Page 24 of His Fated Luna

“Oh, wait until you turn,” Jake warned. “The only thing you’re going to want is red meat.”

“Well, it probably won’t be the only thing she wants,” a new voice spoke up from behind me.

Jake’s eyes snapped up, and I stiffened at the familiar voice. Taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart, I turned to see Aiden standing there. As always, Lexia was hanging on his arm. Her perfectly manicured nails with French tips rested against the sleeve of his deep blue shirt which brought out the color of his eyes.

“You know how newly turned wolves are with their heat cycles,” Aiden added with a smirk.

“Heat cycles?” I asked, my cheeks heating up. I didn’t know much about them, aside from the fact that it was when a female was most fertile.

“Oh, Mom didn’t include that in her luna training classes?” Aiden said loftily. But I sensed the tension coiled inside of him.

“Hey, Aiden… dude… come join us,” Jake said pleasantly, completely oblivious to the rage simmering under Aiden’s skin.

Lexia quickly began to protest, “Oh, we just came in to—”

“We’d love to,” Aiden cut in smoothly.

He grabbed two chairs, and despite Lexia’s surprise, they both sat down.

“So…” Jake ventured into the tense silence. “How are classes going for you guys?”

“We’re almost done. After this semester, we’ll both graduate. I’m going to start studying for law school next,” she said with enthusiasm. Her blonde hair whipped around as she moved her head animatedly. It was clear that this was something she was passionate about.

“That sounds like a good plan,” I said, trying to be polite.

Lexia turned her gaze on me “What about you, Rose? What are your plans for after you graduate? Do you even plan to find a job?” She sounded a little bit too condescending for my liking.

“Rose is going to be a pack doctor,” Jake snapped. “You shouldn’t assume things when you don’t know anything about someone.”

Lexia’s eyes shifted to me in surprise.

“In fact–” Jake began, and I could tell he was just gaining momentum with his tirade in which he would probably attempt to list all of my academic achievements whilst trying to put Lexia down. So I cut him off before things got out of hand.

“None of that matters,” I scoffed. “Women shouldn’t be putting each other down.” I turned to Lexia, meeting her gaze head-on. “No matter how successful we become or how many children we end up having. Josie helped build our pack into one of the strongest in the entire region. Do you think she’s a lesser woman just because she didn’t go to college and get a degree? Or because she had six kids? I think she’s a pretty badass lady.” I held Lexia’s gaze, daring her to argue.

Aiden sat back, looking stunned by my words. “I’ve never thought about it like that,” he muttered more to himself than anyone at the table.

Yeah, he probably didn’t realize he was inadvertently putting his own mother down when he supported Lexia’s point of view. Unfortunately, Lexia was always belittling those who didn’t have a career or profession of their own, and I could see him processing what I had just said.

“No matter what any of us choose to do, we will always be the fierce she-wolves protecting our family, our pack, and that in itself makes us amazing,” I finished softly.

I looked down at my uneaten pasta. It didn’t look appetizing anymore.

“I told you to get the Philly cheesesteak,” Jake chimed in, noticing my sudden loss of appetite. “The closer you get to your turn, the more you’re going to crave meat.” He split his sandwich in half and placed one portion on my plate.

“Can we go?” I suddenly asked, my gaze flicking to Lexia’s hand resting on Aiden’s arm.

“Sure. Let me ask them to pack this up. We’ll see you guys later?” Jake turned to his cousin.

I simply gave my pack alpha a nod, flashed a polite smile at Lexia, and then rushed out of the place as if it were on fire. Once outside, I breathed deeply, trying to quell the shaking inside me. Something was changing. Before, whenever I saw Aiden with Lexia, I never felt the ferocious urge to knock all of Lexia’s teeth out. I had never been a violent person. What was wrong with me?

“You all right?” Jake asked sincerely as we started walking toward his apartment to study together.

I gave him a polite smile before reaching for the notes we had compiled.

Jake was trying to become a physician's assistant for werewolves too. However, he wanted to work in clinics for werewolves who weren’t part of any pack. His mom and dad were lone wolves so I could see him wanting to do somethingalong those lines. Why hadn’t we become friends sooner? We had so much in common. He was a great friend.

Jake knew Aiden was my mate, but he never asked me for details. He never questioned why Aiden was with Lexia instead of me. To be honest, it was beyond humiliating that my mate could fight the pull toward me.