Page 143 of His Fated Luna

“Rose, it looks to me like he’s just using you as a means to an end. I think he’s going to break it off with you when he figures out a way to get around the bond,” Jake said with a strained voice.

But I had already found the loophole for Aiden. If he’d wanted to end it, he would have ended it already. He hadn’t.

I took a deep breath and scolded myself for giving into my own insecurities even for a millisecond. If I was going to build a strong relationship with Aiden, I had to trust him and be confident in our relationship.

“He won’t do that, Jake,” I said sharply. “We care about each other. He’d never do that to me. If he didn’t want to be with me, he would have told me already.”

Jake opened his mouth to argue.

“I won’t hear another word against Aiden,” I snapped, shoving the book into my bag.

And with that, I turned my back on him to go to my car and go home. Things might be strained between us but that was no excuse for me to think the worst of him. Until I had the facts, I couldn’t jump to conclusions. That’s what almost ruined everything between us before. But when I got home, Aiden still wasn’t home. Ashamed over my own uncertainty, I felt out his location and gave a sigh of relief. He wasn’t at Lexia's. He was still at the pack clinic, most likely with Dr. Danvers and Josie.

I waited for Aiden's return with bated breath and began haranguing him the moment he entered the house.

“What did Dr. Danvers say?” I asked as I followed him from the doorway, up the stairs and into his room.

Aiden's expression was shuttered again. He blinked at me before speaking, shrugging out of the sweater he’d worn to ward off the early November chill.

“He said the ceremony might help Dylan or harm him. It could go either way, but that Mom should get more of those potions from the magical healer to give to Dylan. If the poison starts affecting him again, we can give him another batch.” Aiden rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He stood in his polo and jeans, looking tense.

“So what are we going to do?” I queried.

“Nothing,” Aiden replied quietly with a shrug. “Yet. We still have some time. It’s not like Dylan’s hurting right now. The poison’s been temporarily stalled; his alpha genes aren’t hurting him—”

“But it's better to just go ahead with it,” I cut in swiftly.

Aiden gave a shuddered breath. I looked at him critically. Judging from his reaction, it looked like he’d already had this argument with someone else.

“Josie wants you to do the ceremony as soon as possible, doesn’t she?” I challenged him.

Aiden gave a curt nod.

“So we’ll do the ceremony,” I insisted, coming to stand in front of Aiden. My hands ached to reach out and rub his tense shoulders but in his present mood, I was wary.

“You can’t,” Aiden replied, hands going in his pockets, looking at me with an inscrutable expression on his face.

“Sure I can,” I primly stated, looping my hair behind my ears. “I’m your luna, aren’t I? The alpha and luna of the pack can perform it.”

“Not if you’re still a virgin. The ceremony has to be performed by a mated pair,” Aiden countered, staring me straight in the eye.

My breathing stilled in shock. We weren’t a mated pair. How could I have missed that?

“Oh,” I muttered. “Well…that does…pose a problem.”

Is that what had Aiden so stressed out? It wasn’t like I was still scared. I wanted to be closer to him, to experience him as a lover. I was ready. I'd been ready for a while now.

“I’ll tell them we need to delay it. I’ll come up with something,” Aiden stated, brushing by me to leave his room.

I felt my heart sink as I looked at his retreating back; the ugly monster inside of me reared its ugly head. My mind became filled with ugly whispers…

Lexia would have been able to perform the ceremony. That’s probably why he went to see her. He could make her his luna and they could perform it together. It's already clear he doesn't care about tapping into the latent power to converse with the elders.He doesn't want me!

Apparently, that's what it looked like to me if he was so adamant not to perform the ceremony with me!

“Is sleeping with me so horrible?” I questioned, cocking my head to the side. “You’d rather avoid it at all costs?”

Aiden stilled mid-stride. He didn’t turn to look at me.