Chapter 62 #2
I returned from a long day at the pack clinic to discover that Josie was over with the kids.
My routine was gaining some sort of a new normal.I’d get up and go to the clinic, spend time with family and friends before coming home to sleep.
I’d tried asking Aiden a few times if there was anything required of me as Luna, but he kept tonelessly telling me to not worry about it for now.
I’d seen Josie a few times since I’d been out of the hospital but today Josie brought the kids over as well andI was overjoyed. I was seeing the kids again after a long time. Tanya wouldn’t leave my side.
“We were all so worried about what that evil alpha might do to you,” Tanya said sadly.
“An evil alpha?” I asked, confused.
“After Aiden was defeated.” Tanya kept babbling and Josie’s eyes widened in horror. “It must have been awful to have Al—”
Josie clapped a hand over Tanya’s mouth, but the damage was done.
“What is Tanya talking about?” I choked out on a horrified whisper. I searched the room to discover that Aiden was in the backyard with his brothers.
“Nothing, Rose,” Josie assured.
“It didn’t sound like nothing.” My voice reached a higher pitch than normal.
“Dr. Danvers thinks it’s better to not tell you right now. It might trigger a regression,” Josie explained pleadingly. “Please, dear, don’t push it. You’ll remember in time.”
“And if I don’t, do you just expect me to live life not knowing about these types of things?” I asked angrily. Had I been mated to someone else? Aiden had been defeated in a challenge? By who?
“It’s too much information for you all at once. It’s better not to tell you yet.” Josie spoke placatingly. “Please—”
“I have a right to know what’s been going on with my life this past year! Especially if it involves something like this!”
“What’s going on?” Aiden’s voice was grim as he entered from the back door, and he looked at Josie angrily. “You’re not supposed to upset her.”
“I told Tanya not to mention anything,” Josie said defensively.
Aiden’s wrathful gaze came to rest on the seven-year-old. “What did you tell her?!”
In an instant, I was by Tanya’s side. The little girl cowered in front of the brother over ten years her senior. Tanya had always been a little afraid of him. He loved her but his anger was downright frightening.
“She’s just a child. It’s not her fault it slipped out,” I spoke defensively. “You, as my mate, should be the one telling me all of this! I shouldn’t have to find out from other people what’s happened to me!” I stomped my foot angrily before turning and flouncing up the stairs.
It was the first time I had openly acknowledged that Aiden was my mate.
Rose’s POV
Hours later, there was a knock on my door before Aiden entered.
“Princess?” he asked hesitantly.
I lay on my side, absently rubbing the small bulge on my stomach.I’d passed the three-month mark and Dr. Danvers said everything was normal.
I was halfway through my pregnancy. I saw Aiden’s gaze was fixed at my stomach that was growing a child we’d conceived together.
A child that was to be a product of our unconditional love for each other, but I didn't remember anything about that love.
“You can’t keep hiding things from me,” I said dully.
“The doctors think—”
“What about what I think? It’s my brain, my mind!” Isat up to look at Aiden angrily.
“Even if I tell you, I’m not going to be able to tell you what you went through, what you felt. I only know my side of the entire experience,” Aiden spoke a little defensively.
He hung back, refusing to go sit on the bed without the green light from me. Everything was about making sure I felt comfortable. I had an idea by now that he didn't want to overwhelm me with his nearness.
“It’s better than not knowing anything,” I responded with crossed arms. I finally voiced my fear I'd been mulling over for the past hour. "Are you sure the baby's even yours?"
My words made Aiden's face shatter.
"It's mine." His voice was flat.
"How are you so sure? What if the baby's born and you end up hating the pup because it's not yours?" I insisted.
"Because I feel the connection. My wolf is going crazy trying to turn me into an over-protective alpha mate. And…” Aiden paused for a beat before continuing. "Even if the baby wasn't mine, I couldn't hate something that was part of you."
His eyes flickered down to my stomach and I felt a glimmer of softness radiate into me from him..
"I don’t know how to be the person you need me to be.” My voice was quiet, ashamed.
“I don’t need you to be anyone but yourself.”
“I’m not her…this Rose that...” My face suddenly became bright red. “…that sends you those…those sexy text messages or dresses like she’s about to walk the red carpet in expensive designer clothes. I don’t …” I looked up at him, biting my lip helplessly.
“I don’t need you to be anyone but yourself, Rose,” Aiden replied gently.
