Alpha Aidan's Rejection Chapter 15

TARA

　　'Let me try and fix it,' he said.

　　'Give me a second chance,' he said.

　　I stared at Aidan, and memories of how I almost lost my life to Kayla's acid and knife attack because of him resurfaced. As the doctor said, Nadia was a fighter, so she survived.

　　But what if she hadn't?

　　Memories of the hardship I faced because of him resurfaced. The loneliness, the sleepless nights, the hunger and pain, and with all those thoughts, my answer to Aidan's plea fell from my lips.

　　"No."

　　Aidan let out the breath he was holding and goddess, I could feel the pain he felt.

　　Without waiting for him to say anything else to me, I blinked the rest of the tears away from my eyes, and I turned my back to him, walking away.

　　I took a moment to get myself together before reappearing in the open space, making it seem to the outside eye like nothing just happened.

　　When I got back to our seats, Nadia was stuffing her face with snacks, and Jenna and Esme were no longer deep in conversation, but now watching the alphas line up for the friendly opening race.

　　I took my seat quietly as I tried to school my features.

　　Jenna, though, saw through me like glass. "Is everything okay, honey?" She asked.

　　"Yes, of course," I said, forcing a tight-lipped smile as my attention hovered between Jenna's scrutiny and the racing lines before us.

　　"You sure?" She probed, to which I nodded once. I didn't even have it in me to talk after my encounter with Aidan. "I'll let you know if it's serious," I said to make her calm down. "It's nothing."

　　Jenna knew something was up, but she decided to respect my decision to not share it with her right now. Giving my arm a silent squeeze of support, she nodded and turned to watch the race.

　　I looked at the alphas who were lined up for the race, and my heart began to beat in anticipation of the event.

　　"They selected the best ten of them in my opinion," Jenna said, tipping her head towards the alphas who were about to compete. She was trying to get me to loosen up again.

　　I did a mental count to see that there were nine alphas on the line, including Alpha Collin, to which I rolled my eyes.

　　"But they're nine over there," I said.

　　Jenna grinned as she pointed again. "Plus him."

　　My head followed her line of sight, and I watched Aidan take up the first race block with the other alphas, making them ten in number.

　　The crowd was livid with excitement, and you could even smell the charge in the air.

　　Aidan's eyes connected with mine, and time stood still as tension cackled back and forth between us. I momentarily forgot all about everyone else who was present with us, and it was just me and him.

　　My heart was in my throat, ready to fall out as I watched Aidan take his "On your mark" position, and I snapped out of my trance.

　　"It's a friendly race," I said, trying to remind myself that the race didn't mean anything.

　　Jenna snorted, casually feasting on Nadia's snacks. "I can bet with you on my title that it's not. Just look at Alpha Collin," she pointed. "He looks ready to give an arm to win the race."

　　When the roar sounded for them to all take off, I shot up from my seat to watch.

　　Why?

　　I couldn't say myself.

　　Hollers, hoots, whistles, and cheers sounded from every corner as the entire crowd watched the alphas run.

　　"I told you it was going to be a bloody battle," Jenna said, screaming for the alphas to run harder and faster. "Go Alpha!" She yelled.

　　Esme looked like she was about to have a heart attack, but that didn't stop her from screaming at the top of her lungs for the runners.

　　Nadia wasn't left out. She kept cheering Aidan on and screaming for him even though he couldn't hear her.

　　Since the contestants were anything but normal, the race had some tweaks to it. It was labeled a dash, but the track was eight hundred meters long.

　　"For the first four hundred meters, they are strictly to run in human form," Jenna explained, and you could hear the excitement in her voice. "Then for the second lap which is the remaining four hundred meters, they can decide to shift to their wolves if they're quick enough."

　　Collin, Aidan, and two other alphas were currently in the lead positions, but they still had a good six hundred meters or more to go.

　　My heart hammered furiously against my rib cage, and I silently screamed for Aidan to run a little bit faster.

　　Aidan was athletic, and with particularly long legs adorning his six-foot four-inch frame, each step put him ahead of the other alphas.

　　Adrenaline charged the air, and within a matter of seconds, Aidan was crossing the line that marked the end of the first lap.

　　"Four freaking hundred meters to go!" I yelled, forgetting all of my problems and conflicts for the time being. "Let's go!"

　　Collin was close behind Aidan, and I screamed as loud as my lungs could allow for him to run faster.

　　The fastest shift that I had ever seen in my life happened right in front of my eyes as Aidan let out a loud snarl, and his wolf lunged out from his human form.

　　Excitement was at its peak, and at this point, I didn't know who was screaming anymore.

　　Aidan's shift put a considerable gap between him and the nine other alphas, but that didn't make him slow down his pace.

　　His wolf took over and breezed past the tracks like he was flying in the air.

　　And when his wolf blasted the air with a long deafening howl of victory, it was sealed that Aidan had won the race.

　　Hoots and hollers filled the air as Aidan's wolf proudly padded the tracks back and forth in a show of dominance, and all I could do was laugh with satisfaction.

　　Shortly after the match, calm was restored to the arena as the alphas who shifted all filed out to change back into their human form, and put on some clothes.

　　Aidan returned outside, and my eyes locked on him again as I tried to remind myself that he was still in my black books.

　　"Still in my black books," I whispered to myself.

　　Right??