Born An Alpha

Chapter 9

*CELESTE’S P.O.V*

I didn’t want to leave his arms but my phone ringing reminded me that my mom was waiting for me. I quickly say goodbye to Noah and make my way outside. That’s when my phone went off again. Only this time it wasn’t my mom, it was Scott. It had become obvious to me now that I loved him as a friend. How could I not love him? He was there for me when everyone else made me feel alone. It was also nice to have the attention of a guy for once. He really was caring in every way but the closer I got to my eighteenth birthday, the stronger my feelings for Noah got. The mate bond was strong enough for me to sense it even without my wolf yet.

I had to tell Scott the truth… he deserved to know. Our last conversation plays in my head over and over. As I look through the racks of gowns, Scott’s words replay in my head.

I’m staying with Michael’s family until after the ball…

Will you be my date?…

I want to see you. Can we hang out today?

I’ll see you tomorrow.

I don’t know how it’s possible for me to be his date. Alphas are prohibited from taking anyone who isn’t also an alpha. How will I tell Noah that Scott will be my date to the ball? Perhaps I shouldn’t tell him… at least not yet.

“What about this one?” My mom asks holding a pink puffy sleeve taffeta gown. I scrunch my face at the gown and she rolls her eyes while putting the dress back. Maybe it’s a good thing I came after all.

“So…do you know who will be escorting you to the ball yet?” My mom asks. Avoiding her eyes, I shake my head in response. “Don’t worry, you’ll know by tomorrow”.

She holds out a ruffled dress which makes me burst out laughing.

“Celeste! Then you choose” she tells me annoyed. She leaves to look at the shoes, leaving me alone. Looking for a gown is easier said than done.

After countless hours and stores, I finally find the perfect dress. A lilac off-the-shoulder scoop neck beading gown. We find matching heels and accessories. I can’t believe how beautiful this gown is. It was a bit pricey but it was just too beautiful to leave.

“We can do a half-up half-down hairstyle” My mom tells me, “The tiara should be getting here tomorrow”.

“Isn’t a tiara a bit much?” I ask.

She gives me a puzzled look before laughing, “Celeste! You’re supposed to wear one. It’s the final touch of elegance”.

I roll my eyes as we get inside the car. We’re half way home when her phone rings.

“Hi baby! How’s class?… Oh, that’s good… Really?… That’s great!… I’ll let her know!” My mom squeals as she ends the call.

“Who was that?” I ask looking at the road.

“Andrea! She’s coming home this weekend for the ball.”

I smile at her words as I’ve missed my sister so much. Andrea leaving for college was the hardest departure for me. When Max left, the house was eerie quiet but I still had Andrea. Once she left, it got even quieter.

“What time is she getting here?” I ask gleefully.

“Friday morning” My mom tells me as she pulls into the pack entrance. Once out of the car my mom hands me the bags.

“You go ahead, I need to discuss some things with Arnold” she tells me. I nod as I almost run home. Once upstairs I set the bags down by the bed and see the missed phone calls from Michael, Noah and… Cynthia. I frown at the last name and choose not to call anyone. What worries me the most is Cynthia calling me. I shower and change into some pajamas. Skipping dinner, I head straight for bed. Once my head hits the pillow, I drift off into another dream.

“The twins are safe now”, A man whispers to a young boy next to him. The man looks to be about in his late twenties and the boy looks no older than 9 or 10 years old.

“Now what dad?” The little boy asks the man. He shrugs as they walk around the grounds of a burned down pack.

“We’ll see them again” he tells the boy as he moves rubble from his path, “In due time”.

I wake up in a gasp as I hold my chest. My body runs a cold sweat so I push my comforter off the bed. The clock reads 5am. Since Alpha Sean was still in the region, my dad thought it was too risky to continue our morning trainings. When Sean leaves then we can resume training. I lay back down and try to get some more sleep.

Couple of hours later…

The only thing keeping me awake this morning was the double shot of expresó I had. To my surprise, my dad was driving me to school this morning.

“How are your classes going?” He asks me.

“Fine” I mumble. I tug on the sleeves of my cardigan as he eyes me suspiciously. I can’t help but wonder if something else is going on.

“How are your friends? Do you guys still hang out?” He asks slowly.

