Chapter 6
"And I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt. And when we go crashin' down, we come back every time. 'Cause we never go out of style," —Style, Taylor Swift
Aiden’s POV
I stumbled, taken aback momentarily.
“Ai… Aiden, baby,” Lexia cooed hesitantly, placing a hand on my arm.
I ripped my arm away from her, shooting her a quelling glance.
My wolf was out and did not want to be distracted by Lexia.
My eyes glowed yellow momentarily, warning her not to interfere.
Wolves couldn’t speak, but their feral instincts were enough to guide the human counterpart.
Submitting to the dominant alpha, Lexia backed away.
I stalked forward, determined to find the source of this scent.
My eyes landed on a couple in the very back.
The most beautiful girl I’d ever seen sat next to my cousin, Jake, in a booth.
Her long legs were exposed in a tight-knit charcoal gray skirt that stopped mid-thigh, showing off lithe, toned legs with thick thighs I wanted to bury myself between.
Fuck she was so hot! Another growl threatened to escape my lips.
Jake had just put an arm around her black sweater-clad shoulders, his fingers lightly playing with the dark reddish-brown curls brushing against her shoulder.
I nearly saw red when he leaned in to whisper something in her ear.
I wanted to claw my cousin’s heart out for touching her.
Mate.
The thought entered my mind unbidden, and the entire diner froze. That’s when I realized I had growled the word out loud. My wolf seemed satisfied when the gorgeous girl jerked out of Jake’s grasp, standing up in surprise and shock to see me.
I hungrily took in her hourglass form. Her charcoal gray knit skirt hugged her thighs, thighs that were made to wrap around a man’s waist, while her black sweater clung to her waist and ample breasts.
Eerily familiar green eyes locked onto mine from across the diner—innocent, idealistic green eyes that haunted my dreams. With a strangled growl, I realized this stunningly hot woman was Rose.
I blinked twice, struggling to reconcile this woman with the little girl I still thought of her as.
“Alpha Aiden?” Rose breathed in surprise.
Apparently, no one had told her I’d be returning tonight. Irrational anger flared inside of me.
Jake stood up slowly, glancing between us before suddenly commenting dryly, “You haven’t found your mate yet, huh?”
His words only incensed me and my wolf, further as I turned an accusing glare on Rose. A rage unlike any other roared through my veins. She was trying to mate with another wolf. The animal inside me raged, demanding I rip Jake’s throat out.
“What’s up, Cuz?” Jake asked, nodding toward me, careful to keep his distance from Rose.
That seemed to appease my wolf considerably, allowing me to wrestle back some control. If only I had known Rose was here, I could have prepared myself. Maybe this flare-up could have been prevented. Hell, I could’ve avoided this place altogether.
I glanced around, realizing that many of the diner’s occupants—werewolves from various packs—were looking at me knowingly. They had felt the mate pull before. But what they didn’t know was that this wasn’t the first time I had met my mate.
I exhaled deeply, trying to calm the raging beast inside me. Then it hit me. In an entire diner full of wolves, I had just announced that Rose was my mate. Fuck.
My sources told me she was safe because most of the packs assumed Lexia was my mate. And since Lexia was with me, she was safe. I always ensured Lexia’s safety, confident in my ability to protect her.
But now…everything had fallen apart because of my outburst.
“I… I think we should leave,” Lexia spoke up hesitantly, motioning for Eddy to cancel whatever extravagant welcome home order he’d been getting ready in the back.
I turned to look at the girl who was the love of my life. My eyes softened. I just needed to get out of here, away from Rose. Everything would be okay if I avoided her.
Get Rose out of here, my instincts demanded, contradicting my logic.
“Let’s go,” I said to Lexia kindly.
Then, I turned my full wrath on the beautiful woman standing across from me.
Pinning her with my gaze, I commanded, “You too.”
She wasn’t safe here. Not after my outburst.
“I brought my own car, Alpha,” Rose replied firmly, pulling out her keys with a slight tremor in her hands as she reached into her black leather purse.
Her keys clattered to the floor from her trembling fingers.
As she bent down to grab them, the deep V neckline of her sweater dipped low, exposing ample amounts of cleavage to my gaze. My throat went dry, and I had to force myself to look away.
A hot flush stole over her face as she stood up with surprising speed, bidding Jake a hasty goodbye before quickly walking past me.
