Page 110 of His Fated Luna

“No,” I admitted after a long pause. “I can’t sleep. I’m too wound up. I keep thinking… what if you had died? What if Dylan still does? What if we had done the ceremony for him, and he drank the poison as a true alpha? What if—”

He crossed the room in a flash, light from the hallway spilling over his bare torso. Pressing a warm finger to my lips he spoke gently.

“Rose… you’ll drive yourself insane thinking like that,” he said softly. His bare chest radiated heat that soothed and flustered me all at once.

Then his hands wrapped gently around my wrists, pulling me toward his bed. Heart thudding profusely, somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice whispered that tonight would have been my wedding night… if things had been different. If he loved me.

Aiden guided me down onto the bed, and I sank into the mattress, letting his scent calm the storm in my chest. He sat beside me, watching my face, probably reading every emotion as it flickered by—worry, calm, then anxiety.

Dylan was poisoned. Someone had tried to kill Aiden. I had to—

My thoughts shattered when he suddenly let the sheet slip from his body.

My breath hitched. My face went pale. I forced my eyes to stay on his, refusing to look down. Then, without a word, Aiden crouched low to the floor and began to shift into his wolf form.

Finally, he jumped up onto the bed and curled into my side, a low hum vibrating in his chest as my arm instinctively draped over him. Out of nowhere, sleep crept in, wrapping around me as I soaked in the heat radiating from him, his scent surrounding me, his wolf's steady breath brushing against my skin, adding to the cocoon of warmth. I drifted off listening to the gentle purr of the beautiful wolf lying beside me—offering me the comfort his human form never quite could.

Aiden's POV

In my wolf form, I watched Rose as she slept, her breathing slow and even—a clear sign she’d finally slipped into deep sleep. Every instinct in me ached to shift back, to lie beside her in my human form, to pull her close and bury my face in those soft curls. It was our wedding night. And yet…I’d never felt farther from her than I did tonight.

I stayed like this, in my wolf form. She might push me away if I tried to comfort her as a man, but her turn was coming—her wolf would soon awaken, and it would recognize mine. My presence like this could help calm the storm within her, even if she didn’t know it yet.

After some time, I looked down once again at Rose's face and I felt like even in her sleep, she was sad. I nuzzled my nose closer into her side. She sighed and rolled further into me.

Shit if only she’d do this with me in my human form.

I lay there beside her, forlornly wondering why Rose seemed to be so close to Jake and not me. Her earlier words echoed in my mind—how she suspected Lexia might have poisoned mydrink. The thought hit like a punch, and my eyes hardened. I wasn’t with Lexia anymore, but accusing her? That was a line I couldn't cross. She’d been more than just an ex—she’d been my friend, my anchor when everything around me had fallen apart. After my father died, she was the one who helped me stay grounded. Looking back, I knew I’d clung to our promise not out of love, but obligation. I felt like I owed Lexia for helping me through a tough time. We hadn’t even been together very long when I first met Rose. But I was so bent on proving I could make the right decisions for my pack, that I convinced myself I wasn’t a good alpha unless I fulfilled my obligations.

However, I wouldn’t tarnish what Lexia and I used to have by entertaining Rose’s doubts. Not now. Not ever. Rose was mistaken. Lexia was many things, but was definitely not a killer. With those final thoughts, my wolf’s eyes drooped closed, and I felt sleep finally overtake me.

Chapter 35

“I know there is a terrible distance between us. But our bodies are made of stardust, and we are hurtling through space and time, toward the most beautiful collision.” ? Lang Leav, The Universe of Us

Aiden's POV

“I can ask Mom about the key to the door,” I said quietly one night when Rose entered my room in her flannel pajamas.

Her sleeping in my bed while I was in my wolf form had become routine.

September was upon us. Dylan’s recovery was sporadic. It seemed like he would go one step forward then two steps back. Dr. Danvers couldn’t figure out why. Everyone was worried; Mom was distraught. And Rose had already expressed herfear many times that no matter who was responsible for this attempted murder, they would return to finish the job.

Rose looked at the door connecting our rooms that had always remained firmly shut.

“You don’t have the key?” Rose queried.

“If I did, that night you’d woken up screaming from a nightmare, I wouldn’t have gone through the main door.” My voice was a gentle whisper.

It was the most I'd spoken to her in my room in the previous weeks combined. Sure, we interacted during the day. But at night, it was always Rose's silent entry, my quiet shift, and then blissful sleep.

I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy seeing her first thing in the morning when I woke up, her hair spread across my pillows, hand nestled under her cheek. The sight was more invigorating for me than any morning coffee could be. My control was hanging by a thread. I wanted to wake her up with kisses, hugs, and light caresses. But I couldn't and that was my undoing. How could she not know by now how I felt about her? Maybe she knew but didn’t want me. I was too scared to find out.

Rose didn’t reply, wordlessly staring at the door.

“Your birthday is next week.”

Rose’s head snapped up at my words.