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Ariels POV

"Ow, ow, ow," I repeat. I was going to make dinner since Raphie was running late. And I told him I'd make it. But Parker made me fall down the stairs as I was going to the kitchen.

"Oh gosh, Ariel I'm really sorry!" Parker exclaims. "Oh... Oh that's bad... Um..." I can tell he's linking someone by the way his eyes glaze over.

I lay on the stairs awkwardly from falling, not intent on moving. My wrist just pumps with pain and I groan. "Ow..." I whine.

Parkers childish side fades and he gets real protective like. "We're going to the pack Doctor, he'll fix you up." I don't trust a pack doctor. Of any sort. Simply because of what happened to mom.

Raphael is already waiting for us when we get there. I hadn't dared look at my wrist yet, for fear of it looking really bad. And, I was arguing with Parker the whole way there about being able to walk.

He only puts me down after we get there, where Raphie takes his place and picks me up.

"What happened?" He growls, squishing me to his chest.

"It's just my wrist Raphie, I'm okay." I sigh frustratedly.

"She hasn't looked at it yet." Parker mumbles in some sort of explanation.

"What happened?" He asks again.

"I was running down the stairs, and then Parker was suddenly there and when I tried to stop, I slipped." I reply embarrassedly, my cheeks going red. Werewolves are supposed to have good senses, that includes balance.

"Of course you did." He murmurs more to himself. I stick my tongue out at him in return. He must think I'm really, really clumsy now, and I am not clumsy.

He goes into a room where this girl examines my wrist, which I refuse to watch, still scared of what I might see. My face pressed against Raphie's chest. Then this pain shoots up my arm and I yelp, looking over. I realize the woman set the bone.

"Ow..." My voice cracks as I say it and I hold my arm completely still.

"I'm going to give you a cast for a sprain." She says simply. Of course, werewolves hardly needed casts, when we broke something, it healed pretty quick. This kind of break should be healed... Day after tomorrow? Apparently mom broke her leg once and it was really bad because her human body was pretty weak still, but she even healed quickly.

The pack doctor I'm assuming, put it on my wrist gently before giving me painkillers. "If the pain gets worse, come straight back to me. It should be healed in three days."

I nod a little. Raphael hadn't let go of me, which is really weird. Instead, he picks me back up and walks out.

"Raphie, if you keep carrying me everywhere I won't get any exercise and then I'll become fat and then you won't be able to carry me at all," I whine.

He doesn't reply, he just keeps walking. I groan but smile when I notice Parker joins us.

"I'm sorry Ariel, can I make it up to you with some kind of treat tomorrow?" Parker asks, he looks really upset and I frown.

"It wasn't really your fault Parker." I say softly.

"But it was. And I feel bad." Parker sighs.

Poor Parker. It really was my fault for being clumsy. Running into people is something I'm good at because I don't pay attention to things. An involuntary yawn escapes me and Parker chuckles.

"I'll surprise you tomorrow. You rest." He says before he's off.

"We'll get you ready for bed and then you can sleep." Raphie says.

"We?"

"You." He corrects.

We get into the house and he puts me in my designated room. I find myself pajamas and disappear into the bathroom. After I've changed, with some issues, I walk out and look at Raphael. He's already changed and he seems to be waiting for me.

"Does it hurt right now?" He asks.

"No, not really." I shake my head.

He doesn't say anything, he just walks into the bathroom and brushes his teeth before leaving for the guest room. I crawl into his bed and do my best to make myself comfortable without hurting my arm. Dumb clumsy me.

It's a while until I hear Raphie go to his office, the phone ringing annoyingly. He growls into it when he picks up and I listen to his end of the conversation.

"She's fine... They won't touch her... Goodnight." It's so short I can't gather anything from it. I sigh in frustration and I listen to Raphie as he walks back to his room.

The sounds of the night keep me up... That and the fact that for some reason this room is really hot and I can't get to sleep. At one point I change into one of Raphies shirts so I'm out of my sweaty sleep wear.

I leave the room and walk into the basement where I collapse on the couch and fall asleep soon after in the much cooler basement.

***

"Ariel?" Raphael's voice sounds funny. I groggily push myself up and rub my eyes. My body hurts a little from sleeping on the couch.

"Hi..." My voice is scratchy and weird from sleep.

