Yes, My Alpha: Mother of an Empire

Chapter 25

When the fish was finally done, the two settled down to eat, using some flat stones that had been washed off as plates the two of them sat quietly eating. "Why do you have silverware in your bag but no plates?" Ophelia questioned, "Because they were in my horse's saddle bag." Darius replied a bit sarcastically. "Fair enough," Ophelia replied taking a drink of water out of her canteen. Hearing audible gulps Ophelia looked over and saw Darius nursing his canteen full of wine.

Ophelia glanced up at the burning afternoon sun, it was hotter than usual. It wasn't exactly the best idea to drink that much while directly under the sun. In Ophelia's experience... That usually got people drunker faster than normal. "Do you really think that's such a good idea?" Ophelia questioned concerned, Darius glanced at her out of the corner of his eye waving her off. He released the canteen with a breath. "It's fine." He took another breath, "You can carry me again if I get too drunk to walk." He spoke confidently.

Ophelia stared noticing Darius already starting to lean as he looked at her, "Are you sure you won't say or do anything embarrassing?" Ophelia questioned, Darius shrugged, "If anything I'll probably just talk about how nice your ass is." He confessed, and Ophelia stared unaffected by the sudden confession. "I've noticed you seem to like it." She flatly replied remembering Darius's stares and wandering hands.

She then spotted Darius narrowing his eyes as if he was having difficulty seeing now too. "I do." Darius replied, "Anyway," He looked away, "I've done more embarrassing things and you haven't said a word." He shrugged, he looked relaxed and as if he trusted that Ophelia wouldn't give him a hard time over this. Darius glanced down at his food and made a face as if he wasn't a fan of fish. He sat it to the side and moved closer to Ophelia before flopping his head down on her lap.

At first, Ophelia didn't have a problem with that until Darius opened his canteen again and was working on finishing it off. She sat her food to the side and let out a breath, "Don't lie down and drink." She made Darius sit up, "Reeds..." Darius complained until Ophelia patted her lap. "Lean against me." She told him, Darius eyed her looking a bit tipsy. "What?" He asked leaning towards her, "Are we going to talk about the first thing that pops up?" He joked, "If that were the case I would've talked more about the thing on you that popped up earlier commander." Ophelia deadpanned.

A proud smirk appeared on Darius's lips, he didn't seem the least bit ashamed. He then got up taking a step closer to her before ungraciously flopping down in her lap. He turned placing both of his legs on each side of her. He was facing her, wrapping his arms around her neck, and leaning his head on her shoulder. "That's better." He seemed pleased with this new position.

He then held up his hand with the canteen with wine in it. "You should drink some." He suddenly suggested, "I want us to get to some shelter before nightfall. If we're both drunk we won't be able to find it." Ophelia reasoned, "Damn it, I wanted to see you drunk." Darius huffed, "What are you like drunk?" He asked after a moment.

"I can't remember, ask Lionel," Ophelia replied shrugging, during one of the many stops in the last few months she was in the army. Lionel had dragged her off to a pub, the two of them got drunk and Ophelia couldn't remember anything. Darius leaned back glaring at her. "You let him see you drunk before me?!" Darius slurred his words slightly as he shouted at Ophelia.

A sad look came over his face, "That's not fair..." he complained, wrapping his arms around Ophelia and resting his head on her shoulder. "Why is it so important to you?" Ophelia asked a bit exasperated, "I want to see everything about you." Darius spoke softly, he moved closer. "You're so beautiful," he mumbled burying his face in her neck.

Her eyes widened and she felt her face burn, Ophelia was about to speak when she heard extremely loud purring from Darius. Smiling she shook her head and held him as she packed up. Managing to situate herself and Darius's things, she carried the drunk commander through the forest following the river.

The forest was silent save for the sound of the river babbling and Darius's loud purrs. While he was awake earlier, the omega was sleeping soundly as she carried him. While the terror of running for their lives and worrying for Darius's safety had frightened Ophelia just a day ago. Today, with Darius drunkenly purring on her back and the nice weather it seemed like it was a nice day.

