Page 138 of His Fated Luna

"Nice picture,” I commented, looking at Aiden with a small smile. There was something akin to comfort spreading through my very being.

Aiden shot me a grin.

"You need one for your own.” He counteracted my remark and took my phone, holding it up as we posed together for a selfie I could use.

Aiden's POV

I clicked a selfie in Rose's phone and shot a smile her way. She was happy and seemed more relaxed. I knew it was because Lexia wasn't here today and her absence was making Rose feel secure. And it made me realize the callous way I'd always chosen Lexia over Rose when she was younger really must have done a number on her. She may not have cared for me back then, but I'd always made it painfully clear I didn't like Rose. Now I was paying for it. I wanted to spend every minute trying to undo my past mistakes. I wanted to make sure Rose didn’t have anything to feel self-conscious about in Lexia's presence.

I knew I could talk myself blue in the face to reassure her of my feelings, but it wouldn’t convince Rose half as well as my actions would. So, I had to prove it through my actions. Prove that I loved Rose more than anyone else in this world.

Lexia's POV

I arrived for lunch and was flitting about, making sure everything was running smoothly. It wasn’t until dessert was being served that I made my way towards the table where Rose and Aiden were sitting. I knew I had to act carefully. It was evident that the more time Aiden spent with Rose, the more he was falling for her. But I still held out hope that Aiden would come back to me. He just had to. We had so much history!

I stopped short from approaching them from behind when I heard Aiden's low hum.

“Can I try some of your pudding?” he asked Rose in a sensual voice I was all too familiar with.

My stomach plummeted and dread filled me.

“You have your own,” Rose pointed out, spooning some more pudding into her mouth.

“I like yours better,” he said before leaning down to kiss her.

I took a few steps back as I watched the scene play out before me.

Meanwhile, Rose was left breathless from Aiden's kiss. And I felt…like a failure. I had failed to keep Aiden with me. He’d fallen for Rose. For his mate.

“Everything always tastes like cinnamon when I try it like that,” Aiden whispered conspiratorially into her ear, but his whisper was loud enough that I heard it. Panic-stricken tears stung the back of my eyes.

“You like cinnamon?” Rose asked, a little flustered, face red.

I could hear Ava and Krystal giggling over Aiden's public display of affection.

“I like you and you always taste like cinnamon,” Aiden said by way of explanation, a smirk on his lips.

I finally tore my eyes away from the scene before me. I needed to go talk to Jake. This was not good at all.

Chapter 44

“Being with you never felt wrong. It's the one thing I did right. You're the one thing I did right.” ? Becca Fitzpatrick, Crescendo

Rose’s POV

I was with Layla at the event hall, going over arrangements with the manager for tomorrow's meeting. Layla was in charge of the security detail for the meeting.

“Something you want to talk about?” Layla suggested, noting the way my tone wavered when I talked about Alistair Evans and that Lexia might be attending the alliance meeting in her mother’s stead.

I looked away. We were sitting on one of the round tables while I was writing down the names of the alliance packs andshowing Layla the respective photo IDs for each luna and alpha on file.

“For what it’s worth,” Layla began gently. “It’s so transparent how much Aiden worships you. You don’t have anything to worry about when it comes to Lexia. The way he is around you and the way he was with Lexia are vastly different.”

“What’s the difference?” I threw caution to the wind. I couldn’t help but ask the question.

It occurred to me that Layla had been here from the start. She’d seen Aiden and Lexia's relationship evolve. Just like she’d seen our relationship evolve.

Layla began to talk while gathering the papers strewn out in front of us. “The difference is that back then Aiden was a horny teenager crushing after the most popular girl in high school.” Layla couldn’t help the derisive laugh that came out. “And as for Lexia, snagging Aiden was the icing on the cake when it came to her popularity sky-rocketing. I think it was a relationship that was, from the beginning, based on mutual benefits. She had something he wanted, and vice versa. It wasn’t at all like it is with you. I think if you asked him…” Layla mused. “He probably couldn’t have told you Lexia's favorite color until they had already been dating for a while. He never noticed the little things with her until much later on. He became attached, as all guys might with their first. Because she was his first. I don’t think he’s ever slept with anyone else except Lexia.” Layla added the last part a bit hesitantly, unsure how I might feel about this piece of information.