“Mmhmm”

He clears his throat as he keeps driving. I notice that he keeps watching me through the corner of his eye. The silence goes on longer than I’d like.

“Do you know if they went to that party at the Ridleys?” He asks.

“No clue” I lie. Of course I knew. I was there along with them but I can’t tell him that.

“Because you and Noah stayed in… right?” He asks slowly. I nod as I keep watching the road. No idea why he was asking about that party when it happened two weeks ago. I try not to fidget so much so I wouldn’t raise suspicions.

“A lot of people got hurt that night” He tells me, “An embarrassment to Alpha Ridley… since all those rebels got away”.

My mouth falls open at his words since this information wasn’t revealed to anyone.

He pulls into the school’s driveway as I relax.

“Bye dad, see you later” I tell him as I get out of the car.

“You too”. He eyes me as I stop by door. I watch him pull out of the driveway and continue his drive to work.

Walking into school, everyone is gossiping and smiling as today they’ll know who their date to the ball is.

I quietly walk upstairs to find an empty classroom and compose myself. My dad questioning me about the Ridley party had me on edge. Perhaps he knew I was at that party. If he does know, then he also knows I lied to him. Opening the door to the first classroom I see, I gasp in surprise. Two people aggressively making out as the boy feels her up. They stop once they see me standing there. Quickly closing the door, I run upstairs once more where I bump into Amirah. This day just keeps getting better.

“Watch it!” She yells at me. I only nod as I try to move past her. “What? No smart comment?” She asks while crossing her arms.

“I’m just trying to get to class”

She keeps blocking my way. I roll my eyes as I hear someone yelling my name.

“Why does Cynthia sound so desperate?… could it be that you saw her with one of her many-“

“What are you talking about?” I interrupt her. She grabs my hand and pulls me upstairs. We turn a corner and she pulls me into a closet.

“Your friend is not as innocent as she pretends” She smirks as she continues, “I’m guessing you saw her with one of her many flings”.

“Who else has she been with?” I ask. Amirah only laughs as she rolls her eyes at me. “Well?”

“Let’s just say… don’t be surprised if tries to steal Scott away from you” She tells me. She tries to open the door but I slam the door shut.

“Why are you telling me this?” I say, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Yes, your goody two shoes behavior is annoying and you could dress better…” I suck my teeth at her remarks which makes her laugh harder, “But I don’t entirely hate you. It’s Cynthia I hate. Your friend tried to steal Derek away from me. And since your friends with her-“

“Cynthia and I are not the same” I snap back. We hear the class bell rings and she opens the door again.

She walks out and smirks before disappearing into a full hallway now. I refuse to believe this about my friend but lately her behavior was questionable. Even though I have no right to judge her, I didn’t want her to make a fool out of Noah.

I sit near the back of every class as I try to avoid everyone. So far no sign of Scott which makes me relax a little. During lunch, I make my way to the roof. It’s entirely peaceful today as the sun is partially blocked by the clouds. I’m five minutes into my lunch break when I hear the door opening. Scott emerges with a huge grin on his face. He waves his lunch bag as I smile back at him.

“Saw you come up here” he tells me as he sits next to me, “thought I might join you”

“Where have you been? I haven’t seen you roaming the halls”

He laughs as he pulls out a bag of sliced apples, “Had a meeting with Murphy. Told me it was an honor to have me”

I laugh as he says this.

“Why are you up here?” He asks looking around.

“It’s peaceful up here” I tell him honestly. He smiles at me and suddenly I feel my cheeks burning. I give him a nervous smile as he continue to watch me.

“I’ve missed you” he tells me while leaning in.

I freeze as I watch him come closer to me. I can’t let this continue. My conscious is telling me to tell him the truth. The truth about my mate, Noah. He suddenly stops as we hear shouting from below. We set our things down and crawl to the edge of the roof. I see Alex fighting someone who’s on the floor. When Lucas pushes Alex off, I realize it’s the same guy Cynthia was making out with this morning. Kevin DiMarco, a beta. Lucas holds Alex as Kevin gets up and starts punching him. I gasp as someone else helps Lucas in holding Alex down.

“Come on get up” I hear Scott mutter to himself.

Michael tries to intervene but more people prevent him from helping. The shouting and screaming increases as the fight turns more gruesome.

