Her Chosen Mate

Part 10

(POV - Aria)

~5 Years Later~

The arena pulsed with excitement and anticipation, the hum of electricity almost palpable.

Aria shifted in her seat, high up in the stands with the rest of her packmates. April sat beside her, on the very edge of her seat, her legs bouncing in place.

Aria hadn't expected the sun to beat down on them, after weeks of nothing but rain. She shifted uncomfortably in her dark jeans, her large T-shirt sticking to her skin.

"I don't want to watch this," Aria whined, her fingers pulling at the worn leather of April's jacket. "I hate fights, can't we go somewhere else and then come back when the fight is over?"

April rolled her eyes but didn't look at Aria, keeping her gaze glued to the center of the arena, where the current Alpha stood proudly.

The entire pack had gathered after hearing that Aiden, now twenty-three years of age, had finally issued a challenge for his father's position. And while the challenged Alpha would usually look angered or ruffled, Aiden's father looked nothing short of proud. He beamed at Aria's father, who stood beside him as a Delta should, his hands linked behind his back. He was taller than the Alpha, and broader as well. It was something that she'd grown up questioning until she'd retreated into her fantasy worlds to escape it all.

Anyone new to the pack, or those who didn't know very much about pack politics, had pressed Aria for answers. They always demanded to know why her father was only a Delta when he was very obviously more suited to the position of Beta. He was the pack's best warrior and held a silent sort of power that did more to intimidate and garner respect than their Alpha's boisterous demeanor.

Aria had always been slightly in awe of her father. He carried himself the way an Alpha or Beta should, instead of the common deference of a Delta. He walked tall, his shoulders thrown back and his chest puffed up with quiet pride.

And yet he was perfectly happy to roll around in the dirt with his pup and loved training the younger wolves when they were old enough to join active pack duty.

Just then, another wolf fell and knocked into her as she shuffled behind Aria to her seat, tossing Aria forward. She managed to catch herself before she collided with the wolf sitting in front of them and groaned.

"April," Aria whined, tugging on the end of April's long braid that swung off her shoulder. "I don't want to watch this, you know I hate violence."

"I thought you'd be excited to see your crush again," April teased, winking at Aria. "You can finally confess your undying love for him once he becomes the new Alpha."

Aria didn't reply and simply rolled her eyes.

"I know that silence too well," April said in sing-song. "I know the only reason you're here is that Aiden is going to be here too. You don't have to lie to me."

"No, I wanted to come with you because you invited me!" Aria insisted, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She didn't know why; April knew her far too well to believe a half-hearted lie like that.

"Right," she drawled, popping one of

her favorite dried meat snacks into

her mouth and chewing. "And I am

the Pope, and that over there is the

Viscount de Chagny."

The wolf in question was a very young pup who clutched an oversized lamb plushie, much to Aria's disdain.

"That's so cliché," she giggled into her hand, careful to lower her voice so that none of the wolves around them would hear.

"Says the girl who had a bone plushie as a pup!"

"I was two! I didn't choose that. My dad did!" Aria countered, offended that April would bring up that stupid toy. "And I wasn't the one who wore a fake silver bullet on a necklace for a year to make people think I was cool."

April gasped, a hand over her heart. "I 'was' cool. Everyone thought so."

"Of course they did," Aria soothed, unable to hide the huge grin on her face. April had gone through a phase where she wanted to be the biggest, baddest wolf in the pack, and she'd dressed the part too. Aria would never forget her knee-high leather combat boots that had more chains on them than an old school prisoner in a cartoon.

"You take that back," April demanded, wearing a grin matching Aria's. "I'm still the coolest wolf around and you know it!"

"You're the coolest," Aria agreed, remembering the number of times April had defended her to the rest of the pack. Anyone who thought badly of Aria had to deal with April, and Aria loved her for it.

"You're not so bad yourself," she chuckled.

"Hopefully, I'm better than the last time he saw me," Aria said quietly, her words almost swallowed by the chattering of the crowd.

"You trained so hard these last five years," April observed, finally turning to face Aria. "You're not that pushover from our childhood."

Aria knew that, but she was thankful for the gentle reminder. She really had gotten stronger and made sure to train every day for at least two hours, even when all she wanted to do was curl up under the shade of her favorite tree and read until the sun went down. Her muscles had ached for days and for a while she wondered if she'd ever be able to use her arms the same way or get out of bed without groaning like her grandfather used to. But she'd done it. With Aiden's help.

"Just because I'm not a pushover anymore doesn't mean I like violence," Aria countered, having to raise her voice a bit the rowdier the crowd got. She wrinkled her nose as the scent of excitement and bloodlust permeated the stands. This was why she hated violence; more than the act of harming another living being, it was the mixture of potent scents that made her want to throw up. Each wolf fidgeted in anticipation, their unique scents warping into something Aria found to be sour and unpleasant.

"Yeah, you'll always be the little bookworm I love," April giggled, elbowing Aria in the ribs gently. "But can you spare the literary obsession for one afternoon so we can enjoy this? When was the last time you watched an Alpha challenge?"

'Never' is what Aria wanted to say. That was the whole point of her displeasure for violence. She had known about the other challenges, even if there hadn't been that many even if there hadn't been that many in her twenty-one years of living, and had actively avoided each one despite her father's insistence that she attend.

But she turned her attention back to the arena, trying to calm her wolf, who had huffed in agitation.

"I'm going for a walk," she told April, who nodded in response. "I'll be back before the fight, I promise."

She shuffled awkwardly past the people sitting in the seats leading back to the aisle, mumbling apologies as she hopped over their feet. She made it to the aisle and breathed a sigh of relief, needing to find an emptier, quieter place to calm her wolf.