Arranged Mate Bond

8.- Torn between the two

Brooke’s POV

Madeline showed Aiden and me where we were going to stay and gave us a moment to freshen up before brunch.

The guards got rooms on the same floor and took turns guarding us. We were surrounded by Cole’s pack, which meant we didn’t need that much protection. From what I had heard, Cole’s father and Aiden’s father were friends even before they were born. Aiden trusted Cole with his life, but get the far guards just to be on the safe side.

Will shared a room with Jordan opposite from ours. Aiden had been serious when he said Will was going to be my guard. Like a shadow he was to follow me everywhere I went. Having someone look over my shoulder the entire time was uncomfortable and strange, but I guess I had to get used to it. At least Matthew got what he wanted. He had been pushing Aiden for a while now to have him assign a guard to me.

I checked my appearance in the mirror after I finished freshening up and was satisfied enough with what I saw. My black hair fell in waves over my shoulder and the navy blue dress I bought the other day with Aiden fitted me perfectly. The only problem was my pale face. The bags under my eyes indicated I hadn’t slept well in months, which was very true.

Fortunately, I remembered to get my makeup out of my suitcase before I entered the bathroom. I re-applied some mascara and a nude colored lipstick. The second the lipstick came in contact with my bottom lip I was reminded of the kiss I shared with Aiden minutes ago.

Even though Aiden took me by surprise I knew that sooner or later holding hands wasn’t going to cut it. I was aware of the fact that at some point we had to step up our acting skills to avoid raising suspicion. What I didn’t take into account was my Wolf actually enjoying the kiss. I think that shocked me more than the unexpected kiss itself.

The mate bond wasn’t just between Michael and I, but between our Wolves too. My bond with Michael was mainly as strong as it was because of the connection my Wolf had with his Wolf. When he died the connection didn’t entirely die with him. Both my Wolf and I felt that our heart still belonged to him and no one else.

With both hands I held on to the sink and had my head hanging low. All those times before when Aiden was holding my hand or had his arm wrapped around me I felt this nagging guilt and my Wolf was pushing me to get away from him. Now it felt like a bucket of guilt was poured over me. And for the first time my Wolf wasn’t on the same page as me.

I didn’t know what was happening to my Wolf or me. But there was one thing that I was certain off.. whatever I was feeling or not feeling, it had to stop.

I leaned against the bathroom door with my hand on the knob and let my senses take over as I sensed if anyone was around. Only Aiden was in the room. I mentally prepared myself to face him again before I opened the door.

“Is that my..” I trailed off frowning.

“Yeah, I’m sorry shouldn’t have answered it,” he said as he walked closer to me to hand me my phone. “Will called me downstairs since you left your phone in the car and when I was bringing it up it kept ringing. I saw your sister’s name on the screen I thought it might be something important. Turned out your sister didn’t quite believe your mother when she told her she had spoken with you.”

“Oh,” was all that left my mouth. He had spoke to Elaine. I tried read his facial expression in hopes to find out if Elaine had mentioned something about Michael, but I came up blank.

“So you called her,” he stated with a proud smile playing on his lips.

I let the corners of my mouth tug up into a smile. “Yes, I took your advice.”