The Alpha Summit

Chapter Four

*small self-harm trigger warning*

Mel studied Achillies' dark demeanor and pursed her lips together. She was conflicted about what she was going to do.

"What now?" She asked her mate.

Achillies lifted his head slightly, "Well, I know what I want to happen. I want you to come live with me and be my Luna."

Mel cut Achillies off with a surprised gasp. She wasn't sure if she could do that, or if she even wanted to.

"I'm guessing that's not what you want though," Achillies finished.

Mel bit the inside of her cheek in thought. What did she want to do? It wasn't something that was often asked of her. She was used to being told or demanded what she should do, but now she had a choice. An important choice at that.

"I know two things," Mel began, steadily. "I know that I want to pursue a relationship with you because you are my mate."

Mel could see Achillies' face light up, but she couldn't let him think it was going to be easy for him to win her over. Her title meant a lot to her and she didn't take that lightly.

"But," she added, much to Achillies' disappointment. "I also know that my Gamma title is something that matters to me and I also want to pursue that."

Achilles looked at Mel in confusion. Being a Luna was significantly better than being a Gamma. If she came with him she could have both of the things she wanted, but she wanted to stay here. His wolf growled at the thought of leaving her.

"Why do you want to stay here? You can have everything you want with me. I can't say I understand." Achillies said.

"Think about, put yourself in my shoes. I trained my entire life to be a Gamma. I was so prepared and excited to lead with new ideas and the passion that I had. My parents were so proud that I was going to carry on our family name and legacy, but then they...died. My entire world as I knew it was stripped away from me and I was alone. Suddenly I was thrown here where I was an Omega and I had nobody. I worked to pull myself out of the crippling sadness I felt every day and I did my best to serve my new role. Then I met Jax."

Mel glanced at Achillies when he sent out a sharp growl. She put her hand on his and continued.

"Jax was the first friend that I made here. He was willing to help me and hear what I had to say and he made me feel not so alone. And then he got me that Gamma position. Of course, not many people were happy about it, but I plan to earn it and show them that I am worthy. I want to show everybody that I can be a strong leader despite what happened to me. But most importantly, I want to do this for my parents."

Mel's eyes started to water and her voice became slightly unsteady.

"My- my parents won't get to see me grow up, and I just want to do this one thing for them. I want them to look down on me and be proud, you know?"

Achillies thought of her in awe, but with a stoic face he said, "I get it."

Achillies did get it. His parents were still alive, but they didn't care about him. They had always expected the best from him and just moved on. But Achillies had stopped trying to make them proud years ago.

"So my question still stands," Mel said, wiping blood on her skirt. "What now?"

Achillies looked down at his mate's hand at precisely the same time Jax shoved open the white door. Achilles' eyes snapped up at the bot holding a first-aid kit and a wet rag. When Jax made his way towards Mel Achillies snatched the materials and went to work on his mate.