Aether's Claim | Editing

Chapter 17

I stared at my curtains as the sun inched higher with each passing hour, the moon giving way to its more loved counterpart.

Another sleepless night...

After my father passed, nightmares had been a frequent occurrence for me, many nights filled with intense fear and sadness when I was younger, as I grew older however, they had subsided. Now, with all this stress and uncertainty they had returned, and with that an insatiable hunger for rest that I would never receive.

After Ares left all I could do was cry, my mother had returned but she sensed something bad had happened so left me alone. No news from Aether yet, but I suspected if Ares had told his father of our plans, he would stay away for a while.

My head throbbed as the light began to infiltrate my bedroom, my stomach turning as soon as the thought of breakfast crossed my mind. I would have to go without eating for a while.

I needed to ask Alpha Warren if I could leave, if not now, then I would never get it done and I would be stuck here. Aether would move back to his pack, and I would be forced to watch Riven and Ares create a life together...a life that should have been mine.

I brushed the thoughts away; I needed to move on and see that a life with Ares was never going to happen. That morning I had almost marked him, I shivered at the thought, he had told me that he would never mark Riven...but was I really going to trust his words?

I rolled out of bed and began to formulate a plan in my head. Ares was correct when he said the chances of his father willingly letting me go with Aether weren't certain, so I needed to know exactly what I was going to say.

The loss of a pack member, even temporarily, was not something to be taken lightly. Each pack valued and thrived on the amount of pack members they had, it was their pride, showed their strength, and was intimidating to other packs when the tendrils of war threatened to be released.

I had hope that it would be easy to persuade him, though, as he had shown me more than once he was not pleased that I was Ares' mate. My leaving meant that Ares would be free to move forward with officially mating with Riven, and that he would finally take over as Alpha once his father was ready to step down.

I got ready, showering and making myself presentable, and headed in the direction of Alpha Warren's office. I didn't want to waste any more time on the matter, I didn't want to risk changing my mind, and if Ares really had told his father, it meant Alpha Warren was already expecting me.

The pack was fully awake by the time I left, so I kept my head down and shuffled past people, trying not to draw too much attention to myself. A few eyes lingered too long but I tried my best to think nothing of it; curiosity was a dominant trait in wolves.

My heart hammered in my chest as I stood in front of the door to Alpha Warren's office. I hadn't picked up Ares' scent, meaning he wasn't anywhere around at the moment, but both Alpha Warren and Luna Grace's scent were heavily present by the door, indicating they were inside.

They knew I was here, too, as before I could lift my hand to knock the door was swung open and Luna Grace was greeting me with a warm smile, bright eyes welcomed me with no malice behind them.

I sensed Alpha Warren behind her and, peeking over her shoulder quickly, I was confirmed of his presence. Dark eyes looming past his wife at me...putting me on edge. He wasn't happy, and my wolf sensed it too, pacing anxiously as Luna Grace stepped aside to let me in.

"Alpha Warren, Luna Grace." I greeted respectfully, gaze at the floor.

"May." He said with a sigh, shuffling papers on his desk. My wolf longed to bare her neck, feeling ashamed for bothering her Alpha, but I knew what he was doing. Deep down I knew every time he saw me his wolf's disdain for the decision to serve pack over mate law surfaced, and no matter how hard he tried to deny it, he too felt immense guilt.