Aaron’s POV
I hated the look she gave me. It made my blood boil in my veins to see it. She gave me the same look when I saved her and my son from being harmed by the man named Henry. She looked at me as if I were some sort of monster that needed to be kept as far away from her as possible. I didn’t know why, but it hurt to see the look on her face. It made me feel like a monster, as if I didn’t kill Henry to protect her.
After discovering I had a son with her, I had kept an extra eye on her. She might not know this, but almost all the other alphas naturally hate the Harts. We had the strongest bloodline, and we have had natural successions of alphas for over ten generations. We’ve been believed to have the blood of the great alpha king, Xavier Ainsworth, flowing through our veins.
With this great power came great responsibility. Since our powers were greater than an average wolf or alpha should possess, we needed a mate who could match them. My quest to find one in the last seven years had been futile, and without a balance for my powers, these powers would collapse within me and weaken me from the inside out.
It would only get worse unless, of course, I found a true mate. I felt that bond when I met Zera, but she was human, and I knew it had to be a mistake. Yet every moment I spent with her felt right, and it made me feel as though I had found the one for my soul. I waited for her to reach out, and, looking back now, I can see how that was a mistake on my part. I should have searched for her; I shouldn’t have left the decision-making to her and her alone. A month became two months, and two months became four, and I realized she had moved on with her life. Perhaps she didn’t feel the connection the way I did. She wasn’t my mate. If she was, she would have reached out. I told myself to move on, vowing never to give the next person with whom I’d feel a bond the chance to walk away ever again.
Finding out a child had come forth from the weekend I spent with her years ago came as a blessing-not just to me but to the rest of the family, and I still remember the smile on all their faces when I broke the news. The baby was a sign of hope that we as a family would still get to keep the power in our bloodline, even if finding my true mate no longer mattered.
That was why I wanted Zion all to myself-to protect him. I knew that just as his existence was a sign of hope to the Hart family, it was a sign of power and dominance to the other alphas around the world, which would compel their loyalty. I knew they didn’t like that and would want to eliminate Zion as fast as they could. I didn’t know who was behind the attack, but I planned on finding out, and before then, I had to make sure to keep Zion and the stubborn little lady called Zera safe.
I didn’t see the attack coming, but that was my error, and it came so close that I would have lost the two people I cherished the most in the world. Despite my impending weakness, it wasn’t so easy to take me out, and almost every pack knew that. They knew the best way to get to me would be to strike at the weak link; Zion and Zera.
I hated fighting with her, but I doubt she’ll ever look at me and not see a cold-hearted monster. That wasn’t who I wanted to be to her; that’s not who I wanted to be from the very first time we met, but fate had made me the villain of my story for a very long time. Perhaps it was time to stop running from it.
“Are you with me, Aaron?” Sesi asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“No, but I am now,” I answered, turning my focus to her.
“I thought the plan was to get her on our side and not the other way around.” She trailed off, her eyes weary as she beheld me.
I wasn’t proud of my actions. I had displayed a few actions since I found her months ago that I wasn’t proud of. It was difficult to control emotions when the one meant for you couldn’t stand your sight and told you how much happier they would be if you weren’t in their life.
“That’s still the plan, but she has a habit of getting under my skin and making me do things I don’t want to do,” I admitted, and we stepped into the study room together.
“We need to prepare ourselves for the very worst this full moon. We cannot guarantee where our attack will come from. If they attacked Zion and Zera, they might plan to attack us next. I need to know you’re down with whatever happens.”
I didn’t see the attack coming. I had kept a close eye on the ones I knew could do such a despicable thing, which was the rebellion pack, but so far, my man on the inside has told me nothing. That left me to believe they might have been unaware of the attack as well.
I needed to protect my own. There was no other way around it. I felt grateful that I came in at the time that I did, and I didn’t want to think of what could have happened if I hadn’t stepped in when I did.
I didn’t want her to be terrified out of her mind. I had to understand that she had been tossed into the realm of the supernatural and the truth she didn’t know existed. I had to believe she just needed time and only said and did some things out of fear. She couldn’t hate me. Not that she couldn’t. I just didn’t want a reality where she’d hate me.
Ivan already sat waiting for us in the corner of the study with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes closed.
“How long do we need to keep her here?” he asked.
“As long as we need to. It’s for her protection.” I replied, and he opened his eyes.
He stared at me for a moment before turning away. “She doesn’t see it that way, though.”
“Because she doesn’t understand,” I began, then paused and turned to him. “Can you see her?” I asked, stepping towards the armchair he sat on in the left corner of the room.
