Page 124 of His Fated Luna

It was odd how now he knew what I was going to say just by judging from the embarrassed look on my face and red on my cheeks.

“Well, what else do you suppose we do? How else am I supposed to help you run our pack? We need to fulfill all the formalities,” I pushed.

What was his problem? For someone that was supposed to have feelings for me, he was doing a wonderful job proving otherwise.

“Formality?” Aiden practically choked out. “Sex isn’t a formality.”

“What good am I to you if I can’t tap into my power?”

Aiden glared at me for a minute before muttering something about me being an idiot and left the temple.

I “hmmph’d” and walked out after him.

Chapter 39

"Maybe we've lived a thousand lives before this one and in each of them we've found each other...”? Nicholas Sparks

Rose's POV

Aiden walked into the library where I sat with piles upon piles of old tattered books, some with their spines falling apart laying open on the table. My laptop along with a notebook with my neat precise handwriting lay in the middle of it all.

“Look at this,” I said excitedly, looking up at Aiden. I pointed to something written in an obscure language in one of the books. “I think this is what we’re looking for. I just need to figure out what language this is.”I was completely oblivious to the way Aiden was looking at me instead of the ancient book.

I looked up at Aiden warily.

“I never gave you your birthday present,” he said simply.

I looked taken aback momentarily. He’d gotten me something for my birthday?

“I meant to give it to you after your turn but… well...” His smile was a little contrite, embarrassed about revisiting his earlier mistake. He took out a small USB case and handed it over to me. “I had help from Ezra. I got someone to replicate the audio and make this. I hope…you like it. You can download the audiobook into your phone.”

I stared at the USB warily.

“You’ll…understand better once you listen to it,” Aiden finally spoke up hesitantly.

He began edging out the door.

“Let me listen to it now,” I said crisply, moving to slide the USB into the port on my laptop.

“Maybe I should leave.” Aiden warily took a few steps back, closer to the door.

“You should stay to see my reaction,” I chided gently.

Aiden stood stock still. I clicked on the file.

“It might make you emotional,” Aiden stated bluntly as I hit the play button.

I gasped as an audio recording of the Count of Monte Cristo started up in a poignantly familiar voice. A voice I'd never actually heard speak to me in real life. A voice I’d heard many times in old family movies my dad and aunt had shown me.

“I made him re-do it twice to get the voice range and sound synthesis just right. They're all words cut from old family movies Ezra gave me. Some old movies my mom had also had her in them since she was the wife of our beta,” Aiden admitted, looking at me. I had a hand over my mouth, completely overcome with a tumult of emotions. "Some of the words have been artificially constructed, but most of the words she actuallyspoke with her own voice," Aiden clarified as my eyes filled with unshed tears. He cursed inwardly before shuffling towards me. “Crap, Rose, I didn’t mean to make you cry. Seems like I’m always messing things up when it comes to you.”

He tentatively reached a hand out to touch my shoulder.

I looked up at him with shimmering eyes, finally dropping my hand from my face. “Thank you.” Those two words held a world of warmth. No one had ever given me something like this.

“Is this why you were always trying to read the Count of Monte Cristo?” I queried, wiping the tears from my eyes with my thumb and pausing the audio.

Aiden nodded, his hand retreating from my shoulder.