Chapter 37 #2
I wanted to protest, to move away. But my stupid wolf leaned into his touch. Dammit!
“I felt your anger. Did you have an argument with Ezra?” he asked once my wolf was inside the empty house.
Josie was visiting her sister’s pack with the kids. They had a witch healer she wanted to consult since Dr. Danvers suspected dark magic at play.
Instead of responding, I shifted into my human form to stand before him naked. Aiden quickly grabbed a blanket from the TV lounge. I noticed the couch had been slept in.
“I can’t sleep in my bed without you there,” he mumbled, throwing the blanket around my naked form.
His eyes were averted as he spoke.
“Did you know?” I asked, clutching the blanket around me. I was secretly enjoying Aiden's scent on the blanket; it was helping me calm down. “Did you know that Auntie Hilda and my dad were…together?”
Aiden gave a jerky nod, but it was his eyes that gave it away first. A flicker of knowledge, of looking at me as if to say, "About time you figured it out".
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I exclaimed, my voice full of anxiety over such a huge secret being kept from me.
“It wasn’t my secret to tell,” Aiden replied honestly, hands in his jean pockets. “I’ve known since the day you were admitted to the hospital after the circus fire. I noticed how familiar they were with each other…”
There it was…the word familiar. Something I had noticed too, but had been too thick to see it for what it was.
The way my dad would put a hand over Auntie Hilda's shoulder as she cooked breakfast, the way they sometimes stood too close together, pulling away when I entered a room, the way Dad couldn’t stand it if Auntie Hilda was upset about something…
Another memory of me being rude to my aunt at dinner and Dad slamming the table, telling me to stop being rude.
It hadn’t been for any other reason except that I'd made Auntie Hilda cry.
And how else would Dad know if Auntie Hilda had slept all night or not because she was worried about me after the kidnapping?
He knew because they were sharing a bed.
A bed my aunt most likely snuck into long after I fell asleep.
A bed my aunt had to sneak out of before I woke up, like some twisted walk of shame.
“No wonder they wanted me out of the house. They could finally stop pretending and actually live like a couple with me gone,” I spoke bitterly.
“You know that’s not true.”
“It is! It is! I keep everyone apart. I kept them apart! I keep you and Lexia apart—”
“You’re not the reason I’m not with Lexia anymore,” Aiden cut in.
“Yes, I am! Stop lying to me!” I exclaimed. “Maybe I should just leave…maybe that would be better for everyone.”
Aiden's eyebrows drew together. “You’re not going anywhere.” His hand reached out to grab my blanket-clad shoulder.
Fireworks exploded across my entire body and unbidden, the image of him on top of me entered my mind. I wrenched away from him. No, I wasn't going to let my wolf instincts get in the way anymore.
“Don’t you dare touch me!” I yelled. “Just stay away from me!”
I was angry at all of them. But most of all, I was angry at myself. I wanted to leave this place. Stomping up the stairs angrily, going into my room to change, I began to fill out the application for the med-school in New York. There was no way I was staying here.
Aiden's POV
I wanted to go after her; I wanted to grab her and reason with her.
ButI was afraid she’d leave the house again if I tried to approach her.
Happy to have her back under my roof, I decided to give her space.
Maybe once she'd had time to cool down she'd be more receptive to me instead of flying into a rage and trying to leave.
Rose's POV
Something was wrong. It started as a low hum in my veins as the days progressed, an acute awareness of the vibrations and inflections in Aiden's voice whenever I heard it floating around the house. The word attraction didn’t do this feeling justice.
It was a dull ache, a throbbing between my legs that I could only ease for so long by my self during my daily shower.
Sometimes I'd touch my self twice a day. There was a need in me that had been steadily increasing, day by day, ever since my turn. On the day I went to class, I couldn’t understand a word of what my professors were teaching.
When I met up with Jake and couldn’t help but notice the way his lips moved as he talked, the truth of what was wrong finally came crashing down.
“Rose…have you seen Aiden around…recently?” Jake asked the words warily.
“Hmmm?”
I felt light-headed and dizzy as his words seeped into my brain, wading through the fog.
“Oh, I’ve seen him around, but I’m angry at everyone,” Iconfided.
My eyes trailed over Jake’s rippling muscles appreciatively.
Jake took an uneasy step back from me.
“So he hasn’t…really seen you, has he?”
