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Chapter 9

Commotion. Loud, unrelenting commotion was what greeted Alaya when morning broke. Sleep was stolen away from her as the house seemed to be alive and most certainly awake before she was. Her body turned and stretched whilst her mind was trying to catch up with what was exactly happening around her. A heavy arm lay across her stomach and for a moment Alaya froze, unsure whose arm it belonged to. As she glanced over, her brain caught up with last night's events, her wolf stretching inside of her, reassured that their mate was still close by, just like he had promised.

More shouts and commotion sounded from upstairs and her attention was pulled elsewhere.

"What is going on up there?" She asked to the air until her mind answered for her.

Neve!

Lenara!

Alaya sprinted faster than she had ever done before, scrambling out from under Noah's embrace startling him in the process.

"What’s going on?" he asked sleepily, having not fully woken, but Alaya didn't have time to stick around and explain. She shot up the stairs like a bat out of hell and crashed onto the landing before running to the bedroom door, half colliding with it when it refused to open with enough speed.

"Who the hell are you and why are you in Alaya's bed?" Alaya heard Lenara shout at the same time as finally convincing the door to open.

"Its fine...It's fine," Alaya panted out as she tried to catch her breath whilst taking in the scene in front of her. Lenara was bent over a very sleepy and confused Neve, who had obviously been woken in a very violent fashion.

"Alaya? What the hell?" Lenara asked, standing upright and diverting her attention to Alaya. Neve used that space to sit up properly, scowl on her face, obviously not appreciating this morning routine.

"I'm sorry but you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you. There wasn't enough space for them both to sleep downstairs so I did the polite thing and gave her my bed," Alaya rushed out before realising her mistake.

"Them both? What? Who are these people and what the hell are they doing in our house?" Lenara shouted, coming closer. Her blonde hair was unbrushed and wild, much like the look in her eyes. Her black shorts and grey pyjama top were ruffled and showed a lot of her beautiful tanned skin.

"That's a lot of questions and I haven't even had coffee. Can we calm it down a moment and I promise to rain check?" Alaya asked, trying to delay a discussion that she didn't actually have all the answers to yet. That and her head really hurt from all this yelling.

"Rain check?! Rain check?! You can't just rain check a conversation. I want to know what you are talking about. Who is she and who else have you got in here?" Lenara yelled, obviously not agreeing with Alaya's choice to take a breather.

"She means me," Alaya heard Noah's voice from behind her and instantly leaned back into him knowing he was close to her. She felt his chest give a low rumble as he did, his arms coming around to rest on her stomach. Within moments though those arms were ripped away as Noah was forcefully pulled from where he held her.

"Get off of her," Alaris growled as he threw Noah crashing into the wall. Noah recovered quickly, retaliating in a blur with a punch to the face that surprisingly even Alaris wasn't quick enough to avoid. Snarls filled the hallway as Luther followed suit, intent on aiding Alaris' in his unprovoked attack of Noah.

"Enough!" Alaya screamed, all three men pausing to look towards her.

"Alaris, Luther, this is no business of yours so I suggest you either get out or go back into your room. Lenara. I am sorry I didn't inform you of the sleeping arrangements last night but I didn't know until incredibly late and by then we had nowhere else to go. Noah, Neve I think it's best we take a moment just the three of us to discuss properly what happened last night. There. Are we done? Is everyone ok for just two minutes so I can get some damn coffee?" Alaya finished, looking at everyone who surrounded her and hoping that for once they would just listen.

"You can't say shit to me nor can you just decide who is allowed in my house? You're not a fucking Alpha," Luther spat, shooting his hand out so it gripped around Noah's neck. Alaya made a move towards them but before she got there she was stilled by a hand on her arm.

"Trust me, the only one to be worried about is your friend," Neve said, smile on her face as she watched everything unfold. Alaya looked back at the pair and wondered where she had possibly got that idea from? Luther towered above Noah, his horrid face twisted into a dark smile, looking as if he could kill Noah with a mere flick of his wrist. But when she looked at Noah she realised there was no fear on his face, instead a dark smile all of his own. In an instant Luther's hand was ripped away and his entire body thrown into the wall behind him. He scrambled up as soon as his body hit the floor, fear in his eyes as he looked at Noah who now stalked towards him.

"Dont ever talk to my mate again," he spat, before turning back towards where Alaya and Neve stood.

"I'm sorry his what?" Alaris spat out, looking at Alaya in disbelief. She looked away from him, not wanting to deal with him right now.

"She is my mate," Noah repeated slowly, stopping to turn and look Alaris dead in the eye. Alaya saw the betrayal on Alaris' face as if she had been the one to break his heart, not the other way around.

"She can't be your mate," Alaris retorted, starting to stalk towards him once more.

"And why might that be? Has another claimed her for their own?" Noah asked, small smile on his face as if he knew the answer already. Alaris stopped in his tracks, flicking his gaze to Alaya like he was waiting for her to reply.

"No. I am not claimed by anyone else," Alaya answered whilst keeping Alaris's gaze. He recoiled like he had been physically slapped by her words. What had he expected her to say? Why yes at some point she had been claimed although never officially and that person who she thought she'd be with forever, smashed her heart into a million pieces?

"She hasn't been claimed yet," a familiar voice carried over everyone else's voices, silencing Noah and causing Alayas stomach to drop out as she looked towards the stairs. Fen was stood there, his piercing green eyes immediately holding her in place. Noah turned towards him slowly but Alaya reached out her hand, stilling him before he did something he would regret.

"No one is claiming anyone at this moment," Alaya managed to say whilst her heart thundered in her chest.

