Chapter 73: Chapter 73

/Aiden's POV/

As I dragged Rose out of the tensed room,  a breeze ruffled through her curls and sneaked through the thin fabric of her shirt. She curled closer to me. I seemed to mull over my words for a minute before finally turning around. The omega immediately put few inches of distance between us, her knees wobbling, hand coming to grip the nearby wall.

"Rose," I whispered gently. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," She said, but it comes out in more of a snap. The omega nearly let out a whimper when I tried to take a step in her direction.

"You're not okay," I corrected, sounding half-exasperated and half-panicked while raking my eyes over her squirming form. "Your smell! Moons sake!"

At that, Rose face turned. Her pheromones were out of control, reflecting the same distress and panic that her wolf was radiating. My nostrils flared, lips flattened in discomfort, fingers curling around to maintain the same restrain as my mate.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," The omega rushed, tripping in her effort to get away from me.

"Don't apologise," I huffed, brows dipping in frustration. My eyes averted towards the dining room for a second before I turned to her. "You're shaking. What can I do?"

"I –," Rose stuttered, the sound of her heart pounding evidently over the howling of the wind. She blinked several times, mouth opening and closing as her hand reached out, flapping helplessly. "Alpha"

Cursing under my breath, I immediately grasped her hand and tugged the omega into a hug. Rose nearly choked on her gasp, letting out a violent shudder before slumping into my chest. If she had more energy, the omega would gape at him, probably throw a fit for hugging her. But all she did was bury her face into my shirt and inhale sharply.

"You being angry isn't helping," She exhaled, unable to keep the waver out of her tone.

I softened at that, squeezing her tighter and pressing my chin to the top of her head, scenting her. "You're okay," I urged after a minute.

She squeezed her eyes shut, letting the deep timbre of my voice ease her frantic omega. Her breathing slowly began to even out, heartbeat returning to its normal rate.

"I'm okay," Rose replied shakily, her hands awkwardly pressed into my chest, nose into the hollow between my neck and shoulder. Her lashes tickled the sensitive skin of my neck, but I did not move.

I held her for a little bit longer, letting the omega regain the strength in her limbs before carefully extricating. Rose stood stiffly, face unreadable as she met my eyes, flush crawling down her neck.

Scenting between mates was an intimate act, and I did that to her without thinking about her feelings. Then again, her omega was in distress, and I had no other choice.

"What happened?" I asked inevitably, my lips flattened into a frown. "You were so close to dropping now."

A sigh escaped her mouth, shoulders sagging before a strange emotion crossed her features. She wrung her fingers together, looking away. "It's my mother...I was so riled up seeing her put on an act for me. Sorry for freaking you out."

I shook my head. "I-It's alright. What do you mean by putting on an act?"

Ever since I stepped inside the house, I could tell something was off. Especially with her father, who refused to hold our eyes for more than a few seconds. Paired that with her mother's forced chatter and zeal made me suspicious.

Rose let her head loll back against the wall, her head tilted towards the ceiling. "My mother doesn't like me for some reason, and I came to accept that fact. She was hard on me ever since I was young, criticised every single thing I did, mocked me for the tiniest of things and made me do all the chores for her." Tears pooled in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them back, sniffling. "I-I tried to reason with all the things she did, but today I could not anymore. Seeing her act like that made me angry because that's how I always imagined her to treat me—like a mother who loves her daughter."

Rage bubbled in my stomach as soon as I heard those words. The moment I saw the frames in the living room, I doubted that Rose was wronged. She was nowhere in those pictures, moreover her room was the smallest in the house, in some corner like they were simply forced to give one. The walls had been chipped on several spots, floorboards creaky and old. Her wardrobe was old and rattled, handle loose, too many splinters and hangers had several cracks.

While walking along the hallway, I recognised that they could afford the luxury, judging by expensive rugs and wallpaper but simply didn't want to indulge their daughter. How could her parents be so cruel?

"What about your father? Why does he have to say about this?"

She shrugged, a sardonic smile tugging on her lips. "He tried his best, I guess. Growing up, I saw him try to stand up for me one too many times, but my mother simply did not care. So he gave up."

"That doesn't sound right."

"It is what it is, I guess." With that, she turned on her feet, exhaling loudly, rubbing her face and putting on a fake smile. How long has she been doing that? I thought to myself, insides turning at the sudden change in her behaviour.

"Aiden, let's go inside. They must be waiting for us."

Rose walked away, her body hunched under the hazy rose of the sky, my chest burning with an indecipherable emotion, tongue heavy in my mouth. I was reminded that this wasn't the first time the omega walked away from me without looking back, but hopefully, it'd be the last.

***

When we went back to the dining room, Rose politely smiled towards her mother, her hand gripping the chair I sat earlier in while I trailed behind her. Both of them looked up at us, their faces pale.

Her mother was the first one to speak. "Rose..."

"Thank you for the delicious meal but unfortunately I am tired from the trip. We will talk tomorrow. Good night."

I narrowed my eyes towards her father, who merely averted his stare, looking at the folded hands on the table. Shaking my head, I huffed. "Good night."

Once we were inside the room, Rose got busy fluffing the pillows and adjusting the duvet on the bed. I rushed to change my clothes, still occupied with the thoughts from earlier. There has to be a reason for her mother to treat Rose so poorly. If they both had a problem with her, then why was she called back so urgently.

Exiting the bathroom, I noticed a pillow and covers lying on the floor, my eyes widening. Rose was sitting on the bed, now in a cotton gown, reaching to her knees, her hair set loose.

"What is the meaning of this?" I pointed at the pillow on the floor, my body angled towards her.

Lifting her head, she innocently blinked, her lashes touching the cheekbones, skin glistening. The breeze blew in from the open window, nipping at her skin to which she curled into the covers. "I thought they taught you how to identify pillows by now."

"Don't get smart on me! I meant, why is it on the floor."

"That's where you will be sleeping tonight."

"No way! I am not sleeping on the floor." I crossed my arms. "You cannot make me."

She stared at me long and hard for few seconds before eventually standing up, running a hand down her gown. "Fine! You take the bed; then I will sleep on the floor."

A low growl left my mouth before I could control myself, a hand reaching out to stop her. I coughed, scratching at the base of my neck. "Earlier, I saw some cockroaches lurking nearby..."

"W-What?!" She shrieked, cutting me off, her body scrambling back to lie on the bed, covers pulled tight. "Are you serious?"

"This room hasn't been cleaned for a while, so it's obvious there are roaches around." I rolled my eyes, looking at the floor. "Besides, why would I lie about that?"

"Then what do we do?"

"We will sleep on the same bed."

***