(POV - Aria)

She was all too aware of the stares boring into her back as she followed Aiden out of the common room and down the hallway that led to his office. Aiden was right, they 'had' attracted quite a crowd and she hated the way they all ogled as though it was some cheap soap opera.

Every step she took away from Marcus felt like a physical punch to the gut, and all she wanted was to run back after truly believing she'd never get to see him again. But she soldiered on, knowing that this would be the only way to get Aiden to give in and let her go. She just couldn't figure out what he wanted to talk to her about.

He opened the door and stepped aside, letting her walk in first and she ignored the way the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she passed him. He closed the door behind her and cleared his throat but didn't say anything.

Looking around, she picked out the changes since the last time she'd been in his office.

There were fresh claw marks in the wood of the expensive mahogany desk his father once sat out, a matching set on the wall behind that. There were new throw pillows on the leather sofas, and she could still smell the faint sting of bleach, used to scrub blood from the hardwood floors.

He'd ravaged his way through the office, its grandeur long gone under his ferocious temper. It frightened her, even though she had already seen and experienced that very temper firsthand.

She turned to face him, suddenly uncomfortable.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" she prompted him, folding her arms over her chest defensively. He only watched her, his gaze indecipherable. "Aiden, I'm not going to sit around and wait for you to speak up. Tell me or I'm leaving."

"Don't," he said, his back leaning against the closed door. His hands were hidden in his pockets, but she knew that was something he did when he was nervous. He hid his hands when they started shaking.

"Don't what?"

"Leave," he explained shortly, sounding impatient. "You don't have to leave, Aria. We can be happy together. I'll beg if I have to, but please don't leave with him. I swear we can be happy. I'll make sure of it."

"No, we can't," she corrected, her arms falling to her sides in exasperation. "Maybe we could have been happy together, years ago, or maybe even a few months ago. But not now. Not anymore."

"I was wrong, okay?" he bit out harshly. He dragged his hand through his hair, his nostrils flaring and pupils shrinking in anger. "I was wrong to have chosen Meredith over you. I should never have thought that anything could be more special than what we have."

"What do we have, Aiden?" she asked, trying to swallow her scoff. "Please explain that to me, because don't think you and I share the same memories of recent events."

"We have something you and him can never have, Aria," he stated. "You will never be able to connect with him the way you can with me. That's why true mates exist. We are special. We are more than just a mated pair, don't you see that?"

"Aiden, you 'forced' amating bite on me in the haze of your rut!" she snapped, stunning him into silence. "You dragged me kicking and screaming into your bed, you didn't care about what I wanted. You were too far gone to realize what you were doing to me. Do you even remember the way I begged you to stop? Do you remember how I screamed when you bit me? Do you even know how long I stayed up crying after you passed out?"

Aiden could only stare, his jaw slack with shock. She'd never shouted at him before. She'd never stood her ground the way she did then, and it made her brave, it chased away the anxiety that nipped at her ankles the second she left Marcus behind in the common room.

"And now you're begging me to stay like you actually give a fuck about me," she spat. "You can't even stick to your decisions. You should have forgotten me the second you chose Meredith over me. Where was all this talk about true mates being special when you 'claimed her' in front of me? No, now you have to suffer the consequences of your own decisions, Aiden. Take responsibility."

"Are you trying to punish me?" he snarled. "Is that what this is about? You're angry that I hurt you so now you have to punish me by bringing all of this up? I get it, okay? I hurt you and I'm sorry!"

"Hurt?" she whispered in disbelief. "You really don't know, do you? You were so wrapped up in Meredith and your new title as Alpha that you couldn't be bothered to spare your rejected true mate a passing glance until you needed to get your dick wet."

"Don't talk like that," he growled, his pupils almost vanishing in his dark eyes. Aria wasn't afraid though. She knew that she was right, and she was allowed to tell Aiden all the ways that he had ruined her life. "Is this what he's done to you? I barely know you anymore, Aria. Please come back home and we can forget this ever happened."

"No!" she yelled, tired of beating around the bush when all it did was make her blood boil. "I am leaving with Marcus and there is nothing you can do about it. I do not accept the bite you 'forced' on me in the middle of your rut. You didn't even know what you'd done until it was all over, and even then all you could say to me was that you hadn't meant to do it. Well, now you're off the hook. I'm not holding you to any of it."

Sensing he was losing this battle, Aiden changed tactics, his upper lip curling in a hard sneer. "Do you really think you could ever be happy with him while I'm still around?" he mocked. She was about to scold him for threatening her but he continued, cutting her off. "Do you think that the bond between us will, what? Disappear? Has he even told you what happened to his own true mate?"

Aria stilled, her fingers going cold with panic. Did Aiden know what had happened to Marcus' true mate? He'd always hid the truth from her, and even though she knew she should hear it from Marcus, she couldn't deny the temptation of finally hearing the truth.

"You don't know his reputation for killing his own true mate?"

Aria blood turned cold in her veins, and she stared at Aiden.

"Don't joke about stuff like that," he warned him, her voice shaking as badly as her hands. "You can't possibly know something like that actually happened."

"Has he told you any different?" Aiden countered, walking towards her and stopping a few steps from her spot near his desk.

"No," she murmured in defeat. She knew she should hear it from Marcus, but she couldn't help the doubt that suddenly gripped her heart and plagued her mind.

"Then can you actually trust him?"

Aria shook her head, refusing to listen to anything else Aiden had to say.

"Stay away from me and stay away from my mate," she warned, her wolf flashing in protectively when she mentioned Marcus, her heart... fluttering a little when she referred to him as her mate. She ignored the hurt in Aiden's eyes. "I will never accept you as my mate."

She pushed past him, yanking her arm out of his reach when he tried to grab her and marched out, slamming the door behind her.

She looked around for Marcus, catching onto his scent and following it up into her room. The door stood slightly ajar, and she gently pushed it open. She found him sitting on her bed, curiously looking around. She smiled softly and walked in, immediately going to him and standing between his thighs.

He looked up at her, his smile tense but genuine, his hands wrapping around her hips and burying his face in her stomach. Her nerves eased and she ran her fingertips over the back of his neck.

"I missed having you cling to me when no one is around," she murmured, smothering a smirk when he snorted.

"You just love that I am nothing but mush for you," he accused. She shrugged and he laughed, pulling away to tug her down for a quick kiss. "Are you okay?"

Aria nodded, feeling the tension in her shoulders creep up her neck. She couldn't forget what Aiden had said. She looked at him, but his eyes were trained on the crumpled-up photo of Aiden she'd kept on her desk. Guilt heated her cheeks suddenly and she sighed, her fingers carding through his soft curls and pulling his attention back up to her.

"It's over," she said softly, losing herself in the depths of his storm-grey eyes. "Can we g-?"

"Marcus," Aiden interrupted, and Aria spun around to find him standing in the doorway, his shoulders set and tense. "I'd like to speak with you in private."

He didn't wait for confirmation; he simply turned on his heel and left. Marcus tangled his fingers with Aria's and gently pulled them out of his hair. Pressing a kiss to her palm, he got to his feet.

Before he could leave, she wrapped a hand around his wrist, urging him to stay for a minute longer.

"Marc," she murmured, feeling the fear and doubt creep into her voice. She timidly continued. "What happened to her? What happened to your mate?"

He froze, his shoulders bunching and his hands curling into fists. He turned back to her but stared over her head, his eyes cold and shuttered. "Be ready to leave in ten minutes."