Unyielding Rage

Aidan

I watched as my words landed on Kiarra like a ton of bricks.

The proposal from the Kendricks had sent me spiraling into a vortex of rage.

I didn’t remember being this pissed off in my life.

Kiarra didn’t move a muscle but stared at me with shock and disappointment.

This little setup had gotten out of control.

We needed to get out of there.

I threw my hands up in frustration and headed for the door.

I knew that Kiarra would take my lead and follow.

I wasn’t wrong, she yelled after me as she followed me out the door, “You want me to choose between you and them?”

She didn’t scream this time. Her voice was cool, calm, and calculated.

Slowly we were both coming back to reality.

“Why do you insist on being such an asshole, Aidan?” Kiarra snorted, shaking her head.

It wasn’t what she said that stopped me, but how she said it.

I didn’t want to cause her any more grief, but I also didn’t know how to tell her my heart couldn’t bear the thought of her leaving.

“I’m not the asshole in this equation, Kiarra, I’m the Alpha, and I’m telling you, NO! YOU’RE NOT GOING!”

“For fuck’s sake, Aidan, get over yourself, will you? It’s done, we made our little point!”

We approached the pack house and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the pack members gathering.

This was a hell of a show, so I didn’t blame them.

“Didn’t you see how smug that idiot James was? The both of them!”

“Oh, so it’s about them getting one-up on you? Is that the real issue?”

I could feel the intensity of her mirrored rage.

I would have been lying if I said it wasn’t turning me on.

“This shit just came from nowhere. I don’t want them having a say in my life!”

I relaxed, knowing that she was still on my side.

The red in her eyes was clear.

There was no mistaking it; my mate was about to rampage as hard as I was.

I accepted what she had to say, but it troubled me that she was still curious about the Apex Pack.

“What kind of person, especially after every bullshit thing that’s happened to you, blindly trusts like that?”

“Oh, like how you ask me to trust you blindly? Like that?”

I tried to keep this ruse in perspective. I knew that somewhere one of us had started to take things a little too seriously.

“No, but what did they expect? I will never let you go, Kitten, you’re mine!”

I growled with a smirk on my face, “I love you.”

When we were facing her parents in the guest house, it had taken every ounce of strength I had not to rip them apart.

She smiled, “I love you too, I just need to figure this out,” she said, shaking her head.

The fact that I forced Kiarra into the meeting for duty and appearances made me sick.

It was something a fake fight couldn’t cover up.

~How’s that for appearances?~

I took a few steps closer to my mate; I wanted to close some distance between us.

I put my arms around her, “Listen to me,” I said, trying to regain some control over the situation, “the Kendricks aren’t who you think they are.”

I watched her put her hands on those sexy hips; it was distracting.

For the second time since this domestic battle ensued, I thought about the private meeting between me and the Kendricks.

Fed up with my stalling, Kiarra struck again, “I don’t know them! That’s the fucking point!”

“Fair enough, but we talked about this! It’s a shitty idea from start to finish, Kitten!”

“Aidan! Why are you so suspicious? What makes you think I would leave and not come back?”

I laughed profusely. It sounded a little more wicked than I intended, “Can you tell me a time I wasn’t busy chasing your ass all over hell’s creation?”

It was true. Commitment issues seemed to be part of Kiarra’s genetic code.

So why the sudden curiosity?

“I’ve earned your trust, haven’t I?”

Kiarra crossed her arms and looked at her feet. I was always nervous when she shut down like that because I knew what came next.

The running. Always the running.

I felt stupid giving her shit about trust. I wondered if she could tell I was hiding something the moment I said it.

It wasn’t like the meeting was planned; it was one of those necessary evils.

I couldn’t let it slide; an intruder on pack territory couldn’t be ignored.

“If I didn’t trust you, would I have attended that meeting? The question is, why don’t you trust me?”

Was she right? Was I holding back that information because I didn’t trust her?

If I said it, she’d go nuts; I could count on it.

Even though it’s ~her~ sister and ~her~ family who broke my rules.

Even though her father asked for strength in defense against rogues, he never mentioned claiming Kiarra as his property.

Even after all of that, it would still be ~my~ fault.

If they loved her so much, why didn’t they stop Ares from hurting her more? If they knew where she was this whole time, how could they let that happen to her again?

“Kiarra, I trust you. It’s not you. It’s James Kendrick! Who do you think was feeding him information about where you were? It was Ares!”

“Not everything is a conspiracy, Aidan,” she sighed, “I don’t trust them, we’re never going to be a big happy family.”

Those were her last words before she stormed off again, leaving me to soak up the remainder of the stares from the pack, who had never stopped watching.

I slowly trailed behind her, my anger starting to break a little. I hated to know how shitty life was for Kiarra before she got here.

Now that I have her, and she’s safe, I want to keep it that way.

The idea of the Kendricks going to the council over petty shit like this was laughable.

They might think they can force her to love them, but they can never force Kiarra to leave.