Chapter 84: Chapter 84

Once I managed to slip past the packhouse, my feet carried me to that lone bench in the garden. Slumping down, I let a sigh escape my chest, eyes raking around. The park was full of flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colours, so many of them, but I could not name a single one. It smelled sweet here, almost overwhelming but also clean and fresh. For a second, I could only imagine what this place must be like in the warmer months when all flowers come into bloom.

My stomach twisted, a painful reminder that I had thrown up a while ago. It was silly of me to intake that one bite of salad, my fingers almost swelling. But Zain needed to be reminded that nothing was ever going to happen between us.

I could see out of the corner of my eye a familiar figure approaching me. The Alpha looked at me expectantly, his feet clinking against the pavement before coming to a halt. I tore my sights away from the vibrancy of the garden around me to look at him. "It's beautiful, don't you think?" I breathed, and that drew a soft laugh out of him.

Caden made a face. "When you see it every day, the initial effects start to wear off, I guess."

My nose flared at that, head tilting to meet his eyes. "That's sad."

The Alpha shrugged, shuffling forward and sitting on the sliver of space left on my right side. I held my breath as he leaned back, taking a quick look at the garden behind us. "You should see it at the height of spring."

"I fully plan to."

Silence settled over us like a blanket, warm and inescapable. The sound of birds chirping along with the rustling of the leaves was the only sound echoing around. I stared at his side profile, wondering where he had been all this time. The Alpha trainer did not join us during lunch as well.

"Where have you been?"

"How are you?"

We both asked at the same time, identical grins curving around our lips. My eyes crinkled by my sides as I angled my body towards him, hand clutching the arms of the bench. "I am alright. What about you? I did not see you during lunch today."

Caden made a noise. "I wanted to join, but Liam tasked me with extra work in the ground today. Anyways I am glad that you are back early."

I tried not to wince at the reason Aiden and I rushed out of there. Suppressing the memory in the back of my head, I met Caden's eyes. "Hmm, I would rather not talk about it."

"Then let's talk about the most unbelievable thing to happen today!"

My brow cocked at that. "What would that be?"

"You don't know?! I thought you were in the packhouse all this time."

"I needed some fresh air, so I slipped away after lunch.”

"No wonder!" Caden shook his head. "Anyways, Ria found her mate today. It's none other than Pack Alpha Damon. Would you believe that?"

I swallowed at that. My throat was dry, and, oddly, my nerves, which had entirely dissipated over the day, returned with full force. My hands turned clammy, cold and wrung together awkwardly as I tried to form a response to that. On the one hand, I was happy for Damon, but it's Ria, a beta who has been devoted to making Aiden on her side from the start. How was he going to handle it?

"That sounds—" I paused to breathe, still nervous with the way my hands can't seem to keep still, and instead flutter about as they seek something to keep busy. "—wonderful."

"Yeah, Alpha Damon is thrilled."

I lolled my head back, a sigh escaping my mouth, squinting at the afternoon glare of the sun. "Must be nice...finding your true mate." The thought of finding my mate pretty much vanished after I got married to Aiden. Now that we were legally bound together, I did not look back to think about what turns my life would have taken.

"You don't know who your mate is?"

"No!" I huffed, slowly turning to face him. "I will find out in a few months."

"All this time, I thought you were older, but you are still a pup. Aww!" Caden made a cooing sound, his arm nudging my side. I slapped him away, sitting up and blowing the strands of hair away from my face.

"No, I am not!"

The Alpha sobered up, his head tilted. "What will you do once you find your mate? Will you reject Alpha Aiden and go away with him?"

The question made me still. Amidst all the chaos that had been happening in my life, I never thought about running away from here. Sure, Aiden annoyed me and hurt me at times but leaving him forever never struck me. Why was I incapable of thinking that way? What was about the Alpha that drew me towards him in the first place?

"Rose?" Caden loudly uttered my name, breaking me out of my thoughts. "I asked you something. What will you do?"

"Honestly...I-I don't know."

***

After parting ways with Caden, I immediately rushed to meet Ellen. The words my father said about my mother healing him stuck with me. If she could do it and I inherited her abilities, there was a possibility that I could do it too.

"Rose? You are back?" She perked up, her eyes brightening. Looking around, I whooshed a breath noticing that the omega was all alone.

"Yes, I got back this afternoon. Can we talk?"

"Definitely!" She patted the empty seat next to her, motioning me to come closer. I immediately rushed and plopped down; my thighs pressed together.

"Is it possible for me to heal others? My father told me that my biological mother and her pack could do that—heal others. I have never done that before."

At the confusion lines marring her face, I went into detail about my biological mother, excluding the family drama that took place.

Ellen twisted her lips, hesitating before sighing softly. "Wow…that’s a lot to take in but yeah your healing abilities can be used to treat others. I know of a wolf who can do that but no idea how she does it."

"You know someone with healing abilities? Why did you not mention before?"

"S-She wants to be left alone, that's why. I met her during my hunting trip, but Rose is a rogue. How can I put a Luna of my pack in danger?"

"Please! Could you arrange a meeting? I need to meet her. You don't understand, Ellen. It is urgent."

The omega let out a sigh. "Fine, I will try to find her and tell her about you."

"Thank you! Thank you so much! You have no idea how grateful I am." With that, I threw my arms around her.

***

I stumbled in through the entrance and manoeuvred my way around all of the almost empty chairs. It was now just past sunset, and everyone seemed to be dragging themselves to their cabins from the packhouse. As soon as I spotted Aiden walking towards me, I froze. His hair was sticking out in several directions as if he tugged through them roughly.

"Ready to go?"

I blinked at that, my eyes looking around the empty living room. Where was everyone?

"Umm...you sure you don't want to stay for the dinner?"

"No, I do not. Let's go."

"Okay."

Why was he in such a foul mood? Did something happen? I think he must be annoyed with Ria and Damon. That’s the only explanation I could think.

I looked down at my feet as we kept moving towards the cabin. The only sound between us was the crunching of dirt under our shoes and the occasional sound of the wind howling past us. My breath was caught the entire time, with our sides almost brushing as we walked together down the trail.

Aiden turned his head slightly to take in my appearance. I had my arms wrapped tightly, almost as if I were freezing, lost in complicated thought, as I bit my lip while staring orderly at the ground without glancing upwards. The Alpha suddenly stopped in his tracks, causing me to stop as well to see the reason why he had heeled so suddenly.

"Do you have something to say?"

"Huh?"

"You look lost, so I figured that you have something to say to me."

"Umm...Are you happy that Alpha Damon found his mate?" My gaze pinned on him, teeth gritted together, trying to capture the paling of his features. The Alpha adored Ria, to put it loosely, so I was pretty sure he must be devastated with the news.

A burst of laughter slipped past him, eyes crinkling around the corners, so I know it's a genuine one. “Of course I am! They both are very close to me after all."

"B-But Ria will have to go away."

"So?" A furrow formed between his brows. "I have made peace with it from the start. Besides, it's not like she will be on other side of the world."

"But I thought you liked Ria!" I blurted out, unable to stop myself, face going red when his stare fixated on me.

"What?!" He spluttered, his eyes going wide. "I like her as a friend. That's all. What made you think that?"

***