Chapter 31
“The heart makes its choices without weighing the consequences. It doesn't look ahead to the lonely nights that follow.” ― Tess Gerritsen, Keeping The Dead
Rose's POV
“Don’t forget we have Aiden’s graduation ceremony tomorrow morning, dear!
” Josie reminded me at the breakfast table.
Her smile was gentle, eyes hopeful as they stayed pinned to my form.
“Afterwards we plan to go out to lunch to celebrate Dylan’s birthday and Aiden’s graduation!
” Josie threw up her hands in excitement.
That’s right, it was Dylan’s eighteenth birthday tomorrow!
And while I knew for a fact that Dylan would be excited to have me, I didn’t know if Aiden would welcome me at his graduation.
I hesitated in my response, glancing toward Aiden who was standing next to the coffee machine. “You want me to attend your graduation?”
Josie looked between us politely from where she stood by the sink, not letting the moment slip past.
“Why wouldn’t we want you to attend?” She shot Aiden a pointed, censorious look.
“I’m sure the graduation is a family event,” I mumbled, nervously biting my bottom lip and looking down at my half-eaten breakfast as I sat on my stool in front of the countertop.
“You’re a member of our household, Rose. You are like family,” Josie said kindly but firmly, giving her son another sharp glance.
I let out a small sigh. Aiden probably didn’t even want me there—
“I asked for an extra ticket with you in mind,” he said suddenly.
His voice was calm and clear, echoing through the kitchen.
His gaze was steady on me as he walked over and set down a cup of coffee before me.
I inhaled the scent of cinnamon wafting from it.
Was this his peace offering after the fight we’d had a few days ago?
“Because it would look suspicious if I didn’t come,” I snapped, my tone harsher than I intended. It always came back to that, didn’t it?
“Because you’re like family,” Aiden repeated Josie’s words “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to though.”
With that, he walked out of the kitchen.
I stared after him, unsure what to make of it.
“He hates admitting when he’s wrong. Just like his father,” Josie said, clearly amused.
Before she could say anything else, I quickly slipped out of the kitchen and made my escape.
Aiden's POV
I rolled into bed, completely drained from tonight’s mess of complications.
At midnight, Dylan turned eighteen. So we’d decided to celebrate the usual way—with a pack run.
Most werewolves shifted at 16 and could sense their mates at eighteen, so it was tradition to mark the occasion with a run.
It was a rite of passage, really. For all we knew, the next day he would sense his mate and no longer be a bachelor.
It was supposed to be a wonderful way for us brothers to bond with a midnight run.
But of course, nothing had gone the way it was supposed to.
Dylan had always been a pretty large wolf for his age, but everyone had conveniently forgotten that an alpha’s need to lead surfaces right around the eighteenth birthday too.
So when Dylan refused to bare his neck to me, it hit all of us like a slap to the face—he wasn’t just a strong wolf.
He was an alpha. One who wasn’t meant to follow me.
One who was meant to lead. His fully developed alpha canines had snapped at me in challenger.
My own wolf had responded in kind, not one to back down.
It nearly turned into a full-on fight between our wolves.
Thank the goddess Tony had been there to intervene.
Exhausted, I couldn’t stop my mind from drifting to a familiar pair of green eyes.
I wanted to hold her. Kiss her. Have her by my side so I could talk to her about all of this—about Dylan, about what the hell we were supposed to do now. If this tension didn’t settle, if something didn’t shift soon, I was terrified our wolves might tear each other apart.
Two alphas in one pack wasn’t just complicated—it was dangerous.
But what choice did we have? Where else could my brother go?
I sighed, tossing and turning in bed as sleep evaded me.
Soon, I had to leave for an important pack related assignment.
I would be presenting the drafted legislation, from the regional alliance meeting, in Washington D.C.
Part of me wanted to ask Rose to go with me.
I wanted my luna with me for such a momentous occasion.
But did I really have any right to ask her?
Rose's POV
The next morning, I stood at Aiden’s graduation, clapping along with the rest of his family, forcing down the bitter taste rising in my throat when I spotted him with his friends—Lexia by his side, of course—smiling for pictures.
Josie beamed and waved him over so he could take pictures with everyone.
Dylan was missing because he wasn’t feeling well according to Josie.
“Well, I’m going to go home and check up on Dylan,” Josie announced once we were done taking pictures. “I’ll meet you guys for lunch.”
As she left, I caught Jake’s gaze across the lawn. What was he doing here on graduation day? I noticed how Aiden’s eyes were still fixed on me as I walked over to meet Jake, after waving goodbye to Josie and Tony.
Aiden's POV
I watched Rose walk towards Jake with determined strides, I realized with aching clarity that I was jealous.
Jealous of the way her eyes lit up every time she saw Jake.
Jealous of how easily she confided in him, like he was the one who understood her best. Jealous of how, whenever Jake was around, she went straight to him—without hesitation—while I was left on the sidelines, hoping for a moment, a glance, a scrap of her attention.
