My Forbidden Mate

Chapter Four- Catch and Release

Aaron’s POV

I know it was selfish, but I didn't want her to find out like this. If I was being completely honest with myself, I didn't want her to find out at all. But certainly not so crass and irrational, spoken for the sole purpose of emotional clout against her. And to my aching heart, it seemed to work. The luminescence behind Alessandra's eyes faded into the same slate stillness making up the fireplace behind the east side of the table. The flames are similar to those I cast towards Rebekah. The second my hand reached Alessandra's beneath the table as if to console her, she rose immediately to her feet.

"Bathroom?!" She blurted. "W-where's your bathroom?" She was motioned away by one of Rebekah's hired hands as I watched her leave. My eyes rising and resting to that same woman who was responsible for the sniffles made by the girl who saved my life. The girl whose heart is broken by bringing her here. Dammit. Ronan was right. I hated when he was…

"It truly is distasteful, Aaron…" Rebekah commented absentmindedly as I stood to remind her of her place. My knuckles pushed into the surface of the desk as I narrowed my eyes on her. The entire table and all those in attendance were silent.

"And you forget who you serve. If I were to bring an entire legion of beautiful women here, you would respect them. Perhaps if you paid close attention to Alessandra, you'd learn what it meant to have class. Excuse me…" I steadied the rage in my tone before following the sound of her heart as it came closer.

"Alessandra?" I questioned, a wounded timbre meeting silence. I knocked again, the sound of her tears eradicated in her try to quiet them. My heart twisted at the sniff.

"Are you alright?" I leaned against the frame of the door as it remained closed. The sound of her heart accelerating only worsened my guilt. Not only did I break her heart but now I was why she was nervous. Maybe even afraid. But certainly angry.

"Please…Please open the door so I know-" When the door parted from its rest, she stood before me in wait. Attitude ,unexpected but well deserved ,now staring back at me. I had only ever seen admiration, even pain. But never anger. And I'd be damned if it didn't make her that much more beautiful.

"I'm sorry-" She c****d her jaw, her full lips expressed to one side, as she looked past me. One of Rebekah's curious minions was in search of me as I caught sight of her before closing the bathroom door. Alessandra sat on the other side. Her hip on the tip of my fingers as I moved her to the sink. The water would infiltrate our conversation, but not the tension fell in the meantime.

"I should have told you…"

"It doesn't matter…I was…I'm stupid."

"No-" I spoke quickly. My words of confirmation on the tip of my tongue as she looked up to me. Her cheek resting at my hand as she closed her eyes before pulling away. She gave herself only a second to bask in what my greedy grasp would have excuses for a lifetime. And even this would not be enough.

"You're not."

"I have been holding on to something that existed when we were kids! Something that's…fantasy! Impossible! And now…" She stood, defeated. "Why didn't you tell me?" Her tone changed from accusatory to curious. Her pain was still present and acted as the only reason I didn't pull her back into me.

"It's complicated…" I confessed.

"Just because you don't want to be honest, does not make it complicated." She explained while moving past me and into the hallway. She managed to travel outside before I realized the danger she put herself within. I caught her arm as she descended the steps back towards Ronan, a gasp leaving her lips as I took her back towards me. The grip forcing her to the tips of her toes and nearly against my mouth that craved her more than a man starved. As I was. Solely for her.

"You said I could leave-"

"Not like this…" I was pleased somewhere in my dominance. My hold cold and selfish but my words begging for her to understand. An unfair request considering our different upbringings. A human and a werewolf. Adolescence against lycanthropy.

"If I could have it any other way, Alessandra…" I began, prepared to explain everything to her. But instead, I was left more destroyed at the prospect of her leaving me now. I knew she would. I was denying myself this truth until now simply to prolong the way I fell beside her.

"You don't owe me anything." She hesitated as if the next words held a foul taste to her tongue. "But to let me go." She searched my eyes for the reasons I couldn't explain. The reasons I needed her to stay. Those words that would scare her away.

"Goodbye Aaron." These two words made me hate my name on her lips. What once brought such ease and happiness was now the reason for such pain. Again. Because I cared. Because I let my emotions cloud my mind telling me to return her to her life. And as she withdrew herself from my grasp, I struggled to keep from giving that freedom I would never allow myself as I watched her walk away.

My eyes narrowed to Ronan. A silent order to make sure she was safe would be the last thing to witness before I returned inside. My hands in fists are my sides as I could feel the change of my overall appearance. The calm was eradicated and replaced with this. Even if I was foolish to believe Alessandra would stay, I didn't want her to leave me like this. Or at all. But especially like this.

"Leave us." I ordered as Rebekah took a sip of her wine, finishing off a conversation with Maisie, as I kept my focus on the woman in question. I waited until the room was cleared as I demanded before I moved to Rebekah.

"I am your alpha."

"And you're making stupid choices." Her vulgarity to such confidence made my eyes narrow. Sharp and in rage.

"They are hurting my niece."

"I am not bound to anything until-"

"Yes. I'm well aware. But it doesn't mean you have to galavant your conquests around. Bring her here? The cathedral is a sacred ground for us. And you bring in an outsider? How do you know she isn't sent by humans or worse?"

"If you question me again, the humans will be the least of your worries." I explained before making my way home. It took until morning without the wolf form, but it gave me time to think. To mourn whatever false sense of security I found in that vision with Alessandra. No matter how intense those feelings had been. No matter how drawn to her I fell. It could never be. For either of us.

Two days passed and I could only think about her. How her scent remained in my cabin and within my sheets. My body aching to feel her in my arms again as I loathed not knowing if she had been safe or angered with me. I reminded myself it was for the best. But why does doing the right thing feel like you're dying?

"And she's safe?" I asked Ronan as he nodded, a roll of his eyes for the fifth time today I'd asked him. "You're sure? Her brother seems…unsavory."

"He's not a candidate for presidency, but she's safe. She's a strong girl…able to handle herself." I fought my retort. She shouldn't have to. She should be cared for and adored. Wrapped in safety and security I simply couldn't promise her.

"She'll be fine…" he spoke again before my heart thrust into acceleration. That scene. That sweet smell belonging to her invaded my nostrils before Ronan could pull me back. I was at the door before she could even knock as she stood before me mostly healed. A few bandages over what could be concealed, but two days having felt like an eternity to hoe well she was. Dammit. Ronan was right again. She even healed away from me.

"Alessandra?"

"I…I need your help…"