I woke up, as expected, to an empty bed. My memory of the night before was still pretty clear, and I
tried my best not to cry again. Ace's walls were up again, and his scent was still heavy in my room,
telling me that he left not too long ago.
I sighed as I got out of bed to take a long, warm bath. My body needed it.
Feeling somewhat relaxed and refreshed, I wrapped myself in a robe and headed back inside my room
without drying off. Sometimes I preferred to sit and air dry.
I almost screamed and broke Aiden's neck when I saw him standing beside my desk. Didn't he know
he shouldn't do such things?
I suddenly remembered that I was still very upset with him, and worse now that I had nothing or nobody
to channel my guilt to, him being here wasn't the best--for him at least.
"I'm pretty busy Aiden" I snapped as I moved some hair from my face.
"Come on Rox" He pleaded, already looking defeated. "By the time you're finished drying I'll be done
with what I have to say"
My heart clenched at the fact that he knew exactly what I was doing. It made me remember that
nobody knew me like he does.
I mustered up my sternest face and folded my arms over my chest. "Speak"
"Will you listen to me this time? " He asked slowly. I gave him a short nod, and I watched as he readied
himself.
"The last thing I wanted was to hurt you"
"Yea right and-"
"Just listen to me Roxy, please" I shut my mouth and watched as he gave me a pleading but pointed
look. Huffing, I plopped down on my bed and did a zip impression across my lips.
"What I did was disgustingly terrible and I know that. I had a lot of time to think about it, and I saw ways
how I could've gone about doing things differently now. That plan was stupid. So so stupid. I'm a big
idiot"
I almost chuckled at that, but managed to keep my mouth in a thin line.
"I'm gonna tell you what happened okay? But you have to listen" His tone changed to a bit more
serious as he took a different stance. I shifted on my spot as I felt a little bit more nervous.
"The day I tried to.." He cleared his throat but didn't say exactly what he tried to do. "I was panicking. I
had just gotten off a call with Jace, and what he told me made me go crazy. I couldn't think, so I just did
the first thing that came to my mind."
I knew he said no interruptions, but the look on his face prevented me from keeping my mouth shut.
"What did Jace say Aiden?"
"I didn't know that Jace knew about you, so I was confused at first"
"Yea the day Ace and I fought for the first time and I ran to the border, he saw me. He told me that he
overheard Jane and I talking."
"Well when he called me, he was all panicking and shit. He and Jane were talking about you, but they
thought they were alone. Jane told Jace that you were pregnant, and they spent quite a while talking
about it. Jace said that after a while, he noticed that they weren't alone. Do you remember Dennis?"
I nodded impatiently. Of course I remembered Dennis!
"Well, Dennis heard them. When Jace found him eavesdropping, he went totally 'Dennis crazy' on
them. He was furious"
I cringed at the thought. Angry Dennis is a scary Dennis. The guy was six-five, bulky and bald. Even
the smallest scowl gave anyone shivers, not to mention when he was angry.
"My pregnancy is none of his business" I retorted with a scoff.
"Yea but he thought it was very much his business. He went on and on to Jace about the mateship
being an abomination, not to mention what he said about the baby. Roxy you know that apart from you,
me, dad and Phillip, the mission was the most important thing to the guy, and you know how hard
headed he is"
I bit my lip and nodded. I've never spent much time around Dennis like Aiden has. Dennis was our top
warrior and trainer apart from Phillip. He taught us to fight and be tough. Hell, the guy broke every bone
in my body at least ten times already.
He was mean, stubborn, determined and closed minded. I heard that he used to be nice, but when he
lost his mate in the same war eighteen years ago, he toughened everything about him, inside and out.
I guess that was why this mission meant so much to him too. So I knew exactly what Aiden meant
about how hard headed he was.
"He said that you already ruined the mission by accepting Ace, and that you were gonna pay. But he
also didn't believe that you were pregnant, saying that you couldn't be 'that stupid'."
Ouch Dennis. Ouch.
"He told Jace that if you were pregnant, he would... -he..h-"
"Tell me Aiden" I urged, though it wasn't that hard to guess.
"He was gonna kill the child, but spared you since you were the Alpha's daughter. But he promised it
would be painful and dreadful. He said that even if things worked out fine, he would still do it to punish
you"
Anyone would think that he couldn't have ever gotten away with hurting an Alpha's daughter and
another Alpha's mate, but I knew Dennis. And if he really really wanted to, he could've and would've.
"Jace promised to warn us before Dennis could plan, but that was hell of a mistake on Jace's side. Why
do you think dad attacked two months early?" My eyes widened as I snapped my eyes to his. Dennis
really wasn't playing around.
Our pack had no current Gamma, but Dennis basically played the role. Somehow, he always seemed
to wiggle his way into dad's mind and make him do things that weren't originally planned. I had no idea
how one man could be so persuasive.
"Jace said he marched off in our house's direction, no doubt going to convince dad, so he called me
immediately" Aiden sat beside me on my bed, by now I was dry, and took my hands in his.
"Roxy I panicked. I know Dennis and I knew one way or the other, he was gonna get to you. He has his
little posse in our pack and some of them know this pack all too well. I knew that once he got onto the
lands, he would've immediately went looking for you, with help of course"
I nodded in a little understanding. Dennis had his little mini pack of about twenty wolves, who were
solely loyal to him. Dad knew but he didn't mind, since Dennis was loyal to him, so automatically they
would too. I never liked it though, and see what it brought?