"Why are you...?" He trails off, his voice still sounds funny.

"My room was too hot," I whine. "And my pajamas got sweaty." I look over at where he's standing and watch as he walks over.

"I'm working at home today." He says simply, his eyes keep moving down to my legs which I find really weird.

"Kay." I shrug. I watch as Mari comes in.

"Good morning Alpha- oh... And Ariel." Her voices seems to drop, like she lost her energy mid sentence. "I'll be making pancakes again today." She informs before leaving.

I watch before looking back at Raphie. He seems frustrated and I poke his cheek annoyingly, over and over.

"Ariel," he grabs my finger. "What do you want?"

"Who was on the phone last night?"

"No one." He says quickly.

"Well obviously someone was, you were talking-"

"I don't want to hear of it Ariel." He replies sternly, using his alpha tone on me. I narrow my eyes.

"You do not get to tell me what to do." I growl and storm upstairs. The room is still pretty hot but I shower and get ready for the day, struggling with one hand but away from Raphie and his dumb alpha-ness. He annoys me sometimes.

I walk to his office and pick up the phone, I try to find the last number that called him. But, with my wonderful skills I'm pretty sure I broke the phone. I quickly leave, going downstairs for breakfast.

My day seems to get worse. Mari is bringing Raphie his breakfast and being an obvious flirt. She clearly doesn't realize I'm here.

"It's too bad about Ariel, being so stubborn and rude to you." She says, leaning over and shoving her boobs towards his face. So that's why she volunteers here, for Raphael. Then again, I'd probably do the same if he was nicer because he is delicious eye candy. But her attitude rials up this little wolf.

"Excuse me Mari, but could you go get my breakfast." If voices were weapons, mine was thousands of knives piercing her right now. She's very quick to leave the room, not daring to look at me.

"What's wrong Ariel?"

"Are you that oblivious?" I snap. Mari comes back with my breakfast and I storm away, taking the pancakes and syrup with me. Which is a bit of a struggle with one hand.

I sit in his office, deciding to go on his computer which he seems to have already been on this morning because it's unlocked and a few pages are up. I disregard them as I go straight to YouTube.

After a while I'm fed up of sitting so I leave my plate there and I go change into workout clothes. I knew I had the anger of my dad, it can be frustrating. I head down to the basement where Raphael has an area dedicated to working out. No wonder he keeps that body.

I go for the punching bag. That's how dad taught me to release my anger. To run, or to hit something really hard. He said preferably not a person. I wonder how satisfying it would be to hit Raphie, even just once.

"You should wrap your hands... Or hand." Raphael says behind me.

I look at the hand I'm using, it's all red and a bit cut up but it heals before my eyes. "You were saying?"

"You heal fast." Raphie comments.

"Got it from my mom." I grunt, punching the bag again. I hold my useless arm to my chest.

"I doubt your mom taught you how to punch."

"Dad did. And Aubrey taught me everything else." I respond without looking at him.

"I was wondering if you'd like to work with me today?" He says finally after watching me for a while.

I look over at him. "Why?"

He shrugs, turning around. "I'll be in my office."

Well someone is being weird. I hit the bag a few more times before getting tired of only behind able to use one hand. I head to my room and change into comfy clothes before going into Raphie's office.

"C'mere," he motions without looking up from a paper he's writing on. When I'm at his side, he finally looks up. Within seconds, I'm pulled into his lap.

"Raphie!" I yelp.

"I'm sorry for Mari." He frowns and I look over at him. "I didn't realize what she was doing. I asked her not to come back."

I blink a few times. "Really...?"

"We have a new volunteer. Justin, Parkers mate. I thought you would prefer a man to make it. One with a mate."

"I... Thanks?"

"You're welcome."

He goes back to the paper after that, though I remain in his lap. How do I ask him why he's doing this? Like, hey Raphie, what the hell are you doing?

"Whatcha writing?" I ask instead.

"Land papers. We're getting more forest. And building a moon temple."

"You're really making a moon temple?" I ask excitedly.

"Yes."

I smile widely. Moon temples were some of the most beautiful structures. Humans thought they were just for some religion, which in a sense I guess they are. A moon temple is sort of meant to worship the moon goddess. But they're also, if a pack has one, where meetings happen, and parties are often there, all sorts of gatherings and things because in a sense it's like the moon is reflecting on your gathering. And to us, the moon is everything.

