Chapter 25 #2
I jammed the last bit of bread into my mouth, not wanting to dwell on this topic any longer.
I cleaned up after myself while steering the conversation with Tony toward lighter topics.
Afterwards, I left to go see dad and Auntie Hilda.
Since Aiden had classes Tuesdays and Thursdays, I wouldn’t have to worry about running into him today.
He’d informed me that Layla would go with me on Wednesdays and Fridays while he would accompany me on Mondays and Thursdays.
That was fine with me, except for the fact that my stomach lurched oddly knowing that the only reason he went to campus on Mondays was to see Lexia.
It had been an entire two weeks of stilted conversations with Aiden, him stoically buying me coffee every Monday before retreating to go his own way.
We’d meet up after classes to go back home in a silence that was practically suffocating.
He wasn’t mean. No, he was perfectly cordial.
He was always asking me if I needed anything or if I liked the new bookshelf he’d ordered for my room.
He even offered his credit card, which I refused, in case I wanted to go buy a TV for my room if I didn’t feel comfortable sitting in the TV lounge with his family.
Aiden couldn’t be farther from the truth with that assumption.
I loved evenings with the Sinclair family when they sat around watching TV after dinner together or played board games.
Tony was a constant visitor at mealtimes, unless he had a date.
The house was always so full of life, it gave me a real taste of what I’d been missing out on growing up as an only child.
I couldn’t figure it out. This was supposed to be a temporary arrangement, and yet Aiden was doing everything in his power to make sure I was as comfortable as possible while living in his home.
Sometimes, I’d catch Aiden’s eyes on mine as Tanya leaned against me while I read a story out loud.
He’d look away quickly, almost like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t.
But then, Wednesday night, after just such a moment, he cleared his throat and asked if he should take over the story so I could catch a break.
"You don’t have to read to her, you know," Aiden told me with a straight face. "I’m sure you’ve got other things you’d much rather do."
"I don’t need a break from spending quality time with Tanya," I replied, raising an eyebrow as it dawned on me that maybe he thought I felt obligated to spend time with his family.
He couldn’t be more wrong if he tried.
Not pushing the subject, Aiden turned away, going back to the accounts book he’d been looking through.
"I can help you with that later," I offered, still remembering how he’d asked for my help long ago in the library.
Aiden waved me off as if telling me to carry on with whatever I was doing.
I turned back to Tanya, but not before promising myself I’d offer again later.
I knew the regional meeting was coming up, and he’d probably need help budgeting his travel expenses.
Tony was terrible at it—as I knew from the handful of times I’d helped him.
Aiden's POV
That Friday evening, after Rose had come back home from a day at the pack clinic, I found myself knocking on her bedroom door. I hadn’t intended to bother her, but there wasn’t much of a choice. She shut her book the second she saw me.
“What’s up?” she asked, sounding wary.
I didn’t blame her. I hadn’t actively sought her out like this in a while.
Even on Monday, during our ride to campus, I’d kept my mouth shut and quietly handed her coffee before going my own way.
She’d called after me, saying she’d hoped I had a nice time with Lexia today.
I didn’t bother telling her I wasn’t on campus to see Lexia.
I’d gone to the library and done my assignments alone.
“The police are here. They wanted to ask you some questions,” I muttered, keeping my eyes firmly on the floor. I didn’t dare look at her.
Because the moment I had stepped in, I saw her.
Really saw her. She’d been lying on her bed, her skirt hiked indecently high, legs sprawled, completely unaware of how much she was revealing.
My gaze had caught the pale flash of her underwear before I could stop it—and now I was doing everything in my power not to think about it.
Not to imagine myself walking across the room, sinking onto that bed, and burying my face between her thighs. Goddess what was wrong with me?
She stood quickly, clearly realizing too late that she’d been exposed in that tiny skirt of hers.
“I’ll be down in a minute,” she said hastily, moving barefoot across her room.
My gaze involuntarily followed—from her toes, up her legs, all the way to her eyes. I had to wrestle my instincts back into submission, push down the heat rising in me. I cleared my throat and forced myself to speak again, this time gentler.
“Are you up to it? If it’s too much, I can tell them to come again later.”
Concern laced my voice. I didn’t want her to go through an interrogation she did not feel ready for.
