41. Aiden

41

Aiden

“I can’t believe it. A mate? Pregnant?” Camden shakes his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

The cool night air, coupled with the soft noises of the forest around us, feels peaceful despite the obvious tension in the air. Blaming Camden for his poor mood wouldn’t be fair of me, especially considering I’m supposed to be telling him everything.

As my beta and my closest confidant, the hurt and betrayal in his voice—though hardly shown—is evident.

What kind of alpha hides something like this from the one they’re supposed to trust the most?

Making the excuse of not doing any of this intentionally isn’t going to make it go away, nor will it help Camden feel better in the end. All I can do is own up to it and make sure to let him in as much as possible, no matter how painful it is to talk about.

“I know it’s a lot,” I tell him, folding my arms across my chest too.

Ahead of us lies the lake just outside of Andromeda’s town. It’s beautiful out here, almost freeing in a way to have such a large forest surrounding their pack on all sides. I can see why they stay so isolated out here.

“When did it even start? That first night?” he asks.

“Just about. I was stalling in the gardens because I didn’t want to have to parade myself around like the elders wanted me to and ended up running into her there. It wasn’t until we touched that the bond snapped into place.”

Camden grunts. “I hear that happens sometimes.”

“It was very…overwhelming.”

He shifts his weight slightly. “So…what, you two just had sex in the gardens?”

I huff out a laugh. “No. I have some kind of decorum. I ended up leaving and trying to go to the ball but then found myself going stir-crazy soon after. I tracked her scent down and found her room. That’s when the first time happened.”

He nods slowly, quiet for a time.

I let us sit in the silence, wanting him to drive this conversation instead of me. It’s only fair for me to be interrogated like this after keeping all of these secrets from him. I’d barely mentioned anything to Camden about my feelings surrounding the ball outside of not ever wanting to do it again.

Even when the elders named Anais my Luna, I hadn’t told Camden how I really felt about it. I’m sure he could tell, as most people could if they were around longer than two seconds. But showing and telling are two different things entirely, and expecting my beta to pick up on things like that is rather ridiculous.

“That letter.” The words are hard to get out. “It was really convincing.”

I feel his eyes on me. “Enough to discredit your fated mate, though?”

Therein lies the problem.

The idea of fated mates is romanticized in our culture for many different reasons. They’re rare and unpredictable, with most shifters never having the opportunity to experience the overwhelming euphoria of having one.

Growing up, I never once considered the possibility that I could have a fated mate, and meeting Raine completely shifted my entire worldview. I had no idea how to handle it.

Coming into my alphaship had been tough after losing my father so soon beforehand, and with my elders pushing me to find a Luna in order to claim my right as king. None of that had ever included a fated mate, let alone having her dropped right at my feet.

She just never fit into the equation, so when it came time to do right by her, I panicked. Instead of presenting her proudly to my pack and damning what the elders’ opinions of it would be, I cowered and tried to bend to their will as much as possible so as not to rock the boat.

And here I am bearing the consequences of that.

I have nothing to say to Camden to defend myself. How can I when it’s become quite clear that I overreacted in a moment of intense emotion? I kicked my fated mate out of my pack, banned her, and then practically sent her back to be fed to another pack as a breeder.

Who even knows if she’s still pregnant at this point.

“You should’ve looped me in, Aiden.” His tone is firm, dropping my title.

“I know.” I really do—I know better. I was taught better.

“We could’ve avoided all of this if I got involved. I’m supposed to be your voice of reason, remember? I could’ve talked to her before you threw her out and got to the bottom of all of this. Even if she was lying, kicking her out wasn’t proper. She could’ve at least been sent to a sister pack somewhere close.”

His words make sense. All of it does, really, in hindsight.

That letter sent me into a spiral and by the time Raine showed up at my doorstep to beg for mercy, I’d already mourned the loss of her.

“I couldn’t bear to look at her.”

He sighs at me. “Well, now we’re stuck chasing her down.”

How true. It’s even more of a headache now than simply putting her up in housing like Camden suggested and never seeing her again.

He turns away from the lake and faces me, reaching out to firmly grab my shoulders and shake me while he speaks again. “We’re going to find her.”

Such determination, as expected of my beta.

“And then what?” I ask, because I truly don’t know.

Finding Raine and facing her are two very different things, and one of them I’m terrified of doing.

“Well, we see if she’s still pregnant. If she is, then we find out if it’s yours or not.”

That is if the alpha who currently has her even allows that. My authority over anything that has to do with the South is limited, if not outright banned.

If Nyx Calloway were to ever catch wind of me trying to meddle in one of his pack’s affairs, I’m sure I’d be hunted down for sport. Going toe-to-toe with another alpha king is the last thing I want, especially if it puts Raine in the middle.

Camden shakes me again. “Right?”

“Yes, I do hear you.”

He gives me a firm nod before letting me go. “Good. And stop hiding shit. I mean it. The next time I find out you failed to tell me something, you’re getting a swift kick to the balls.”

That has me wincing. “How am I supposed to have an heir, then?”

“Easy, either don’t lie to me or hope like hell that kid is yours.”

I smile slowly. Leave it to Camden to threaten me in the most loving way.

“Are you two boneheads done?” Constance’s voice breezes in through the trees.

Both of us look over to see her making her way through a tall set of bushes that blocks the most direct path to us. She looks unamused at both of us, clearly fed up with our banter.

“I found something of yours,” she says to me when she gets close enough.

My brows rise. “What?”

Just then, the bushes part again, and another shifter steps through.

“Hey.” Delilah smiles.

If ads affect your reading experience, click here to remove ads on this page.