Aaron’s POV.
I knew the snake named Nicole had planted the seed of distrust within Zera. She had always been a master at manipulation. I couldn’t believe I once thought she was the one for me. She never was, and like everything else, she manipulated her way into my mind and made me believe that lie.
I still remember the night I marked and mated with her. Instead of a restoration of my ever-reducing power, I witnessed a massive loss of the little power I had, and I realized she wasn’t the one. She had lied about the spark and bond she said she felt between us. When I confronted her about her lies, she told me I needed her as an ally. She told me she knew too much about me and the Dominio pack and that it would be bad if she took what she knew to the wrong pack.
I knew even if I kept her, she would betray me, so I ended the union and banished her from the pack, never to set foot there again. I learned she later joined forces with the rebellion pack, our sworn enemy.
Nicole had always been about herself and her father’s selfish interests, and even after his death, she didn’t change.
Telling Zera that was her way of planting discord, and I couldn’t let her win. Not when I had found myself my true mate, and we were on the way to ending the curse of power and having a blissful union afterwards.
Zera leaned in and kissed my lips, pulling me out of my mind. She took hold of my hands, placed them on her heavy breasts, and applied pressure to them just like she wanted me to.
I felt a stir in my pants and knew I wanted that, too. I kissed her back and pressed down on her breast, trying to find the buds of her nipples through the fabric of her clothes.
I moaned when she cupped me through the trousers I had on. Her hunger was unusual tonight, but I wasn’t one to complain. I loved when she took things into her hands-thick, throbbing things.
I pushed at the small hand of her nightgown, and it fell free, revealing her perky breasts and hardened nipples. I lowered my hand and took her left nipple into my mouth, sucking, kissing, and licking, all the while rubbing my cock against her through my trousers and feeling it grow.
She moaned, and her warm fingers travelled into my hair, yanking at it the way I liked. I moaned around her right nipple, which I was currently savouring. Her other hand travelled into my trousers and met with my half-erected member. She wrapped her hands around me and slowly stroked me until I was fully stretched out. I pushed her onto her back and got on top of her. We took it slow. I figured that was what she wanted tonight, and I couldn’t help giving it to her. I sealed her lips with mine as we both came, and I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her closer.
I kissed her temple, and she sighed, mumbling a “thank you” before shutting her eyes.
I sent out the notice to Sesi, Ivan, and Damor. I didn’t want to inform them about the full-moon mating ritual. It had been done with restricted knowledge by most people in the pack, including Sesi and Damor. However, with Nicole’s appearance, I had no choice but to get them all informed and ready for the worst. They were the first I’d disclose the truth to, and the pack would come next.
I had sent the signal out three days ago, and the last to arrive for the meeting was Damor, and his excuse was a late booking from Ireland. I knew his excuses were lame but didn’t dwell on them. There were bigger things to worry about.
“Nicole is back, and that means Theo also is,” I said, and I received silence from the three of them in the study.
“When did she come?” Damor asked, finally breaking the silence.
“A day before I sent the signal,” I answered.
“Why is she back?” Sesi asked with a suspicious tone from where she stood beside the study window, her arms folded over her chest.
I hesitated, knowing neither Damor nor Sesi would like my answer. “Because we found a way to break the curse.”
It took another moment of silence, and I knew from the look on both their faces that they would smack my head if they could. “You found a way to break the curse, and you didn’t tell us?” Damor roared, rising to his feet and running a hand through his hair.
“I didn’t find the way out; Zera did,” I answered, knowing that wouldn’t reduce their anger towards me.
“It doesn’t change the fucking point!” Damor snapped at me. And he had never been one to control his words when he was furious. “You cut all of us out of the most important news for the Harts.”
“I didn’t cut all of you out,” I said, and their eyes followed mine and landed on Ivan, who had been silent since the meeting started.
“You knew?” Sesi asked in a tone of disbelief.
“Of course, he fucking knew. Aaron has always had a favourite, and it’s him.” Damor answered instead, and now that your nemesis is back, you want your siblings, whom you shove the middle fingers at, to come to the rescue. How amazing!”
“He didn’t keep you in the dark because he wanted to,” Ivan began, but Damor wouldn’t let him complete his words.