“But how do I remember everything?” I asked helplessly.
“Well, for one, I think we need to spend more time together,” he supplied. “If you…if you want. I can do it again, Rose. I can make you fall in love with me again, if you give me a chance. You don’t need to remember. You just need to want to try to be with me.”
“I’d like to try,” I admitted.
Before I'd been skittish and not at all ready to entertain the idea of us together. But now, I’d seen the pictures, read the texts in my phone that we sent each other, and heard enough from Aiden to be able to deduce that whatever we had, had been special.
I blushed to the roots of my hair when I recalled a couple of pictures this new Rose had sent Aiden.
Racy pictures that this Rose, a Rose who had never even had a boyfriend and hated the love handles around her abdomen, would have been mortified to send.
Aiden gave a small chuckle.
“You don’t blush that often anymore. I forgot how adorable it is when you do.”
I looked up at Aiden a little shyly.
“Alpha Aiden—”
“Aiden. Please,” he said gently.
“Aiden,” I replied warmly. I motioned for him to sit across from me on the bed. “Will you at least tell me about our first kiss?”
“I think if I did, you’d slap me,” Aiden joked, taking a step back. “I’m surprised you didn’t the first time.”
I arched an eyebrow. “What did you do?”
Suddenly, Aiden was by my side in an instant, sitting on the edge of the bed as he relayed the entire story to me and the whole time I felt like Aiden's voice was tinged with sadness, but hope. He must be hoping that maybe I’d remember something and would be willing to try and go back to how things had been before.
But I didn't recall anything at all, except a flicker of memory rising at the backside of my brain. And when Aiden was done, I couldn’t help but playfully lift a hand to tap against his cheek in a mock slap.
“You really did deserve a slap.” I teased. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“My wolf was going crazy,” Aiden admitted.
“I thought you were insanely hot. The most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
Still are the most beautiful.” A hand came up to lightly graze my cheek.
Sparks erupted across my skin. He sighed.
“I never hated you, Rose. I think I was just unnecessarily mean to you because I kept telling myself if I kept acting like you held zero interest for me, the feelings would eventually come true.
And now I regret that more than ever before. "
And again, the faint flickering of a memory. Fingertips against my cheek as soft lips kissed me, swallowing my professions of love. I grasped his wrist. Another reflex born from the whisperings of something I’d done before.
“Give me another first kiss,” I whispered, licking my lips in anticipation.
Aiden looked towards me like he was swallowed in surprise. “I’d love nothing better than to do that. But are you sure?” Aiden asked in a hesitant tone and his hesitation made me confused.
“Does your wolf not want me anymore?” I asked, my eyes wary.
Aiden groaned.
“I want you so much,” he replied achingly before leaning down to kiss me.
But I met him halfway. And it was like an explosion of want, of need, of love.
What had started as an innocent brush of the lips erupted into something else entirely as I instinctively melded myself against him, legs going to straddle him.
Aiden’s hands came to rest on my thighs, pulling me closer against him, positioning me more intimately on his lap so that I could feel exactly how much he wanted me.
And it felt so right as his tongue swirled around mine, devouring me.
I gasped against him as he gently laid me down against the pillows, his arms carefully supporting my pregnant body until I hit the mattress.
My nightgown was pulled up to bunch around my thighs.
Aiden’s lips trailed a line across my jaw, sucking on a pulse point behind my ear that sent shivers down my spine.
I hadn't even known such a spot existed on my body that could send pleasure soaring inside of me.
He knew how to kiss me all right. Then his lips moved down the column of my neck, nipping and kissing slowly.
My hands fisted in his hair as a familiar feeling of warmth and being safe engulfed me. This felt so right...
But the tumult of emotions was overwhelming. Aiden’s hands slipped under my nightgown to tenderly caress the small bump on my stomach.
“I…I need a minute,” I gasped out against his shoulder.
My head was pounding as glimmers of previous experiences flitted across my brain. It was like trying to grasp threads unraveling around me. The pain in my head increased as Aiden's hands over my stomach stilled.
Aiden pulled back, looking at me closely. I let out a groan of frustration, fisting my hand and hitting the mattress.
“I…I thought I remembered something.”
“Stop pushing it,” Aiden soothed. His hands retreated from under my clothes and pulled down my nightgown. “Good night, Princess.” He grinned down at me, kissing my cheek before retreating away from me.
Aiden walked away, and I suddenly felt cold and alone.