Alpha Aidan's Rejection Chapter 89

AIDAN

　　Something was seriously wrong somewhere, and it was taking a toll on me.

　　Tara left abruptly, leaving me to realize that the worst had happened.

　　She'd found out about Kayla, and I didn't know how exactly, but I needed to talk to Tara. She hadn't taken my calls, and I had to cancel all the meetings with the neighboring pack alphas because I couldn't take it anymore.

　　Just before I left Attica Pack for Vermont, a black Mercedes cornered me on the road, and I knew who it was instantly. Something told me that Kayla had a hand in Tara's disappearance, and if Jace had not confirmed that Tara and Nadia were back at Vermont Pack, I would have suspected that something else happened.

　　Still, I could barely mask my anger as I got out of my car to meet her smiling like she had won a lottery.

　　"What did you do, Kayla?" I questioned, shaking with fury, and keeping myself from touching her, or I would do something unreal.

　　Kayla's smile disappeared, and she snapped. Freaking bipolar.

　　"Don't come pinning your slip-ups on me, Aidan. Did you really think you could keep her here without her finding out about us?"

　　The way Kayla said "us" as if we were an actual couple irritated me to my bones. Tara wanted to come to Attica Pack for her mother, so I wasn't going to stop her because Kayla existed.

　　"Whatever you do, Kayla, stay the hell away from my family. I'm not going to tell you that you'll regret it because whether or not I do, you will regret it."

　　Kayla screeched, veins popping from her forehead. "What are you talking about? I am your family!"

　　My voice returned to calm as I took her in. After I found out what Kayla did to Tara and our unborn baby, I knew for a fact that Kayla was a woman of her own goals, and I'd been nothing but a means to accomplishing those goals.

　　It made me feel like a goddamn tool, but what was done was done. I only cared about the two most important women in my life now- Tara and Nadia- and I was done investing my time in the likes of Kayla.

　　"No. You're not. Not in any sense. Bye, Kayla, and stay away."

　　I didn't waste any more time. I was in Vermont Pack before I knew it, and I ignored Jace's comments that meant "I told you so" while I hurriedly changed, then I made it to Tara's diner.

　　Even from her rigid exterior, high chin, and unmoving eyes as Tara stared at me, I saw the pain that was masked underneath it, and it was all my fault, as well as my responsibility to fix it and be better.

　　"Tara," I muttered, sounding like a zombie, but I didn't care. I just wanted to be close to her. "We have to talk, Tara, I've been trying to…"

　　"Leave," she snapped, cutting me off as her hands folded across her chest, and her body turned away from me.

　　My heart clenched in my chest painfully, but I fought past it. I needed to make her understand that I had no other choice.

　　"Tara, please, just listen to me."

　　"So it's true. You're not even surprised as to why we left, neither are you demanding an explanation or apology. You know what you did, and that means you've been lying to me for years, playing with me like I'm some dumb fool without feelings. Leave, Aidan. Don't make me say it again."

　　Christ!

　　My hand came up to my hair, pulling on the strands till my scalp burned.

　　"It's not…it's not true…" I stuttered, blaming myself for the way her voice quivered as she spoke.

　　"She said to leave. Twice. So go."

　　It was Tara's friend who spoke now, and Tara turned away from me fully, but just before her face was covered from my view, I saw a tear fall from her eyes.

　　I needed to put an end to this.

　　"I'm not backing down so easily, Tara," I said truthfully since all I had now were words.

　　I rushed out of the diner and into my car and drove straight for the house. The one Tara and Nadia had been occupying during the flood. The one I'd been expecting that we would live in together as a family. That was all looking like a far-fetched dream now.

　　My attorney was on the phone as soon as I came down, and even after I was done giving him the instructions he needed, my mind still wasn't at ease. Not when Tara thought that evil of me, thinking that I'd been deceiving her.

　　I understood where she came from, and just now hurt she was. I wondered about Nadia, and how confused she was right now that things were going well between her Mom and Dad only for her to be back here all of a sudden. All of it needed to go away permanently.

　　I tapped anxiously on my feet in the home office until Jace called me that he was here. Preparing myself for an earful, not that I cared anyway, I headed down to the living room to meet him.

　　"Do you have what I asked for?"

　　"I do, but we have a problem."

　　Of course. But I was certain that whatever problem Jace was talking about didn't measure up to what was going on with my family, so I shook my head. "It will wait."

　　Collecting the files from Jace's hands, I turned to leave.

　　"I really doubt if it can, Alpha," Jace said, and my head snapped up to him.

　　Jace barely ever called me by my title, so he had to be on to something.

　　"What is it?"

　　Jace considered his next words as his hands came to clasp in front of him.

　　"It's the StoneWolves. They're starting to attack again. I tried to tell you, but I haven't been able to hold your attention for more than a few seconds in the last few days," Jace said, his expression hardening. Something told me that his concern about the StoneWolves had more to do than with his duty as my Beta, and was more personal.

　　"When last were they spotted, and where?"

　　"Only a few miles from the borders, three days ago."

　　I nodded, willing my mind to take on another direction for a few seconds.

　　"Fine. We can't afford to take on an army of StoneWolves. We don't know their might or numbers, or just how willing they are to enact cruelty, so we find their leader, and take him out. Let's plan this when I get back."

　　Jace nodded, and I excused myself.

　　A sinking feeling wrapped around me as I made my way to Tara again, hoping that this time, she would give me a listening ear.

　　I can't lose her.

　　I can't lose them.