by Amelia Jade
Aiden just needed to keep the two of them alive until the teams reached them. For once he was annoyed at the fact that Stephen’s house was so incredibly huge. But for now, he had to focus on stopping the rest of the pack.
The two wolves he saw first came at him, having recovered before the others could join them. He didn’t wait for them to reach him. He charged right at them, relying on momentum and inertia. He lowered his shoulder and simply plowed right through the first wolf. The second snapped at his leg, drawing blood, but they went past each other so quickly there was no time to do more than worry at the flesh.
Aiden dealt simply with the snarling wolf he’d shouldered. He fell on it with one knee. Bone cracked and he lifted a hand and drove it straight into the wolf’s neck. It yelped and flailed weakly, stunned by the blow.
“AIDEN!”
He turned at the shriek, realizing his mistake. By letting the second wolf past him, he’d given it free access to Willow.
“I don’t think so,” he growled, searching around for something to throw at the wolf as it stalked toward his mate.
It prepared to pounce, so Aiden sent the only thing within reach. Two hundred pounds of angry wolf went sailing through the air. He smiled as the stalking wolf went down. Hard. He ran forward, kneed it in the head as it tried to rise, and grabbed Willow’s hand, yanking her off the couch.
“What the hell was that?” she asked as they ran for the back door, almost there.
Oddly enough, he noted that it hadn’t been burst in yet. Behind them there were shouts as the RRT teams found the various members of the pack and rounded them up. Two snarls told Aiden they weren’t in the clear just yet.
“A detour,” he replied, not caring that the comment didn’t make a lot of sense. “Get behind me.”
Willow barely had time to comply before he spread his arms wide and threw himself through the glass, taking out as much of it as possible so that Willow didn’t get cut.
“GET ON THE GROUND!”
He turned to see a RRT member come at him.
“Hey, it’s me, Aiden. I called this in, I—”
The other werewolf hit him hard and dropped him to the ground. Aiden hadn’t been expecting it and was caught completely off guard.
“I SAID GET ON THE GROUND, YOU PIECE OF SHIT.”
“Are you fucking serious?” he snarled. “I’m Aiden. I fucking called this in. You were supposed to leave me unharmed!”
Beside him Willow was also forced to the ground. Seeing her facedown on the concrete patio immediately outside the door made his blood boil and he began to struggle. He kicked out at the nearest werewolf, pushing him back. With a low growl he snapped the bonds they’d been trying to get around his wrists and got to his feet.
“I’m. On. Your. Side,” he snapped as two more closed in on him.
“That’s not what we were told,” one of them said warily.
“Who the fuck told you? I spoke to Mack personally. He said he’d get word to you guys.”
Aiden’s stomach was already sinking before a familiar figure walked into his vision from the side of the house.
“You,” he snarled. “You’re the ass who didn’t tell them that I was one of the good guys.”
Rayne, Mack’s second-in-command, smiled happily. “But Aiden, you aren’t one of the good guys.”
“Bullshit. You know exactly what Mack told you. That he sent me here undercover to find out what Stephen was up to. Well, now we know! He was a blood smuggler. I found his lab. I reported it to Mack.”
Willow gasped from on the ground next to him. “He was selling your blood?”
“Not mine,” Aiden said angrily, never taking his eyes off of Rayne, who was dressed in a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Easily removable clothing. There was more going on here than he thought. Was he going to use this to kill Aiden, to claim he was killed during the assault on the house?
“Whose then?”
“He had thirty shifters he kept drugged in the other half of the building at work. I found it out today when I accidentally threw Patrice through the wall.”
“You threw...but…I don’t understand,” she said, finally getting to her feet as well.
“I’ll tell you later. First I need to deal with this douchebag who thinks he can kill me now and write it off as a casualty of the assault.”
Willow stepped up next to him, the anger practically pouring off of her. Aiden could just imagine the glare she was directing at Rayne. “Who the hell does he think he is?”
“My former pack’s Beta. He thinks he’s hot shit just because I never beat his ass the way he deserves.”
“You don’t have the balls,” Rayne shot back. “You don’t have it in you. You’re not Alpha material.”
Aiden fell silent, the last point hitting home. Rayne was right. He wasn’t an Alpha. He was—
“Yes he is.” Willow’s hand landed on his shoulder. “He’s far more of an Alpha than you’ll ever be.”
Rayne’s eyes grew huge as Willow, a member of Stephen’s pack and a woman no less, called him out and insulted him in front of the few members of the RRT who stood nearby.
“That’s enough. We’re done talking,” he snarled. “Now I’m going to deal with you once and for all, and then I’m going to handle your bitch.”
“Wow, that’s a cheesy line if I ever heard one,” Aiden fired back, trying to keep calm despite the insult to Willow. He needed to keep his head about him if he was going to win this fight. “Been practicing that one in the mirror? Hoping you’d get the chance? ‘Cause really, you should have tried harder if you wanted to sound badass. I could give you a few pointers if you—LOOK OUT!”
