Chapter 40

Aiden
He waited for a few minutes until her scent had faded to shift back. What in the world just happened? He had wanted to follow her unseen and see what she had been up to while he was in the office, but he never expected her to pick him up. The damn mate bond almost ruined his plan. Good thing she didn’t know about the royal line's special abilities. Nobody did and that’s what made him so efficient at spying. He would tell her one day-
‘Hurry up, human! Our mate is going to beat us to our own office,’ Mikhail grumbled.
Aiden sighed. ‘We’ll be there in time.’
‘You shouldn’t have had me lie to her. I don’t like lying to her.’
‘We didn’t lie.’
‘Using our ability to shift into any type of reptile without her knowing is as bad as outright lying. They are both manipulative,’ Mikhail argued.
‘Well, she was hiding stuff from us. How was I supposed to know if I could trust her? Besides, I had no idea she would say all of that.’
‘She saved us twice from Tiffany. If that isn’t enough for you to know you can trust her, then you are stupider than I thought and are truly a selfish human. Now, I want my mate.’
‘She’s my mate, too,’ Aiden snapped.
‘She’s only mine until you learn to trust her.’
‘Shut up and take us back to the castle.’
His wings erupted out of his shoulders harsher than before, causing pain to explode inside his chest and back. Aiden let out a hiss of pain, before growling.
‘Asshole. You did that shit on purpose.’
‘You deserved it,’ Mikhail huffed.
He flapped his wings and shot up into the sky. Mikhail sped towards the castle while Aiden kept an eye on the ground for Sasha. As they neared the castle, Mikhail flew faster, pushing himself to beat Sasha to his office. He landed on the balcony and turned the knob. It didn’t move.
“Well fuck!”
He let Mikhail shift a talon and he slid it into the lock. He turned it slowly and when he heard it click, he grinned like a little kid in a candy shop. He stepped inside just as a knock sounded on his door.
“Who is it?,” he called out, already knowing who it was.
“Aiden?,” her soft voice came.
He began to move across the room. He put his hand flat on it as his heartbeat rapidly.
“Sasha?”
“I know you don’t want to see me right, but-”
He yanked the door open and he snatched her off of the floor. She looked startled and a tear trickled out of her eye. He pulled her roughly against his body with his eyes searching her face.
“Mine!,” he growled, before lowering his head to kiss her.
Her arms went around his neck as she melted into him. He cupped her ass and lifted her up his body. Her legs went around his waist and he turned. The door was kicked shut before he moved across the room to the couch. He set her down before kneeling at her feet. He removed her shoes before unbuttoning her shorts. He peeled the annoying article of clothing slowly down her legs and he heard her heart rate pick up. He grinned as her arousal grew until his entire office was saturated in it. He leaned forward to inhale her scent and frowned when he faintly detected a different scent that was neither hers or his. His head snapped up to stare at her. She reached for him and he sat back on his heels, avoiding her touch.
‘What are you doing?,’ Mikhail demanded.
“Aiden? What’s wrong?”
“Who were you with?,” he growled.
She recoiled and fresh tears invaded her eyes. She pulled her shorts up and took a step back. She straightened her back and her hands fisted at her side.
“I’VE ONLY LET YOU TOUCH MY VAGINA!,” she screamed.
She pushed him away and stormed towards the door. She put her hand on the doorknob, before she let her head drop.
“I never cheated on you, Aiden. I know I’ve done a lot to you and our- your kingdom, but I’ve never done that. I’d rather you just send me away instead of thinking that.”
She shut the door softly behind her. Mikhail roared in his head and began to force him to follow her. He pulled it open as Aiden tried to fight for control.
“Sasha! Wait!”
Aiden managed to push Mikhail back as Sasha turned towards him.
“Yes?,” she asked sadly, even though he could see the hope in her eyes.
His throat got tight as he gazed at her. Mikhail pushed harder and Aiden barely managed to keep him at bay.
“You forgot your shoes.”
She swallowed hard, before turning back around. “Keep them.”
She took off down the hallway as Mikhail let out an agonized cry for her. Aiden threw himself back into the office and slammed the door before sinking onto the floor with his back against the door. Mikhail let his wings spread inside of Aiden’s head and his head exploded in pain.
“Fuck!”
‘SHOES! SHE FORGOT HER FUCKING SHOES! GO AFTER HER!’
