ALPHA: Heir Of The Four

Chapter Fourteen | Part II

Chapter Notes: Ava-Rain's POV

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The shift in the air, the tingle that soared up and down my spine, the hairs on the back of my neck that stood up and the profoundly distinct feeling of peace flowing through my being could have only meant one thing: Caleb was near.

Because my attention had been focused on Declan, who was recounting a certain moment from the past, it wasn't hard to miss the slight change in his demeanor as, I assumed, he too realized his alpha and pack were home. My eyes flickered to Rickon, who had joined Declan and I outside over an hour ago, and to pass the time, the two of them shared memories of their childhood with me. His body language mimicked his brother's, though where Declan's gaze lowered to the grass, Rickon's had been trained on the house.

     Simultaneously, we all rose to our feet. Just as my eyes made contact with the house, Caleb and the rest of the pack emerged. The three of us had to have been half a mile or so away from the house, but not even the bit of distance between Caleb and I could disguise the fact to anybody watching that neither of us were jumping for joy to see the other. I wouldn't exactly have called it a lack of excitement, nor would I have explained or categorized it as a facade of nonchalance. It was just that, as a result of the way we had left things, neither of us knew exactly what to feel because we had yet to really strategize how to overcome the hurdle that had been placed in our relationship.

     "We should get you back to the house," Declan said as he turned back to look at me.

     Smoothing my hands down my dress to wipe off any lingering blades of grass, I nodded in agreement at the younger twin. "Yeah. I guess you both have pack matters to discuss." But before we could even begin to head back, Caleb and the rest of the pack headed back inside.

     Again, I wasn't really sure if I should have taken Caleb's retreat personally, or if I should have felt anything at all. But even if I could have prevented the slight bit of hurt sparked from his premature departure, I was pretty convinced the pain would have only surfaced at some other point when another opportunity portraying the ambiguity of our relationship status presented itself. "On second thought, you two can head back. I'll stay out here."

     They both turned to look at me but Declan was the first to speak. "I'll stay with you. Rickon, you want to head back and check-in?"

     "Sure thing, brother." Rickon gave me a final glance before turning and heading towards the house.

     "No, Declan. You should go, too." I gave him a soft smile, an attempt to assure him that I would be fine. But if the serious look on his face was any indication, it was pretty obvious that a thousand smiles wouldn't have persuaded him to leave my side so easily. "I'll be fine. Besides, you should be taking it easy anyway. You're still not one hundred percent better yet."

     "As much as I appreciate your concern, I'm right as rain." His lips curved into a soft smile. "See what I did there?"

      Shaking my head, a non-forced smile escaped me that time. "I'll give you, like, half a point for that one."

     He closed the space between us and crossed his arms over his chest. The smile on his face receded, and although the seriousness returned to his face in a smaller dosage, his blue eyes shined bright with concern. I knew why Declan didn't want to leave me out here by myself, especially not after everything we had talked about earlier. I guess this was just his way of making sure that I wouldn't take two steps back into my heavily confined prison before even taking a single step forward.

     He opened his mouth to say something, but whatever it was had been cut of at the sound of his name being called.

My gaze was torn away and pulled in the direction behind him where Kane, Chase, Rickon and Tommy stood. It had been Kane's voice that shouted Declan's name, and even with the distance between us, it was obvious that his patience was wearing thin. Next to him, Chase stood with his hands in his pockets and his sights trained on us. Tommy, who I had learned had been the quiet, less in-your-face and more lurking-in-the-shadows-watching-and-saying-very-little type, was rooted in place next to him, his eyes set on the grass below.