“I can manage,” she replied, reaching for her bejeweled hair tie from the nightstand. Her curls were flying in every direction, wild and untamed.
And damn me, but I wanted nothing more than to run my hands through them.
Rose's POV
The click of the door and the sudden absence of his scent told me Aiden had left, giving me a moment of privacy.
By the time I made it downstairs to the living room, I was surprised to see Josie sitting there… and Dad too.
“Dad,” I blurted out, startled.
I immediately turned to Aiden, my eyes narrowing. Seriously? My dad didn’t need to hear all the details about my kidnapping—it would only worry him more.
“I wanted to be here for you,” Dad explained gently.
“I can ask him to leave if you don’t want him here,” Aiden spoke up firmly, his gaze going to my father and daring him to challenge the pack alpha.
“Now just a minute Aiden,” Dad started, face turning red. “Rose is my daughter and I have every right–”
“She’s my mate,” Aiden growled and I saw his eyes flash yellow briefly. “And if she doesn’t want you here, you will leave.”
“Of course my daughter wants me here for moral support!” Dad blustered.
I really didn’t want him here. But whatever this pissing match was between Dad and Aiden would only be further aggravated if I told Dad to leave. So instead, I cast a stern glare over both of them, hoping they’d stop arguing about me.
Finally I sat down, hesitant to talk about the werewolf that had attacked me.
Instead, I just said that someone I couldn’t see had knocked me out from behind.
I started recounting everything that happened after I woke up in a shack.
I noticed how everyone’s expressions paled when I mentioned Ray hitting me.
The officers wrote down every detail I gave about Ray—his appearance, how he talked about his kids, everything.
But when I got to Bobbin, Josie abruptly stood up and ran out of the room, covering her mouth to stifle her sobs.
Dad’s hands clenched into fists, and I could practically feel Aiden’s anger radiating from where he stood.
I stiffened. Wait—no. I felt his anger. Not just sensed it from his body language, but truly felt it.
Barely-there threads of fury and helplessness seeped into me like static.
It wasn’t my own emotions, and I wouldn’t have been able to place it if I wasn’t absolutely sure it wasn’t mine.
I turned sharply to Aiden, mid-sentence, catching the tight tick in his jaw as he stared at the floor.
“And after he…uh…untied your hands?” the investigator asked cautiously, like he didn’t want to push too hard.
I blinked and turned back to him. “I realized that I had to try something. I couldn’t just…let him…” My throat felt tight, but I pushed on. “And when my hands were untied, I head-butted him as hard as I could. He was too busy slobbering over me to notice what I was about to do.”
I picked at a thread on the couch cushion, trying to keep my voice level. “His nose started bleeding, and he let me go. I grabbed the beer bottle from the side table and hit him over the head… as hard as I could,” I added, maybe a little proud of myself.
I didn’t miss the flicker of something on Aiden’s face. Was that pride? No… probably just me projecting, getting our emotions mixed up.
I turned my focus back to the investigator. “It was enough to knock him out, and then I just ran out of there as fast as I could,” I said, finishing the story.
The investigator was scribbling everything down furiously. He nodded at the officers, who stood and headed out, thanking Josie for the coffee and cookies as they left.
“I just have a couple more questions, and then we’ll be done,” the investigator said. He looked me straight in the eyes. “Can you describe the werewolf who attacked you and took you into the woods?”
I nearly fell off the couch. I turned to look at Dad, then Aiden. Neither of them looked fazed.
“It’s okay, Rose,” Dad assured me gently. “You can tell him the truth.”
“Well… he was big. White and light brown fur,” I said carefully.
The investigator wrote something down in his notebook before looking at me. “What about his eye color?”
“Dark yellow,” I answered without hesitation.
He sighed heavily. Clearly, he was hoping for something more specific. I knew why—when the human side is in control, a werewolf’s eyes can shift to their human color.
“Big, dark yellow eyes and brown and white fur. Do you know that you just described ninety percent of the werewolf population?” he said, clearly annoyed as he snapped his notebook shut with a loud “snap”..
I flushed with embarrassment.
“Give her a break!” Aiden exclaimed. “It’s not like she paused to take in all his features. She was being attacked!”