The Beta's Missing Mate (Book 16 Of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 44

Aidan breathed a small sigh of relief when he stepped out of Bianca's room. That had gone better than he'd expected it to, though he still felt horrible about it. He stopped, and ran a hand over his face. Two women in just a few hours. He wasn't quite sure what Bianca was thinking. But at the moment it would be so much easier to take her as a mate over Ana. He didn't hate Bianca. But he didn't love her either.

Besides, she was Zane's mate. Zane would be able to give her so much more than Aidan could from day one. But Zane would also be patient with her. He'd give her what she needed, even if their relationship started out as just friendship. But Aidan also knew that Zane would work his way in and have Bianca falling in love with him before she even knew what had happened. Zane was personable and smooth with women. They'd be good together.

He smiled as he thought back to his conversation with Bianca about his piercings. Maybe he should tell Zane to get his own dick pierced. That conversation would go over well. Not that Bianca had seen his piercings.

Elsie was the first woman he'd slept with after he'd gotten them done and she'd been shocked. But she'd also loved them. Once it had sort of become a thing between them and he knew she was on birth control, he'd fucked her without a condom regularly and she'd loved every second of it. He sighed, hoping she was happy, wherever she was.

I think Bianca might stay, he linked Malachi.

Good. Staying might be the best thing for her anyway, even without her being Zane's mate. It'll help her to move on. I should check on her. See how she's doing here.

She's already intimidated by you, Kai. He could imagine Kai rolling his eyes over that one.

Maybe Kyra. Though she's out of town until tomorrow.

I think Kyra is the better choice. Bianca is so sad.

She needs to be inducted into the pack as soon as possible then. When Kyra comes back, I'll have her go chat with her and hopefully get her to agree and I'll induct her as soon as possible.

I think that would be for the best. I honestly think the main reason she agreed to this arrangement with me was to ease her own heartache.

Even though she probably wasn't ready for it.

Probably not. He wasn't even sure how he would have handled marking her, mainly because of the emotions involved. He supposed it would have all come down to how much things changed between them.

Aidan took the elevator back up to his apartment and walked inside to find his brother standing in the doorway of Ana's room chatting with her. She seemed to like Zane. Aidan frowned at the green monster that raised its ugly head. He had no right to be jealous, and he knew that, but he was. Zane had no interest in Ana, and Ana probably didn't have any interest in Zane, or at least he hoped she didn't. Ana wasn't yelling at his brother. Instead her voice was calm and soft and talking to him like she had with Aidan all those months ago at the bar. Definitely not the way she was with him now.

Zane turned to look at Aidan, and he saw the flash of concern on his brother's face.

How was she? Aidan asked him. He had a feeling Ana hadn't given him the least bit of trouble.

She's fine. A little sad though. I like her. Zane smiled at him.

Of course she was well behaved for his brother. He hadn't pissed her off like Aidan had. She just found out that her father died.

Oh. And Bianca? The concern was back.

Pretty sure she's going to stay in the pack.  He watched Zane visibly relax. You're going to have to be patient with her Zane. She's fragile right now, but she's also a bit sassy.

I know. I'm probably going to talk to Talia and see how it went with her and Ragnar. 

That's a good idea. Talia was their great, great grandmother and Ragnar's mate. Her first mate had been murdered in front of her. She'd met Ragnar the same day, but it was months before she joined the pack and found out he was her second chance. But during that time, Ragnar had become Talia's best friend and she'd already started to fall for him.

"Aidan's back. It was nice meeting you, Ana," Zane said, looking into Ana's room.

"Nice meeting you too, Zane. Too bad your brother's not as nice as you," Ana called as Zane headed back down the hall. Aidan knew that was a direct barb at him. The little minx.

Zane chuckled while Aidan rolled his eyes. Have fun with her. She might just chew you up and spit you out, he linked as he walked out the door.

Aidan sighed softly and walked into his office, deciding to give Ana some space. He needed some himself. Her scent was driving him crazy and the last thing he needed to do was lose control around her. That could be incredibly dangerous for the both of them.

He flipped on his laptop and glanced at the time. It was almost time for dinner. His thoughts drifted back to Ana. Tatiana Sawyer. He pulled out a pad of paper and wrote her address down from memory, then put it in his desk drawer. Just in case she somehow managed to disappear on him.

He was going to have to make things right with Ana, and soon. His need to mark her was very strong, and the fact that he had to convince a human to bind herself to him for all eternity in a very short time wasn't going to be easy. Either that or he would have to reject her.

He leaned back in his chair. The question was, did he really want her? This woman who had practically driven him insane over the last few weeks? The woman who he'd become completely obsessed with? The one who consumed his every waking thought and then invaded his dreams every night? The woman whom he both loved and hated?

Finding her vibrator had been rather interesting, especially when her face had turned bright red when he'd demanded to know what she was thinking about when she used it. He hadn't needed an answer. Her bright red face had been answer enough. She was thinking of him. But then he'd expected nothing less. Ana might be almost as obsessed with him as he was her.

He wondered if she'd let him use it on her. He could easily imagine her laid out on his desk naked, the vibrator deep inside her while he licked her clit. He was desperate to taste her pussy again. To make her cum. To hear her scream.

The fact that she was fantasizing about him boded well for him. The fact that she'd grown so aroused just from him being close to her thrilled him. She was still interested. Or at least her body was. And so was he. His dick was back to being as hard as a rock, desperate to be buried deep inside of her tight, wet pussy.

Aidan wondered if she was having the mate dreams as well. They'd be erotic if she was, pulling her in and making her want to be with him. He'd tell her the truth. He really couldn't keep up this charade. It wasn't fair to her, and frankly, he had a better chance with her if he was honest. But he'd wait until tomorrow, unless she insisted on talking to him tonight. Right now, Ana was dealing with a lot mentally, and no matter what he thought of her father, the man was still her father, and he knew learning that he was dead had to be hard on her.

He was dealing with a lot mentally himself. Ending things with Bianca, which he hoped hadn't hurt her, and having Ana suddenly show up here out of the blue, looking more amazing than he remembered. His need to mark her and keep her with him, to possess her, body and mind, was driving him to distraction. Like he wasn't already constantly distracted by her.