(POV-Aria)

They neared her pack lands and Aria began to feel the nerves crawling into her stomach and turning to lead.

Jaden remained calm at the wheel, his face betraying no signs of anxiety.

"Jaden," she called softly, the silence in the car hurting her ears. He hummed in answer, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Please could you drop me off about a mile out?"

"A mile?" he repeated, looking confused. "Marc wants me to make sure you get there safely, kid. That means he expects me to drive you to the front door."

"No, that's not safe for you," she argued. "I know my pack's lands well enough to get back without any trouble. Please, Jaden, I don't want to give Aiden a reason to come after your pack."

"You mean 'our pack"." he teased. "I get it. I'll stop exactly a mile out, no more than that."

"Thank you," she said, breathing a sigh of relief. "And don't jinx things, you never know what Marcus might decide."

She didn't expect him to burst out laughing at the suggestion that Marcus might not feel the same way in three days' time.

"God, you're hilarious," he said when he'd managed to calm down. He dabbed the corners of his eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie. "Do you really think that Marc, that Marc, would be that confident in something he wasn't sure of?"

Truthfully, no. There was no part of Marcus' personality that would lead Aria to believe he'd ever be cavalier about anything as serious as a relationship with Aria.

"I thought as much," he chuckled, turning his attention back to the road. They were getting close to her pack lands. "I wasn't kidding when I told you he was an idiot. I have seen the way he's sunk into himself when you're not around."

"I still can't really picture him being mopey over someone like you."

"Aria, come on." Jaden laughed. "You need to forget about that asshat who made a huge mistake. Anyone would be lucky to find their true mate and he fucked up, okay? Remember that."

She wanted to ask him about his own mate again, to find out what he had been about to say before Marcus had interrupted him. But she sensed that it might not be something he wanted to talk about and left the topic alone.

"Thanks. Jaden."

"Thank me when I come to pick you up in three days' time, yeah?"

She smiled to herself. "Okay."

They stopped exactly a mile away from her pack's borders and she took a deep breath, her hand hesitating on the door handle.

"You don't have to go back," Jaden said quietly. Aria shook her head, glancing over her shoulder at him. His messy blond hair fell into his eyes, tousled from running his hands through it while he waited for Aria and Marcus to sort their drama out. "You could come back with me, back to Marc where it's safe. He wasn't wrong when he said you could still figure stuff out apart there."

"I'd have to come back either way to sever the bond," she said in defeat.

"But we could come back with you to protect you."

"I'm a big girl. Jaden," she said with an easy smile. "I can protect myself. Just... make sure Marc doesn't barge in before I call him?"

Jaden nodded with an understanding smile. "I'll do my best, but you know what he's like."

With one last look at Jaden, she nodded and got out of the car, shutting the door behind her and sending him a wave. He waved back and waited until she'd shifted before driving off. She almost went after him, but she stopped herself.

She had things to do before she could go back. Even if she was almost certain of her feelings for Marcus, she couldn't leave her pack with so many loose ends. She knew she needed to end things with Aiden before things escalated beyond her control, and she knew that she'd need to set things straight to make sure Aiden called off his sentries along the border and the ones that had been watching April.

She raced along in the pitch black night, the ground beneath her paws turning familiar the closer she got to her territory. There was no telling how many sentries she'd probably run into, but she prayed that she would somehow slip past them. She had already slowed her pace, reluctant to return after all.

It was all for nothing. The instant she crossed into her pack's territory the sentries were on her. At least four of them lunged at her, and she was so overwhelmed by their sudden attack that she couldn't sort through their scents to identify who they were.

All she was aware of was the mass of snapping jaws locking in her fur to keep her in place with a warning too close to her throat.

They only snarled at her when she tried to break free of their grip, leading her exactly where she'd intended on going when she returned. The distance between the border where they'd caught her and the packhouse had never seemed as far as it did just then. Two of the sentries had a grip on her fur, pulling her forward while the other two flanked them on either side. They were obviously looking out for Marcus or any of his wolves that might have come with Aria or even followed her in without her knowing about it.

The closer they got the more Aria flinched, the stench of Aiden's rage turning every other scent putrid in its presence. And in her wolf form it was so much more potent. She huffed, trying to get the smell out of her nostrils and tossed her head, eyes watering.

And suddenly he was there, in his human form, so furious that Aria almost cowered in front of him. He barked an order at his sentries who quickly made themselves scarce, leaving Aria alone with Aiden.

"Turn back," he ordered, his voice deep and heavy with authority. The kind of authority that Aria did not take kindly to. "Right now."

She only took a step back, her wolf warring with her. She wanted to escape but her wolf begged her to wait, to stay and try to reason with Aiden.

With her true mate.

No. No, he'd made his choice, and so had Aria. She stared him down and refused to shift, and the air around them grew thicker with his anger.

He strode towards her, and she was ashamed of the faltering step she took away from him. He reached up and grabbed a fistful of her fur, not enough to hurt, but just enough to get his point across.

"Shift back right now, Aria," he murmured, violence lacing his words and sending fear crawling along Aria's veins.

Trembling, she shrugged out of his hold and shifted back, her body shimmering along the edges until she was human again.

And so, utterly naked.

He wasted no time. He wrapped a hand around her wrist and practically dragged her back to his house.

Her heart leapt into her throat, the fear turning icy in her chest.

"What are you doing?" she asked, unable to keep the tremble from her voice as she spoke. "Aiden, what are you doing?"

He almost rammed his own door down, tugging her inside and slamming it shut behind her. He had the sense to lock it before he rounded on her, his pupils blown out and entirely black.

She gasped as he suddenly pounced, his hands everywhere, his nose pressed to the column of her throat and growling loudly.

"You stink," he spat, hugging her naked body to his, trying desperately to scent her. "You reek of that Alpha prick."

"Aiden, let me go," Aria said weakly, her body faltering when she tried to push him away. He was so strong and she hated that her wolf seemed to be enjoying the attention from her true mate.

"No," he snarled, his teeth clacking together in warning. One of his hands lifted and wrapped around her jaw, holding her in place so that he could kiss her.

Aria was too stunned to think or react. It was aggressive, nothing but vicious teeth and an urgent tongue, biting his way into her mouth until she tasted her own blood.

"Aid-"

Her plea was cut off by his rough hands at her waist, throwing her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing and walking up the stairs. He kicked the door to his room in and all but threw her on the bed, his chest heaving and voice rough.

A brand new sense of panic squeezed the air from her lungs as she realized what was happening, why that crazed glint in his eyes had set her skin crawling when she'd first looked at him.

And it was too late.

He pinned her to the bed, his body hovering inches above hers. He pulled his lips back to expose his teeth, his mouth stained with blood.

Her blood.

"You're mine," he growled, pressing her further into the mattress. "Do you understand?"

He didn't give her a chance to respond. He simply slotted his lips against hers. One of his knees slipped between her bare thighs, and his hands held her wrists on either side of her head.

She smelled it on him, the heady pheromones and blind lust, so much more powerful because he was an Alpha.

Aria couldn't have fought him if she'd tried.