‘She smelled like someone else,’ Aiden growled.
‘SHE’S NOT CHEATING! SHE’S NOT LYING!’
‘THEN EXPLAIN WHY SHE SMELLED LIKE MINT!’
‘I can’t, but I know she’s not cheating.’
‘If you can think of a reason that would explain why she could possibly smell like that, then I’ll listen, but until then I will hold onto my opinions.’
Mikhail released a large stream of fire that made Aiden’s entire torso burn and smoke billowed out of both his nose and mouth.
‘Why are you protecting her so much?,’ Aiden asked.
‘Because she deserves it. She saved your life twice.’
He backed away and all but disappeared from Aiden’s reach. Aiden sat on the ground until his chest stopped aching. He bent his knee and put his arm on it. He reached for the clan doctor's link.
‘Dr. Thomas, what can cause a female to have a different scent on her?’
‘Hugging or touching someone else, sleeping with the person, wearing their clothes or being pregnant.’
Aiden frowned. None of them made sense if she wasn’t cheating. So, how did she get another male’s scent between her legs and why didn’t he recognize it? He got up to sit at his desk. He pulled the last 9 potential father’s files to him. He stared down at the first picture. It was a chubby, balding white male with hazel eyes. Leonard Sterling. Age 47. Wolf. Bloodmoon pack. He logged into his computer and looked up the Alpha of the Bloodmoon pack. Leonard Sterling.
“Well, I’ll be damned. He’s an alpha.”
He dialed the listed number and it rang. It rang six times, before a woman answered it.
“Thank you for calling the Bloodmoon pack. How may I assist you?”
Aiden leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on his desk.
“This is King Aiden Jameson of the Dragão Clan. I wish to speak to Alpha Leonard Sterling, so if you could, please, connect me immediately.”
“May I place you on a brief hold, King Aiden?”
“Yes.”
His excitement sky rocketed. If this was their father, it would explain why their auras were so strong. This pack was a four hour drive from them, but an hour flight, so it was definitely close enough for them to go visit as often as the girls would like. If they would even want to.
“King Aiden, to what may I contribute this call to?”
“Alpha Leonard. I had a few questions for you.”
“Alright. I’m listening.”
“I wanted to know if you had kids?”
“I do. I have one son and 6 daughters.”
“Do you have any other children?”
“No. What’s this about?”
“I’m trying to find someone’s father for them. They are very important to me and I want to give them answers.”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“I’m sorry, but I have no other children. I wish you the best of the luck on your journey to finding their father.”
“Thank you for your time. Goodbye.”
Aiden hung the phone up and tore the paper in half. Well, that was a bust. He moved on to the next one, repeating the same steps with no hope. Within two hours, he had reached out to the remaining 8 people and had eliminated all of them. He put his head on the desk, sighing. He thought their father wanted them.
Had he talked to their father? Did he lie about not having daughters? If they were his girls, he’d do everything in his power to have a relationship with them. The other option was that maybe the initials were wrong or incomplete. He turned his head, miserable that once again he was fighting with the love of his life. He groaned and got to his feet. He walked quickly to Gregory’s room. He hesitated outside the door when he heard Sasha sobbing inside. He lightly tapped on the door. Gregory pulled it open before quickly stepping out.
“What the hell did you do, Aiden? Annie is pissed.”
‘Tell him you're an idiot,’ Mikhail said.
Aiden scrubbed his hand down his neck. “Apparently, I’m an idiot.”
The door was flung open to reveal Kalani. She glowered at him.
“Go the fuck away, you piece of shit! She doesn’t want to see you.”
“Kal-”
“NO! HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE HER OF CHEATING! YOU ARE QUITE LITERALLY THE MAN OF HER DREAMS, ASSHOLE!”
He sighed. “I’ll go, but, please, tell her I love her.”
“NO! GO THE FUCK AWAY!”
Aiden trudged back to his room while Mikhail lectured him about upsetting her again. He climbed the bookshelf and jumped towards the ceiling. He grabbed a hold of the bar there and climbed up to the hidden alcove between the faux ceiling and the real one. He settled into sleep, knowing that if Tiffany snuck in looking for him, he would be safe from her. He vowed to make it up to Sasha tomorrow. He had to. She was his everything and it wasn’t right to sleep without her.