He pushed Willow to the side as Rayne came at him, shifting as he moved. Aiden took the first blow so that he could ensure that she was safe. In hindsight that might not have been the smartest move, but he could berate himself for being full of himself later. First he had to show Rayne just how badly he’d underestimated Aiden.
His body shivered, and as he pushed Rayne clear he fell to the ground in his wolf form. It was time to rise up and show the world what he was made of.
To show Willow what he was made of. That he could be the man for her.
Twenty-One
Willow
The two wolves stalked around each other in a circle for what felt like an eternity, feinting and dodging without ever really striking a blow. Aiden’s huge raven-furred beast against the nearly equally large white wolf that was streaked with dark gray.
When they finally closed with each other, it happened so fast she could barely keep up. The black wolf darted in with what looked to be another feint, but this time it never stopped. The other wolf was caught off guard and reacted too slow to get out of the way. Realizing it was going to take a hit, it accepted that fact and ripped a chunk of Aiden’s flank free. The dance repeated itself again and again. Neither side seemed to be gaining an advantage, though they were both covered in blood.
In the end, it was the smallest of mistakes that ended the fight. Aiden had been circling, pushing ever so much closer to his foe. The other wolf matched him stride for stride, when suddenly Aiden’s black wolf shot forward. To her eyes he appeared to be moving slower, as if he wanted to give time for the unknown fighter to back away.
Which is exactly what happened.
The white and gray wolf shuffled backward, preparing to swipe a paw across where Aiden’s face would be. Willow saw it all coming from a mile away, and she knew if she could see it, then both wolves could see it.
But what she and Aiden’s opponent had failed to notice was the ending of the stone patio. It was so large, over a hundred feet across, that they were just sort of used to it. But now it ended, and grass began. It was only a four- or five-inch drop, but when the white wolf put its weight on its back legs and they suddenly had to fall half a foot farther, it was caught completely and totally off guard.
Which is when Aiden darted in low and ripped the throat from it.
She
cried out and turned around, not wanting to see the result. It wasn’t the first time she’d watched a challenge, nor the first time she’d seen a werewolf bleed out and die from the result of one. But that didn’t mean she enjoyed it.
“Okay,” she said as Aiden limped back into her view. “Now, what the fuck was that all about?” So far she’d been fairly patient, but it was about time she started getting answers about everything that had been going on.
Before she could though, she saw Aiden straighten painfully, his eyes focused on the house. Turning, she saw someone else emerge from inside. As they walked over, she saw his eyes dart back and forth between Aiden and the body. Beside her, her newfound love was holding a position of attention that had to have his body screaming with agony from the wounds.
“What is going on here?” the newcomer asked.
“Rayne decided that he could deal with me on his own,” Aiden said stiffly. “Word unfortunately was not given to your teams that I was on the inside, and they came after me as well as the rest of Stephen’s pack. When I finally got Willow to safety, two of his goons took me down.”
The two RRT members who had remained nearby for the entire thing shifted uncomfortably as the newcomer’s gaze shifted from one to the other.
“Is that true?” he asked, his voice deadly quiet.
“Uh, Rayne said it was part of the operation,” one of them protested, looking uncomfortable. “He didn’t tell us the truth. We thought we were just following orders.”
As much as she didn’t like it, even Willow could hear the truth in his voice. She wanted them to pay for aiding this Rayne in his quest to kill Aiden. But it seemed they were innocent.
“You’re fired,” the newcomer said. “Get the fuck out of my city, and never come back.”
“But—” One of them started to protest, but the rest of the words died on his lips as the newcomer took a step toward him.
“Who is this?” she asked, speaking out of the corner of her mouth. She was tired of thinking of him as “the new guy.”
“Uh, Willow, this is Mack, my former Alpha. Mack, this is Willow, the girl I told you about.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “You told him about me?”
Aiden blushed.
“Yes, he did,” Mack said, stepping in front of both of them. “He told me all about the goings-on here.”
Behind them there was the sound of a struggle. They all turned to see two more members bringing Stephen from the house, held firmly between them.
“Willow, I know we just met, and this will make me seem like an asshole, but your father has to die for his crimes.” There was an awkward pause. “Um, if you want to say anything, I’ll give you some time.”
Mack went to move away, but Willow shook her head.
“No,” she said, her voice hard. “I would have loved to speak to my father, to tell him I loved him.” She spat in Stephen’s direction. “But my father died thirty-five years ago, murdered by this pathetic asshole.”
Stephen’s eyes went wide. “Who told you?! I’ll kill them! I’ll kill them all.” He started to struggle.
Willow shook her head. He was insane. Being presented with his death had caused a break with reality in Stephen. It was most obvious in his eyes. They were wide, looking back and forth, focusing on things only he could see.
“I didn’t,” she said sadly. “I just played a hunch. I still don’t understand why.”
“I’m not sure we ever will,” Aiden said softly from next to her, taking her hand in his. “But my guess is perhaps they stumbled onto his operation and threatened to expose it. He killed them and took you in as cover, to make himself appear more down-to-earth and likable by everyone else.”
Willow nodded. “I’d come to most of that same conclusion myself.” She looked up at Mack. “Do what you have to do.”