We sit in silence for a while. Though, and it's not that Raphie is uncomfortable, it's just that I feel uncomfortable sitting on him.

I hear someone come in and I look at him expectantly, but he doesn't let go. Instead he holds me a little tighter. The person walks into the office and I can feel my face go bright red.

"Alpha... Luna," Liam chuckles. "The... Other pack wishes to speak to you Raphael."

His hands go to my hips and he holds me tightly. "When?"

"Border. Tonight at nine." Liam informs.

If possible, his grip grows tighter. "Tell them I'll be there."

When Liam leaves the room I push Raphies hands off me. "Ouch!" I whine. "That hurt! And what other pack?" I ask as I stand.

"It's none of your concern." He replies.

"It is my concern!" I snap.

"Ariel I'm not talking about this with you anymore!" He growls lowly. A shiver runs down my back, and my wolf is gently reminding me just how powerful this alpha really is.

Fuming, I leave the room. I can feel my wolf, she's defeated and hurt. Usually she'd stand up and probably take over in a situation like this, but then again, we're against our mate and she's busy trying to heal my arm.

I go sit on Raphie's bed. Despite being mad at him, his scent is still calming. I hug his pillow close and close my eyes, just thinking.

I miss mom and dad and Aubrey. I really do. Do they miss me? Does Aubrey notice I'm gone now that he has his mate? Do mom and dad love the freedom of not having my trouble making butt with them a little too much? Have they replaced me with Aubrey's mate who is prettier and obviously nicer, because not many people are more rude than I am. I sigh and pull out my phone, calling June.

"Hey, Ariel, sorry I can't spend too long on the phone. I'm shopping with Selene! It's super awesome, she actually likes shopping, unlike you." June giggles.

"Oh..." I say into the phone, suddenly I don't want to talk to June anymore.

"Did you call about something?" June asks. "Yeah! That one goes great! Ariel would never be able to tell you that though. She doesn't know colours." June says to someone I obviously can't see, teasing me.

"Tell Ariel I say hi, and that her parents are lovely! Blaire is simply adorable!" I can hear Selene say on the other end.

"I heard," I mumble. "Nice to know you're having fun."

"Oh it's been so great with Calvin! We get along so well," she says and my mind flickers to Raphie and I's relationship. I'd love to talk to her about it but... "And he lives a lot closer to your old pack, so I can spend tons of time with Selene. She's super awesome, you'll love her when you come visit!"

"Yeah?" I murmur.

"Oh, sorry Ariel, Selene wants me to help her with something. I have to go, bye!" And with that, she hangs up.

Never have I felt so dejected. I slowly put my phone down and put the pillow back. Getting up, I head outside, walking aimlessly.

My best friend hardly wants to hear from me. She hasn't called me or texted or anything. And when I finally call her instead of text her, she's so fast to hang up and turn to Selene. Is she forgetting about me?

I bet Selene is replacing me easy. Everyone's going to love a sweet girl over a rude one. I sigh, I'm stuck here with Raphie. My only 'girl' friend here isn't even a friend. She's like, an annoying acquaintance.

I guess Parker and Justin are pretty cool. I like them. Hey, I should see if they wanna hang out or something. Raphael told me where the pack house was, so I go set myself on a search for it.

It's not long before I find it and walk in. It's pretty quiet, besides the familiar bickering of Parker and Justin somewhere upstairs. I head up and knock on a door that has Justin's name written on it.

Parker opens it in his boxers and his eyes go wide. "Uh... Hi Ariel, what are you doing?"

I realize quickly I've come at a bad time, the TV paused on some movie.

"Sorry, never mind. I'm just leaving." I say quickly and walk away. Parker doesn't object, I just hear the door close after a while. There's a name on all the doors and I explore the big mansion like apartment.

It's pretty cool actually, there's even a room reserved for the alpha. I doubt Raphael ever uses it. Finally I make my way back to the ground floor, where there's a kitchen, dining room and living room. The kitchen is pretty busy, they're probably making lunch. No one notices when I steal an apple and walk right back out of the room.

I sit in the empty living room alone and eat.

Alone.

I think I'm okay with that.