Chapter 4

AIDEN

Julian was right.

I had voiced my opinion on the arrangement the council had made between Estelle and I several times so they’d definitely think I was lying about finding my mate to get out of marrying her.

I heaved a sigh, still watching Yara as she talked fervently on the phone. “You ruin the mood, Julian.”

“That’s all he ever does,” a voice announced and I glanced in the direction it had come from to see Georgia, the healer I had called for, walking up to us.

Healer was just a tame term for witch and years ago, Georgia’s mother had requested we call the both of them healers instead of witches because whenever a pack member called them a witch, it sounded like an accusation.

She raised a brow at us. “I was told to hurry over because a woman needed to be healed urgently and I’ve been here for several minutes but yet, I haven’t seen said woman,” she said before glancing past me and into the bedroom. “Is that her?”

“I told you to wait in the living room,” Julian replied. “I even put the TV on–”

“Do I look like a child…”

I drowned out their bickering and slid my gaze over to Yara just as she finally ended her call. Her eyes darted to me, widening a bit when she saw that I was focused on her, and she looked away. Her gaze moved across the floor for several seconds like she was looking for something before she finally looked up at me again and this time, she didn’t look away.

I smiled.

Yara walked towards me, biting her bottom lip, and I couldn’t ignore her brilliant, decadent, beauty: gleaming brown skin, high cheekbones, curly jet black hair that stopped just below her shoulders, and her mouth… it was plush and carnal, and made me think impure thoughts.

I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs with her heady scent – an exotic fusion of lavender and lemon – when she finally got to me and my skin tingled while she gave me a small smile. I wanted to bury my nose in her neck but that would definitely spook her seeing as she had been acting skittish around me so I resisted the urge to do that.

She stretched my phone out to me. “Thank you,” she said and as I reached for the phone, it suddenly fell from her hands while a strangled cry escaped her.

What?!

She stumbled backwards with fear on her face, her eyes on something past me, and I immediately turned to see Georgia holding Julian by the collar while a fireball was in her other hand. To someone that didn’t know them, it would seem like she wanted to attack Julian but that was just their way of relating with each other.

Georgia paled at Yara’s reaction before quickly putting out the fire and I gently grabbed Yara to stop her from moving further away from me.

“Hey, hey. It’s alright,” I said while she tried to pull her hand out of mine. She moved her attention from Georgia to me and there was an accusing look on her face as she stared at me. “It’s alright,” I repeated before gesturing at Julian and Georgia to leave and they quickly did because they also understood her reaction.

Most werewolves were scared of witches because witches were far more powerful than werewolves and a huge amount of witches were hostile towards werewolves due to the centuries old feud between the two species.

Yara hadn’t grown up in a pack so she must have either encountered a wicked one or heard stories of them.

“Who– Who is that?” she asked. The accusing look was no longer on her face but the fear was still there.

“She’s the healer I called for you.”

“Healer? She’s a witch.”

“And she won’t do anything to harm you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. She’s my friend and a member of my pack.” After saying that, she still looked skeptical so I pulled her closer to me and I took pleasure in the fact that she didn’t fight me as I took her other hand in mine. “I’m here, Yara. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I swear.”

She dropped her gaze to the ground and after several moments of silence, she finally muttered, “Okay.”

I led her to the living room where Georgia and Julian were waiting with her hand still in mine and her grip on my hand tightened when we walked into the living room. Georgia had a guilt-ridden look on her face so I gave her a smile to let her know that everything was okay and she returned the smile weakly before walking over to us when we sat on a couch.

“Hi, I’m Georgia,” Georgia said as she sat on the couch we were on, keeping a respectful distance between Yara and herself.

“Yara,” she replied, her eyes fixed on Georgia, before she let go of my hand and I immediately found myself missing her warmth.

“Aiden said you got hurt.”

Yara lifted her legs onto the couch, wincing as she did it, and Georgia quickly unwrapped the bandages before grimacing at the wound on Yara’s left leg.

“Damn,” Georgia muttered before lifting her hands over the wounds and though I couldn’t see Yara’s expression, I saw her shoulders tense. “Breathe… It’s not going to hurt. It’ll just be a bit ticklish.”

Yara let out a nervous laugh before leaning back, resting against me, and my whole body buzzed as her scent slammed into my system. This time, I couldn’t stop myself from leaning closer to get more of it.

Yara jolted when my nose brushed her neck and she glanced at me over her shoulder with a surprised look on her face. “At least buy me dinner first,” she said and I felt a flush creep up my cheeks while Julian snorted.

I shot him a look and he immediately disguised it as a cough before I returned my attention to Yara who was now facing forward once more. Well done, Aiden. Now she thinks you’re a creep.

“Do you know anything about mates, Yara?” Georgia suddenly asked and I paused because I totally hadn’t expected her to ask that – I had told her Yara was my mate when I called her to come over and Julian must have told her Yara wasn’t aware she was my mate – but I also wanted to know Yara’s response to that so I glanced at her.

Yara tipped her head to the side. “Mates?”

“Like soulmates. Every werewolf has one.”

“…This is the first time I’m hearing about that.”

Crap.

“Oh. Um…” Georgia glanced at me and raised her brow, silently asking if she should explain to her. I shook my head sideways.

I could handle that myself.

“Okay,” Georgia said, returning her gaze to Yara’s legs just as the wounds finally closed up. “Done.”

“Thank you,” Yara replied while I gave Georgia a nod. ““I’ll take my leave now.” She got to her feet and I immediately did the same.

“Uh–I’ll take you home.”

I needed to talk to her.

“Oh no. I don’t want to impose.”

“Please… I insist.”