Chapter 8

Aria

The second the door closes behind Noah and his pack a tightness starts in my chest. I have an urge to run after them and pull Noah back inside. The idea of him being away from me has anxiety working its way through me. Why? I don’t know the guy from Adam, and yet I feel this instinct to protect him. Maybe it’s the adrenaline still running through me.

“I can’t believe those assholes did this,” Beth says brushing a bit of my hair away to check the cut on my cheek.

I haven’t taken a look at myself yet but I can imagine I don’t look my best.

“You should have let Doc take a look at you.” Buck stops next to his wife and looks me over.

“I’m fine,” I say absentmindedly waving them off.

“I guess sending you to Xander was a good idea after all.” I hear the ‘I told you so’ in Buck’s voice.

I give him an unamused look that makes him chuckle. “Yeah yeah. I’m going upstairs to get cleaned up.”

Beth and Buck step aside to let me pass and I head back up to the apartment. I haven’t lived here in a few months now but I still have some clothes here, so I look through my old closet and grab a t-shirt and jeans. A shower would be nice too. The bathroom light flickers on and I get the first look at my face.

It’s bad.

There are bruises everywhere already. I kicked those guys asses but clearly didn’t go away unscathed. Suddenly it’s as if my brain is catching up to what happened and it feels like all the power I’d felt before is washing away. It hits me so fast that I sway on my feet. The adrenaline is leaving my body and in its wake, I start to feel the pain. It’s everywhere.

“Princess?” The sound of Daniel’s voice makes me gasp in relief.

“I-in here,” I grunt in pain at that small attempt at raising my voice.

I must have a bruised rib or something.

Daniel’s booted feet are loud on the wooden floors but sound like a symphony to me right now. He stops in the doorway and I attempt to give him a smile but he doesn’t return it. His face is scrunched in concern, and I don’t like it. I don’t want to look weak to anyone, but I took a hell of a beating and no amount of pride or ego can help me now.

“Fuck Princess.” His voice is soft and full of pity.

“Don’t-“ I try to turn away from him feeling suddenly self-conscious.

He doesn’t let me look away from him though. His hand wraps around the back of my neck to stop me and although his touch is gentle I hiss when his fingers press on a bruise on my neck.

“Shit. Sorry.” He quickly lets me go but I immediately miss his touch.

A floodgate has been opened. I’ve known for a while how he feels about me, but I’d ignored how much I felt for him too. It was easier to push the feelings away but he has been a steady presence in my life that I have been taking for granted. Right now though, I need him. I want him to be here with me.

“It’s okay.” I turn to him and give him a weak smile. “You didn’t hurt me.”

He doesn’t say anything at first, just looks me over cataloging every injury.

“Let me help.” He says stepping closer and sliding the towel I’d grabbed from my hand.

I let him take it and give him a nod. He steps around until we’re facing each other, and I move to get out of his way but he traps me by moving his arms around me. The faucet turns on and I feel his strong arms flex against me as he wets the towel. My breathing is becoming more difficult and that triggers the pain in my ribs. I gasp in pain but don’t ask Daniel to move. He turns the faucet off and steps back. My head tilts back slightly so that I can look up at him and I hate the concern on his face. I don’t want him to worry about me. I’m an Alpha. I’m supposed to be stronger than this.

“Don’t.” He says firmly.

“What?”

“Don’t go that path. You’re not weak.” He says and my eyes widen.

“How did you-“

“I know you, Princess. Everything. I’ve watched you for years, learning everything I could.” He says as he lifts the towel and brushes it over my cheek.

“That sounds a bit like you’re a stalker.” I try to tease but when I try to smile bigger I hiss.

“I’ve wanted you to be my girl for a long time Princess. If I was going to be your guy I needed to know you better than anyone.” He says giving me a smirk.

Heat rises to my face and out to other places as well but this wasn’t the time to explore his effect on me.

“Still a little creepy,” I mutter but I can’t hide the tiny smile I can make without hurting myself.

“Too bad. You’re my girl and I don’t give a shit if I'm a creep for wanting to know you.” He doesn’t look the least bit sorry and I don’t want him to.

We go silent as he works to clean the blood from several cuts on my head and face.

“They aren’t too deep. You won’t need stitches, but you could have a concussion. You should have had Doc-“

“I know! It didn’t seem so bad before.” I admit. “Besides, I’ve been through worse.”

The reminder of a time when pain was the only thing I knew flashes in front of my eyes but I push it away. I never want to remember that time, but that’s not possible.

“Maybe, but we should have protected you better. I should have gone with you to your car.” He shakes his head but I grab his wrist.

“Don’t do that. I went out alone. This isn’t on you. Okay?”

He looks at me like he doesn’t want to agree but I’m not backing down and he must see that because he nods.

“Yes, Alpha.” I gasp and a huge smile grows on his handsome face. “Liked that did you?”

I roll my eyes. “Shut up.”

“Is it that Omega that has you flustered? Did he trigger something? You seemed awfully protective of him.” Why does he sound like he’s enjoying this?

The way he’s smiling makes me think he doesn’t seem to mind the way I reacted to the Omega.

“He was a hurt Omega, of course, I’d feel somewhat protective of him,” I say with a shrug.

“Maybe. Or maybe…your Alpha recognized a potential Omega mate.”

“How can you go from saying I’m your girl to being this amused at the thought of me having some kind of instinctual reaction to an injured Omega? Aren’t you jealous?”

He lowers the towel and looks me in the eye. “Of course I’m jealous. If it was up to me I wouldn’t have to share you, but I’m not naive. As an Alpha, you’re going to seek out an Omega on instinct. I’m a Beta and that means I’d never be enough and I accept that. You’ll need more and maybe you eventually might want to form a pack. All I ask is that I’m one of them.”

Right here is my chance to tell him that it would be stupid to want me to be his Alpha, but I can’t. So I look him in the eyes and give in.

“Okay.”

He smiles. “Okay?”

“Okay.”