Alpha Aidan's Rejection Chapter 76

TARA

　　We stood in a spot I was familiar with around the corner but in front of a building I didn't recognize because I was pretty certain that the massive off-white structure with red roof and lights blaring from every angle of it wasn't here the last time I passed through here.

　　It was a new building. And from what it looked like, the building was fast gaining some attraction from the pack as young shifters hobbled themselves together in groups in a handful of places.

　　From the corner of my eye, I could spot an outdoor tennis and basketball court to the side of the building, and a volleyball and football field to the other side.

　　I instantly smiled at what Aidan wanted to show me, but I was still confused, so I asked. "What am I looking at?"

　　Aidan took a deep breath behind me as he looked ahead at the building, and he responded. "The pack's retreat complex."

　　I could hear the excitement in Aidan's voice, and itched to know what it was about.

　　"Retreat complex. What's that?"

　　Aidan came to stand beside me.

　　"Remember when I mentioned that the second time I ran into Nadia, Collin showed up, and I saw the interaction between them?"

　　How could I forget? I managed to give Aidan a small nod as a spike of guilt rose in my chest for failing my daughter on such a small occasion. What if Aidan hadn't been there when Collin showed up, scaring Nadia?

　　Aidan went on. "And after what he tried to pull with the young she-wolf in the woods, Zora, well, I knew that couldn't be it. So I looked into the rest of the pack members here, especially the younger ones without any present family, and I got to know that a lot of people were struggling here, mentally."

　　I nodded, listening with rapt attention as Aidan spoke, drinking in the glow in his eyes as he talked about Vermont pack as if he built it brick by brick.

　　"I wanted an escape for them, even if only temporarily, or just as a first step to help them heal, so I worked with Jace to build this. It's a sports center, and it has more indoor facilities that the others could hang around if they want to, without participating in any of the sports." My heart…swelled. Aidan, oblivious to just how much his words were affecting me, continued to speak.

　　"Not just those that were affected by Aidan are welcome here. Troubled kids, abused, those who just want to get away…name it. This can be a haven for them until we figure something else out."

　　"Aidan," I breathed, tears prickling the back of my eyes as I processed his words. "Aidan, this is…"

　　I couldn't find the words.

　　All I could do was think back to my much younger self as Aidan mentioned who this project was for. If I had an escape spot like this back in my old life, I could imagine just how much I could have gotten away from.

　　Bits of my old life…dark images that I'd fought so hard to bury in the deepest parts of my memory fought to gain light.

　　"What do you think? Is it too much?" Aidan asked, a hint of doubt in his voice as he mistook my silence for something else.

　　I shook my head, my voice reducing to nothing but a whisper as I tried to mask the shakiness.

　　"This is so much, Aidan, but never too much. This is so much more than some of these kids could ask of even from their own packmates, and you've done it without thinking much of it, as though they were your kids."

　　Aidan showing me this side of him more times than I could count now, shook my earlier notions about him to their roots. How could one person be capable of such goodness?

　　"They are mine," Aidan said. "Even if not by blood, I swore an oath to protect my people, no matter where they come from, and those close to me are something I cannot joke with. Besides, this pack can only be the best of itself if it is where Nadia will grow up if you so decide."

　　I broke my gaze from the building that was slowly being enveloped in the night's darkness, and I met Aidan's dark eyes as the weight behind his last words settled down on me.

　　We couldn't have avoided the topic forever, but I still didn't know just yet how I felt about letting Nadia go to live in the pack that hurt me so much and flamed my life into what it was now.

　　I simply nodded to Aidan's words, even though there were things on my mind to say. Now wasn't the time for me.

　　Returning my gaze to the new pack's retreat complex, I felt the energy radiating from within it. From the promise that the building itself held, and from the young people who already saw what the future looked like.

　　Aidan did this.

　　"Thank you, Aidan. This is wonderful. You are helping in ways that you wouldn't imagine."

　　Aidan shook his head, shifting closer to me, bathing me in his scent. "Thank you for letting me show you this, and for tonight."

　　I made a mental check to tell the time, and with how dark it had gotten, I knew it was time to call it an evening.

　　What I couldn't explain was the sour feeling pressing down on my chest at the fact that the evening had to end.

　　Aidan walked me back to the car silently, and he helped me get in my seat while I watched him round the car through the front.

　　He looked every bit of the formidable alpha the rumors painted him to be. But as a firsthand recipient of all of Aidan's other qualities, it was a sure fact.

　　This man had thorned himself into my heart, and there was no way to get him off without ripping my heart into shreds.

　　The ride home was quiet, not that words were needed.

　　When Aidan walked me to my doorstep and I handed his jacket to him, almost groaning at the loss of his warmth and smell, I broke the silence.

　　"Thank you for today. I had an amazing evening with you."

　　Aidan nodded, a modest but triumphant smile tilting his lips up.

　　"I'll see you tomorrow, Tara," Aidan said after pressing his warm lips to my cheek.

　　And the next morning, when I stood in front of the diner to open up for the day, six bags of Caribbean brown sugar stared back at me.