(POV - Aria)

Tears poured down Aria's cheeks, her heart squeezing tight with anxiety and fear. Aiden had snatched her phone and walked away, his back turned towards her. She stumbled to her feet and clutched at his arm, trying to take her phone back so she could speak to Marcus.

"Aiden, please," she begged, wincing when his free hand closed around her wrist painfully. "Stop this."

But he didn't listen, opening his mouth to snarl something else before she finally managed to wrestle the phone out of his hands.

"Marc?" she said desperately, hoping to calm him down and explain what had happened if he'd give her the chance. "Marc, are you there? Hello?"

Nothing. The line was dead. She whimpered and dialed his number again, her heart sinking when it went straight to voicemail. She walked back to the window, her fingers trembling as they typed out a text that she prayed Marcus would read before he jumped to conclusions. She needed him to know that she was sorry, that she hadn't wanted the mark. She wanted him to give her a chance to explain before he cut her off.

She just wanted to tell him she was sorry for letting Aiden mark her.

She'd been about to hit send when Aiden wrapped his arms around her, cradling her gently from behind, taking her by surprise. He tucked his face in the side of her neck, where her mark throbbed painfully, his breath ghosting over the torn skin.

"Aria," he murmured softly, his lips brushing over her pulse. "Please, let him go. There's no room for him here. You're mine now, let's just start over and do things the way we should have months ago."

Aria bit into her bottom lip to keep herself from crying. She hated the way her wolf leaned into his touch, despised how good it felt to finally melt into his affection, knowing that it was truly hers this time around. She wanted to shake him off, scold him for goading Marcus and yell at him for hurting her.

But all the venom had seeped away, leaving her even more exhausted than she had been before.

Gently, his hands turned her around to face him, and he cradled her face in his warm palms, his thumbs brushing away her tears.

"Will you give me another chance?" he breathed, the tip of his nose nudging hers. "Will you give us another chance?"

She shook her head slightly, lips parted and trembling.

"How can you ask that?" she whispered brokenly. "How can I give you another chance after everything you've done? Do you even understand what you did to me? How much you've hurt me?"

"I do," he said, and he sounded genuinely upset. "I can't imagine how badly, but I know I hurt you, and I want to change that."

"How?"

His gaze flicked from her eyes to her mouth, then to the mark on her neck.

"I promise you," he said. "I'll do my best to make it up to you, all of it. Every bit of pain I caused you, from the moment we met, I swear I'll fix it."

He looked so sincere, and Aria had never seen him so vulnerable in her life. She didn't know what to say. Refusing would have probably been the right thing to do, but she couldn't form the words she needed to do it. Even after everything he'd done to hurt her, she still didn't want to cause him any pain.

She felt so pathetic.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked, his palms already damp from her tears where he held her face "Please?"

She faltered, not expecting him to ask her so earnestly. She hadn't really expected him to ask her at all, especially not after he'd just taken what he wanted during his rut.

But maybe he was changing. Maybe she shouldn't turn him away, or turn away the one chance at finding out if her true mate really was the one she was supposed to end up with.

Her wolf perked up, suddenly curious to find out just how sincere her true mate was compared to Marcus. She wanted to know what she would feel if Aiden kissed her, she wanted to know if Aiden could make her feel the same way  Marcus could.

Hesitantly, and with no small amount of guilt, she nodded. He smiled in response and brought his face closer, watching her closely for any signs that she might change her mind. But she didn't and he pressed his lips to hers.

It was sweet, sweeter than anything she'd ever felt with Aiden.

His mouth was tender on hers, careful, like he was all too aware of everything he'd done to her during his rut and was trying to make it right with just a single kiss.

His hands left her face, one arm circling her waist and the other around the back of her neck, their bodies flush against one another. Aria's hands remained at her sides, curled into loose fists. She made no move to hug him, forcing her wolf and the ensuing instincts down until it was just Aria.

Just Aria standing in the warmth of his arms that felt a little too warm, the bond lighting up in response to their tender kiss. And it was...

Nice.

Kissing Aiden like that was nice. Distantly, she was aware that her wolf had grumbled her approval, led by their soul deep bond that held them together no matter the distance nor the time. She knew that some part of her was happy to be kissed by Aiden because that was how it was supposed to be. Right from the beginning, from the day he'd chased those bullies off, she'd known that they were destined to be something more. At the time, she'd thought her dreams of him being her true mate were just that: the dreams of a lovesick teenager.

But those dreams had become a reality much darker than she could have ever imagined.

Because there was no way she could have ever guessed that her true mate would have rejected her, not once, but three times, in spectacular fashion, only for him to return to her arms, begging for another chance.

She tasted the tang of her tears on her lips, salt and honey mixing on her tongue and clouding her senses. She found it hard to think about Marcus with Aiden's lips so soft against her own, the guilt threatening to overwhelm her once more.

It shouldn't have been so difficult. None of it should have been confusing and yet it was.

Aiden sighed into her mouth, her lips parting for him readily, their tongues tentative as they sought one another out, nothing but soft, careful licks and fluttering lashes. He pulled back, bending down and ducking his head, pressing his lips gingerly against the mating bite on her neck.

She flinched on instinct, her body recoiling from the memory of the searing pain he'd inflicted her. She felt his arms tense around her, but he kissed the patch of skin just below her jaw, murmuring softly.

"Shh," he cooed, his hands roaming her back freely. "I'm not going to hurt you, I swear. I won't ever do it again. You can trust me, Aria."

She swallowed a shuddering breath, trying to fight the way her body responded to his roaming hands.

"It'll be different," he swore, pressing small, open-mouthed kisses to her jawline. "You're mine now, my mate. My Luna."

A wave of dizziness threatened to send her sprawling to the ground and, without thinking, she reached out for something to steady her, finding Aiden's narrow waist instead.

It was guilt, she realized. Earth-shattering guilt that stole her breath and roiled in her stomach. Because there was no way she could ignore her feelings for him. She couldn't set aside the natural attraction she had towards Aiden, and she couldn't disregard the way her heart had yearned for him to finally accept her as his mate.

And there he stood, kissing her gently, murmuring the words she once thought she'd never get to hear, promising that everything would be different. He sounded so genuine, she could even taste it in his sweet but urgent kisses.

And yet her body wanted to pull away, holding onto the feelings she'd developed for Marcus. The feelings that she'd fought so hard to silence, the care that had come from his patience and his own feelings for her. She had already known that what she felt for Marcus was as close to love as she'd ever be able to get. And she had been so sure of it, so sure that Marcus was her happiness.

Until Aiden had taken everything she thought she knew and turned it on its head. She could barely tell up from down, the guilt and confusion twisting into an ugly mess in her head.

What was she supposed to do?

Was she supposed to follow her heart and fight for the relationship she and Marcus had worked to nurture? Or was she supposed to accept what the Moon had given her and choose her true mate above all else, the way it was meant to be?

It was all too much for her to think about, and she couldn't help but put them side by side.

Aiden was her true mate. He had been her first crush and very likely her first and last love. He'd saved her from those bullies and taught her how to defend herself. She'd seen his softer side on occasion but it had paled in comparison to the senseless beast that slept within him. And she doubted she could ever forget the pain he had knowingly inflicted on her.

Marcus was still a mystery to her: he hadn't been able to open up to her about his troubled past, and it had definitely affected the balance between the two of them. But she had felt real joy with him, without the existence of a mating bond to interfere and guide things that way. It was easy with Marcus, even when his past got the better of him. When she was with him, it felt as natural as breathing.

So why was she so hopelessly confused?