“Not so tough gamma!!” Kevin yells as he throws another punch. It keeps getting harder to watch as Alex is all bloody and limp. My heart sinks as I realize nobody is helping him.

Suddenly Noah appears and hurdles Lucas to the other side. This allows Michael a chance to get by and throw Kevin off. Noah tries to get to Alex but Lucas appears on his feet. He takes a swing at Noah but misses. He accidentally hits a random student which then leads to a massive brawl.

Unable to watch this anymore, I roll on my back and stare up at the sky. The clouds are completely covering the sun now. I block out the noise and focus on the clouds passing by.

“Is it true all the rebels escaped that day?” I suddenly ask Scott. He sighs as he lays down next to me.

“What?”

I turn to face him, “The rebels that attacked the party… did they escape?”

“How did you know?”

“My dad” I tell him quietly.

He doesn’t say anything but I can see his puzzled expression.

“Does my dad know I was there?” I ask him quickly.

He shakes his head before answering, “He knows Alex was there though… the security cameras caught his license plate”. I sigh in relief, I just hope my dad won’t ever find out I was there.

Suddenly Scott is on his feet and holding his hand out to me. He smiles as he says, “Let’s get out of here”.

I laugh and take his hand which pulls me to my feet. We make our way downstairs and watch as the guards are trying to break up the fight.

Sneaking away, Scott finds his car and we quickly get inside. He pulls out of the driveway and onto the road. He speeds away before anyone can see us leaving.

“Where are we going?” I ask him. He laughs as he continues to drive.

“You’ll see!”

In twenty minutes we get to an off-road woods.

“It’s a ten minute walk from here” He says as he leads me further into the woods. I feel the flutter in my stomach as my chest feels heavy. The guilt of being here with Scott is eating at me. Why does it feel like I’m cheating on Noah? It’s not like anything is happening by being here alone with Scott. But something could happen. Suddenly I have the urge to turn back around.

“Hey Scott-“

“There it is!” He excitedly points to the small covered bridge just up ahead.

My mouth falls open as I admire such beauty.

“Come on!” He pulls me by the hand as we run to stand on the bridge. I look down and stare at the crystal blue waters. I see my reflection staring back at me.

“How did you find this place?” I ask him.

“Exploring” he tells me laughing, “it was like something pulled me to find this place”.

I watch as he climbs on to the top railing and pulls off his shirt. He winks at me as he notices me staring at him. Suddenly he dives into the water as I scream for him.

I hear the splash at the end followed by laughter.

“Come on in Celeste!” He yells at me. I look down at him to see him smiling.

“No thanks!” I yell back.

“Oh come on! The best swimmer at her school doesn’t want to race?! Afraid you’ll lose?!” He teases.

Oh, he’s going to regret those words! I love a good challenge and this should be a piece of cake. He laughs as I take off my shoes and socks.

“Oh I’m so scared!” He continues teasing. I take off my cardigan and pull my hair into a ponytail. Stepping over the railing, I see him pretending to swim away. Without hesitation, I dive into the waters. I come up and see that he has begun to swim away. In an instant I begin to catch up to him. Even with my clothing weighting me down, I’m swimming faster than him. The water feels so relaxing against my face and after this morning, I needed this. I don’t even notice how fast I’m going until I stop. From a distance, I see his head bobbing up and down. Waiting for him to catch up, I turn to float on my back.

“You’re mocking me” he says panting while reaching to where I am. I laugh as he tries to submerge me in the water.

“Better luck next time!” I yell at him.

“Celeste!” He says laughing.

After another hour of winning every swim race, we decide to leave.

“Thank you” I turn to tell him, “I didn’t know I needed this”. He smiles as I tell him this.

“Honestly…so did I” He runs his fingers through his hair as we continue to make our way to the bridge.

“Scott?”

“Hmm?”

I pause before saying, “How am I your date to the ball?”

He does say anything but I know he can feel my eyes burning into him.

“What do you mean?”

“Scott, you know what I’m talking about” I tell him, “Alphas can’t date betas” I say quietly.

My eyes drop as the last words leave my lips. In that moment all I think of is Noah. Even though he’s full of optimism and hope, we can’t ever be together. It’s next to impossible for us to be together, even if we are mates.

I feel a muscular arm wrap around me as he caresses my wet hair.

