After we reintroduced ourselves to each other Aidan said we should go update everyone else. We leave the spare room and head up a flight of stairs. The contrast between this floor and the floor below is huge. This floor feels more like a home. There are paintings along the hallway, tables with colorful flowers in decorative vases, and framed pictures strategically placed. Before I can ask Aidan about it he opens a door on the left. I step inside first seeing everyone already seated at a large oval table.
Aidan ushers me over to the far side of the table. He sits down at the head of the table, and motions for me to sit in the chair to his left. I sit down across from Alex and to my left is Emeric. Next to Alex is Violet, and on the other side of Violet is Ryder.
Violet gives me a reassuring smile before mouthing, "Are you ok?" I nod my head to let her know everything is fine for now.
Aidan clears his throat before speaking up.
"As you all know Della is my mate." Ryder cuts him off before he can continue.
"Is she though? Because the way she reacted that night portrays quite the opposite." He sneers at me. Aidan tenses up at his outburst. I on the other hand don't react. I know people like Ryder they want a response out of you, it fuels them. I maintain eye contact with Violet to make sure to keep my cool.
"We are mates." Aidan states emphasizing each word to leave no room for any doubt. I turn towards the rest of the table to get a feel for their emotions. Alex is a wall showing no emotion what so ever. Emeric looks happy at the news giving me a warm smile. Violet's the same as Emeric. Ryder is the only person in the room who's upset.
"I can't imagine how protective you all feel over Aidan." I get cut off before I can say anymore.
"Yeah you can't rogue." Ryder spits. I decided to ignore him. I'll figure out his problem with me later.
"As I was saying I can't imagine how protective you must be over Aidan. I'm sure the other night was hard not only on Aidan," I turn towards him to give him a sympathetic look. "But all of you." I glance at the rest of the table. "Just know I never had any malicious intentions." I lean back in my chair to show I'm done with my speech.
"We know that Luna." The hair on the back of my neck stands strait up at the term. I know Emeric said it out of instinct, but I wasn't prepared for it. Aidan must have sensed my nervous apprehension because he cleared his throat turning everyone's attention from me to him.
"I thought this meeting was the best idea to get us all on the same page without any confusion. First I want to ask you a few questions. Is that alright?" It takes me a minute to realize his question is directed towards me. I sit up a little straighter nodding. "Did you know the person who was chasing you onto our territory?"
When he says our territory I'm not sure whether he means his and mine or his and theirs. Frankly I don't know which answer frightens me more.
"No. He was some random rogue I happened to stumble into at the wrong time." I almost chuckle at the memory of his face when I tripped over his sleeping form. It gets stuck in my throat when I remember the the faint scars of the injures I acquired because of him.
"Were you born a rogue?" Emeric pipes in curious.
"No." I can already see where this conversation is going and I don't like it.
"What pack?" Alex asks innocently. I see Violet get his attention and shake her head at him.
"How long have you been a rogue?" She tries to steer the conversation in a different direction which I'm thankful for.
"Eight years." I'm pretty sure everyone in this room already knew that. Just when I think I'm in the clear Ryder speaks up.
"What pack are you from?" He doesn't ask it more like sternly commands an answer. Jokes on him I can guarantee I'm ten time more stubborn than he is.
"That's none of your business." I hold back the urge to glare in his direction.
"Actually it is." He leans forward in a challenging manner.
"What makes you think you have the right to know?" I sneer at him. Meeting his challenge by leaning towards him over the table.
"For all we know you could be wanted. You could have done despicable acts in your last pack resulting in banishment." I try not to flinch but I think it showed because Ryder smirks. "Hit a nerve rogue." Before I can launch across the table at him Aidan's voice cuts through the room.
"Enough!" All three boys sit up at attention. Violet looks nervous which worries me a bit. "Della, How about you tell us why you are a rogue." He begs with soft eyes. I can see he's nervous by not having the upper hand of knowledge at the moment. The bond must have already started to form because the need to sooth his worry increases substantially.
"I left my pack because I believed my mate was dead." Only two out of five in the room knew this, but that doesn't help. The whole room goes died silent, and I can feel the confusion yet sorrow coming from them.
"Are you saying Aidan is your second mate?" Alex looks utterly dumbfounded.
"No, my first mate didn't exist. Aidan is my real mate." That causes Ryder to laugh. I snap my head in his direction the second his booming laugh echos off the walls.
