Chapter 310
AXEL
Aaron stalks across the hall into the room he gave me to use.
I’m assuming he doesn’t want to leave Emily for long in case she tries to run or decides she’s going to pick up where she left off with Leah.
I have a better understanding now of why Emily hates Leah so much.
The old Roberts Alpha sounds like he was a twisted bastard.
I think Aaron would maybe have more sympathy and understanding for Emily if he knew some of what she went through, but it’s not my place to tell him.
I won’t betray Emily’s confidence like that.
Aaron and Leah leaving for the Old Country for a few days, or a week is probably for the best.
It’ll give Emily some time to adjust without Leah here to constantly remind her of what she went through.
However, I get the sense Emily wasn’t telling me everything.
Like maybe she told me a sanitized version, and there was much
more to it.
Probably things that were even more horrible than what she spoke of.
It’s clear I need to get to the bottom of it all.
Preferably before we have more instances like today.
There are mounting mysteries about Emily that make me think all isn’t as it seems with her.
Something is bubbling under the surface.
Something volatile and wild.
Maybe something more than just the abduction and captivity, and even the pack wars before that.
And for Emily to start healing properly, I think we need to get out in the open whatever is going on with her.
Maybe I rejected her as my mate, but not because I wanted to.
Not because I thought there was anything wrong with Emily.
The more I get to know her, the more I can see why the Moon Goddess paired us together.
We both have our dark sides, but Emily is brave and fierce and has the kind of spark I’ve rarely come across in all my long centuries of life.
protect her.
Because it would be better for her in the long run.
Because being mated–bound–to someone like me would be nothing but a curse.
Besides, I’m immortal and Emily isn’t.
So, what?
I’m supposed to mate her and love her and then get to live one short lifetime with her?
And then maybe go rogue when my mate dies and spend the rest of eternity missing something–someone–I can never get back?
Who in their right mind would sign up for that?
What I do is too important.
I keep the balance.
I keep the peace between wolves and vampires.
I am the line that separates them.
I assumed that’s why the Moon Goddess never gave me a mate before, because if I lost her and went rogue or died myself, then who would uphold the ancient treaty any longer?
I don’t understand why this has happened here and now with Emily.
But one thing is certain.
Even if I can’t mate her, I can still protect her like she’s mine.
I can still make sure she’s safe and well before I have to move on to whatever next rogue vampire or wolf I’m required to hunt down.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” Aaron says, crossing his arms and taking up a belligerent stance.
“The day we came home from the Council Hall after Ryker and his pack attacked, the day you found out Emily was still alive,” I begin, trying to keep my voice even and free of emotion since I don’t know what Aaron is thinking about all this right now. “I was the one who found Emily out in the woods. As soon as I saw her, I knew. I felt the pull down to my bones. Down to my soul.”
Aaron’s eyes narrow. “And what? Right then and there you rejected her? When you knew what’d happened to her? When you could see how fragile she was? Did you even stop to think what rejecting your mate would do to my already broken sister?”
He’s shouting by the time he finishes those rapid–fire questions.
“I did this for Emily’s sake,” I tell him calmly.
I will not feel bad for what I did to protect my mate.
Even though it meant protecting her from myself.
I thought things would be simple when I agreed to come to Rathborn pack lands with Aaron.
I thought I would be able to wrap up whatever unrest was happening between wolves and vampires in Montana, and then move on like I always do.
Except this whole situation has proven to be anything but simple.
For a start, what’s brewing between species here may be one of the biggest threats to the ancient peace treaty I’ve ever encountered.
The audacity of the vampires here–working with wolves to develop technology that has the potential to wipe out entire species–is almost unbelievable.
And then there’s Emily.
The mate I want…but can never have.
I thought I could keep my secrets, keep detached.
But Aaron is worthy of my respect in a way I’ve rarely come
across.
A wolf with the power of three Alphas–almost unheard of.
For the first time in a long time, I realize I am going to have to
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tell the truth of who I am.
Aaron might be fine with it.
Or I might end up fighting one of the most powerful Alphas I’ve ever met just to escape this house alive.
