Chapter 5
Listening to the continuous ting of rain hitting the roof of his car, Aiden stared at the red-bricked house across the road. He had parked in a side street, away from the streetlights but still close enough for him to watch the house without attracting too much attention. After leaving the car park, he had waited for Charlie to drive away and then followed her until she got home. The whole drive had only taken twenty minutes, but it was the longest twenty minutes of his life.
He had never felt such an instant and intense attraction before. Not with anyone.
But those eyes…
He couldn’t stop thinking about those caramel eyes that were so deep he could drown or the way her dragon tattoo crept over her shoulder and covered her heart as though it was protecting her.
I’m her protector…
She was standing by the window, talking on the phone, completely unaware that he was watching her. She turned and walked out of sight, and for the first time in his adult life, Aiden whimpered. He felt like he had been ripped apart.
No, don’t leave me…
Aiden rubbed his chin with his hands then blinked in surprise at the moisture in his stubble. His entire right forearm was drenched with rain. Cursing out loud, he pulled the car door closed and started the ignition.
“What the fuck was I playing at?”
He was furious with himself. He hadn’t even realized he had opened the car door or that the interior light had come on.
“Sitting there all lit up like a fucking faery on top of a Christmas tree.”
Go back…
“What the hell is wrong with me? I could have been seen.”
A feeling of warmth spread through him at the thought of being seen by Charlie. Smacking himself upside the head, he raced the car towards his hotel. He barely gave the door a chance to close before he opened the laptop and video called Sarah.
“Something's wrong with me,” he said.
“Hiya. Wait. What? Are you sick?”
“No. I mean, I don’t know. Something isn’t right. I don’t.” Covering his face with his hands, he tried to stifle the pit of doom that had started to simmer.
“What’s happened, honey?”
Sighing at the panic in Sarah’s voice,
Aiden looked into the camera and slumped his shoulders. “I was in the town centre earlier today, and I saw…” Covering his mouth with his hand, he blew out through his fingers. “Her scent. I don’t know. It was just so intense. It was all I could think about.”
“What did you do?” The panic had been replaced by concern as Sarah sat down and adjusted her camera.
“I found it, her, the scent, I mean. I didn’t know what to do. I had to. I couldn’t just let her leave.”
“What did you do, Aiden?” Her voice was forceful with a hint of fear. “Did you hurt her?”
Sarah didn’t know about his profession, and maybe he should have been concerned that she felt the need to ask, but as his jaw dropped, all he could think of was the feelings boiling inside himself. He was supposed to kill her, but the thought of hurting her made him feel sick.
“I followed her home,” he said.
And you left her…
“I watched her for a while, and then I left.” He lowered his eyes as the regret threatened to engulf him.
“Aiden. How did you feel when you left?”
He couldn’t look at Sarah or even raise his head. He knew the shame would be written all over his face. He had always been a hard-headed bastard when it came to women. Nobody ever got close. He refused to give them a chance, but Charlie, with her caramel eyes that were as deep as the sea, had somehow shot a harpoon directly to his heart.
“Like I was ripping myself apart.”
“Honey, look at me. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Nothing at all. You found her. You found your mate.”
“You’re insane. I don’t have a mate. Never will…”
“Yes, you do. All wolves have one, even hybrids…”
“Don’t be bloody ridiculous. This is me. I don’t, mate. I don’t even have a relationship,” he said. The thought was absurd. He knew the Goddess paired mates and that they were meant to find each other, but his mate couldn’t be Charlie. It just couldn’t.
“Just as ridiculous as a faery princess being the mate of an Alpha…”
He didn’t need to see the smirk to know that it was there. He could hear it in her voice. Wolves took humans for mates all the time. Aiden locking his heart away didn’t stop him from having a mate, the same as it didn’t stop Sarah and his Alpha father from being mates.
“How do I stop it? The feelings, I mean,” he said, looking directly at Sarah, but even as he said it, he knew the answer.
She smiled warmly, but her eyes were filled with pain. “You don’t, honey. It’s fate. You can’t change it or stop it, no matter how hard you try. Those feelings will never go away.”
“Yours did.” He regretted it before the words had even left his lips. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”
“It's okay. You don’t know any different from what I’ve told you, and although I told you everything you needed to know, I kept things back. Nothing concerning you, honey. Personal things.” Sarah’s inhalation was deep and purposeful, and as she looked at the camera, Aiden thought he saw a shimmer of tears starting to form.
“I could sense Benjamin whenever he was near, and each time it hurt more than you can imagine. Knowing he could sense me and he needed me as much as I needed him, but neither of us could do anything about it was torture. That pain never goes away. The feelings never go. He will always be part of me and I of him, like you and the woman you saw. You can lock yourself away, but it won’t change it. Every time you are anywhere near her, you’ll feel drawn to her, and walking away will feel like you’ve ripped your heart out.”
Aiden sighed. He couldn’t imagine a life like that. There was only one thing he could do.
