Page 44 of His Fated Luna

I flopped back into bed with an embarrassed groan. After a few minutes of wallowing in embarrassment, a knock at the door interrupted my thoughts.

Auntie Hilda came in with a mischievous smile on her face and a change of clothes for me.

“Oh, Rose, you’re finally mated!” Auntie Hilda gushed, coming to sit with me on the bed.

I didn’t miss the way Auntie Hilda sniffed at me, eyes lighting up as the older woman realized I was wearing Aiden’s shirt.

“What?” I croaked out. Is that what everyone was thinking? “No. That’s not...We didn’t…we…” I furiously began shaking my head as my entire face turned red. “Nothing happened.”

“Oh,” Auntie Hilda said, clearly taken aback. “I…just assumed when you didn’t come home last night. Alpha Aiden said something to Ezra that made us think…well, never mind. Knowing Ezra, he probably misconstrued our alpha’s words, but when he sent Ezra a message asking if I could drop by with some clothes for you, we…I thought…” Auntie Hilda amended trailing off. Then Auntie Hilda decided not to complete her sentence because she realized that I was as red as a tomato now.

I covered my face in embarrassment. “Nothing happened,” I mumbled out again to Auntie Hilda.

“Not even second base?” Auntie Hilda asked tentatively, hopefully even.

“Nothing,” I stated firmly, grabbing my clothes, and stomping into the bathroom to take a shower.

It was really weird how my family wanted something to happen. While most parents might clutch their hearts at the thought of someone taking their daughter’s virginity, I had a sneaking suspicion Auntie Hilda might throw me a party if Aiden did that.

“How ironic that you’re in the luna’s bedroom,” Auntie Hilda called after me.

I spun on my heel at the doorway of the bathroom. “I’m what?”

“This is the old luna’s bedchamber. Of course, usually the alpha and luna share rooms but this is the spare room in case the luna ever needs space.” Auntie Hilda pointed to a small door on the side of the wall opposite the bathroom. “That door leads into the alpha’s bedroom. Josie says she only stayed in this room during the beginning of her marriage but after that…she barely ever used this room unless it was to get ready for some important event,” Auntie Hilda added.

“I was drunk. I was drunk and sick, and I was too embarrassed to let anyone see me like that,” I confessed. “That’s the only reason I’m here.”

“Mmmhmmm,” Auntie Hilda said skeptically, looking down at her nails as if she didn’t believe a word that I was saying. “And he just so happened to decide to bring you into the luna's designated bedchamber?”

Instead of wasting my breath, I shut the bathroom door to take a quick shower. Even the bathroom looked untouched for what seemed like ages. The shower cabin’s door jammed when I tried opening it and there was a half-used shampoo bottle that looked as if someone had put it in the bathroom and forgotten about it. Hesitant to use expired products, I used a bar of soap that was still in its original packaging to scrub my body. I grew sad as Aiden’s scent began to wash off of me. He’d held me last night, and I’d worn his shirt. I had walked into the bathroom practically reeking of him only to end up washing it away. As I used lather from the soap for my hair, I remembered how his hands had tangled into my curls when he held my hair back while I vomited on the sidewalk.

Once I was out of the shower and into my own clothes, I made the bed while peering around at the room. It hadn’t been dusted in a while that much was clear. The silver knobs on the white deco painted dresser and nightstands were eitherbroken or missing. The walls were a light gray with silver velvet curtains. There was a purple throw rug on the floor and black wrought iron lamps on the nightstands with purple lampshades on them. It did really look like a room Josie had probably decorated according to her tastes. Josie loved the color silver. I remembered the silvery gray of Aiden’s fur in his wolf form and couldn’t help but secretly agree that silver was a wonderful color.

Unconsciously, my eyes flickered to the dark wooden door Auntie Hilda had said adjoined this room to the alpha’s room. Was he on the other side? Or had he left the house to go about his daily duties? Resisting the urge to try to open that door, I went back to gather my clothes from yesterday and made sure I had cleaned up after myself. The last thing I wanted to do was leave this room a mess.

It wasn’t until I trudged down the steps of the house and was sneakily trying to leave out the backdoor, where no one would see me, that I finally got a look at the notifications on my phone. I almost screamed in surprise. I had been tagged on social media in various pictures at the frat party. There were pictures of me even walking towards the party with Aiden, standing outside the frat house as he smoked, me entering with Aiden… another of me taking JELL-O shots. The last picture was the most incriminating. It showed me leaning into Aiden, my back pressed against his front. My left hand tangled in his hair as his lips hovered over my neck. The birth mark on my left upper arm was exposed for all the world to see. When did the concealer come off to reveal my birthmark? Had I really been so far gone? A fleeting memory of his fingers rubbing circles over my upper arm made my face flame. My breathing started to become erratic at the mere memory of me in his arms last night. His arms were wrapped around my waist in the picture, and I couldn’t help but remember how his fingers had skimmed over my abdomen,gently gliding over the exposed patch of bare skin. It felt good. So good.

Trying to get a grip on myself, I looked back down at the picture in my phone. We looked for all the world as if we were lovers. But we weren’t. There was a caption underneath in the Facebook group: Alpha of Bloodfire Phoenix Pack partying while girlfriend studies for the LSAT. It was a closed werewolf group only for werewolves that attended our university. It was strictly monitored, and only werewolves registered within the university were allowed to join this group. Everyone else was denied. That’s why the group had no qualms talking about alphas and packs. But why did the caption say girlfriend studies for LSAT?

My eyes almost bugged out. Hadn’t he said he had broken up with Lexia? Maybe it just wasn’t public knowledge yet. Aiden hadn’t exactly told everyone they were on a break. There were various comments underneath the caption. Some people insisted I was his mate. Other people were insisting that Lexia was his mate. Other people went as far as to comment that Aiden probably had two mates instead of one. The comments got wilder and wilder as I read on.

“Campus gossip,” I grit out, wanting to scream at everyone to stay out of my business.

I was hungover and now being talked about in the campus gossip mill. What a perfect way to start my day.

Chapter 17

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched—they must be felt with the heart." – Helen Keller

Rose's POV

I was sitting in Dr. Danvers office, off to the side where I wouldn’t be in the way. He was talking to a she-wolf who came to figure out why the movement of her pup resting inside her stomach was slower than usual.

“Your baby has fully grown and has almost zero room, that's why you’re feeling less movement these days. But don't worry, he’s alright,” Dr. Danvers said with a kind smile.

“I was really worried,” Mrs. Carmichael, a she-wolf from our pack, said in an apologetic tone.

“You don't need to worry,” Dr. Danvers said and then he turned his gaze toward me and asked,