Three Alphas, Three Mates

Chapter 29 - Encouraged Behavior

"So... the kiss?" I ask.

Aiden doesn't respond. He doesn't look at me. He just stands there.

"Hello?"

Silence.

Well, alrighty then. I can't say I'm surprised. I look away from him and avoid eye contact with Carson and Axel. It's even more embarrassing to be completely ignored in front of a crowd.

But Aiden doesn't ignore me. He speaks after awhile. It's just not what I anticipated. "You forced yourself onto me."

My eyes fly open. What? He looks dead serious, and I don't understand. I just stare at him, wide-eyed. What is he talking about?

He says, "I told you I didn't want to kiss you, Mia."

"But you did," I point out.

"You pushed me there."

I scoff. "No, you pushed me and grabbed me and..." I feel Axel and Carson's eyes on me. I clear my throat. "What I'm trying to say is, you're the one who did everything... Or at least we did it together?" Didn't we? Wasn't it a mutual decision? Wasn't he as into it as... I was? Or was I just being stupid?

Nothing. He says nothing.

I keep going even though I don't want to. "It's not fair that you're trying to turn everything around on me now. I'm not doing that to you." I wish he'd just look at me.

He doesn't, and it takes awhile for him to respond, again. He looks tense. His shoulders look stiff, like he's holding his breath. Maybe he doesn't know what to say. I know I don't, but still...

He finally decides on something. "I wasn't in the right state of mind," he says so quietly I almost miss it. But don't mix that up with softly or delicately. There's nothing wounded in his voice. It's just harsh. Another accusation.

I shrug. I don't know what he wants me to do about that. "I acted according to how you were acting, Aiden, not how you were thinking. I don't have mindlink, remember?"

He gives me a hard look. "I wasn't asking you to read my mind. You could've just listened to what I was saying."

What he was saying?

I think about that for a minute. I don't remember everything word for word, but I do distinctly recall him saying over and over again, "I don't want you. I don't want to kiss you." My face pales. What did I say in response? Oh yeah. You're lying.

That sounds so bad. I keep staring at him. "So what? You're saying I sexually harassed you?" I can't believe it. This isn't a situation I ever expected myself to be in. Lawsuits start flying around my head. What is he going to do, press werewolf charges?

"That's not what I'm saying," he says.

Air fills my lungs. I didn't even realize I was holding my breath, but the relief only lasts a moment. I have to ask, "So it was just a mistake is what you're saying? Just your wolf?"

Now he decides to spare me a glance, just from the corner of his eyes. "I've made a lot of mistakes purely out of impulse, driven by the wolf instincts in me." He looks away. "Kissing you wasn't one of them."

For the second time today, I'm relieved by something he said.

But of course he doesn't stop there. "To call it a mistake would be an insult to my decision making abilities," he says coldly. "Instead I'd call it an example of incorrectly encouraged behavior. Things got out of hand, and if you had listened to me, maybe that wouldn't have happened in the first place."