As evening fell over them, Ophelia found another cave to settle into, which was larger than the last. Clearing out a spot for Darius. Ophelia built a small bed of leaves before placing her coat on top of it so he didn't have to lay directly on them. Darius buried his face into the coat around the collar obviously comforted by her smell in his drunken state.

Staying nearby Ophelia hunted capturing a small elk buck that she made quick work of. She cleaned off the fur and was letting it dry by the fire as the meat hung over the fire cooking slowly. She sharpened her axe quietly glancing over at Darius every so often as she kept watch. They were getting closer to camp now, so they had to be careful that no one was following them. Ophelia reached into her bag looking for the book Hart had handed off to her before realizing... It was in her rucksack.

She sighed hoping that someone would pick it up, glancing back over at Darius Ophelia was curious as to why Darius hadn't seemed worried about the others. Of course, Lionel had only handed Darius off to Ophelia because he got injured... Considering that the real target had been Darius, it's likely the others were left alone.

Besides it's not as if Lionel would be any less of a monster without help. Being trained by the alpha man alone made Ophelia realize how strong Lionel was. It wasn't as if Ophelia herself was weak, but Lionel in comparison despite his age was monstrous and working to make sure that Ophelia was just the same. Or at least that's what he told her. Ophelia was pulled out of her thoughts noticing faintly some movement near the entrance of the cave.

While the night was quiet, and Ophelia stared at the opposite wall of the cave. Ophelia felt her senses on edge, she had been in situations many times where things seemed too peaceful. This was one of them, her experience told her that when things got this way something was coming. Ophelia closed her eyes for a moment, she let her head hang as she listened carefully.

She was purposefully making it appear as if she was falling asleep. Bobbing her head a bit and forcing her eyes back open before finally relaxing. She let out slow even breaths and shifted only slightly as if she had fallen asleep. But despite her appearance, she was completely awake. After a few minutes, Ophelia's ears perked up hearing muted footsteps slowly approach, keeping her breathing slow and quiet she carefully wrapped her hand around the handle of her axe.

Then, when the approaching figure was just close enough, Ophelia snapped her eyes open with her axe in hand just about to... She froze instantly. Darius stood there staring at her clearly drunk. She let out a breath relaxing, "Commander..." She lowered her hand. Darius tilted his head, "As if you'd be able to." he slurred his words unbothered by her brandishing her axe. Ophelia let out a sigh, "Probably not." She confessed feeling relieved it was just Darius. Leaning back she sat her axe down beside her.

She then noticed Darius had her jacket on his shoulders, it was much longer than him and pooled around his feet on the floor. He eyed her, "Make room." He ordered with a yawn, he looked like he was still half asleep. Ophelia's legs had been propped up so she lowered them, and just as she did Darius flopped into her lap. He sat in much the same manner as she did at the river. He hugged her tightly swaying a bit, it was then Ophelia noticed his movements seemed a bit exaggerated.

While she had only a few minutes of experience with Darius when he was drunk. She could tell that the commander wouldn't be the type of drunk to sway so easily. Especially considering how many hours it had been since he last drank... To be honest he should be much more sober... Ophelia froze when the thought occurred to her.

Darius leaned back and their eyes met, Ophelia saw a sharp present look in his eyes. He wasn't drunk... Ophelia realized, carefully she reached down grabbing the handle of her axe again. "Reeds..." Darius slurred his words, "Kiss..." He demanded.

Ophelia kissed him trying to look natural as possible, purposely moving her lips to the side of his face towards the outside of the cave she kissed his cheek and then his neck. "Three outside." Darius's hushed voice was in her ear. "The fire glinted off of one of their knives in the bushes." He explained, Ophelia slid her hand down his back trying to behave as if she thought they were in private.

"Commander." She spoke, "What should we do?" She let her voice be thick with a flirtatious tone as she turned Darius's face towards her. The omega, completely sober, smiled at her placing a hand on her cheek.

"Why don't you show me something interesting Reeds?"