you”, he says, getting nervous all of a sudden. 

“Shoot”, I say with a reassuring smile.

“Will you go on a date with me?”