Page 28 of His Fated Luna

“I’m sure that’s what Ezra told you.” I pulled into the driveway. “Now let’s see if our brothers are still alive. Lexia isn’t exactly great with kids.”

A crash came from inside the house, followed by Lexia’s shrieks.

“No ball inside the house! Oh no… Mrs. Sinclair is going to freak!”

Tony chuckled as I sprinted inside, ready to save Lexia from my younger brothers.

Chapter 12

“I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” — John Green

Rose’s POV

I was discharged the next morning with a clean bill of health. Tanya was discharged at the same time and Dad arrived in his car to drive us all home together. Josie invited us to stay for lunch, which was how I ended up cornered by Lexia in the upstairs hallway. I had just come out of Tanya’s room after helping the little girl settle back in.

“Rose, you need to reject Aiden,” Lexia pleaded at the landing at the top of the stairway. “Please, you know he doesn’t… you know you’re never going to be his luna.”

Her voice wasn’t mean or vindictive. It was simply a truth she believed I had to accept.

“Um…” I faltered, unsure of what to say. “Lexia… it… it doesn’t work like that in our pack. Josie told me—”

“Forget what she told you. She’d like nothing better than to see me cast away for the old traditions of this pack,” Lexia said snidely.

So, Josie wasn’t a big fan of Lexia.

“But I can’t reject the alpha,” I said softly. If I rejected the alpha, I wouldn’t be able to use my luna powers. My eyes narrowed on her. “Where is this coming from all of a sudden?”

“Can’t or won’t?” Lexia challenged. She stared at me, willing me to answer. “He hasn’t made love to me, Rose, ever since we got back from our study abroad program. He thinks it might hurt you because of the mate bond. He’s been distancing himself from me. I… I miss him,” she ended in a pitiful whimper.

I took a step back in surprise and suddenly collided with a firm chest, inhaling a familiar musky, woody scent. Aiden was behind me. A thrill shot up my spine when his hands reached my waist to steady me. Lexia let out a low, territorial growl at our touch.

“I’m sorry, Lexia,” I said loudly, stepping away from Aiden. I turned to look at Aiden, wondering why he had never set Lexia straight. Then my gaze returned to hers. “Our pack works differently, according to Josie at least. The only way for Aiden to get out of our mate bond is if he steps down. No matter what happens, I must become Luna if the pack wants me to be able to tap into the power gifted to me by the Moon Goddess. That was the condition she placed on our pack. So, while I will always be the luna of this pack, no matter who the alpha is…” I shot Aiden a stern look. “Alpha Aiden is always free to step down from his position so another alpha can take his place.”

Pushing past Lexia, I walked down the stairs but stopped midway, turning back to face her. Aiden stood there witha stunned expression as if he had just learned something devastating.

“Oh, and if you’re avoiding having sex on my account, don’t. I’d hate to think I’m ruining your sex lives just because you’re afraid of the pain it might cause me. I’ll take a painkiller when I feel the cramping coming on.” Frustration leaked into my voice as I spit out the words.

Even the thought of Aiden sleeping with Lexia sent my stomach twisting into knots. It wasn’t lost on me that Lexia was wearing an oversized t-shirt and yesterday’s jeans. She had stayed the night… had she tried to initiate something?

Determinedly, I walked across the foyer, eyes locked on the front door. Escape was within my grasp.

“Rose, wait!”

I heard Aiden call after me, rushing down the steps, a worried expression on his face. I slammed the door behind me, ignoring him.

A wild itch to run engulfed me. I wanted to run, to feel the wind through my fur, to feel the dirt against my paws.

Blinking rapidly, I tried to push back these foreign urges. I broke into a light jog. I didn’t care that I had just been discharged from the hospital. It felt good—so good—to run. Closing my eyes, I let the wind whip through my hair, releasing all my pent-up frustration.

Aiden’s POV

What was Rose talking about? That we couldn’t break our mate bond?

“What did Rose just say, Mom?!” I exclaimed, trying to keep my temper in check as I turned to stare at her. She’d been hanging back in the doorframe of the dining room, arms clasped together and face pale. "You never told me that I couldn’t choose not to mate with Rose!"

"Aiden…we thought…we thought once you felt the pull, it wouldn’t be necessary to tell you," Mom sighed, moving into the living room and looking up at me. She cast a sideways glance at Ezra before continuing. "It’s pretty self-explanatory once you think about it. Only Rose has the power to converse with our elders, and she can’t do that until she’s officially luna. Of course, you have to mate with her if you want our pack to benefit from the gift of the Moon Goddess."

"There’s gotta be a way around it!" I insisted. "Some loophole, somewhere." I looked at Ezra, silently urging him to agree with me.