Part 52

(POV - Aria)

Rain drops tracked down the other side of the window, the dark clouds clotting the sky just behind the tops of the swaying trees.

Aria didn't really know how long she'd been sitting there, curled up in the soft seat of her bay window, her forehead pressed to the cool glass. She clutched her phone to her chest, her fingers trembling slightly. The sharp edges of her phone dug into her hands but she barely felt it.

It all paled in comparison to the gaping wound in her chest, twin to the fresh mating mark on her neck.

She'd tried to call Marcus so many times, desperate to hear his deep voice, only for the vicious guilt eating away at her to stop her each and every time. She couldn't bring herself to tap the dial button, no matter how much her heart yearned for the sound of his voice and the comfort of his arms around her.

But she didn't think she had the right to start a new relationship with Marcus, not anymore. Not when her true mate had done the unthinkable even after he'd used her and cast her aside. With a sense of intense foreboding, she recalled the last few days and how her life had completely fallen to pieces around her.

The night his sentries had dragged her out of the woods and dumped her at his feet, he'd taken her to his house, the scent of his impending rut overwhelming her and serving a useless warning for what might happen. His eyes were black with wild lust, and he could barely form coherent sentences when he threw her onto the bed and pinned her to the mattress.

She had realized too late, far, far too late, what he'd been about to do, and she hated herself for every second she spent in his bed.

Aiden had forced himself down on her, one of his large hands pinning her wrists above her head, the bruises there still tender three days later. She'd begged him to stop, choking on her wolf's bliss at being accepted by her true mate. She'd tried to free her hands, to buck him off but he was so much bigger, so much stronger, and her wolf wanted every moment she was given. In the end, she'd lost to both Aiden and her own wolf. She'd been used yet again, and she had no one but herself to blame.

In the lull after his first wave, when he'd drifted off to sleep with his fingers pressed into her skin possessively, she'd silently cried, mourning the loss of her one chance at being happy.

She knew that there would be no way that Marcus would ever accept her after this. Who would ever want her after being marked and then rejected again by her true mate? They'd think there had to be something wrong with her.

And maybe there was something wrong with her.

The first day had passed in a similar way, Aiden coming to and taking what he needed from Aria while she silently endured it, trying to ignore her wolf's overwhelming pleasure.

She knew that many wolves had been in her position, and many more would do it regularly to help their fellow packmates through their heats and ruts. But she never imagined that she would be filling that role with her true mate instead of being his one and only choice from the beginning.

The second day had been far, far worse.

He'd woken up and flipped her onto her stomach, his palm flat between her shoulder blades and pinning her down. She couldn't remember the things he'd growled in her ears, his claws breaking her skin. She'd kept her cries muffled in the damp fabric of the pillow beneath her but nothing could have muffled the scream that tore from her throat when his teeth sank into her throat, right on top of her scent glands, her skin splitting and bleeding while the mating bond between them sang. Their wolves reached out and intertwined, their souls following suit, blinding her with the shock of foreign happiness that burst through her body.

She fought against it, fighting her nature and her own soul, but it was so difficult not to fall into the swirling depths of joy that spread between them. He'd howled triumphantly, licking over her new mark to stave the bleeding, his instinct kicking in to at least make sure Aria didn't pass out or worse. She didn't really have the chance to appreciate it before his hips snapped into hers again, driving them both to the precipice of pleasure.

He'd fallen asleep almost immediately, his body crashing down on top of hers. He'd pulled her limp form to his chest, burying his face in her neck, his nose pressed to the raw wound on her throat.

Tears continued to slide down her cheeks, the pain mixing with the happiness and making her an emotional wreck. In his sleep. he must have sensed her despair because he nuzzled in closer, a deep. low noise rumbling in his chest that only made her cry harder.

He was growling softly.

Aiden was growling softly to calm her down and all she could think of was how Marcus had made her feel so much more at ease.

She wanted to laugh then. For most of her adult life, she'd dreamed of this exact moment with him, wanting nothing more than to lay in Aiden's arms and have him sleep soundly beside her. And now that she had it, she found herself confused, hurt and angry.

The mark on her neck throbbed painfully, reminding her of its presence. She didn't need the reminder; their mating bond had been sealed, and a unique, silent connection had opened between their souls.

She didn't know how to sever a bond that had been sealed. She never imagined that Aiden would ever want to mark her and claim her as his. He'd told her enough, showed her that he didn't want her, that he was better off with Meredith. He'd never given her any reason to think she ever stood a chance.

And then he turned and surprised her, marking her without her consent.

She wondered if there was something that could be done for bonds that had been sealed without consent from one of the mated wolves. Surely there had to have been hundreds of other cases where one wolf did not want a bond? Were they really expected to live out the rest of their lives tied to a wolf they didn't love?

Was that how Aiden had seen her? As a loose end that needed to be tied, taken care of and set aside for good?

It made the wound in her neck ache, and she pushed the thoughts of severing the fresh bond aside.

The third day had been calmer, thankfully.

He'd been no gentler, but the lulls between each wave lasted hours at a time, giving Aria more time to recuperate and sort through the mess of her emotions. She didn't know how her legs still moved, how her arms were still able to push her up off the bed and keep her up. Her body was so endlessly tired, her muscles nothing but dust and her bones so brittle she swore she could hear them creak in protest every time she moved an inch.

She'd watched him for long, silent moments, not realizing she held her breath until he sighed in his sleep and rolled over. She'd wanted to leave.

The space around her felt stuffed full of cotton, with no room for clean air or coherent thoughts, and she wanted to disappear into her own room where she could clean up in her own shower and swathe her sore body in her own cozy pajamas. She wanted the familiar warmth of her own bed and the relief of a deep, dreamless sleep that would empty her busy mind for just a few hours.

She'd eventually gotten that, only she'd been so consumed by guilt and confusion that sleep had been the last thing on her mind.

She thought about Marcus again, her breath fogging up the glass in front of her until the image of the rain outside blurred. She craved his presence so deeply it felt bone-deep. She knew that she would feel infinitely better if she just called him and asked him to take her away, but she faltered again.

If she felt confused about her new mating mark and the last three days she'd spent with Aiden, then surely that meant that she wasn't confident in her feelings for Marcus? She'd spent all that time and effort convincing him to give her the last three days so that they could both be confident, and she'd promised to call him. She'd promised to tell him she was ready.

Her throat constricted and breathing became too difficult.

She felt her eyes mist with new tears, her heart squeezing tight and wishing more than anything that she could feel his strong arms around her. She felt somewhere deep in her soul that he had the ability to hold her together, to keep her from falling to pieces.

With a tired sniffle, she scolded her wolf for craving Aiden's touch, and for confusing her even more when she'd been so sure of Marcus.

She still wanted it to be him.

But he might not want her anymore if he knows she let Aiden mark her. and take her the way he had during his rut.

What was she supposed to do, if she was marked and bound to Aiden for life, but her heart yearned for Marcus and the freedom he'd given her?