“Lexia,” I grunted, barely sparing her a glance, my eyes locked onto the young woman walking ahead. That damn tight skirt hugged Rose’s figure, emphasizing her ample ass and the sway of her hips. Beautiful full hips that my hands itched to grab. I bit back a curse. My wolf was going crazy.
“Take my car home. I have to go with Rose.”
What if someone tried to kidnap her on her way home? It wasn’t safe for her.
“We…we could just follow her,” Lexia ventured hesitantly.
I could hear the uncertainty in her voice.
She was afraid of how I was reacting to my destined mate—afraid of being cast aside.
But right now, my wolf instincts were dominating my every decision.
I’d deal with Lexia later. “There really is no immediate need for you to go with her.”
“I said take my car!” I snapped, watching as Rose exited the diner. Every male loitering outside took the opportunity to admire her shapely backside on display in that damn skirt.
That skirt would be the death of me.
Internally cursing the creator of such a garment, I stormed out of the diner.
My glare turned icy as I shot warning looks at every man who dared check her out.
Had this been happening the entire time I’d been away?
Had she been walking around with every male in sight salivating after her?
My wolf growled possessively at the mere thought.
When Rose reached her car and opened the door, I was beside her in an instant, smoothly snatching the keys from her fingers. A jolt of electricity surged through both of us at the brief contact.
She pulled her hand back as if burned, eyes widening slightly. The mate sparks were in full force between us now.
“I’ll drive,” I grunted.
She looked at me in surprise before glancing behind me, searching for Lexia.
“Lexia’s following us,” I stated curtly, motioning for her to move aside.
I didn’t trust myself to touch her. My wolf was practically berserk with want—demanding I claim her, mark her, scent her so that no other man would dare look at her again.
Shaken by my own possessive thoughts, I slid into the driver’s seat of her car, gripping the wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white. Her floral scent was everywhere, filling the small space, calming my wolf and agitating me all at once.
Rose climbed into the passenger seat and put her hair up in a ponytail.
The pink and blue gemstones in her hair band sparkled, drawing my attention.
My gaze lingered on the delicate slope of her neck, where a small black freckle rested above the crook of her shoulder.
An image flashed through my mind—me kissing and sucking that spot before sinking my canines into the soft flesh, marking her as mine.
I clenched my jaw, forcing the thought away.
“We didn’t expect you back until next week, Alpha,” Rose murmured demurely after a stretch of silence.
She smoothed her skirt over her thighs, trying to regain her composure. The fabric had ridden up slightly when she sat down, exposing even more of her beautiful thighs. Thighs my wolf was salivating after.
My temper flared. Stupid skirt. Who invented these things, anyway?
“When I asked you to be careful and stay on pack territory as much as possible, I thought you’d listen to me,” I finally clipped out, swerving onto the road.
Lexia was trailing behind us, but something in me made me press harder on the accelerator, leaving her in the dust.
Rose gasped as the car sped up.
“I… I’ve been really careful,” she assured quickly. “I usually only go to class and come straight home, just like you asked me to.”
“Rose, I didn’t ask. That was a direct order from your alpha.”
Why did her name sound so damn good on my tongue? Saying it turned me on. I nearly swerved into a pothole at the realization.
A brief silence followed before she spoke up again, a hint of stubbornness in her voice.
“I followed orders,” she insisted. “Jake is a friend from high school. It’s only tonight that I actually went out. You, of all people, should understand that I have a right to a social life.”
I slammed on the brakes outside my house. The three-story mansion was lit up; its white pillars wrapped in fairy lights, welcoming my return.
Rose turned to me, her green eyes filled with emotion.
“You have your life and the girl you love. Please, try to understand,” she pleaded.
“Don’t I deserve a chance at happiness too?
I haven’t even gone out on any dates since you left.
No guy in the pack ever shows any interest in me because they think I’m supposed to be your luna.
The adults in my life don’t encourage me to date because they think the same thing.
I think I deserve to live a little. The last time I kissed a boy was when I was fourteen, and that doesn’t even count because it was a disaster—”
She turned bright pink, suddenly realizing she was rambling. She looked cute when she blushed. My lips twitched upwards into a fond smile.
“I’d just hoped to get a kiss tonight,” she admitted, her voice small. “I know it sounds silly.”
A deep, possessive growl tore from my chest before I even realized it.
Rose looked up at me, startled.
Before she could react, I reached out, gripping the back of her head, my fingers tangling in her soft curls.
And then my lips crashed over hers.