Chapter 118: Chapter 118

The Alphas low growl reverberated off the walls as my eardrums trembled, but I was jerked around by a heavy hand on my wrist and pressed to the wall. My lashes felt damp as I snivelled and bit on my lip against a whimper at the distinct scent, dark and Alpha. In all these months, I had never seen Aiden act so agitated and angry, a deadly combination.

"I-I..."

"Do you even realise what you have done?" The wrinkle between his furrowed brows had deepened, but his eyes were set to my left like he was preparing for an attack. No one followed us anyway, but the Alpha was being paranoid about it.

I cleared my throat, breaking the silence that settled over us, my voice came out still a bit grainy. “Aiden, I only wanted to talk them out of this stupid war. Please don’t get mad.”

His nostrils flared. “Mad? Oh no, Rose! I am fucking livid. How long till you accept there is no way out of this? Do you realise the seriousness of the situation? Or have you forgotten that someone from our pack was abducted?”

My eyes slowly fell to my knees, thoughts hesitantly beginning to strum into life. I blinked, and everything abruptly tangled into knots and simultaneously ran wild through my brain.

Why did Aiden always jump to conclusions?

My heart was suddenly pounding faster than ever, and my throat increasingly felt tighter.

Oh no.

He still was under assumption that the Luna kidnapped our pack member. Before I could open my mouth to defend his mother, the Alpha dug his sharp nails in my wrist.

“You announced them weakness by going on your own and worrying the fuck out of me!”

“I was going to come back as soon as possible.”

Panting, I let my head fall back to the wall with a dull thud while trying not to feel around the tornado of emotion.

“As a corpse?!”

Pain shot through me like lightning, and I barely managed to suppress the gasp that's punched out of my stomach. I straightened my back and daringly met his stare, closing the distance between us.

“Nothing would have happened. Liam already knew about me being here, so….”

“That doesn’t make it any better! My best friend did not even tell me, so I had to sniff my way here!”

“I am sorry,” I swallowed against the hard knot that had formed at the top of my throat. My frown had transformed into a pool of misery, and I felt choked with every breath he drew. “Aiden, but they were not going to do anything to me. Your mo—I mean, the Luna even told me that she has no involvement in taking our pack member….”

“Don’t tell me you believe her?!” He raised his voice, jaw set tight, cutting me off. One of his fists shoved through the drywall right beside my head. A shriek ripped out of my throat at the sudden attack, and before there was any severe damage, the Alpha dropped his head and took his hand back with little crunches from the wall. He took a ragged breath, lifting his head to face me, “That woman is a huge liar, manipulative and would go to any extent to get what she wants. How can you take her word so easily?”

Baring my canines, I shoved at him with as much strength as my body possessed. And as expected, Aiden stumbled back, but before he could get far, I backhanded him so hard his body jerked and staggered. Dull, my hand stung, but that's the least of my pain right now.

“Stop this! You are treating me like a pup who cannot look after herself. I am a healer!” Furious, traitorous tears started slipping down my eyes, my chest heaving with erratic breaths.

“A healer who still doesn’t know how to use her power.” The Alpha scoffed, rolling his eyes.

My heart sank in my belly, and my throat ached as his harsh words echoed. With my head tilted, I pinned him with a dirty look, watching as he did not even deter. “I think I am done with this conversation.” Turning on my feet, I started walking in a different direction, away from my mate.

***

“Rose!” Liam exhaled loudly as soon as he saw me approaching the packhouse. The beta picked up his pace, running towards me, worry lines marring his face. “Moons! Are you okay?”

Putting on a fake smile, I slowly bobbed my head. “Yes…see?” I did a twirl in front of the beta. “In one piece. You should be worrying about someone else.”

At that, his brow quirked, looking over my shoulder only to see Aiden approaching us. The betas smile fell at that, his back straightened as he winced, “Did he do something?”

“Almost killed four guards today.”

“I knew I should have never let him go on his own.” The beta sighed, a furrow in between his brows as he kept on staring at his best friend. “Did his mother say something? Is she going to stop this?”

“We didn’t get the chance to talk about it, as you know….”

“I am sorry again.”

“It’s not your fault, Liam.” I gave him a weak smile before walking past him, fully knowing that Aiden was closer to me. The last thing I wanted was to fight in the middle of the road.

***

I let out a squeak when I felt ticklishly light fingers on the inside of my forearm. Squirming in my seat, I slowly turned to my side only to see Caden slumping on the bench next to me. A gust of wind blew past us, almost making me shiver, toes curling in my shoes.

“Rose," He said, his voice warily while I  swallowed, heart-thumping harder. “Are you okay? I didn't mean to upset you."

My mouth twisted at that, shoulders lined straight as I kicked at the pebble in front of me. “Who said I am upset? I am fine.”

"You seem quite upset."

"I'm not," I protested, my lips folded. Perhaps too firmly because a snicker slipped from his lips without delay, his shoulder nudging my side.

"I'm sorry," The Alpha trainer chuckled, free hand covering his mouth for a short moment as indignation built further up my chest. "I didn't mean to laugh. I apologise for my manners, but that was simply the worst lie I've heard."

"I wasn't lying, Caden," I lied and internally groaned at how utterly pathetic my voice came out.

The trainer turned to face me, all the laugh lines from before replaced by a rugged look. He pushed his hand and placed it on mine, patting it. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

At that, tears brimmed in my eyes, a sudden heaviness lurking around. The Alphas words from before came rushing to me, and I let out a choked sob. Caden instantly leaned by my side, winding his arms around my trembling body and pressed me to his chest tightly. I hiccuped, surely getting tear stains on his blue shirt, but the Alpha didn’t mind.

“Rose! What’s going on?”

My sobs slowly turned into whimpers as I heard the waver in his voice, slowly pulling back and meeting his eyes. The sound of my sniffles echoed around us,

tears were still leaking from under my eyes, but at least my heart rate appeared to be in a normal range again.

“I am scared, Caden and I don’t know how to deal with this situation. Aiden is angry at me, and I have to tell him about my pregnancy….” My eyes widened as I realised that I spoke aloud, hearing the Alpha let out a sharp exhale.

“You are pregnant?!” Another familiar voice shrieked.

Oh no.