The Alpha Summit

Chapter Twelve

Mel's hearing was the first part of her to awaken. She could hear chatter from the pack having breakfast below. The rest of her woke up as soon as she realized a weight on the rest of her body.

She rolled over and was met with Achilles' dark hair messily sprawled everywhere. His arms were tightly around her and she sighed. I guess this hiding we're mates thing isn't going to last much longer. The excited feeling her wolf got nearly made Mel burst out laughing.

She took the time to study Achilles. His eyelashes were enough to make her jealous and she could imagine his icy eyes underneath. Her eyes traced down his sharp jawline to his lips. They were full and she barely held herself from stealing another taste.

She quickly tore her eyes away. She wasn't ready for people to know yet. She already had big enough problems with Circes, her parents, and being the only one that survived. Becoming a Luna to Achilles would be hard enough on its own. Other she-wolves would challenge her. Being a random girl of Gamma's blood would mean the pack would never accept her. She would have to fight for her position.

Mel could fight just fine, but she assumed it would be different when these she-wolves were ready to fight to the death. And her mate was involved. Mel shuddered. She just needed time. She looked back at Achilles' sleeping face.

"I just don't know how much time you are willing to give me, "she whispered almost silently.

As stealthily as ever, Mel ducked out of Achilles' arms and bolted straight for her room. Luckily everybody was either at breakfast or still asleep so Mel wasn't seen.

Mel slammed the door of her room and looked at the alarm clock on her bedside table. It was seven-thirty, which Mel had thirty minutes to get to the garden. Which meant she had to shower the scent of Achilles off of her, get dressed, and eat at the speed of light.

At that realization, Mel ran for the shower. Luckily, she had a bathroom attached to her room. She hadn't paid much attention to it before this, except in her middle of the night bathroom escapades.

She grabbed the soap that was on one of the shelves and started the water. It was warm almost instantly and she hopped in. She scrubbed vigorously as fast as she could. Her hair was only a bit damp as she got out of the shower.

Mel quickly dried off with a fluffy towel. She then threw on a light blue tank top and black leggings. Her hairbrush was thrown through her hair until it was in a high ponytail.

Seven forty-nine. She drew in a deep breath and ran out of her bedroom. Mel ran through the hallways and past people also scrambling about.

Almost falling face first, Mel glided down the stairs and into the dining hall. She yanked a banana off the table and busted out the door. While eating her banana she sped walked to the garden and blended into the debriefing crowd.

"Okay everybody, today group one is going to be pulling weeds from the tomatoes, cilantro, cucumbers, squash, and carrots. Group two will be moving the new mulch from the truck to the front flower gardens. Group three will be trimming the hedges and trees. Any questions. No? Good."

As the people filtered away Mel slowly walked up to the tall man with blue hair. She took his distraction an opportunity and threw her banana peel in the large compost bin.

She cleared her throat, "Um, sir?"

His eyes immediately shot to her and widened.

"Oh! You must be Mel! I nearly forgot about you since you haven't shown up. Why is that?"

Mel get her heart speed up, "I-I just um,"

Mel closed her mouth. What should she say?

A smile crept across the man's face, "I'm just kidding! Dang, you are uptight. The Alpha already told me you were taking care of some old pack business."

Mel sighed heavily and silently cursed Achilles and the man in front of her.

"Anyway, my name is Zora, I think you met my friend Estrella already. She told me you both went shopping and then the Alpha showed up and-"

"Uh, yeah I met her," Mel said cutting Zora off. "She's super nice and I love talking to you and all, but I think I should probably get to work."

Zora laughed, "I almost forgot about that. It's a good thing you are focused."

"Yeah," Mel replied curtly.

Zora looked her over one more time, "I like group three would fit you best. You look as if you would have a good eye."

Mel nodded and turned to walk off, but before she could her arm was grabbed.

"Uh, just one more thing Mel," Zora said apprehensively.

"What is it?"

Zora twirled a piece of his hair, "Be careful. There are some, uh, rumors going around about you."

Mel tightened her ponytail, "Thanks for the heads up."

With that, Mel turned around and walked over to the group that was trimming the larger shapely bushes on the perimeter of the house. Mel assumed they were used to hide the back of the house from passers so they would see the wolves shifted and training. She thought that was rather smart.

She noticed the opened shed and assumed that's where the shears everybody had been. As she walked past some people working on the side hedge, Mel heard some whispers. She knew they must about the rumors Zora had been talking about.

Mel stayed silent and walked into the shed. After her eyes past her rakes and tools galore, she finally spotted the shears. There had to be at least thirty spots to hang them up, and there were only six pairs left hanging. This meant there had to be at least a few people in her group that would talk to her.

Picking the best looking pair of shears, Mel walked out of the shed. She surveyed the hedge and took a spot about three feet to the left of a small blonde-haired girl. The girl just continued snipping away. Mel had to assume she was younger than herself. The girl looked no older than seventeen.

"Are you Melody Sars?"

Mel startled but made sure her shears were kept still. There was now a girl with dark hair to her right. She had a sleek look that made her look not unlike a model.

"Um, yes," Mel replied.

