The Rogue Alpha’s Claim

“Kane!” Ariel was seething as she banged his door open. If she wasn’t so angry, she would have agreed that the light blue shirt hugged his muscles so well, giving definition to the well-toned chest, and that in her next life, she was going to be a shirt.

Focus Ariel, you are supposed to be angry with him.

Kane slowly tore his gaze from his work, and he raised his head to look at her, a little smile on his face. “Well, hello, darling. You look rather stunning today; how may I help you?”

“What. Did. You. Do?” She inched forward with each word, only one thing in mind.

“I don’t understand you, love; I think you need to give me a little context.” He was enjoying this way too much.

“Don’t call me love.” Ariel spat out with gritted teeth, her fist tightening beside her.

The son of a gun!

He was fucking smiling; did he not realize how serious it was?

“What did you do to them?”

“I don’t understand what you are saying, Ariel. I suggest you give me something to work with, and I can know for myself what I did.”

“The females. What did you tell them? No,” Ariel shook her head, looking for a suitable word. “What did you do to them?”

Kane shrugged his shoulders, his expression returning to its natural poker face. “You said you wanted to train, and despite my reluctance, I let you. I don’t understand what you want again.”

“Ha.” Ariel huffed, shaking her head. “You call that training? The purpose of training is to learn, and if they are going to be acting like that with me, how then am I going to learn?” Her voice rang out through the room, and Kane’s eyes shut tight, taking a calming breath before he exploded.

He wasn’t used to being disrespected like this, but Ariel always managed to press all of his buttons since she had arrived, and he had to keep reminding himself that she didn’t understand how their world worked.

“I have already granted you your wish, and that was to train. Any other things are beyond me.” He said with an air of finality, and he was returning to his work.

“Really?” Ariel cocked her eyebrow in surprise, not believing what she had just heard.

It may seem like she was exaggerating, but was she really?

She had gone to the training room only after Kane had lectured her on her safety guidelines, and as if it wasn’t enough, he had dropped her off the first day. He hadn’t bothered to enter inside, yet everyone had felt his aura, and they were literally trembling.

If that was all, Ariel would not have stormed into his office in anger. Of course not. She had no idea what Kane had told them, but everyone avoided her like leprosy, and when they came close, they lowered their heads so much that they were practically kissing the ground.

She wouldn’t have even minded if that was all, but it had come time to practice, and when she was picked, her opponent continued throwing a weak jab at her that had infuriated her to no end.

No one wanted to risk Kane’s anger, but, gosh, it was so annoying!

“Do you have anything to say?”

Ariel pursed her lips as she exhaled warm air through her nose. Kane wasn’t going to back down if she attacked him head-on, so she would have to look for another way.

“I thought you wanted me to learn?” Her voice took on a raspy tone that always makes even the mightiest of men weak, and Kane squinted his eyes-not sure he liked the direction this was going. “I just want to be as strong as every other person in the house so I can defend myself.”

“You don’t need to defend yourself, Ariel. I will always be there for you, and as long as you are here, no one will bother you.”

Ariel rolled her eyes, fighting the urge to facepalm. She wasn’t going to lie. His words appealed to the ‘baby girl’ or ‘princess’ in her, but she didn’t want to keep relying on Prince Charming to save her.

“I know, and I am grateful for that, but I just want to feel like I belong here. I know that I am not a werewolf, and for the first time, I wished I was. But I just want to be able to compete with you guys.

“Ariel,”

“All I am saying is that let me be treated like them.” Her hands unconsciously went to her cheek, a sharp reminder of the treatment she had received, and she was changing her mind. “Maybe not like them, but in a way that is suitable for me and that I could learn.”

Kane released a huff of air through his mouth, and suddenly he felt he had aged an extra 10 years. “I understand; I will speak to them.”

Ariel didn’t know what demon possessed her legs, but she was racing to his side and enveloping him in a hug. “Thank you.”

Kane froze as he felt his arms wrapped around him. This wasn’t the first time he had felt her so close, but this was the first time she had ever initiated any contact, and the thoughts had him gripping his desk hard.

And the fact that he was so close to her that he would perceive the scent of her soap, but nothing could overshadow her scent-the ones that kept him teetering on the edge whenever he was close, or the electricity that sizzled with their contact.

“Hmmm.” Kane took a deep breath, letting her fill all of him, rejuvenating every dead cell in him. “You are welcome.”

***

Ariel collapsed on the floor of the training room, her mouth slightly open, as she tried to catch her breath. She was deadbeat; her muscles were aching; she was probably going to be sore for the rest of the day, but the smile refused to leave her lips.

“Do you want to go another round?” The cute face of Liza popped up in her vision, and Ariel wanted to wipe the smile off her face.

They had been partners in the training, and yet not even one sweat had broken out, omitting her body while she was already knocking on heaven’s door.

“I don’t think I can lift my body up again; I am beat.” She groaned, grabbing the bottle of water that Liza was giving her.

“Hey, you were the one that insisted on it; you don’t have any right to bitch about it.”

That was shutting her up real quick.

She had practically begged Kane to allow her such training, and if the news reached him that it was too much for her, she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to withdraw her from it all.

“Yea yea.”

“Come on, the warriors will soon start coming.” Liza said, stretching her hands to help her to her feet, and Ariel took it willingly.

Liza only saw her off to her door before she left for hers, and Ariel opened her door, beelining straight to the bathroom. She sighed in bliss as the warm water ran down her body, with it all the grime and sweat.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

She heard a knock just as she turned off the shower, and she was wrapping the towel around her frame and coming out.

It couldn’t be lunch as it wasn’t even noon, so it left one person.

“Kane, I fancy seeing you here.” Ariel clutched the towel a little tighter, afraid that just one word from this man and she would be losing the towel.

The man took a look at her, his pupil dilating in appreciation as he stared at the goddess in front of him. He had almost forgotten the reason he had sought her.

He cleared his throat, trying to will himself to think of anything other than the water dripping down her body-her very naked body that was only covered by a towel and he tried to focus on the reason he came.

“What do you say we go on a date?”