Part 16

(POV - Aria)

Aria felt her sanity slipping with each passing day.

She didn't know how long it'd been since Aiden had shattered her heart yet again, but she knew it must have been at least a handful of weeks. She hadn't left her room for almost as long, refusing to speak to anyone who knocked at her door.

The pain of rejection was so much sharper, so much more physical because Aiden had used her, used her body as his personal fleshlight and tossed her aside once he was done with her.

He'd gone back to Meredith. At least, that's what April had murmured through the door after Aria refused to get out of bed.

Of course, he'd gone back to her. He'd said he would never love Aria, that he would never choose her. And why would he when he already had perfect Meredith? All Aria had been was a means to an end, a way to 'scratch an itch', as he'd said.

It made her feel like trash, like less than the wolf she knew she was.

And it hurt all the more because she'd been so happy. She was over the moon that he'd finally come to his senses and acknowledged the bond that lay between them. Her wolf had howled in mourning when he'd turned her away, leaving her in the cold night.

She couldn't believe he'd ever do such a thing. She had always known him to be the caring, considerate wolf from when they were teenagers. Even if he had been a little closed off and aloof, he was funny and obviously cared about his pack.

Aria was sure that the knowledge of that only dug deeper into her bones, the insecurity and shame burrowing its way in until it stained her wolf's fur.

There was a knock at her door again, and Aria didn't even have the strength to sniff them out. The weeks of isolation and heartbreak had been enough to drain her of all her energy, leaving behind a lump beneath her covers where she hid.

"Aria, open up, please."

It was April. Aria could sniff her out then. She scented the concern on her best friend, but there was something else that Aria hadn't expected: excitement.

It was enough to pull her heavy limbs from her bed and trudge across the space between her sanctuary and the door. But she made it, and the second she unlatched the lock, April burst in like a hurricane.

"Oh my God, you smell like an outhouse," was her greeting, and Aria couldn't help but shrink into herself a little. She shouldn't be surprised that she smelled terrible, what with not having showered for almost two weeks, but the knowledge stung, and April caught onto it immediately.

"Oh, honey, I didn't mean it like that," she said, carefully drawing Aria into her embrace. "I mean, you do smell like shit, but I still love you."

Aria pouted. She didn't really have the energy to crack a smile, even if it was a small one.

"Have you at least eaten since the last time I spoon fed you?"

Without meaning to, Aria cast a glance at the plates of untouched food that had been stacked on her desk. She had no appetite, her wolf on a hunger strike from the harsh rejection she'd faced not once, but twice.

"So help me, Aria. I will go downstairs and fetch food, set you down like a good pup and feed you by force if I have to."

"No!" Aria said, holding her hands up in defense. "I swear I'll eat. Just promise you won't feed me again."

"Was it really that bad?" April queried, an eyebrow cocked in question. Aria paled, recalling April's last visit and the spoon feeding that had ensued.

April had practically climbed on top of Aria to pin her in place while she locked her jaw wide to pile chunks of steak in. Aria had given up thrashing and let April feed her, but she'd thrown up after because her body refused to keep anything other than tiny gulps of water down.

"It was bad enough," Aria croaked honestly, a hand resting at the base of her throat where it had burnt for hours after she puked.

April frowned, but shrugged it off. "Whatever," she said. "I promise not to feed you as long as you promise to eat something, okay?"

"Okay, deal."

"Now," April announced, throwing herself onto Aria's bed while carefully trying to avoid the nest she'd built. "I have some amazing news that you're going to love me for."

Aria kind of doubted that.

Unless Meredith had mysteriously disappeared, and Aiden had finally, seriously, come to his senses.

"No, she's still here," April groaned,

easily reading the expressions

crossing Aria's face. "That's very

dark of you. What happened to my

warmhearted best friend?"

"What is the news, April?"

"I have found the solution to your problem!"

Again, Aria doubted that very much, unless it involved removing Aria from the picture. She'd thought about it ad nauseam, about how she could possibly continue living while not having to face constant pain and rejection. The answer had been simple: for both hers and Aiden's sake, Meredith had to be removed from the equation.

After Aiden's display of desperation, it was clear that he was struggling against the bond just as much as Aria was, so what was the point of fighting it so hard?

"You already look unconvinced. You could at least listen to what my solution is."

"Fine, what is your solution?"

April sat up, the excitement coloring her face pink.

"The Blue Angel."

Aria stared at her for a few minutes before she said, adamantly, "No."

"Come on, Aria, you've never even been!" April insisted. "How can you flatly refuse without the experience to back your conclusion up?"

Aria turned to face April, her face. serious. "Like this: no."

"At least think about it," April urged. "What better way to get Aiden off your mind than finding another delicious wolf to play with?"

"April, I don't know about going to a sex club for that kind of thing," Ari said hesitantly. April smiled, gentle and knowing.

"The Blue Angel is one of the swankiest, most exclusive sex clubs around," she explained. "And you don't even have to sleep with anyone if you don't want to. But I think it'll be a good idea to get you as far from the packhouse as possible, even if it's just for tonight."

Aria chewed on her bottom lip, staring at the crumpled covers between her and April. Being somewhere else, some place Aiden's scent wasn't clinging to every surface like an ugly reminder sounded pretty amazing, even if her wolf wanted absolutely nothing to do with a stranger's scent.

"When is your heat starting?" April asked, looking pointedly at the bundles of blankets and pillows that Aria had slowly gathered on her bed.

Shit. She'd almost completely forgotten. Her first heat would be coming soon, and it would explain her growing frustration and anxiety.

"A few weeks from now," she admitted, plucking at the skin around her fingernails. Her heats were almost unbearable, and she only felt worse unless she had sex. She feared that after having sex with Aiden, her body and her wolf would somehow reject anyone else, leaving her in a dangerous situation for the rest of her life.

She couldn't really imagine taking suppressants for the rest of her life, either.

"Then it's just about that time, isn't it?" April asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Time to go hunting for a big Alpha to warm our beds?"

Aria snorted and shoved April away, unable to keep the smile off her face this time.

"You're gross, you know that?" Aria scolded, but there was no bite in her words. Only fondness and maybe a little bit of exasperation. April shrugged and tried to fix the mess that Aria's hair had become in the weeks she'd hidden in her room.

"I might be gross, but you still love ," she said confidently. "Besides, if me," we can get you a good male, you'll be sorted for pre-heat, and it won't hurt as much."

Aria knew heats were intense, painful, and she hadn't been looking forward to hers at all. She'd witnessed April fight through her very first heat without the help of a male wolf, and it had been hard to watch. Her best friend had writhed in pain, tears staining her cheeks for days on end. The medication had helped for a short while, the same way orgasms had, but every rebound was more intense than the last. Only the carnal act of sex could sate a female wolf's heat, the same way it did a male wolf's rut.

And if Aria didn't have a partner to help her through her heat, she knew she'd be in for an agonizing week of hormonal imbalance and an embarrassing need to submit.

"Fine," Aria agreed reluctantly. "We can go to the sex club."