"He had swore to Jace that he would find you and kill that child if you were indeed pregnant, and I got
scared, Rox. That's all I heard. 'If you were indeed pregnant'. And I snapped"
My eyes met his, as I heard his voice break. He was on the brink of tears, but if I knew my brother, I
knew they wouldn't fall.
"I was actually scared that he would somehow find a way and complete his mission. And Rox, I knew
he would've. So I - I "
"You tried to get rid of the pregnancy so he wouldn't hurt me" I finished for him lowly.
You see, that was always Aiden. Protecting me at all costs. No matter the damage, he would pull any
strings to ensure my safety. But there could've been other ways.
"And I knew there were other ways." He started again, wording my hidden thoughts. "But my mind
wasn't working Roxy. I just knew I had extra wolfsbane and I knew the baby would..."
I smiled slightly and urged him to continue without saying it. I could see how much it pained him to
even think about what he almost did.
But no doubt that once I swallowed that wolfsbane, the baby would've been gone within thirty minutes. I
would've had to get him removed immediately so that I wouldn't get poisoned, and by the time Dennis
found me, I would've been baby free. Aiden knew what he was doing.
"It was after you kicked me out, when I was running back home I saw numerous other ways that we
could've dealt with it. But Roxy please forgive me. Please. I was just so scared and I-"
"Panicked" I said before he could repeat it for the tenth time. " I know Aide, I understand. And though
I'm not okay with what happened, I can see how you would have resorted to that"
He sighed as I pulled him into a short hug.
"Dennis apparently convinced dad that the warriors were ready, and since he had enough information
about Ace's pack to have some advantage, he had affirmation. The jackass even used our names,
saying that we would get to come home sooner. When you kicked me out that night and I went home,
the three of them sat me down and told me the plan. The warriors were ready, and so they were too.
"I had given dad a lame excuse about why I was home, saying that I got in a fight with the Alpha and
needed some home time. When he asked me why you didn't come with me, I might've told him that you
refused to because you got attached. Sorry"
I smiled as I rubbed his hair. That explained dad's outburst and why he was so angry.
"Dennis knew I was bullshitting them, and so I came up with another plan--A sensible plan at that. I
threatened him, telling him to call off his plan or I tell dad everything. At first he thought I wasn't serious,
but I should've known he would be smarter than that"
He leaned up from my shoulder as he gave me an unbelievable look.
"He had already sent some of his men here from the night before, using the routes where no border
patrol was. The little piece of shit threatened you again, saying that if I tell dad about him trying to hurt
you, he would order his men to do the deed that same night in honour of the death he would've
received." He sighed.
"And the dude watched me all night, so that I didn't contact Ace." He stopped to look at me and said:
"He literally watched me all night, while I was sleeping"
I gasped at that. Dennis was really set out for me. I couldn't help feeling hurt. Yes I knew we weren't
close or anything, but he was still sorta family. Not anymore though.
"So we had an agreement. I keep hush about his plan to get to you, and he keeps his men under strict
orders not to touch you. And I couldn't even kill him there and then. I knew I could've, but it would've
taken a fight. And he kept a few men in his mindlinking region so that if anything was happening and he
couldn't get to make a call to the ones over here, he would've just quickly mindlinked the ones he kept
behind, telling them to relay his orders to the attack team"
We both shook our head slowly and simultaneously, something we always did when we both couldn't
believe something.
Quite frankly, I couldn't comprehend how one man could be out to kill an innocent child, just because its
mother was the mate of the Alpha of the pack that killed his mate. I mean, if you have a twisted head
you would have understood his reasoning, but nobody's head should be that twisted.
I knew he lost his mate and he wanted nothing more than revenge. Dad's intentions were somewhat
pure, since we just wanted our rights back.
But Dennis didn't care about land or people, he just cared about revenge. And since one of the persons
sent to help him get his revenge basically switched sides on him, he felt the need to punish me.
Hell, I don't wanna ever lose my mate. I fear the person I might become.
"Above all, I was just trying to protect you. I came along with dad that day with no intentions of fighting.
I just wanted to talk to you and Ace before Dennis did anything"
"Why didn't he try anything? He stared me dead in the face that day" I just realized that I was still very
much pregnant, without an itch or mark. He sighed with a grateful look on his face.
"He saw mom," he smiled. "Even if the bastard was willing to do that to dad, he wouldn't do that to
mom"
I nodded in understanding. Dennis was basically a big brother to mom, from what I've heard. His mate
and my mom were pretty close too, so I guess it struck a nerve of humanity and memory when he saw
her.
"I still had to lock up the bastard though" Aiden added and I chuckled. "He's lucky he and his men are
alive. Ace was gonna kill them"
My eyes widened. "Ace knows?"
Aiden gave me a 'duh' look. "He was the first one I told everything. Good thing he was willing to listen.
He forgave me, which I'm happy for. We have a meeting about forming an alliance soon."
I rolled my eyes at his Alpha talk so soon, but I couldn't help the twinge in my stomach. That explained
why Aiden was here the other day, and why he left looking not bloody and broken. But if he can forgive
Aiden, he can forgive me. Right?
"So we're good?" He nudged me with a nervous smile. I nudged him back and kissed his cheek, then
rested my head on his shoulder.
"We’re good baby bro"
He groaned but held me anyways. I smiled at finally winning this argument. Mom must've told him that I
was born first.
"In that case, I have a surprise for you"
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