Yes, My Alpha: Mother of an Empire

Chapter 19

Hyde's eyes shook and it seemed his legs gave out, Ophelia let go of his chin and took a step back as he fell to the ground on his knees. "I..." He stuttered looking pale, he fell on his hands, he was kneeling now. Ophelia took no pleasure in the sight but was glad he managed to get the idea finally. Ophelia reached down and took her coat off of him slipping it onto her shoulders. 

"If you loved Hart as much as you've said." Ophelia spoke after a moment, "You should've asked him what he wanted." She continued, she turned away, "For all you know, what he wanted most could've been to be with you." She glanced over her shoulder seeing the devastated look on Hyde's face. "But because you didn't know what you were worth and you decided to make that choice for him..." Ophelia trailed off facing forward.

"Well, you're where you are now," Ophelia added before walking off and leaving Hyde behind. 

The rain let up only slightly later that morning. Having a deadline to meet, the party packed up and headed for their destination. The road was nothing but mud and slush, Ophelia trudged through the mud following close behind the generals. She saw no need to keep her distance now, besides Lionel had insisted on it with a teasing grin.

Ophelia had hoped Lionel would've forgotten that he caught her and Darius alone together but it seemed the old man had a good memory for things Ophelia wanted him to forget. The generals were mostly quiet, Darius being silent for most of the march. Ophelia had thought at first Darius was upset with her but he had glanced over at her a few times letting her catch him looking at her.

He didn't seem upset, instead, Ophelia got the feeling he was just watching her. Like he wanted to see something out of her, as for what that was, Ophelia tried not to think about it. Especially after Hart and Hyde put thoughts of being empress in her head. Those thoughts made her think weird things. Like making her think that Darius was testing her just for that...

How ridiculous.

They liked each other that was for sure, and it may be just Ophelia's opinion but she liked how they were together. While she could only speak for herself she enjoyed being around Darius. She could only hope that he felt the same. 

Thankfully the march wasn't unbearably long to the meeting point. The group settled in under some trees near the meeting spot watching the storm. Lionel made work of cooking up a stew for everyone which Ophelia was grateful for, she sat on a log off to the side eating her food as Lionel helped everyone else get their fill before grabbing the rest of the pot for himself. She had expected the old man to make his way over and sit beside her but instead.

The vague smell of flowers filled her nose and she looked over seeing Darius quietly sitting beside her eating. Their eyes met and she gave him a slight nod before turning to her food. While Darius had kept his distance from her for the most part on this trip. Only moving close to her whenever she was off by herself... It was clear that Darius deciding to sit next to her now was a clear message to everyone else on the trip. It was no light matter to have someone as high ranking as him sitting next to her while eating. 

Lionel did it often because he didn't care for rank and he liked Ophelia. Everyone knew in the army that she was favored by the old general because of his actions. So Darius doing this was telling everyone that she was favored by him too. It was loud and clear despite Darius not saying a single word.

As for who the message was meant for... Ophelia couldn't decide if it was the other cadets, or when she saw Hart's pale face when they made eye contact... If it was for Hart. 

Ophelia got the sense that the alpha man said something he shouldn't to Darius. She clicked her tongue as she looked away. Wanting to eat slowly she sat her bowl on her lap. She was about halfway done with her food she planned on pairing some bread she had brought with her to help fill her up more. Feeling a gust of wind near her food she looked down and noticed a large piece of meat that had been left over was suddenly gone.

She looked over at Darius who sat there quietly chewing, she noticed his bowl was empty. She mentally scratched the idea that Darius had been showing his favoritism by sitting by her. She narrowed her eyes. The little bastard just wanted to steal her food.

"Oh, you think you're slick." Ophelia said quietly, Darius swallowed before looking at her out of the corner of his eye, "Oh I know I am." Darius replied with a smirk on his lips. Ophelia sneered rolling her eyes, she then turned away from him. "Reeds!" Darius complained. She ignored him pulling out the bread from her bag.

"You had bread and you're not even sharing?" He complained, Ophelia glanced over at him and smirked. "Well, I thought about it until a little rat decided to steal food straight out of my bowl." She replied before purposely shoving the bread in her mouth, it wasn't a large piece and it was barely just big enough to share between two people. 

Darius glared at her watching her chew on the bread, "Oh please," he scoffed, "As if you putting it in your mouth is going to stop me." Ophelia glanced over at him wondering what he meant. Darius picked up his cantine and took a sip out of it before smirking. "I've already had my tongue halfway down your throat." He spoke lowly with a heated gaze.

Ophelia choked on her food.

Darius cackled before handing her his cantine. Taking a drink from it Ophelia swallowed and noticed her bowl was missing. She turned and saw Darius grinning ear to ear as he ate out of it. "You little snake." She sneered, Darius chuckled, "But I'm eating for two Reeds." He said teasingly. "Do I look fucking stupid to you?" Ophelia spat glaring at him, she knew instantly the commander was lying about being pregnant. 

Darius huffed, "Well I had to try." He sighed handing her the bowl back, Ophelia took it back and scoffed. She took a sip out of the leftover broth seeing as that was mostly what was left after Darius. The commander watched her with vague amusement and then spoke up, "Especially considering you're going to be empress." He spoke up, and Ophelia choked again coughing on the broth.

Oh God, he heard her earlier...!

Melodic laughter filled the air as Darius laughed at Ophelia's reaction. Ophelia felt her face burning as she wiped her mouth letting out a few more coughs. Ophelia ran through her memory trying to figure out where the little snake had been hiding earlier... She shot a dirty look at Darius who smiled innocently at her. 

"You hear the darndest things when you go for a walk," Darius said with a sweet tone to his voice. Ophelia looked away not willing to meet the omega's gaze, she had only said that to scare Hyde. She hadn't planned on Darius hearing what she said at all. She felt Darius's stare dig into the side of her face. "I don't actually think I'm going to..." Ophelia tried to defend herself, but Darius shifted moving closer to her. "Well everyone else seems convinced you already are." Ophelia looked down at him trying to figure out if he was messing with her or being serious.

Darius smirked at her once she made eye contact again, "My favorite part was when you told him to kneel."