AFRAID OF THE DARK

CHAPTER 7

I wake up to the morning light in the room. I'm alone, but I can smell that my mate is near. I touch my hair knowing it's still in knots and is now frizzy from not drying it properly before I fell asleep. I don't even want to know how awful my morning breath is. I scoot out of bed still sore and feeling broken. I have to hold on to everything in the path to the bathroom with my limp leg still dragging behind me. I do my best to keep Aidan from feeling my pain. I don't want him to worry.

Aidan walks in just as I finish up. He smiles when he sees me, but it turns into a frown. His eyes travel down my body. I look down at the clothes I'm wearing. It was in the bathroom with fresh towels. I thought it was for me to wear. Perhaps I was wrong.

Aidan steps up to me and holds me in his arms. "I was hoping you needed help in the shower again."

I giggle, but I can feel a blush cover my cheeks. "I promise there will be other times you can join me."

He smiles and brings me closer. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." I know that's not the whole truth, but again, I don't want him to worry. I lean forward and let my wolf sniff our mate for comfort. He does the same. "Sorry, I needed that after weeks of the horrible smells of the cells."

"My love. I am so sorry for not being here earlier." It aches him to think about what had happened to me. I can feel it through our mate bond. "I tried to talk to you so many times, but Alyssa would tell me you were busy meeting the pack member or were out with your cousin. I tried to get here, but I couldn't leave."

"I thought I was being rejected again, but you didn't and you're here now." I frown.

"Mine." He growls and crushes me against his chest.

"Yours." A tear falls from my eyes. A happy one. I finally have a mate.

"It pains me to know you had a mate before me, but what happened? What made him reject somebody so perfect and beautiful?" He moves my hair from my shoulder and traces his finger down my cheek.

"It was the first day of school at what would have been my new pack. I met him while registering. We had only known each other a few hours before he had taken me to the janitor's closet and had wanted to..." Aidan stiffens and a growl escapes from the back of his throat. I place my hand on his chest and he relaxes. "He was angry when I denied him. I felt the pains of his betrayal during class. I found him with another girl. He rejected me and said she would be Luna. She had me tossed into a trash bin where I stayed until after nightfall."

"Your first mate was Alpha Logan?" He growls.

"Y-yes, but I don't consider him a mate." I place my hand on his cheek, but wonder how he knew. "You are my mate."

"Yes, but he wants you back. I had received word from a bordering pack that Alpha Logan is visiting all of them in search of his mate. He doesn't know that you have come East. It will not be long before he arrives here."

I shake my head. "He rejected me. Why would he want me back? I'm not going back!"

"Shh. It's okay. I'm not going to let him take you." He moves us to a small couch in the room and sits me on his lap. "His wolf is angry he rejected their mate. He hasn't been able to shift and now he knows what a mistake he has done. He also lost the respect of his pack and they shunned him when he tried to announce some other girl as his Luna. They know he rejected his mate."

"Can I see my cousin? I want to let her know I'm okay and find out if she's talked to my aunt or uncle." I become concerned about their well-being.

"Yes, sorry. We received news nobody can get her out of Cedric's room. Plus, they can't hold me off from dealing with Alyssa any longer. I think I'm calm enough not to kill her, but I can't promise I'm not going to hurt her. She will pay for what she has done." He growls and I touch his jaw to calm him. "Let's go see your cousin."