Part 69

(POV - Aria)

Without meaning to, a deep, rumbling growl vibrated through her chest, almost startling her and definitely catching both Marcus and the female behind him off guard.

"Baby," he murmured, his eyes finding her standing at the end of the hallway, her hands curled into loose fists at her sides. He walked towards her, the female following along behind him and making Aria's blood boil. "Where's Jaden?"

"Here," Jaden answered sheepishly, walking around the corner with a hand held up in surrender. "Sorry, Marc."

"It's okay," Marcus said with an easy smile, finally reaching Aria, and she reached out, her fingers wrapping around his forearm in a blatant show of possessiveness. Having his skin against hers again settled her, wiping away the dark rage that had engulfed her at seeing him walk out of another female's room.

"Where'd you go?" Aria asked, her voice a lot harder than she intended, but she couldn't help it. He looked back at the female that Aria glared at with distaste.

"This is Inara," he said hesitantly, almost as if he hadn't really wanted to introduce the strange female. "She is the head of my elite sentries and is one of the best female sentries I have ever met."

Inara smiled at Aria, and there was no deceit hiding behind her white teeth. "It's so nice to finally meet you." Aria wasn't sure what to say or how to react. She hadn't ever been in a position like this before. She'd given up hope that she'd have any kind of relationship, much less with an Alpha, and it was so uncommon for females to take lead positions in packs that Aria was having a hard time believing any of it.

"Likewise," Aria sneered, hating how the jealousy rearing up in her twisted her words into something poisonous.

"Inara had plans we needed to discuss before she went out on a recon mission," Marcus tried to explain, but Aria wasn't looking at him. She was studying every inch of the she-wolf standing behind her mate.

Inara was taller than Aria, and looked longer, leaner. Her blonde hair had been plaited neatly down her back, with a few stray curls framing her face. She wore a simple white vest, tucked into high-waisted black sweatpants, with a simple gold necklace adorning her throat. Her skin was tanned, giving away the hours she likely spent in the sun, and honestly?

Inara looked like every wolf's dream mate.

And it curdled inside Aria's stomach, ruining her appetite and making her sad. If this wolf had been in Marcus's pack, as one of his best wolves, no less, why had he even bothered coming to the sex club that night?

Why had he bothered with Aria when someone as stunning as Inara was right there all along?

Something nasty and ugly inside her reared its head, whispering that Inara was just another Meredith, and she would steal Marcus away the same way Meredith had taken Aiden.

Marcus must have sensed her growing distress because he curled his index finger under her chin, tilting her face back so that she had to look up at him.

"Baby," he murmured again, his stormy grey eyes searching hers. She spotted his wolf peeking out as if it meant to soothe her and calm her down. "Come with me."

He bade Inara goodbye and led Aria back down the passage, swallowing a chuckle when he spotted Jaden looking extremely nervous.

"Go and check on Mercucio," Marcus said, startling Aria from her thoughts long enough for her to realize they were walking back to his room. "We're moving the meeting down to this afternoon, okay?"

Jaden nodded quickly and disappeared, looking very pleased to be literally anywhere else just then.

Marcus opened the door for her and waited for her to walk in before closing it behind them. He said nothing, but he pulled her into the warmth of his arms and held her close. With a sigh, he waited for her arms to wrap around him, and they did, even though she did it reluctantly.

She had so many questions, but she didn't know if it was okay to ask any of them. What if they angered him again? What if she was just overreacting? Maybe she had misread the entire situation, and Inara was just Marcus's top female sentry. But there was something there, something buried in the back of her mind telling her that there was more to their relationship than Marcus was letting on.

What if there was something else there? Would she live through another heartbreak? She wondered if it would hurt more than Aiden's rejection had, and she decided it would be so much worse because she knew she cared for Marcus far more than she'd ever cared for Aiden. And if Marcus broke her heart, she knew she'd never recover.

"I can practically see the little gears in your head turning, my love," Marcus said softly, brushing wet strands of Aria's from her face. "Talk to me."

She shook her head, pressing her lips together disobediently.

"Okay," he sighed again, looking deep into her eyes. "Why don't you try and trust me, yeah? Think of it as a challenge. I'm challenging you to trust me. I know how that must have looked to you. Fuck, I can smell the anger on you, and it's... a little distracting. It's hot."

She blinked up at him in confusion.

"Yeah, it's pretty hot," he admitted, the tops of his cheeks bright with a shyness she'd never seen in him before. "I didn't know that possessiveness could be that sexy."

She was a little distracted by that, not thinking when she babbled: "Well, now you know how it feels."

"Yeah?" he smirked. "Do you like when I get possessive with you? Do you like when my wolf practically tears through my chest to make sure every other wolf knows who you belong to?"

"Shut up," she whined, her lower abdomen still warm from their unfinished activities. Even the shower hadn't helped, and it was something he gleefully pointed out.

"The shower didn't help, did it?" he teased, his fingers trailing down the side of her neck. The side that hadn't been torn open by Aiden's mating mark.

"No, it obviously didn't, and I don't need you to be your big, dumb, wolf self right now. I need to calm down."

"You're really riled up, Aria," he chuckled a little breathlessly. He sounded fascinated, like he was in awe of this new side to her that even she hadn't seen yet.

"Yes, Marc," she growled, wrapping her hands around his wrists territorially. "I woke up needing you this morning, and you abandoned me mid-fuck to speak to your female sentry - who is gorgeous, by the way - and then you tease me about being possessive. How am I supposed to do anything today when my mind is full of fuck?"

He just about collapsed on the floor in laughter, holding on to her shoulders to keep himself upright. ""Full of fuck?" he guffawed, obviously very amused by her poor choice of words.

"Yes!" she whined, feeling her wolf submit without him even needing to do a damn thing. "Full of fuck, like when there's so much going on in your head that all you can say about it is 'fuck', okay?"

"God, you are the most adorable creature," he chuckled, pressing his lips to hers.

"Whatever," she pouted, mumbling against the push and pull of his lips.

He kissed her soundly, somehow sending every doubt she had scattering like leaves in the wind. There was only him and there was only her. Just the two of them, wrapped up in each other, settled and so content that Aria wasn't sure any of it was actually real.

It was deep but still sweet, just his mouth slotting against hers, as if he was coaxing her into submission when she was already there.

"Fine," she said with the click of her tongue, biting the tip of his tongue in retaliation. "I'll trust you. You know I already do."

He grinned into her, not minding the subtle taste of his own blood on his lips.

"I know," he admitted, breathing into each of her kisses. "I just love hearing you say you trust me. It makes me happy."

Aria didn't reply, but his little admission made her heart swell, and she happily melted into his affection.