“You don’t get to talk! You don’t get to fucking speak,” Damor snapped at Ivan, his eyes blazing red.
Having had enough of being bullied by his brother, Ivan sprang to his feet, his eyes glowing silver instead of their natural blue. “You will shut up and listen! The only reason I know about the way out isn’t because I’m his favourite asshat; it’s because I’m the wise one in this pack. But your brain has never had control over your words, so I’m not surprised. There was no guarantee that what we found was the way out, and until four weeks ago, Aaron had massive scepticism. He only found out after the ritual was completed.”
“Why didn’t he tell us afterwards? It’s been four fucking weeks.”
“Because I was tired of giving you all hope, only to have it dashed to the ground. I saw the look on your faces when I was in search of a mate many years ago. I saw how devastating it was for us all. After the way out proved true, I was going to do it and only reveal it when it was done.”
Damor stepped up towards me. “You’re just saying what you think we want to hear. You know what I have to say? Fuck you!” He spat in my face.
My hand shot out and grabbed him by the neck. I slammed him into the study wall in a blink, making the room shake. Sesi and Ivan stood alert, but neither tried to step in.
“The problem with you is that you never take the time for proper comprehension. You talk more than you listen, and that would be your downfall, Damor Hart!” I growled.
He tried to pry my hand from his neck, but I tightened it more. “I might be getting weaker by the day, but believe me, there’s enough strength in me to leave you numb and defenceless. I get you’re furious, but that doesn’t give you the right to turn into a grown prick!”
I unwrapped my hand from his throat, and it left a mark that faded within seconds.
Damor glared at me. “I’ve been in Ireland in the last three weeks, digging through the records of the ancients to find answers, when all the while you had the answer.”
“I am sorry for leaving you two in the dark, but if I could go back, I’d still choose to do things the way I did them before. And you might use that as a reason to turn your back on us now, but if you do that and they destroy this family, know that you will never be safe! So you can help a brother you despise or spend the rest of your existence on the run. We all know how the rebellion pack and the new age pack can be.”
“You’re asking us to pick the lesser evil?”
“Yes. We both know the only thing that kept them down for years was the truth that I remained the strongest alpha in existence, and they stayed silent these past years, waiting for my demise. They now know I have a son and would not leave for the life beyond as they expected, so they would do whatever they could to stop me from breaking this curse.”
“You’re no better than them, and it gives me no pleasure to say this,” he said.
“And I am sorry for making you feel this way. I’m asking you to pick your own.”
“I want to know if there’s anything else you’re hiding from us,” Sesi demanded, and my attention moved to her.
“There’s nothing. I say this before the moon goddess and all beautiful things created.”
“Then you have my support through this,” she said, stretching her hand out for a friendly shake, and I took it.
“You always have my support.” Ivan nodded a little.
With the two votes, we all waited for Damor’s. “I still think you’re a piece of sh*t, but you have my support!” he said.
I could work with that. I nodded at him, showing my appreciation. “I’d like to clarify that I have no favourite amongst you all. Never have, and never will.”
Sesi rolled her eyes. “Everyone here knows you love me more.”
I laughed. She had a place in my heart as the youngest of the two, but I’d pick no one over the other when it came to love and care.
With the truth out of the way, I moved to tell them about the rituals that had already been performed and the ones to come.
“And after the ritual was complete, I got this mark,” I said, pulling my shirt to the corner to reveal the moon engraved on my chest.
“So the next full moon would be a lunar eclipse?” Sesi asked with her brow raised.
I nodded, and I knew what her next question was.
“Does she know you’d be in your wolf’s form for the ritual?”
She had read it a few times, but I didn’t think she understood the full concept. Trusting me was one thing; trusting me when I was in my wolf’s form was another. She had seen me a few times in my wolf form, but it wasn’t a form she was used to.
I didn’t know if Zera was ready, but I had to make her understand what it was all about. “I haven’t disclosed that information yet.”
“You will have to let her come to the realization and acceptance of that,” Ivan said.
I sighed and rubbed my hand over my face. I knew all that, and I knew what it meant.
We concluded by choosing to wait and watch what Theo and Nicole’s move would be. We were uncertain if they were working alone. For all we knew, they had rallied other packs behind them, and we had to choose our battles wisely.