“Inside,” Mack said, indicating he wanted it to happen out of sight.
The werewolves holding Stephen in place yanked him back to his feet and hauled him inside and away from her.
“Are you okay?” Aiden asked.
She shrugged. “Most of my entire world has been turned upside down. I’ve gone from latching on to a fake father, to a brand-new man in my life. I’m terrified that I’m going to learn that you’ve been faking everything all along.”
Aiden grimaced. “I’ve not been faking who I am, or how I feel about you. The only thing that I didn’t tell you was that Mack sent me here in hopes that I might be able to expose whatever it was your f—” he shook his head—“what Stephen was up to. I was still banished, and I’m now without a pack. That part was all true. As is the part where you’re my mate, and I am so madly in love with you. None of that was a lie, Willow, I swear to you.”
She squeezed his hand tight. “I never figured I would actually find a mate. But if I’m forced to do that, I suppose I can’t argue about it being you.” She winked.
“Just a warning. I have no idea what the future holds for me. We’ll probably have to move out of the city, find somewhere new to live. I overstayed my welcome here, and screwed up one too many times before I found something worth changing my ways for.”
Willow furrowed her eyebrows. “You did? What’s that?”
The werewolf lowered his head, shaking it slightly. It took a moment for Willow to realize it was laughter.
“You!” he said, looking up at last.
“Um, oh.” She felt rather sheepish. That was a fairly obvious answer. “Thanks?”
Aiden just shook his head a few more times and then leaned in and kissed her. “You’re welcome.”
“So, where do we go then?” The idea of leaving the city behind scared her. She’d lived here her entire life, aside from when she went away to school, but even that was in a big city. The idea of country living wasn’t something that had ever crossed her mind, even though the pack house was well outside the outskirts of town, almost enough to be classified as country living.
“You don’t have to go anywhere if you don’t want to,” Mack said, speaking up at last, having maintained polite silence.
She looked at him. “What do you mean?”
Mack glanced at Aiden, and then beyond him. “Well, there’s an opening now in my pack. If you can show me you truly have changed, then you would be welcomed back.”
Aiden stiffened next to her.
“Willow would of course be welcome too.”
Her mate relaxed somewhat, but he still seemed as hard as metal. She shook his hand. “Well, what do you say?”
“Umm, can I take a few days to think about it?”
Mack blinked in obvious surprise. “Of course. But not too long, I’ll need to fill the position soon. Seventy-two hours. No longer.”
Aiden nodded. “Right, three days. Got it.”
Willow wasn’t sure what she was missing, but one thing was clear. It was going to be an interesting next three days.
“Is there anything else?” she asked, stunned at how calm her voice sounded. “Because if not, Aiden’s going to take me to a hotel and I’m going to have a breakdown about how the life I’ve known was a lie and is gone now, if that’s okay with everyone.”
The words were barely out of her mouth when she suddenly felt dizzy as adrenaline faded and realization set in.
“Aiden.”
“Yes my love?”
“Catch me.”
“What?”
“I’m going to faint.”
And she did.
Twenty-Two
Aiden
“Have you thought about your answer to Mack yet?”
He looked up from where he was cutting the chicken that they were going to have in the salad for lunch.
Salad. Aiden hated that word. It meant green and colorful things and some sort of oily liquid poured all over it. Give him meat ‘n’ potatoes every day. Yum. Broccoli and cauliflower were acceptable as long as there was some shredded cheese to go on top. He’d also had asparagus that he’d enjoyed before, though truthfully he wasn�
��t sure if it was that, or the bacon it had been wrapped in. But a salad? No thanks. Not for him, if given the choice.
It made Willow happy though, and over the past three days that had been his entire world: giving her everything she wanted or needed. Attention. Space. Sex. Food. Massages or his shoulder to cry on. An ear to listen. Nothing had been too much or too little for him to give his mate as she tried to process everything that had happened in a short period of time.
Three days was not enough for her to get over it. They were both aware of that. But it was enough time for her to start to accept it. She was no longer bursting out into tears several times an hour and seeking out the comfort of his embrace. And if her last question was anything to go by, she was starting to feel calm enough to talk about him.
Which was a relief, because Aiden had no fucking idea what to do. He was utterly lost.
“Thought about it? Oh yes. I’ve thought about it a lot.”
His back was to her as he focused on the cutting board in their hotel room’s little kitchen, so he couldn’t see what sort of look she gave him.
“And?”
“And what? I’ve thought about it. I still have no idea what I’m going to say or do.”
He could sense the glare.
“What? I only said I’d thought about it.”
“When you answer in the affirmative without clarifying, that usually means in most social circumstances that you have an answer, you jerk!”
A piece of celery bounced off his head.
“Don’t forget to chop that up too,” she smirked as he caught it before it hit the ground.
Celery? Eewwwwww.
“Yes, mistress,” he said, hunching over some more.
“Right. So, spill. What are you thinking?”
He paused, setting the celery down on the counter where it wouldn’t encounter the raw chicken. Then he resumed cutting, taking a deep breath in. The question he needed to ask wasn’t a big one, but he worried about the answer anyway.
