Rejecting Him Back

10. We're Mates

I feel Aiden's arms tighten around me, our considerable height difference leaving me with my head tucked beneath his. My lips stay still against his neck, feeling his carotid pulse against them.

It's an enormous sign of trust for a werewolf to allow himself to be in such a vulnerable position with someone. It means that he completely trusts me not to harm him right now.

A few days ago, that would have been the wrong choice. I may have taken a little bite. He deserved it. But right now, he owed me a conversation, and dead people don't talk.

He makes no move to release me, even after a few minutes pass.

"Aiden," I call, moving my head back.

He tightens his arms around me again. "Hold on."

I hold, confused.

"Okay," he says after a few seconds. "Sorry, I had to convince my wolf to let you go."

"I like your wolf better than I like you," I say.

"Well, he likes you more than he likes me, little knight." He answers with a smile.

I can't help but laugh a little at his response, which only makes his smile wider.

"So..." I begin, moving to sit back on my bed. "We should talk."

"Yes." He agrees, pushing the chair in front of my desk to the front of my bed and sitting down on it, his knees almost touching mine.

"You rejected me." The words come out of my mouth almost like an announcement.

"Unfortunately." He confirms. "And you rejected me back."

He seems both amused and annoyed by that.

"It seemed only fair."

"It made my wolf go crazy. You don't know how close he was to taking over and running after you."

"Pity." I gasp. "I wish I could have met him instead of you."

Aiden smirks, leaning closer. "He would have marked you. And he would have done it right there, uncaring if anyone saw. All that would matter would be you, belonging to us."

My cheeks turn hot, and the temperature in the room seems to rise suddenly.

"Oh." Is my lame reply.

My mate smirks. "Not so eager to meet him now?"

I don't know if I'm more eager or scared of meeting his wolf now.

"Let's not change the subject." I quickly say. "We need to talk about what we're going to do about our mating pull."

That effectively kills his smirk. "What do you mean?"

"You rejected me, and I rejected you back. Where does that leave us?"

Aiden sighs and puts a hand on my right knee. "Little Knight, we're mates. It doesn't matter what the fuck we say. We're two halves of the same soul. We're destined, meant to be. Words mean nothing against fate."

I was expecting his tone to sound condemned. Instead, he sounds almost pleased. I'm confused with his behavior because even if he did apologize yesterday, all he had shown me until then was blatant anger at our unavoidable bond.

He's saying all the right words. But can I trust him?

It feels naive to simply believe his change of heart because if he decides to change his mind once more and reject me all over again, I'm not sure I can survive it.

"Violet," he calls, interrupting me from my inner turmoil. "I promise I won't hurt you again. I acted like a stupid scared little boy afraid to get hurt. I was selfish and immature. But I fucking know better now."