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Toward the end of my last class for the day, I found a good excuse to leave my class early and sneaked into the school’s storage room to search for any of Henry Baker’s stored belongings that could be useful to our case. As I moved out of the school building texting Levi to come get me so we could examine the study notes I found, a door opened behind me, and before I could react, a hand pulled me into an office.
The sour lemon scent was unmistakable as Caden cornered me to the wall with both of his arms.
Without a single word to me, he covered my mouth with his and kissed me. It was a long and sensual kiss. And before I knew it, I’d fallen into the allure of his kisses and was kissing him back.
When he raised his knee in between my legs, however, I regained my senses and pushed him away. Taken by surprise, he only narrowly avoided sitting on the floor by clutching onto the table nearby.
“Nice try!” I sneered, looking around the room and scrutinizing the shelf of books behind us. “Is there another camera here? Do you want to film this and show it to the entire school this time so they can expel me?”
His dark coffee-brown eyes bore into mine, heavy with guilt and anguish, as he let go of the table and stood to his full height. “Aurora, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry about Sunday. I should have never allowed something like that to happen. I shouldn’t have allowed jealousy to control me like that. I—”
“Yes, you shouldn’t have, but you did. In what world did you think it made sense to broadcast me having sex with Mateo as entertainment for your party guests? If Mateo had done this alone, I would have understood. But you . . . participating as well? I still can’t believe you could do something like that to me.” I said.
Something inscrutable appeared in his gaze. “You’re saying this now because you knew my identity from the day we met again at Crawford. I’m not the one who came to your pack with the fake and contradicting identity of a female Alpha werewolf pretending to be a regular pack member. There have always been cracks in your forged identity. I just always ignored them because I trusted my instincts, which were completely defenseless to you. Hearing that you were with a vampire inside my pack territory? Do you know how many thoughts flashed through my head?”
He took a deep breath and released it. “I’m sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have done something like that. Mateo and I . . . what we did was awful, but that doesn’t mean you can just lie about some weird vampire being your true mate and move in with him.”
“Who told you it was a lie? Alice? Because I can assure you it’s true.” I said, glaring at him.
“Stop playing, Aurora. You and I both know that I’m your true mate and the way we were just now? Wild, uncontrollable, and passionate, that’s proof. That guy, Levi . . . whatever his name is. He can’t make you feel that way. He can make you feel good, yes. But can he make your she-wolf submit?”
I clenched my hands into fists by my side, as memories of my she-wolf voluntarily submitting to his in bed flashed through my mind. “Don’t say that out loud.”
“Why? Because you don’t want ‘Levi’ to find out? Aurora, come on, I’m begging you. Forgive me and get back with me. I made a mistake. Give me another chance, yeah? This time, we’ll be starting on a clean slate. We know each other’s true identities and we’re each other’s true mates. Me and you, we’re made for each other. You know this. It’s there every time we’re together. I love you so much that I don’t even mind you being with Mateo. I can even slowly get used to sharing with Aiden. But the vampire has to go.”
He eyed me as I moved closer to him until I was standing in front of him, looking up into his eyes. “I’m afraid things aren’t as simple as that. You’re not my only true mate. Levi and Mateo are also my true mates. Aiden, too . . . probably. Falling in love with all four of you? It’s not completely my fault. It’s the pull of the true mate bond. It’s the reason everything about you guys appears to be the missing puzzle piece that perfectly fills the holes in me. So ‘allowing’ me to be with Mateo and Aiden, it’s not you being a liberal Alpha. As things stand, I’m so pissed at you that I don’t even want to see you or Mateo. I’m even willing to distance myself from Aiden just because he’s your brother.”
He parted his lips to speak, but I interrupted him. “What can you do to apologize to me? Stay away from me. Don’t bother me. I still have to think about all of this. I thought I would have only one mate and now I have four mates? And two of my mates are total assholes as well.”
The way he stared at me like I was his entire world and he was losing everything made me sigh, feeling like I was being a bit too harsh. “Listen . . . I get it. I was suspicious, and you had every right to form opinions on me based on the information available to you. But what you two did . . . I can’t just forget it. When I see you, I remember everything that happened on Sunday and for now, I don’t want to . . . face it. Just, just leave me be . . .”
He nodded and stepped back, pulling down his t-shirt that had ridden up to reveal a sliver of his abs.
I hurriedly pulled my eyes away from them, heading for the door.
“Aurora?” As I gripped the doorknob, I heard him call my name.
I turned back to stare at him without saying a word.
“I’m sorry . . . truly sorry about Sunday, about what I did . . . and everything I said. I don’t care what I have to do to make up for my mistake. I just need you to give me a chance to make it up to you.” His Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed and said, “I love you so much and I really can’t imagine living in a world where we’re not together.”
The way he made that confession with his eyes fixed on mine shook me down to my soul. Unfortunately, the purity of his confession was marred by the flash of a humiliating memory from his birthday party, where he was looking down at me with cold eyes and interrogating me like I was a criminal.
I shook my head to push the memory away and walked away with a sharp glance at Caden.
16
Aurora
“Come on, Aurora. It’s time to get up,” Levi insisted, pulling the covers off my body and making me wonder why I ever decided living with him was a good idea.
“You told me we didn’t need to train in the morning, so I binge-watched movies all night and I haven’t slept enough. I want to sleep in.” I grumbled without opening my eyes so my sleepiness wouldn’t clear off.
“When I said that, I meant you could sleep until 7 or 8 am. It’s almost 8 am. We have an appointment at the shooting range from 10 to 2. If we miss it, we’d have to postpone until next week, and your shooting is probably rustier than your combat reflexes so—”
“Hey, my reflexes aren’t that bad. I just slipped up a little because I’m out of practice. Plus, my shooting has always been great. Nina says I was born to shoot.” I couldn’t help arguing.
“Alright then, just get up. You’re already awake, so get your pretty head off that pillow, take a shower, and let’s go.”
