Bad Love: An Alpha's Regret

Chapter 209

I wake up the next morning and Aaron is gone.

He never really did answer when I’d asked him what he wanted, instead he’d diverted me by making

love for the second time, and then an hour or two later, I’d awoken to him already worshiping my body

and he’d taken me for a third

time.

Each time had been more intense than the last, and I could feel the mating bond between us getting

stronger and stronger.

I feel sore and lethargic this morning, but not in a bad way.

As I climb out of bed, I see a folded note on the bedside table, Aaron’s neat writing on it.

pick it up and scan the contents.

Leah, I hope one day you understand why I’m doing all this.

Typical of Aaron, no apology and no actual explanation.

But I’m beginning to think I understand him and his

motivations better than maybe he’d like me to.

And it feels like there’s more behind the words of the note. I could practically feel it through the mating

bond last night, these shadowy places in his heart and soul where he’s hiding things from me.

Tobin had said when he’d gone to secure the Al tech after

Liam had been killed, the place had already been cleaned out, so he’d assumed Liam had moved it all

in his attempts to screw over everyone-and most especially me.

But what if somehow Aaron was involved?

Not in Liam’s attempts to kill me, but Aaron either found out about the tech right before Liam got killed,

and confiscated it all because he understood how dangerous it was and never did trust my brother, or

he discovered where Liam stashed it after he was killed and took it then.

It kind of makes sense, and once again, I vow I’m going to get to the bottom of it.

I know Aaron won’t ever tell me outright, not if he thinks I’m better off-safer-not knowing about it.

His protective streak borders on ridiculous, but I’m not going to let that deter me.

It does mean I’m going to have to figure out how to do some

snooping through both Aaron’s home computer, and maybe his offices at both Roberts Corp and his

own corporation, but if Aaron finds out and gets angry about it, I’ll just turn the tables on him and tell

him I’m doing it for his own good, for his protection, and see how he likes it! All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

My merry-go-round of thoughts brings me back to what Karolina said after the disastrous Council

meeting. That Aaron keeping himself apart from me is starting to make him come undone.

And I think I can see hints of it as well.

Part of me is hurt and doesn’t understand-mostly my wolf-even as the rest of me understands all too

well. It doesn’t

make me any less sad about it.

And I’m not about to start making excuses for Aaron.

I don’t agree with the way he goes about things a lot of the time, especially in regards to how he treats

me.

But I also get that there’s never been another Alpha like Aaron, and might not ever be again.

He has the power of three Alphas.

My mate is the stuff of legends, and wolves will talk about him

for generations to come.

So I wonder, do I want to see all of that culminate in Aaron losing it and going rogue because he’s

trying to protect me above all else?

Karolina’s suggestion that I reject Aaron and break the mating bond is crazy, but there’s also a twisted

kind of sense to it I can’t deny.

She said it herself. If I still care about Aaron-which I do, I love him-then maybe it would be the lesser of

two evils.

There’s just one problem with that.

Breaking the mating bond isn’t simple or straightforward.

I don’t even know how to do it. The Council keeps the information sealed and it is only to be used in

extreme cases.

The reason for this is the fact that breaking the mating bond sometimes kills the wolves in question.

I’m not even sure I would actually survive it.

Aaron, however, he’d probably be fine. With all the power and abilities he has, he would be likely to

come through it just fine.

For me, however, the prospect of death is like going right back to square one when I found out I had

cancer.

This time, however, the idea isn’t completely devastating.

I know what it feels like to have my wolf and run free.

I know what it is to be fully mated. I’ve experienced that

euphoria of connecting on a soul-deep level with my mate.

And then there’s my baby.

My son. He’s already over on the other side.

And I think being reunited with him wouldn’t be the worst

thing in the world.