Page 118 of His Fated Luna

But my animalistic instinct was telling me that home was wherever my alpha was…

And then I smelled him, walking out of his house and towards the woods where I was crouching.

“Rose? Where are you? What’s wrong?” Aiden was here.

His footsteps were wary. And when I saw him,my heart constricted. He had bags under his eyes like he hadn’t slept all night. His face was tense.

“Tell me what happened? I smelled you out here. Please…come inside.”

He had mind-linked me. Because even if I blocked him out of my mind through our mate-bond, I was still part of his pack. And pack members could mind-link.

“All any of you have ever done is keep secrets from me and lie to me. My entire life was a lie up till I turned eighteen and even now…everyone keeps lying!”

Why was I telling him any of this? I was supposed to be angry at him.

“Come inside,” he cajoled, bending down to scratch behind my ears.

I wanted to protest, to move away. But my stupid wolf leaned into his touch. Dammit!

“I felt your anger. Did you have an argument with Ezra?” he asked once my wolf was inside the empty house.

Josie was visiting her sister’s pack with the kids. They had a witch healer she wanted to consult since Dr. Danvers suspected dark magic at play.

Instead of responding, I shifted into my human form to stand before him naked. Aiden quickly grabbed a blanket from the TV lounge. I noticed the couch had been slept in.

“I can’t sleep in my bed without you there,” he mumbled, throwing the blanket around my naked form.

His eyes were averted as he spoke.

“Did you know?” I asked, clutching the blanket around me. I was secretly enjoying Aiden's scent on the blanket; it washelping me calm down. “Did you know that Auntie Hilda and my dad were…together?”

Aiden gave a jerky nod, but it was his eyes that gave it away first. A flicker of knowledge, of looking at me as if to say, "About time you figured it out".

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I exclaimed, my voice full of anxiety over such a huge secret being kept from me.

“It wasn’t my secret to tell,” Aiden replied honestly, hands in his jean pockets. “I’ve known since the day you were admitted to the hospital after the circus fire. I noticed how familiar they were with each other…”

There it was…the word familiar. Something I had noticed too, but had been too thick to see it for what it was. The way my dad would put a hand over Auntie Hilda's shoulder as she cooked breakfast, the way they sometimes stood too close together, pulling away when I entered a room, the way Dad couldn’t stand it if Auntie Hilda was upset about something…

Another memory of me being rude to my aunt at dinner and Dad slamming the table, telling me to stop being rude. It hadn’t been for any other reason except that I'd made Auntie Hilda cry. And how else would Dad know if Auntie Hilda had slept all night or not because she was worried about me after the kidnapping? He knew because they were sharing a bed. A bed my aunt most likely snuck into long after I fell asleep. A bed my aunt had to sneak out of before I woke up, like some twisted walk of shame.

“No wonder they wanted me out of the house. They could finally stop pretending and actually live like a couple with me gone,” I spoke bitterly.

“You know that’s not true.”

“It is! It is! I keep everyone apart. I kept them apart! I keep you and Lexia apart—”

“You’re not the reason I’m not with Lexia anymore,” Aiden cut in.

“Yes, I am! Stop lying to me!” I exclaimed. “Maybe I should just leave…maybe that would be better for everyone.”

Aiden's eyebrows drew together. “You’re not going anywhere.” His hand reached out to grab my blanket-clad shoulder.

Fireworks exploded across my entire body and unbidden, the image of him on top of me entered my mind. I wrenched away from him. No, I wasn't going to let my wolf instincts get in the way anymore.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” I yelled. “Just stay away from me!”

I was angry at all of them. But most of all, I was angry at myself. I wanted to leave this place. Stomping up the stairs angrily, going into my room to change, I began to fill out the application for the med-school in New York. There was no way I was staying here.