Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

54. Where is the fire?

His words reassured me because I knew he absolutely meant it but the memories of Markolf and how he manipulated me to luft for him made me want to throw up.

"I kissed him, Aiden. I desired him. I knew deep down that it was wrong because it was not him I truly wanted but my own body and mind betrayed me." I couldn't even look him in the eye because I knew that he and Rafe saw it all and I could only imagine what they must have felt like. I was ready to rip off the heads of the two girls that dared to flirt with them and I knew that I would have buried them alive if they tried to do anything else. What Markolf and I did was way beyond that.

My dragon mate pulled me in for an embrace that I was not sure I deserved. "It's okay, love- he controlled you, we know that."

"This time." My mind trailed off as I wondered whether I could tell him the whole truth.

"And it won't happen again," he kissed me on the forehead as he whispered his promise.

"But it already did."

The puzzled and slightly worried look in his eyes got to me without him even knowing what happened that night in Putney, and I knew there and then that things between us would be doomed if they could not trust me to tell them the truth.

"The night I found out the truth about me, about my family and my whole past, I went to a bar with Scarlett. I was angry and I needed to be in control again. So I met a guy and I slept with him, all while controlling the situation- or so I thought."

"What are you trying to say, love?" Worry. That was all I saw in his eyes. Not anger or jealousy, as I was expecting. No judgement. Like it didn't matter who I had been with before because I was with him now. Because they marked me. Yet, he was still worried about me.

"The reason why I recognised Markolf last night was that I had seen him before. The guy I hooked up with at the bar- that was him."

"He dared touch you?" Aiden roared and the room shook because of the anger in his voice. His eyes became yellow and I knew that Blaze was just as pissed off.

"According to Markolf, ending up with him that night was no accident. Not that this makes things better- I slept with the enemy and I don't know whether I would ever be able to forgive myself for not knowing better." My disappointment with myself was immense- I was truly dismayed by my fucking colossal error of judgement.

Aiden's eyes reverted back to their usual beautiful colour as he pulled me in for a surprising kiss.

"Listen to me, Riley- you couldn't have known, and I am pretty confident to bet that he meddled with your emotions that night as well. Don't you dare doubt yourself and your instincts. What we are up against is a half-demon and demons have more tricks up their sleeves than we can ever imagine."

My heart beamed at how ready my mate was to fight my corner even when I doubted myself.

"He thinks that we are alike, me and him. Both outcasts, neither of us fitting in the supernatural or the human worlds." I was saddened by the thought that maybe Markolf was right. I was neither a shifter nor fully human. The supernatural world was my birthright and yet I had no claim to it anymore.

Aiden placed his fingers under my chin, making me tilt my head to meet his gaze. "Aurelie Moreau, you belong more in this world than shifters who have spent their lives knowing nothing else. You didn't even think twice about stepping up when we discovered this threat. Your parents would have been proud of you. I know that I sure as hell am and I am pretty certain that Rafe, your brother, Anna, and the friends you've made feel the same way. But above all, you are my mate, as well as Alpha Macalister's mate- even if we are not fully mated yet, that alone means that you have always had and you will always have a place in this world. Never doubt that, my magnificent mate."