"That's a good one sweetheart. Wow you really tried I'll give you that." He pretends to wipe a fake tear off his cheek. I look at Emeric and he looks extremely uncomfortable. When our eyes connect he shifts his chair further away from me. Before I can question it Ryder slaps a red folder onto the table.
"You honestly didn't think I wouldn't do my research." A chill runs up my spine at his mocking tone. "I must commend you changing your name did make it more difficult but not impossible." No. This isn't going to go down like this. I reach out for the folder, but Aiden gets to it before I do. "Why don't you tell everyone the real reason you ran, Della Hale." My real last name rolls of his tongue like honey, but it burns like fire.
I feel my calm exterior start to crack. This isn't how I wanted them to find out. I wanted to be the one to tell them on my terms. I let my instincts take over as I feel the atmosphere in the room shift. It takes one sentence from Aidan to completely shatter my composure.
"You're a Hale." He wasn't asking, he was declaring as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. I don't waste another second before I'm out of my seat. Before I can make it out of the door Ryder pushes me back with more force than I was anticipating.
Violet's piercing scream snaps me out of my groggy state. I smell the blood before I feel the pain. I look down at my right arm to see a giant gash running from my shoulder to elbow. When Ryder pushed me back I flew into a bookcase that must of had something made of glass on it. I see the glass shards glistening against the dark wood floor.
"Aidan you need to calm down." Alex yells over all the commotion. I turn towards the doorway where Aidan has Ryder pinned up against the wall. Emeric has one of Aidan's arms and Alex has the other. They are both desperately trying to pull him off Ryder. His eyes are darker shade of green caused by his wolf trying to take over.
"Aidan." I whisper knowing he will still hear me. His eyes lock with mine as he loosens his grip on Ryder. I make a face making it seem as if my arm is causing me pain. Just as I predicted within a second Aidan has abandoned Ryder and is at my side.
"Are you ok? Is that the only cut? How much pain are you in?" His eyes wildly looking over me. I can tell his wolf still has some control over him. I reach my none injured hand over and grasp his lightly.
"I'm ok." I smile up at him. It's still weird having someone be so concerned about my well being. Even before being a rogue when I would get injured my dad and mom would tell me it would tuffen me up.
I use my good arm to push myself up but Aidan steps in and helps me the rest of the way. I almost forgot about the others in the room. Alex is comforting Violet while Emeric has a hand on Ryder's shoulder. Ryder's neck looks red but other than that it seems he'll be ok.
"Let's go get some bandages on that." Violet steps forward giving Aidan a reassuring look. She grabs my left hand leading me out of the room and back to what I guess is technically my guest room.
A sense of deja vu washes over me when she goes into the closet and grabs the same bag she used earlier.
"I know you don't want to answer a lot of questions, but is it true?" She doesn't look scared. More of a concerned aura washes over us. The cut isn't deep so I won't need stitches.
"What part?" She finishes wrapping my arm putting the gause, scissors, and medical tape away. Once it's all cleaned up she makes her way over to the couch by the windows.
"The part about you being a Hale." Well the cats out of the bag. There is no turning back at this point so I might as well tell them the whole story.
"Yeah. My real name is Della Hale." She sucks in a breath before looking out the window for a moment.
"So Blake and Raven are your parents?" Blake and Raven Hale don't have the best reputation in the werewolf community. My parents are known for their gruesome training tactics, highly strict laws, and killing trespassers on sight. This isn't the first time someone has judged me for what they've done and it won't be the last.
About a year after I went on my own I changed my last name to King to avoid this very situation. It saved me from a lot of questions and fights.
"Yes." I can tell by her face she's struggling to trust me at the moment. It hurts, she was the first person here to treat me as anyone else now she can barley look at me. "I can tell you don't want to be in here. Just save us both the time and leave." She squirms in her seat. I see her eyes glaze over for a second before she gets up without a word and leaves.
I turn towards the window noticing a lock on the inside not the outside. I get up and rush over to it. I may not be like my parents but they still should trust me. I lift the window up to see it has no screen on it either. I stick my head out to see how far the drop would be. We're three floor up but I'm sure I could make it. Just as I'm about to swing my leg up someone clears their throat behind me.
*********
Song: Glory And Gore by Lorde
I can't thank you all enough for reading my story. Over the past day it got more than 30 more reads. I'm so happy you guys are liking it so far. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did don't forget to vote! Until next time.
~Stella Gordon