“I have my ways” he tells me, “We’ll be the envy of the night”. I look up at him and see his warm glistening eyes. He smiles as he continue to stare at me. Still in his arms, I try to put some distance between us.

“Scott I have to tell you something…” I had to tell him I found my mate. I wasn’t going to tell him it was Noah but I had to tell him I found my true mate.

He tries to lean in but this time I put my hand on his chest to stop him. I see the confused look on his face as I do this.

“Scott-“ I start but suddenly feel my legs giving out. I grip his arm to keep myself from falling.

“Celeste?!” He yells. I feel my body give out as I land on the dirt ground. Even though he’s right next to me, I hear his voice far away.

Suddenly it’s nighttime and I’m on the bridge. A groups of people run past me as their covered in dirt and soot. They don’t notice me standing here.

“Hello?!” I shout towards them but they don’t hear me. They don’t turn around or even look my way… it’s like I’m not there.

A van flashes it’s headlights and they all start to get in. I try to move towards them but it’s like my feet are glued to the ground.

“It’s too many people! We’ll get caught!” The same man from my dream this morning! He looks worried as he counts all the people in his van.

“We are not leaving them behind!” The woman huffs as she tries to squeeze more people in, “We have a duty to save them!”.

“Fine!” He looks at the people before looking at her. “Where are the twins?”

Now she’s the one with a worried look on her face. She sighs as she shakes her head. Once everyone is inside, she closes the door to the van. He pulls her away from prying ears and even closer to where I am.

“I could only find the boy” She tells him. She starts to cry as she continues, “Someone else must have rescued the girl”. He messages his temples with his fingers as he sighs.

“We’ll find her…sooner or later.” They walk back to the van and it speeds away. I’m left on that bridge with my stunned expression.

I wake up in a gasp as I hold my chest. Scott’s arms hold me in place as I realize the sun is now setting.

“Celeste?! Are you okay?” He holds me tighter as I feel how weak my body has gotten. I nod as I muster enough energy to stand on my own. At this point, I wish nothing more than to be in bed sleeping.

“Can you take me home?” I ask quietly. He nods and I drape my arm around his shoulder. He hunches to hold me by the waist. Walking carefully, I realize how late it is. I just hope my parents aren’t home so they don’t question me. Once near his car, he opens the door to the passenger side. Hesitating to get in, I stand awkwardly by the door.

“I don’t want to get the seat wet and dirty” I admit to him. He laughs as I say this.

“I have some gym clothes inside my trunk. Wait here” He goes around the car and starts digging around. I slightly shiver as my wet clothes touch my body.

“Here” He hands me a sweatshirt and joggers. “Sorry if it’s too big”

I smile as I take the clothes.

“I’ll change behind a tree and you can dress here. Yell for me when your ready” he tells me.

I nod and watch him walk further into the woods. Taking off my clothes, I carefully put on his clothes. His scent must be strong on me now and I can only hope Noah doesn’t see me tonight.

“Done!” I yell. Hearing the rustling off the leaves, he emerges from the woods. He runs on the bridge and picks up the rest of our clothes. I put my shoes on and get into the car.

“How are you feeling?” He asks once we’re on the road.

“Fine” I tell him, “I’m just tired”.

“Has that ever happened before?” He asks me.

“No, never” I lie to him. It wasn’t a total lie. These visions had always happened when I was asleep but never when I was awake.

“Maybe I should take you to the Ridley’s pack doctors” He tells me, “They should do a quick check up”

“No Scott, I’m fine”

He sighs, “Are you sure? Because you were unconscious for a while”.

“I’m sure”, I place my hand on his to ease his worries. He turns to smile at me as I do this. “I just need to sleep it off”.

“Fine” he says in a groan.

As we pull into my pack’s entrance, four guards command us to stop. Once they see it’s me in the passenger side, they allow us to proceed. He parks the car and tries to accompany me to my house.

“No, Scott it’s fine” I tell him before he gets out.

“Are you sure?” I nod but before I can open the car door, he grabs my face and gives me a quick kiss.

“I just had to that before you left” I can feel my cheeks burn red as I see him smiling. I say goodbye and slowly walk home as he stays parked. Halfway home I turn around to see him. He smiles as I wave goodbye.

Hearing the car driving away, I sigh as I relax in step. I just hope no one is home.