Four.

Bella

I didn’t want to be here. He kept firing question after question. Trying to find a way in. He wouldn’t let me leave either. One minute he was telling me that I had no choice but to stand in front of the King. The next he said he would decide.

When I asked him why, he told me that I would likely have to testify. To ensure Dom gets the death penalty.

Aiden sets a plate of food in front of me. Though he didn’t seem annoyed when I didn’t touch it. A smile crept over his face as I sniffed it first. For all I know, it could be laced with wolfsbane.

“You have to eat something.”

“Not hungry.”

“I can hear your stomach growling from here.” He grins at me. Which just made me more determined to annoy him. He would have to accept that I didn’t want or need his help at some point.

“I said I’m not hungry.”

I kept my distance as much as I could. Not allowing him to get close enough to put his hands on me. 

“What about your mother?” The question came from nowhere. He watches me from his desk. His strange grey eyes searched my face.

“Dead!” I mutter, I didn’t want to talk about her.

“What happened to her?”

Pressing my lips in a tight line, I turn my attention to the window. The people below were running around, desperate to get out of the rain. I loved the rain. It smelt amazing and fired up other scents that hovered in the forests and towns.

“Bella, you need to start talking. My father won’t put up with your quietness.”

“I killed her. Is that what you want to hear? That when she gave birth to me, I ripped her open in ways that she could not heal from. Wolves can still die from blood loss.”

He presses his lips together, writing something on a piece of paper.

“What are you writing?”

“Notes. I’m trying to find things that will defend you.”

“Defend? I wouldn’t even bother. If he wants to give me the death sentence, then I shall accept it.”

“What if I can help you?”

I turn to look at him, crossing my arms over my chest. “How?”

“Your father can be punished. You just need to tell me who he is.”

Rolling my eyes at him, I turn away, watching the rain lash down. “I’m not letting someone else kill the bastard!”

“Everyone needs help.” He tells me again, but I hadn’t been raised like that. I had been raised to kill. I had been raised to slaughter. To be a monster. Something that neither of my sisters were capable of.

“Not me.”

“Bella, I am on your side.”

“Why?” I snap. No one was ever on my side.

“I just think that you have had a shitty upbringing. You need a break.” His grey eyes search my face.

“No one cares about that. I told you. I was raised for one thing.”

“Bullshit!”

My eyes flash to his. He doesn’t break eye contact. For a moment, I feel a little weird. No one had looked at me the same way as he was. Like he truly saw me.

“What’s in it for me?” I mutter. Surprised by my own words.

“What do you want?”

I shrug my shoulders, because other than my fathers death. I didn’t want anything.

“There’s nothing you want? No land? No pack of your own?”

I shake my head. How shallow did he think I was?

“Looks like there is no deal then, doesn’t it.” I mutter sarcastically.

He sits at his desk, quietly typing away on his laptop. His grey eyes would flicker up to me every so often. Like he knew that I was looking at him. Every now and then, someone would knock on the door. Waiting quietly to be called in.

They would speak about things in the pack or new problems that had arisen. Sort of like they were giving him daily feedback. My father’s men never did anything like it. 

“Why do they do that?” I ask curiously as the fifth person leaves.

“Do what?” His grey eyes lock on to my golden orbs.

“Give you their day's itinerary?” 

“I lead the pack of Hybrids. This way I can stay on top of things, not let anything slip by. Surely, as an Alpha, your father would have done the same thing?”

I shake my head, a little baffled by the idea. But it made sense. It would mean he knew everything about his pack.

“Have you always done that?”

“Pretty much. If I’m not about, Leighton covers it.” He keeps his eyes averted, focussing on what was in front of him.

“Leighton? The man that took Dom to your father?”

“That’s the one.”

He didn’t have to answer my questions. He could have just ignored me like I was ignoring him. But he answered every single one.

“Will you attack me if I go to sleep?” I was exhausted. My entire body ached. I would rather have stayed awake. But a tired Wolf made a lousy Wolf.

He practically spits his drink out as he shakes his head. “I have no intention of attacking you. Take the bed. I will be awake a while yet.”

The bed was pushed up against one wall. It wasn’t a separate bedroom. Everything was open planned except the bathroom.

Washing my face, I tie my long copper hair back. I had no change of clothes and would have to sleep in what I was wearing. 

Aiden was still in the same spot at his desk. He doesn’t even look up as I climb into the large bed. He reaches for a switch, turning the lights off at my end of the room.

“BELLA! BELLA, wake up,”

I could hear my own screams. They were deafening and full of pain. A result of the constant nightmares.

Aiden’s worried face comes into focus as my screams stop. He had all the lights on and was wearing nothing but shorts. His super toned body hovered over me. Wiping the beads of sweat from my forehead.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I mutter, sitting up and backing away from him.

“Certainly didn’t sound like it.”

“I’m fine.” I mutter again, remembering where I was.

Sighing, he wanders away from the bed, scratching the back of his head. Tattoos littered his arms, spanning across his back. As he turns back around, I see that he has some on his chest too.

He grabs a bottle of water from a small fridge by his desk and throws it at me.

“You scared the shit out of me. I thought one of my pack had gone into labour.” He takes a swig from his own bottle, leaning against his desk. “Does that happen a lot?”

I drop my gaze, making a conscious effort to slowly sip the water. He was still staring at me as I screwed the lid back on.

“Does it?”

I couldn’t get out of this. He would see right through it. I nod my head, remembering how my father had sound proofed my room so that no one could hear my nightly screams. Or the other things that happened.

“You could have at least prepared me for it.” He mutters, watching me.

“Because that’s a conversation I want to have!” I roll my eyes at him and fold my arms across my chest.

“You should at least tell your mate, when you find him.” He murmurs back to me. It was an odd comment. I had already told him my sisters never found a mate. Why would he think I would have one? Not that I wanted one.

“Like I want a mate.” It was the last thing that I wanted. It may have been my sister's goal, but it wasn’t mine.

He shakes his head at me. “Forget about all that. Can I suggest something so we can both get some sleep?”

I shrug my shoulders at him.

“So a Hybrid has the ability to take away someone’s pain when they are sleeping.”

“How?” I had never heard of anything so ridiculous.

“It doesn’t matter how, but it involves you holding my hand while you sleep.”

“No chance.”

“I promise you, it will help.”

“Bullshit!”

He shrugs his shoulders at me. Which had me wondering if he was really telling the truth. He had no reason to lie.

“You think it will really work?” 

“I know it will.”

“Only your hand though. I don’t need your dick pressed up against my ass in the morning.”

I see him fight his laughter. “Just my hand.”

He turns the lights back off and climbs into bed next to me. His hand easily finds mine in the darkness. His fingers interlock with mine.

Aiden’s hand was still locked with mine when I woke. He was sat up in bed, watching me. My other arm was draped across his hips. Immediately, I removed it, a little embarrassed that it was me who had been holding on to him. 

“Did it help?” He asks.

I just nod as I climb out of bed. It had been the first time that I had slept without waking in a sweat. The first time that I woke feeling refreshed. My mind even appeared to be a little calmer.

“You didn’t try anything?” I mutter

“No.” He mutters as he makes the bed.

He moves to a wardrobe. Rummaging through it, he pulls out a tee and some shorts. Handing them to me, he smiles. “These might fit you. Bathroom’s through there.” He points to the bathroom. “I will be at my desk arranging our visit to my father.”

“The King?” It had slipped my mind that we might be going to see the King.

“Yes. You need to speak about Dom.” He sighs.

“And then he will punish me?”

His eyes don’t meet mine, but they tell me everything I need to know.