"She isn't your mate. They don't even exist," Alaris growled from behind the pair and Noah took a deep breath in before turning again. He glared at Alaris but made no move to go to him. Instead he took the hand Alaya had on his arm and held it properly, heading towards the stairs and Fen. Fen remained stood, arms crossed with no hint of movement, completely blocking their path.

"Alaya is my mate. My wolf calls to her, has been calling to her since we took our first breath. She will be my sun, my moon, my everything. Now I don't know who you all are nor why some of you seem to have such an issue with her being my mate, but that doesn't change the fact that's what she is. That and so much more. So how about you shut up and move because that fact still remains," Noah said calmly as if all he was doing was having a conversation about the weather. He looked between Fen and Alaris with a stare that showed he held no fear of them because truth was on his side.

Fen looked over at Alaya who dropped his gaze, not knowing exactly what to say that would make this better or any easier for the both of them. He didn't move out the way, purely turned and walked down the stairs first, as if he still held the control.

"What the hell is going on?" Alaya heard Lenara shout to the air before slamming the bedroom door shut.

As they came down the stairs Noah led them back into the lounge. Alaya quickly ran round picking up the cushions so that they would have somewhere to sit whilst Noah disappeared somewhere. As soon as she finished and sat down on the brown sofa a mug appeared in front of her. She almost groaned at the smell and the warmth as she took it, looking up at Noah with such devotion. He had made her coffee. An act so small yet said so much.

"Thank you," she managed to squeak out as he sat beside her, relishing in the touch of his leg against hers.

"When will your father arrive?" Neve asked abruptly and Alaya glanced over at the mahogany clock that stood on the mantle piece. The black hands told her it would be soon seeing as it was 9am already. She looked over at Fen who stood in the corner, looking extremely pissed off and he nodded in return, as if he had heard her thought process.

"Not long. But I don't know why you're so worried about my father? He wouldn't hurt you," she soothed, although she knew it wouldn't help much. There was something they hadn't told her yet, she could sense it.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Neve continued cryptically whilst looking out the window.

"Just because you're not part of our pack doesn't mean he would harm you. It's not like that here," Alaya continued, struggling to understand why Neve obviously felt so at risk. Her father was formidable yes and she was not naive enough to think he hadn't hurt people to protect the pack, to protect his position as Alpha, but this wasn't like any of that. Noah and Neve weren't a risk to anyone and once her father knew that Noah was her mate, her actual true mate, he would welcome them both. Surely?

"Noah we haven't got time for all this," Neve chided, looking over at Fen then back at Noah, clearly wanting to say more but refusing.

"Luna, your father is going to want to know why I could defy him, why you could. And no answer would be the right one," Noah explained, looking at Alaya with concern on his face.

"It's because we are mates? Isn't it? I felt my wolf pushing to defy him because she needed to get to you. It was so much stronger than the need to obey? He can't punish you for something you couldn't help?" Alaya explained, hoping that would give them a big piece of the puzzle. She understood why Noah must feel so uneasy about defying an Alpha. Most wouldn't be best pleased as they would view it as a threat to their control over their own pack. But she had been thinking about it last night briefly before she fell asleep and it was the only thing that made sense. Omegas can't disobey their Alpha. But an Omega trying to get to it's mate? Well then that's a whole new territory. Territory that hadn't been crossed in hundreds of years.

"That tracks," Neve whispered and Alaya watched as Noah nodded along with his sister. They both seemed to ease slightly with this revelation and Alaya breathed out the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. Did that mean they weren't so afraid anymore? An Alpha couldn't have others in his pack that could defy him Alaya understood that, but it wasn't their fault. She hadn't just chosen to disobey him, she hadn't been in control.

"Does that make sense? It's still all a jumble in my head but it's the only thing that could make all this possible," Alaya continued, smiling when Noah put his hand on her knee. His touch seemed to ebb and flow into her, as if they were no longer two separate beings but one.

One jumbled mess, Alaya thought to herself.

"Makes perfect sense," he replied with a squeeze. Alaya fidgeted a little under his gaze knowing now was the best time to let him know exactly what he was being mated to. Not that he had a choice in the matter their wolves were born to be together no matter what. She heard Fen's growl at Noah's close proximity to her and she shot him a look, a look that told him to calm down when she wasn't his. Or atleast she hoped it did. She needed to keep focused and not chicken out on telling Noah and Fen’s growls of annoyance weren't helping her do that. Just because he had been willing to mate an Omega doesn't mean Noah would. Not that it seemed he would have much choice.

"Um, before my father arrives and we explain all this well mate stuff, I guess you should know um, well," she stuttered out, trying to find a way to make all of it sound better than it was. But nothing could so she took a deep breath in to steady herself.

"I'm an Omega," she rushed out, staring at her feet, embarrassed by what was inside of her. Although, she had been surprised last night with the strength she had felt when her wolf escaped her mind, but it didn't change the fact that she was still an Omega. The lowest of the pack. Not even supposed to be a part of it anymore. She felt as Noah placed a finger her chin making her meet his gaze once more.

"Luna you are so much more than that," he breathed, his lips millimetres from hers. She wished he would kiss her and hoped he heard her silent plea like before. The glow behind his eyes told her he did and she shut her eyes, awaiting the touch of his lips upon her own. But it never came, instead she heard Neve clearing her throat.

Alaya opened her eyes and saw Noah sat back in the spot next to her. She shifted over away from him in embarrassment. His words were sweet but his actions spoke the truth. Maybe she wouldn't be his everything for very long.

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