"Wow, you are actually here," the girl said. She quickly turned and yelled to her friends. "Lucinda, Arista, Lena! Come over here, it is her."

"What do you mean?" Mel questioned.

"You are the girl from the pack that was massacred and now you're getting cozy with the Alpha," said a cold-looking Asian girl.

Mel felt bile rise in her throat.

"Yeah, and I heard that you were named Gamma at Dark Fang and then just ran away like a coward, " said the brown-haired girl.

Mel looked to the third girl, waiting for her to add on. She just glared at Mel until her cherry lips opened.

"I just heard that you were a dirty bitch."

Mel felt like she wasn't going to throw up. All of this stuff was true. How did they know this? Her breath started to become shallow.

"Well? are you hoeing around with Achilles and Jax?"

"Do you people ever stop talking? Your incessant buzzing is giving me a headache."

Mel turned to notice it was the blonde girl that had broken her vow of silence.

"Whatever Kasey, at least my only friend didn't dump me for an ugly boy halfway across the world."

"Oh, boy Lucinda you really got me there. I guess I'll go cry about the fact that I didn't peak in high school," Kasey said.

Mel felt her breathing even out a bit, but the nauseous feeling stayed.

Lucinda, the brown-haired one growled, " Don't worry Kasey, I'm sure Mel will dump you like everybody else. But since she's sleeping with the Alpha maybe you'll finally be gone. Goddess knows those suicide attempts didn't work."

Mel watched as Kasey pulled down her sleeves, dropped her shears, and stormed off. The nausea was out of Mel's system as fast as it came.

She turned to the laughing girls and growled.

"You Barbie wannabes better watch out. That girl is going to be the one that running the world someday. Where will you be? With your nasty attitudes, loose tongues, and selfishness you will be hoping for even a fraction of her attention. Praying to the Moon Godess that maybe one of us will give you a scrap of our success," Mel looked each of them in the eyes. "If the Alpha is what you want, go and get him. For the record, we aren't romantically involved. Just don't be surprised when he doesn't go for girls that don't have an ounce of empathy in their bodies."

With that Mel pivoted and went to find Kasey. she didn't care what the other girl's reactions were. All she wanted was to make sure Kasey was okay. Being told that couldn't have had a good effect on her.

Following Kasey's scent, Mel was lead to a forest, but her scent seemed to stop at two large bushes.

"Kasey," Mel called out. "It's Mel. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Mel heard a long sigh before the girl appeared from the bushes.

"Were you hiding in there?"

"Possibly."

Mel smiled, "That's a pretty good spot."

Kasey shrugged, "Yeah, I guess."

Mel didn't even have to ask to know she was hurting.

"Do you want to come to hang out with me? I'm going back to my room and maybe we can get to know each other?"

Kasey rolled her eyes, "You just want to make sure I don't hurt myself, don't you?"

Mel was a bit scared at her perception skills, but she wasn't about to lie to the girl about her, motives.

"Well sort of, but I really do want to get to know you. You seem like a really cool girl."

Kasey scoffed, "My name and cool don't go in the same sentence. Well maybe if the word 'not' was in there too. But what else better do I have to do? Except for work so I don't get in trouble."

"You won't get in trouble," Mel assured.

"How do you know?"

Mel winked, "All of the rumors might not have been fake."

"Well, then, I guess for purely informational purposes I will have to come with you to your room."

Mel nodded, "For sure."

Kasey followed Mel closely as she walked into the packhouse. And while Mel couldn't see a small smile crept its way across her face.

The two paraded up to Mel's room. In the hall, there were more whispering people, but neither seemed to care while in each other company. Soon they were both in Mel's room. In some odd way, they both felt a bit safer behind the closed door.

"I want to ask you a question first and then you can ask me one. I will answer a max of five questions at this moment."

"Jeez, you've thought this out," Mel said, with a giggle.

Kasey jumped onto Mel's bed and sat cross-legged, "I like to know what I'm doing before I do it."

Mel tilted her head, "I guess that makes sense. I better make my questions good."

Kasey smirked, "You'd better."

Mel gestured at Kasey to ask her first question.

"I'll start off easy," Kasey stated. "How old are you Mel?"

"I am eighteen years old. How old are you?"

"If I answer that it will count as your first question."

"So be it, "Mel said dramatically. "I must know the age of my new companion."

"Calm it down before you have a seizure. To answer your question I am fifteen, but will be sixteen soon."

"Oh cool! When?"

"It's not your turn. Are you actually the daughter of the Sar's?"

Mel swallowed, "Getting deep quick. Yes, I am the lone survivor of Red Eye Pack. My parents were the Gamma pair, and I am their child. I was the only person that survived and I still feel guilty about that. I used to think that I didn't deserve to live. I used to think my parents were the best and that my pack was normal, but I'm remembering things now. And," Mel suddenly froze. "And now I am giving you way too much information."

"Wow, that was a lot. I'm not entirely sure how to respond. Except that I'm glad that you're alive. Also, I think I might know something."

Mel furrowed her eyebrows, "What is it?"