It wasn’t even a question. Ivan was the wise one in the pack and in the family. Most of the strongest packs had wise ones. It meant that, despite having werewolf blood, he was more human than the rest of the Harts. It also meant that he could see things beyond the physical and travel between worlds and realms of the supernatural. This was his gift, and it made him different. He could wander off in his mind while sitting in the same position. He could interact with people and make them believe he was real and with them when he was really in his room.
When his ability first appeared, he pulled a few pranks on all of us, and we fell for them. However, as the years went by, we got used to his tricks and figured out when he was the real Ivan and when he wasn’t. He called it dream-walking, and after years of practising, he learned how to carry people with him into this world. Although stronger than the average human, Ivan had never experienced his werewolf shift. We believed the magic flowing through his veins silenced his werewolf form.
“Yes. I see her,” he answered calmly. “She’s scared and wants to go home.”
His last sentence made my heart ache. I didn’t want her scared; I wanted her safe and at peace, and she needed to see that. “Can I see her?”
He took my hand without speaking or opening his eyes, and I found myself in the room we left Zera in. She sat on the floor close to the bed with her head buried between her legs. I heard small whimpers coming from her, and I knew she was crying and in pain. This wasn’t what I wanted to see, but there was no turning back.
“Zera,” I called out, and her head slowly lifted, and her eyes were red, making my heart hurt in my chest. “I am sorry.”
She shook her head, sniffing a little. “I need to go home. The corpses you left in my room probably have the cops crowding my house now, and I need to return and clear my name.”
“I already have that taken care of, but trust me, this is the safest place you can be,” I assured her.
She looked even more confused, despite my assurance. “If you’ve taken care of things, why can’t I go home?”
“Because your home isn’t a safe place anymore. We believe those who attacked you are not yet done.”
She dragged a shaky breath and asked, “Why would anyone plan to harm me and Zion? We have not done anything wrong to anyone.”
“They aren’t coming for you because you harmed anyone; they are coming for you because of me.”
Her eyes narrowed as she glanced up at me. She wanted to ask why, but the words didn’t come out. I knew the question she wanted to ask.
“Zion has the Hart’s blood, and many don’t like that. They don’t like my family being the strongest bloodline to exist. They know with Zion alive, our legacy would continue, so they want him dead.”
She pulled herself up from the floor. “You mean to tell me that by bringing yourself into our lives, you placed the life of my son in danger?”
When she puts it like that, it makes me feel like a bad person.
“Zera,” she stormed towards the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Anywhere away from you and the danger you bring. I’m taking my son, and we are leaving this minute.”
“You think you have more safety out there than in here?”
“I’ll take my chances.” She pulled at the doorknob, but it was locked. She kept yanking at it despite her power not matching it.
“Not with my son, you won’t,” I answered.
She turned to glare at me. “He’s my son as well.”
“He’s more mine than yours!”
“Fuck you.”
Her words struck a cord in me, and images of us entangled in blissful union flashed in my head: “Do not say what you don’t mean.”
“How about this? I wish I had never met you!” She spat at me angrily, and I pulled my hand away from Ivan’s, returning to reality.
There was no way I was going to get to her. She was not going to let me do that. She was as stubborn as they came. I couldn’t reach her and make her see the reasons, not when she already had her stubborn mind made up.
“We need to focus on the full moon. It’s tomorrow, Aaron, and you’re not in the place to shift with the rest of us,” Sesi said, making her presence known in the room. We turned to her.
“I have always shifted,” I told her, not knowing why she was suddenly removing me from my role.
“And it has weakened you every month. You’re barely healing from your intervention, and we can’t risk Ron taking over.”
The fight I had with Henry had left me in terrible shape, and my healing came slowly, which was why Sesi feared Ron might take over tomorrow. Ron was the name I gave my wolf form, and if I shifted, showing any sign of weakness, he would seize the opportunity and take over. He was ruthless, bloodthirsty, and stubborn whenever he took control, which was unlike me. He hunted everything and anything in his path, and it got worse a few years ago. The human and wolf forms usually worked together for every werewolf, and mine did once, but not anymore. So, as much as I could, I kept him in the background, never letting him come to the surface, not even when I shifted. He didn’t like that, but nobody liked him, and this was the best.
I could handle Ron tomorrow and still lead the pack. I did not have to be cut off, and I didn’t like the thought of it. “This is my pack.”
“And you shall lead in human form. Damor will be in charge tomorrow, and this is for the pack and you. Heal, alpha.”
I hated to admit it, but Sesi was right. I was getting weaker than I used to be. It wasn’t new to me at this point. This was why Henry, a beta, almost outmatched me while I tried to save Zera and Zion. The wounds he inflicted were still healing, and no one except the ones in this room knew that.
Zera would never understand that I killed Henry because I didn’t have enough strength in me to subdue him. I was weak, and I grew weaker with every passing day.