Page 54 of Alpha Mates

But Aiden is a guy, we’re both guys, and even as close as we’ve become, that’s a step further … a scary, enticing, tempting step further. The last thing I want to do is mess whatever this is up. But his eyes haven’t left my lips, and Goddess help me, I just want to know what his feel like. And what he tastes like.

I lean forward, eyes flicking to his one last time before they fall shut. I feel his short breaths and wait for our lips to meet with my heart beating in my throat—then his hand presses against my chest.

I open my eyes. Aiden’s are blown wide but they’re completely void of any of the lust I thought I’d seen. A bucket of ice water falls on my head.

“What—” He stops himself as his eyes dart to my lips, only to jump back up. He pushes me back, shaking his head. “We can’t …” he falters. “Julian, you can’t just …”

He doesn’t finish, but it’s enough. His words are like a fist around my heart, squeezing until it has no choice but to break. The rejection hits me with brutal clarity. Gone are the butterflies, the need and want, leaving only the miserable ache as I stare blankly at my mate.

I don’t feel the tear running down my cheek until Aiden lifts a hand to wipe it away, but his touch no longer feels good. I push away, wiping it myselfbefore I force the door open.

I stumble out, wanting to get away from him and the pain.

“Julian,” he calls, chasing after me. “Wait! Julian!”

I shift into my wolf before more tears can fall and bolt for the woods. I put as much space as I can between us until I’m back in my packlands. Only then do I let Alex take over. He tries to console me, but I brush him away and crawl into the shadows between us. I try to sink into it, hiding from the pain of Aiden’s rejection, but it’s everywhere, just like him.

Chapter 11

Aiden

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

I messed up. I messed up real bad.

Pumping my legs as fast as I can, I try to catch up to Julian, but he’s always been faster than me. Even at my best, his wolf is long gone, leaving only traces of his scent in the wind. I follow it like a thread, keeping my nose close to the ground and hoping like hell he doesn’t think to mask it—until I cross over into his packlands and the trail goes cold.

You just had to call it, didn’t you?Max curses as I skid to a stop.

Not now, Max,I snap, head twisting from side to side in a search for any clue of which direction he’d gone.

Not now? You caused this, Aiden!he growls, his anger clashing against my own.You’re the one who—

I shut him out before he can say another word.

I know what I did. I’d seen the hurt in Julian’s eyes, and I feel it even now in our bond, but I can’t fix it until I find him.

Tracing the path I’d taken, I try to pick out his prints, but in a pack this big, the earth’s a mess, the tracks trampling over each other like an echo of a stampede. Trying to follow one set will have me running in circles.

Where would Julian go?

I rack my brain, but not a single place comes to mind. I’ve known Julian my entire life. I know every way to piss him off, and exactly how to bring us to blows, yet I don’t know where he might go when he’s upset?

Shame spikes, but I shake it off and sprint towards the only place I can think of—his family home. Not his new place; he knows I’d check there. AndI doubt he’d go to his parents’ house either, but maybe they’d have an idea of where he might be.

The journey to the house on the other side of the pack isn’t long, but it still feels like ages pass before my fists are pounding on the Heil’s front door, barely restraining the urge to break the knob and let myself in. I can only hear one heartbeat inside—please, Goddess, let it be Julian’s.When the door finally opens, it’s not him standing on the other side. It’s his mother.

“What did he do?”

My eyebrows pull together. “What?” I echo dumbly.

“What did he do?” she repeats, tone calm until familiar ice-blue eyes narrow to slits. She spots something, and whatever it is, it turns her impassivity into a low growl. “Or should I ask, what didyoudo?”

She steps closer, trying to loom, but I don’t move back. Even as my parents’ “friend” and a former luna, she has no power or authority over me, and I’m not in the mood for petty attempts at intimidation.

“I don’t have time for this,” I grit out, ignoring the glare that triggers. “He’s gone, and he masked his scent. Where would he go?”

Her heart beats a little faster, worry showing through her anger, but she keeps her mouth shut.