Page 39 of The Alpha Wolf Defying Fate

The other day when she caught up to me in the trees, I had broken down and told her what Ayden had said to me. I couldn’t hold back, but there were a few things I didn’t disclose to my cousin.

I didn’t tell her about the voice. How even as she sat and listened to me, the voice whispered to me. How even now I can feel the hum of his presence along the edges of my mind, encouraging me to continue forward.

Even as I told her about the fears that I had about Ayden being right and that I felt that I was the darkness too. I held back my strongest evidence of the possibility from her. I let her spit and curse Ayden for putting the idea in my head, despite the fact that it hadn’t been a new thought for me. Simply just an affirming thought as he spoke it out loud.

“I’ve just been wondering if we’re even sure the path is the right way to travel,” I answered her question.

She smirked, clearly catching the hint of a lie in my words. “I think that Ayden made a good point about sticking to a worn path. We’re unfamiliar with the land here and unsure if there’s any enchantment like the Forgotten Forest.”

“What if there is an enchantment on the road?” I argued, her smile only growing more amused.

“Come on, Sasha,” she said. “What’s really bothering you? We both know it’s not the road.”

I sighed and looked towards the two men leading the way ahead of us. They seemed to have grown closer in our travels. I had noticed recently that they acted more like lifelong best friends than simple traveling companions. I even began to suspect that Baer had wanted this friendship far longer than the time we all joined together.

Just the way they both seemed to click. So alike and yet different all at the same time. It was clear they at least had been destined for this friendship. Much like Ayden and I had been destined to be mates.

Why hadn’t they been friends like this in school, though?

‘Because you and Ayden were rivals,’my wolf inserted.‘And Baer was infatuated with Rory. He couldn’t risk falling into the bad graces of the Rigel pack’s future alpha because it would affect the views of Rory in the process.’

A tinge of guilt squeezed my heart.‘You’re saying that I kept them apart? Like a villain in a fairy tale. I’m the wicked witch after all.’

“Sasha!” Rory snapped her fingers in front of my face.

I jerked back and looked at her with confusion as she frowned back at me.

“You zoned out again. Is this still about what Ayden had said to you? I told you that he’s full of shit. You don’t have an evil bone in your body, Sasha.”

“How do you explain the way I killed the kelpie?” I asked.

It was one of the truths I had admitted to her when we talked. Something, it turned out; she had already known. Had seen it in my veins as I laid on the shore half dead from the near drowning.

“Survival,” she answered quickly. “And a blessing from the gods that you weren’t effected by the dark magic’s pull.”

It was exactly the same as what she had said before as well.

“I guess,” I said, still not thoroughly convinced myself.

“Hey,” she said, her hand wrapping around my arm to stop me in mid-stride.

I looked towards the guys and saw them continuing to walk ahead. Baer’s head turned slightly to check on us, showing that he knew we had stopped. My gaze moved to Ayden in the hope of finding that he also was concerned about us. That he had also noticed that I was no longer following, but I was sorely disappointed.

Ayden’s focus and attention were firmly forward. The only movement of his head was slight as he scanned his surroundings. I could just vaguely make out his voice over the breeze in the air as he said something to Baer that caused him to nod to in response.

“Sasha,” Rory said, her hand tightening around my arm. “I need you to hear this, so listen closely.”

I sighed and nodded as I moved my attention from Ayden’s back to look at her. “I’m listening.”

Rory gave a soft smile, her hand cupping my cheek lightly. “You are not darkness. You survived darkness before you were even born. You are light. You are the light that chases away the darkness in the smallest of ways. I’ve seen it.”

“I know, you told me,” I said, ready to pull away.

“No,” she said firmly. “I’m not talking about the river. I’m talking about all of our life. I’m talking about growing up with you. The way your parents’ faces light up when you enter the room. The way the pack’s mood can be shifted by the smallest of jokes you tell them. Even when you would compete ruthlessly in school, you still managed to do it with a smile that brought out the best in whoever was fortunate enough for you to grace them with it.”

She moved her hand from my cheek to my chin and lifted both sides of my lips up into a grin. I couldn’t help myself but smile for real as I watched her expression of full concentration mold my lips into the smile she spoke of.

I wasn’t aware of the special smile she mentioned, a smile I didn’t know I had. My own memories of school days revolved more around my competition with Ayden and trying to be better than him at whatever I saw him succeeding in. I had no memory of ever brightening anyone’s day with a simple smile.

---