I shook my head, unconsciously stepping forward into him. “Apart from passing each other on the stairs a few days ago, no, we haven’t interacted much. He won’t even look my way.” The last sentence was spoken bitterly.
Jake swore, taking his phone out.
Aiden's POV
I was in an important meeting with the Council of Elders.
I hadn’t had much sleep lately due to the fact that Rose was angry at me.
Ezra had tried coming over to my house to see Rose, but Rose even refused to see her own father.
She was pretty upset at all of them. All I wanted to do was get past this somehow…
but how? Rose probably hated my guts, and I didn't want to do anything to aggravate her. She might not even want anything to do with me anymore. The thought of losing her sent dread shooting through my heart. So, I took what I could get: Rose flitting about my house while I maintained my distance. Because even her presence, just knowing she was in the room beyond, was enough. The days she’d stayed at her father's house had been awful for me.
I'd kept walking aimlessly into her room, wishing she'd appear there. I needed her in my life and couldn’t function without her nearby.
I reached for my phone vibrating incessantly in my pocket and my eyes widened upon seeing Jake’s name on the caller ID.
What did that asshole want now? But even after I declined the call, Jake called me again.
I began to get an uneasy feeling. Was something wrong with Rose?
I tried to feel her out and sensed her location. She was at her university…
I glanced absently at my phone again and read Jake's text.
Swearing, I excused myself from the meeting, leaving all of them flabbergasted over my abrupt departure.
Rose’s POV
“Rose, I don’t know what to do, so I’ve contacted Aiden ,” he confided, patting my arm.
I shivered, leaning into his touch and staring at him. He looked…hot. Attractive. I wet my lips with my tongue and noted the way his gaze darted down to stare at my lips. Then he gave a quick shake of his head.
“Shit your pheromones,” he muttered, running a hand over his face. A perfectly good hand attached to a strong arm. I leaned further into him, feeling my body yearn for him to touch me.
“You shouldn’t have come in today. I can’t believe Aiden didn’t notice,” Jake hissed angrily, scooting away from me. “If I hadn’t been here…” He shuddered.
“What?” I asked in confusion, my anger over Aiden's name being mentioned momentarily clearing the fog in my brain. “Why did you call him? I don’t need his help!. I’m perfectly fine,” I stated, suddenly dizzy. Then I sniffled a little. “He’s an asshole. I don’t want to be anywhere near him!”
“He’s your mate,” Jake replied. “I may not like him, especially after he punched me, but I need to get you to your mate.”
“It’s all a sham!” I slurred out, fog clouding my brain again.
I fought against it. What was wrong with me?
I felt like I was on some drug. Everything was hazy.
My brain felt dizzy, and I couldn’t think straight.
But the heaviness in my heart was so great, every time I thought about what was going on in mylife, I became depressed.
I couldn’t help the words spilling from my mouth, the need to unburden my grief was overwhelming.
Who else could I talk too? Jake wasn’t part of the pack, so it felt somewhat easier to talk to him since he wouldn’t be biased.
Jake looked up from his phone, surprised at my words. “What do you mean? You…I see his mark on you Rose. Aren’t you both together?”
“That asshole…he marked me and went through my memories!” I exclaimed, tears dripping down my cheeks.
“I don’t want to stay here, Jake. He’ll get back with Lexia after he figures out how to get out of this mate thing.
He was forced into this and now he’s just…
pretending with me!” Ispat the words out, leaning against Jake’s arm.
My cheeks flushed when my boobs squished against his arm.
I rubbed experimentally against his arm, sighing because it felt so good.
It made the thrumming in my veins ease up a little.
I moved again, my nipples dragging against his upper arm.
I let out a groan, the sensation awakening a fire in my blood that needed to be quenched.
“Rose…d-d-don’t,” Jake stuttered out. He pulled his arm away from me , cheeks pink. “I won’t be able to control myself if you keep doing this.”
“What’s wrong with me?” My tongue was heavy, my brain was muddled, and all I wanted to do was find some relief because I was wetter down there than a waterfall.
I tried to fight through the fog, to break the surface of the ocean I was drowning under. But it wasn’t working. My body was starting to feel hot.
“Jake…” My breath was hot against his neck. Myhand, damp with perspiration, squeezed his bicep appreciatively through his thin t-shirt. “You look strong.” My voice was breathy and filled with want. Waves of attraction were wafting towards Jake, who looked like a man parched for me .