"That's a question." Kasey sucked in her cheeks. " I remember hearing about eight years ago that your pack was getting involved with rogues. I was on a trip with my parents and we were at Red Eye. I wandered off to find a good hiding spot and I heard two guys talking about it before they notice me and left."

"Can you describe the men?"

"That also counts."

"Fine."

Kasey drew in a breath, " One guy was taller than the other. A lot taller. The smaller man had light brown hair and I think green eyes and-"

Kasey shuddered. Mel knew what she was going to say. She knew why the girl was scared. But she needed to hear it come out of her mouth. Mel needed the confirmation.

"Described the other man," Mel paused. "Please?"

"You only have one question after this," Kasey said as she started to rock a little. "The other man was almost as tall as the Alpha. He was very pale. It was like he had a vitamin D deficiency. I can still see him so clearly. Right before they left he turned to me. He turned to me and I knew he could see me, see all of me. I was about to scream, but before I could make a sound, he smiled. He smiled so impossibly wide. But that wasn't the scary part. All his teeth were stained. With blood."

Mel cringed. It was Circes. Her old pack must have been heavily involved with him and his rogues. Was he the one that massacred her pack? She had never seen the bodies. What if he-ate them. Mel nearly gagged.

Kasey sat silently rocking back and forth. She knew Mel would ask the question she was waiting for. Everybody did. And then they left.

Mel looked over at Kasey who was now violently rocking. Was she okay?

Kasey-"

"Mel you have one more question. Ask it."

"But Kasey-"

"No. Ask the question. I know what you are going to ask."

"Kasey I don't know what you mean."

Kasey stopped rocking, "Fine. I'll ask for you. I'll ask them all."

"What do you-"

Kasey got up and started pacing, "How do you remember that? Are you obsessed with me? Why are you so smart? Why do you rock like that? Why did you say that? Do you even notice how I'm feeling?"

"Kasey I didn't ask those," Mel said.

"Can you please just ask what you were going to ask? I could see you wanted to ask something."

Mel was lost at her observations again. She was thinking about asking Kasey, but she wasn't sure how it was going to come off. She was rather sure she had met someone that reminded Kasey before.

"Sure, but that counts as a question," Mel looked Kasey in the eyes and Kasey's eyes flew down. "Kasey, do you have Autism?"

"Yes! I do!"

"That's cool!"

Kasey stopped moving, "That's cool?"

Mel grinned widely, "Yes! Neurodivergent people are so much cooler than us boring typical people. Plus you are a super cool person Kasey. See? Your name and cool do go in the same sentence."

"You aren't joking. I can tell when people are joking. Well, I can now."

"No. I genuinely like you Kasey, and as you might be able to tell, I can use all of the friends I can get."

Kasey laughed, "I guess knowing the Alpha doesn't give you all the perks."

Mel spread herself across the bed, "Well, just not the ones you'd think."

Mel couldn't stop those words, but luckily she was with a fifteen-year-old. Maybe she wouldn't catch the obvious innuendo?

"Ew, please don't tell me you have a crush on him. The Alpha literally doesn't like anybody. Plus, if I'm being honest he scares me a bit. I've heard that he's killed hundreds of wolves with his bare hands."

Mel's eyes widened slightly. On one hand, Kasey hadn't caught onto the mate thing. But on the other hand if what Kasey was saying was true, maybe Achilles wasn't the person he always showed her. Hopefully, he hadn't been lying to her.

"Achilles-"

The door slammed open and sure enough, Achilles was standing there eyes pointed straight at Mel.

"Speak of the damn devil," Kasey whispered.

"Mel, Where were you this morning when..."

Achilles successfully trailed off when he noticed that Kasey was in the room as well. She just casually bowed to him.

"Who is this?" He asked.

"Mr. Alpha my name is leave the room."

"Leave the room?" Achilles said confused.

"Your wish is my command. Bye-bye Mel," On her way out Kasey shot Mel a wink.

She definitely knows, Mel thought. Mel was startled by her wolf's sudden appearance at Achilles being in the room. Mel scoffed at her wolf in her head. Not there all day and then when Achilles comes in she is front and center. But Mel needed to keep an eye on Achilles after what Kasey had said.

"Mel?"

"Yeah?"

"Who was that kid?"

Mel stared into his gravitational eyes, "It was Kasey. We were just talking."

"So she was the girl that left the garden with you nearly thirty minutes into your first day?"

"Achilles there is a great reason for that."

Achilles was trying his best to sound angry at his mate, but it was so hard. Now he needed to drag her into his office so the three princesses the world in there could tear her apart. He could already feel his wolf becoming pissed off.

"Come with me, your friend is already there."

Mel felt her heart leap in anxiety, she could already tell this was going to be the least enjoyable conversation of her life. She also knew that it had to have something to do with those annoying girls from earlier that morning. But the thing that Mel knew most of all, was that she and Kasey were not going to be the ones to get in trouble.

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Heyo. Thanks to you all for reading!

Reading Questions:

-Do you think everybody knows that the rumors are true?

-What do you all think of Kasey?

-Does Kasey know anything else?

_What is going to happen in Achilles' office?