Maybe that’s why, when Lexia brushed up against me, her voice low and teasing as she whispered that maybe now I’d finally be in the mood for something, I didn’t exactly push her away…
Rose's POV
“I better call Aiden and ask him if it’s time to go meet everyone for lunch,” I said, pulling my phone out after talking with Jake for a while.
My eyes scanned the campus, looking for him—and then the phone slipped from my hand.
There he was.
Under a tree.
With her.
I watched Lexia reach up and try to kiss him—he pulled back with a small laugh, but still, she stumbled forward and he caught her by the waist. My blood boiled.
Jake cursed beside me. “He needs to make it clear to her that he's no longer available, so she'll stop throwing herself at him,” he growled, looking at me for confirmation.
I couldn’t say a word. I was too gutted. Why did it hurt this much seeing Lexia in his arms? Why did I want to march over there and break her fingers for touching my alpha?
Then I saw Lexia’s hands run up Aiden’s arms, her eyes darkening, her hips subtly shifting against his in perfect alignment—and before I could stop myself, I growled. Low. Sharp. Possessive.
Jake actually took a step away from me.
Aiden looked up immediately, locking eyes with me as I stalked toward them.
He quickly stepped away from Lexia, his hands sliding into his pockets like he hadn’t just been letting her touch him.
Lexia looked right at me, displeasure etched into her face, knowing full well it was me who made him pull away.
Driven by something raw and instinctive, I walked straight up to them. He’d told me they weren’t together—but that didn’t look broken up.
Aiden was putting space between himself and Lexia, and I could tell he liked the reaction he got from me. He looked… smug. Like he liked that I was getting territorial.
“How nice to see you, Rose,” Lexia greeted, her voice fake-sweet but her eyes were all venom.
Something inside me snapped. I leaned in with a small, icy smile. “I didn’t see you at the concert, Lexia.” I knew those photos of Aiden kissing me were all over social media. Just bringing it up reminded her: he’s mine.
“I’ve been busy studying,” she replied coolly. “But I guess Aiden found a way to keep himself preoccupied.” She gave a sharp little hum and narrowed her eyes at me.
“Let’s… go,” Aiden cut in, clearly uncomfortable now.
He looked… hollow. Like whatever he’d hoped to feel just never came.
“Yes, Aiden, take me home,” Lexia purred, rubbing his bicep with a possessive hand.
He flinched away from her, almost like her touch burned him. I saw it—and it gave me a strange, savage kind of satisfaction.
“Rose?” he asked, turning to me.
I looked at him, still angry but nodded. I waved at Jake and followed Aiden to the car. I just needed to get him away from her.
Lexia's POV
“Way to move in on my man,” I hissed as I watched Rose leave with Aiden.
Jake gave me a confused glance. “He said you guys were broken up.”
“He’ll get back with me eventually,” I said, voice dripping with certainty.
“He just needs time. He told me he needed to figure things out… how to fight the mate pull.” I conveniently left out the part where that conversation was four months old.
“You don’t actually believe they’re together, do you?
Even if they are, it’s just his wolf. When he learns to fight it, he’ll leave her.
They haven’t even slept together—it’s so obvious.
And if there’s one thing I know about Aiden…
” I smirked. “He loves sex. He probably finds her absolutely sickening if he hasn’t touched her yet. ”
Jake stared down at me for a moment. “And what makes you so sure they're not just waiting until they’re more comfortable with each other?”
I scoffed. “Their instincts are screaming at them to mate. I can smell the pheromones.” I turned to Jake, eyes narrowing. “You like her, don’t you?”
He nodded. “It’s no secret. I’ve told her plenty of times.”
My eyes gleamed. I’d just discovered my next move.
Rose's POV
Back in Aiden’s car, I sat trying to process what had just happened. Jealousy wasn’t even the word for what had consumed me.
Possessiveness had curled up into my insides, aching to claw out the eyes of the woman who dared touch my mate.
“It didn’t… hurt you, did it?” Aiden asked, glancing over at me. “I didn’t let her kiss me.”
“What does it matter?” I replied bitterly.
I knew I was being a brat. But I was so angry, so wound up over what I’d seen—it was drowning out any rational thought.
“It… it was a mistake seeing her,” he finally said.
“Didn’t look like you thought it was a mistake,” I bit out.
Where had the rational, mature version of me gone? The one who believed in his freedom to choose? That version was gone—burned away in the heat of seeing Lexia’s hands on him.
We drove to lunch in silence, the tension so thick it was almost suffocating.
The next day, Aiden left for Washington D.C. He’d be back in August, when our mating ceremony was supposed to happen. I wandered through the house like I’d lost something vital. Like part of me was gone.
Whenever I went to campus to process transcripts and paperwork for my full-time internship with Dr. Danvers that would be in the fall, the emptiness hit harder. I missed the little things—the way he opened car doors, made sure I’d eaten, brought me coffee, waited outside class just to walk with me.
He was gone.
And I missed him.