Chapter 77
Valencia’s POV
3
Aiden’s silver eyes widened at my words, flickering with something I didn’t expect–hurt. It was there for just a fleeting moment before his expression hardened, his jaw clenching.
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Well, too bad. So sad. He had done far worse to me in the past, and I wasn’t going to waste energy feeling sorry for him now.
We sat there in silence for a while before he got up.
The door slammed shut behind Aiden as he stormed out, leaving the room peacefully quiet.
I exhaled slowly, my shoulders sagging as the tension ebbed ever so slightly. Castor’s faint, warm glow shone through the dim hotel room.
“Hey, baby,” I whispered, cradling his egg gently in my arms as I sat on the bed. His warmth steadied me, a grounding presence against the chaos of my emotions.
But his glow flickered faintly–an anxious pulse that mirrored my own feelings. Castor could sense the lingering tension from Aiden’s presence.
“He’s gone,” I murmured, rocking him slightly, though I wasn’t sure if he could understand my words, I reassurance was more for myself than him. “It’s just us now.”
guess
As I stroked the smooth surface of Castor’s egg, a dry laugh escaped me. The irony of it all hit me like a punch. Lethia, who had called my mother a “whore” and me a “bastard,” had cheated on her own mate.
“If my mom was a whore,” I muttered bitterly, “then what does that make her?”
But even as the words left my mouth, another thought settled uncomfortably in my mind–Aiden’s story abo about Drogo. The mark had been given to him by our father–or, rather, by my father.
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I felt something heavy twist in my gut. Aiden had always been treated differently. He wasn’t doted on like Celeste, Ash or August.
But he wasn’t treated as a burden like me either. I had assumed it was because he was the oldest, pushing thirty, and expected to act as the responsible, detached elder sibling. But now? Now I understood the real reason.
And then… another thought surfaced, one I hadn’t dared to consider before.
Drogo had cheated on Lethia with my mother–that much was clear. But had it been revenge? Was I conceived as some twisted act of spite? The timeline made sense. Ash was born first, followed shortly by me.
And instead of leaving me to live outside the mansion like most Alphas did with their bastard children, Drogo had brought me into the pack house. Maybe it wasn’t kindness. Maybe it was revenge for letting Aiden stay in the mansion too. Maybe I’d been nothing more than a tool to humiliate Lethia.
1
The realization made me sick to my stomach. I fell back onto the bed, cradling Castor against my chest as tears pricked at the corners of my eyes.
I hadn’t been loved. Not even my mother had been loved. We had both been used.
The room blurred around me as exhaustion crept in. Despite the burning heat of my skin, I felt my eyelids grow heavy, and before I could stop myself, I drifted off.
I woke with a start, my body burning hotter than before. The clock on the nightstand read 6:04 p.m. It had only been an
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Chapter 77
hour since I’d fallen asleep. But my skin was slick with sweat, my breaths shallow and labored.
For a moment, I thought I felt Dante’s warmth behind me, his strong arms wrapped around my waist. But when I turned, the space beside me was empty. The ache in my chest deepened
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The suppressors should have worked longer. They were supposed to last at least four hours, but here I was, the heat surging back after barely two. My legs trembled as I stood, reaching for the pills on the nightstand. I swallowed them dry, my throat tight as I prayed they’d work quicker this time.
I glanced around the room, half–expecting Aiden to return. But there was no sign of him. My gut churned with a strange mixture of relief and unease.
celief an
“Get it together,” I muttered to myself, climbing back into bed and pulling the covers over my head.
But sleep didn’t come easily. My dreams were restless, filled with Dante–his hands, his voice, his presence. I woke up again and again, trembling and desperate, my body demanding something I couldn’t give it.
I tried to relieve myself, my hands trembling as they worked over my heated skin. But no matter what I did, no matter how many times I chased that release, it wasn’t enough.
I became a sobbing, hysterical mess.My heat raged on, relentless and cruel, and the only thing I could think about was Dante. His touch. His scent. His bite.
For a fleeting moment, I considered opening the connection between us. I didn’t care if he found me. I didn’t care about the consequences. I just needed him. I needed him to end this torturous heat.
But then my arm bumped into Castor’s egg, and the slight tremor brought me back to reality–at least partially. I stared at him, my vision blurry with tears, and forced myself to stay strong.
H
The next thing I knew, darkness consumed me, and I fell into unconsciousness.
A cold shock jolted me awake.
I gasped, my body convulsing as freezing water soaked me to the bone. My eyes shot open, and I stared up at Aiden’s furious face. He stood over me, a soaked glass in one hand and a cloth covering his nose and mouth.
“What the hell?!” I shrieked, scrambling upright as a shiver ran up my spine.
The room was thick with my scent, the air practically dripping with my pheromones. I hadn’t noticed it before, but now it was overwhelming.
Aiden’s silver eyes burned with frustration as he tossed the suppressor pills onto the bed. “Take them,” he snapped, his voice muffled by the cloth.
I grabbed the pills with trembling hands, swallowing them down with what little water remained in the glass.
As soon as I finished, Aiden turned on his heel and marched to the window. He shoved it open, letting the night air rush in, and then stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
I looked at the time and it was eight o’clock.
I sat there, drenched and shivering, too stunned to feel anything other than fear. This wasn’t normal. This wasn’t how my heat was supposed to be.
Suppressors were supposed to last longer than this. They were supposed to work.
A heavy weight settled in my chest as I stood and made
way to the bathroom. My reflection in the mirror startled me.
My face was pale, my eyes bloodshot, and my hair clung to my damp skin.
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Chapter 77
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I peeled off my sweat–drenched clothes, the fabric sticking to my skin, and stepped into the shower. The water was lukewarm, washing away the scent and the slick, but it did little to ease the unease twisting in my gut.
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When I stepped out, I realized I had no choice but to wear the red nightdress Aiden had brought. It was the only clean item of clothing left, and though I hated the idea of wearing it, it was modest enough. The dress fell to my calves, the silk fabric clinging to my curves, and the short mesh butterfly sleeves added a strange elegance.
I hesitated before leaving the bathroom, my heart pounding as I stepped back into the room.
Aiden was sitting on the bed, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped tightly together. His head lifted when he heard me, his piercing silver gaze locking onto mine.
“What the hell is going on with you?” he demanded, his voice low but sharp. “The suppressors should’ve worked.”
“They usually do,” I muttered, wrapping my arms around myself “They last for four hours, but…” I trailed off, my voice faltering.
Aiden’s eyes widened, his expression shifting from anger to something closer to horror. “Four hours?” he repeated. “Valencia, these pills are supposed to last ten hours minimum, not four.”
I looked at him’dumbly, “They had always lasted this long for me though?”
Aiden looked exasperated by now, “And you didn’t think to ask someone about this?! You’ve been taking twelve pills everyday during your heat?!.How are you not dead from overdose?”
His words made me clench my fists, “I did ask someone about it. I asked your mother,” I glared at him, “And she said it was normal. As for me not dying soon, who the fuck knows? Or cares?”
Aiden looked unsurprised by my first line, as though what his mother did was completely normal, he pulled out his phone, started typing something and then said, “I’m calling the doctor.”
My eyes widened as I jumped on him, grabbing his phone, “No!”
