Page 184 of His Fated Luna

Chapter 58

“The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected." ? Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

Aiden's POV

I woke up screaming Rose’s name.

"ROSE!" I roared frantically.

“Aiden, calm down, you’ve been in a coma for nearly two weeks!” Mom begged.

I struggled against my mother, pushing her aside and standing up.

“No-Rose! She-I have to—”

Kyle and Brad appeared from the waiting room, grabbing me. But I was an alpha and stronger than my younger siblings whohadn't even turned yet. I flung them away from my arms like flies. I could hear Mom yelling for the clinic's doctor. But none of it mattered. I HAD TO GET TO ROSE. She was in trouble!

Three fully grown male werewolves barrelled into the room and forcibly restrained me. I moved against them, preparing to shift into my wolf and fight my way out of here. But a swift prick in the side of my neck told me that nobody was going to let me leave.

“SHE NEEDS ME!” I yelled the words before drifting off into oblivion again.

When I awoke next, I found myself strapped down to my hospital bed.

“Are you going to listen to us calmly or are you going to struggle again?” My paternal aunt Alice looked me straight in the eye. “You look so much like your father now.”I saw her eyes shimmer with unshed tears.

“Where am I?” I asked aggressively. “I need to get to Rose. You guys have to help me—”

“What else do you think we’re here for?” Aunt Alice snapped.

I jerked my head towards Mom who was sitting next to Aunt Alice. Last I’d heard, Mom had suspected Aunt Alice’s husband, Dan, of being the one behind everything. Well, now we knew that Mom had been wrong. It had been Lexia’s dad.My blood boiled when Irecalled all the timesI’d gone to Alistair for guidance after my father’s passing.I’d been sitting with my dad’s murderer!!

“Aiden—” Mom began quietly. “Dan is at the perimeter of pack lands. I’ve told him to get Rose out as soon as he can. But she won’t leave. Jake’s tried, Ezra has tried…” Mom stopped speaking, helplessly shrugging her shoulders.

“She keeps saying she isn’t going to leave her pack. The pack needs her. She’s waiting for you to come back, Aiden,” Aunt Alicesaid encouragingly. “She knows you’ll come back for her. So you have to get better and go back.”

“I’m awake,” I spat hotly. “Let me go.”

“Not yet,” Mom said sternly. “Not until the doctor gives you a clean bill of health. Aiden, Alistair, he...Rose tells Ezra, Tony, and Dylan everything she sees. She says she’s seen performance-enhancing drugs in Alistair’s gym bags. You can’t take him on until you’re strong enough to fight him and win.”

“How does” —my voice increased in tone and fury as the words progressed— “Rose know what Alistair has in his gym bag?”

Panic and shame were filling me up.I’d failed to protect my luna and pack. Alistair was probably forcing himself—

“He lets her stay at her own residence while he stays at his,” mom said quickly. Maybe suddenly realizing the thoughts running through my mind. “But he drives her to the pack company headquarters every day because he wants her to see to a smooth transfer of power. See…Rose has a…a theory. She’s probably right,” Mom conceded, and there was a sense of admiration coloring her words. Then Mom began to explain everything in detail regarding Evercore inc., with help from Aunt Alice. I listened to them silently.

“Austin called me after Rose’s first kidnapping attempt, when you were a toddler,” Aunt Alice finally volunteered the information. “Despite Hilda turning into a werewolf, Austin wanted to make doubly sure Rose was safe. He purposefully set Rose up in the same town as my family so we could help keep an eye on her. But he wanted the information kept top-secret. He didn’t trust anyone…I think…I think he was afraid of the wrong people finding out. He even matched Dan’s salary so that Dan could quit work and devote his time to being Rose’s secret bodyguard. Dan kept an eye on Rose, even after Austin died, and the money stopped coming in. It wasn’t until Rose was back with the pack that Dan finally allowed himself to look for a job.”

My eyes widened in surprise. So that explained all the money Rose found being sent to my aunt.

“I remember the Evercore deal,” Mom added her two cents in. “I remember that Alistair initially wanted to sell. He tried to get Austin to agree but when Austin started talking about how werewolves already didn’t have enough land and it wasn’t fair to decrease our pack land in exchange for money, Alistair agreed.”

Mom thoughtfully rubbed her chin. “I think he was just pretending to agree and plotting to take over our land. Hence, Rose's first attempted kidnapping. It wasn’t until much later that Alistair came to Austin, telling him about the company petitioning for permission to drill. There were new laws in place that can force landowners to be subject to drilling on their property as long as twenty-five percent of the surrounding landowners have agreed to it. Alistair told Austin it was better to go ahead and try for a sale before the petition was approved. That's when Austin told Alistair that he’d have a detailed EIA done which might be able to help save their lands.”

Mom sighed sadly. “Austin called Alistair, telling him about the report. There was substantial evidence to make our lands off-limits due to the risk of severe habitat degradation drilling would cause. Your father even told him he’d be taking the report the next day and filing for their lands to be declared protected zones by the government.”

“And that’s when he decided to murder Dad.” Iclenched my fists. It made me sick to my stomach thinking about it. While I’d been head-over-heels for Alistair’s daughter, the man had been plotting to kill my father. I suddenly looked up atMom. “Was Lexia part of this?”

“No,” Mom spoke firmly. “She’s just as much a pawn in all of this as you were, Aiden.”Mom’s eyebrows furrowed. “Do you remember what happened after your fight?”