The Rogue Alpha’s Claim

Ariel flinched as the door shut, the sound startling her. It was a struggle to remain on the bed when all she wanted to do was run to meet him and beg him to stay.

But he needed to learn.

She tried to assure herself that she was doing the right thing, but why did it feel like the wrong decision? He may be the alpha over everyone here, but he wasn’t her alpha.

They were just dating, and he couldn’t treat her however he wanted. If everyone fears him here or is afraid to call out his bullshit, she would be the odd one out.

With that determination, Ariel lowered herself to the bed, draping the blanket over her body, and she stretched her hand, reaching for her phone.

She squinted as the bright light from the phone startled her, but her eyes slowly adjusted, and she checked the time. It was still some hours until dawn, but she was too afraid to close her eyes.

She couldn’t shake the eerie feeling she got, and something told her there was more to see than she knew. She ended up staring at the ceiling and counting the lines while waiting for the clock to go faster.

“Why so slow?” Ariel whined as she turned on her phone, and only seven minutes had passed. If she continued like this, it would take eternity before she would see the first crack of dawn.

She settled into her bed again, turning her pillow to the other side and reducing the room temperature. She shut her eyes tight, conjuring all forms of happy thoughts to help her fall asleep faster.

She liked to daydream of happy moments or sometimes about her future before she went to sleep, but right now, all she could think of was Kane, and she was opening her eyes.

Nope, that won’t do.

Ariel shifted on the bed again, folding herself into a little ball, and she tried again, forcing her eyes closed. This time she thought about her date with Kane, the loving way he looked at her, and how in love he was with her.

“Fuck it.” She yelled, throwing the covers off her body, and she stood up, marching to the kitchen to get something in her stomach. Somehow, all that running in the dream had made her hungry.

She grabbed the pack of fruit loops, pouring some into her bowl, and she grabbed the milk carton from the fridge, turning a generous amount until the cereal was floating on top of the milk.

She nodded to herself in satisfaction as she looked at her handiwork before carrying her cereal bowl to her desk, and she sat down, turning on her laptop.

If the sleep wasn’t going to come, it was better if she used the time to do something productive. It was high time she got a job and got money to leave the place altogether.

Maybe then Kane would realize how much of an asshole he was if she was gone.

She picked up her spoons, scooping the milky treat into her mouth, but the first spoon had her brain melting.

“Brain freeze.” Ariel howled, but that didn’t stop her from taking another spoonful of the cereal. Her fingers were poised on the keypad, and she began to type the website Claudia had sent to her.

Right now, she didn’t care if the job was halfway across the world. She was going to take it if it meant she would be away from such a narcissistic man.

How hard is it to apologize?Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

It still baffled her that he had refused to do what would have quelled the fight a long time ago, and no matter what happened, she wasn’t going to be the first to yield.

After minutes of searching, Ariel had managed to get a juicy offer, and she didn’t even need to go far. It was in the same city as hers. She was only going to look for a means of transportation.

Her pride wasn’t going to allow her to ask Kane for a car among the humorous fleet she saw in the garage. She was going to have to learn the subway or bus schedule around her.

She had managed to find three more job offers relating to her course of study, and she applied for them all, whistling as she ate her cereal.

She had spent hours searching for a job and applying, and when she looked up, the first crack of dawn was in the sky.

Ariel glanced at her phone, tapping on the screen, and it lit up, displaying the time. It was about a few minutes past five, a little too early compared to her usual wake time, but there was no way she was going back to bed.

Instead, she got dressed in a tracksuit and a big T-shirt, and she was heading straight to the gym.

“Oh my.” She heard a familiar voice gasp as she entered instead, and Ariel whipped her head to the side where Liza was going at the punching bag. “What happened to you?” Liza’s eyes were as round as a saucer as she regarded her friend.

Ariel squinted her eyes, her brain still lagging behind from the lack of sleep. “I don’t understand. What is wrong with me?” She walked towards her and took her place on the running bike.

“I don’t know; you just looked like someone who hadn’t gotten decent sleep for years.”

A yawn tore out of Ariel’s mouth, and she rubbed her eyes lazily. “That is because I haven’t gotten any decent sleep. Maybe if I overworked my body, I would be able to fall asleep.”

***

After a cruel day of hard work at the gym and basically nothing else, she had literally spent the rest of the day avoiding Kane, a feat that was quite easier than she thought.

He was also avoiding her, and he had stayed confined in his office. Although there were a lot of times she was tempted to break the door open and demand that he speak to her.

This was the first time they were having issues since they started dating, and she didn’t know how to feel about it. It was a little thing that they should have developed to this stage, but alas, there they were.

Ariel was cooped up in her room for the rest of the day, occasionally checking her mail for any response. She had also gone house hunting and had managed to find a small studio in the heart of the city.

If Kane was going to continue being childish, she was going to leave him.

Ariel sat on the bed, another yawn leaving her as she laid down on the pillow. She was physically and mentally exhausted, and all she wanted was a good night’s rest.

She closed her eyes, sleep finding her easily, and she was snoring lightly as she drifted into the dreamland.

***

Ariel could recognize the scene before her, and like before, she heard the screams of the young woman calling out to her.

She was already running towards the scream before she could process it, and just like before, the voice was getting away from her as she ran towards it.

A cold realization dawned on her as she observed her environment. This was merely a replay of all that happened the previous night, and there was nothing she would do about it.

She was merely a participant in the show.

It was no surprise when she heard her ‘dad’s’ voice beckoning to her, and she was walking towards the source like she was being dragged by an invisible rope.

“No.” Ariel protested, planting her legs firmly on the ground to avoid being swayed. She knew how it was going to play out, and she wasn’t ready to go through that anymore. “Help! Someone, help.” Ariel screamed out, not ready to go through all of this.

However, her voice couldn’t be heard.

Ariel closed her eyes as she got to her supposed ‘father’. She shut her eyes, aware of how the next scene was going to play, and she wasn’t ready to go through it. She flinched as the soft flesh gave way, even as the blade pierced through his body.

She knew how the next scene was going to play, but this time she was ready. She inhaled a lot of air and opened her mouth, releasing a blood curdling scream that sent chills to the bone marrow.

Ariel woke up with a start, her heart pounding behind her ribcage while sweat poured from her body at an alarming rate. This time she didn’t give it any thought before she was fleeing from her room, her foot pounding on the floor as she ran through the hallway.

She found herself in front of Kane’s door, and she tried the knob, grateful when the door gave way. The room was as dark as the night, and she had a hard time adjusting to it, but she could recognize the figure on the bed.

Kane sat up on the bed, his eyes wide open as he recognized the intruder. “Ariel.” Her mind was racing as he thought of every possible reason why she should be in his room, but her voice was breaking his thoughts.

“Can I sleep here, please?”