Chapter 52: Almost Discovered

Chapter 52: Almost Discovered

Aria’s POV

“Aria!”

That was the last thing I heard from Kael before I felt a sharp pain in my mind and passed out. Opening my eyes, I felt a strong rosy scent fill the entire room and surprisingly, it wasn’t my room, it was Kael’s room.

I slowly turned my head, moaning as the sudden pain hit my chest. I tried to sit upright but it was impossible. My body ached as though I had done some hard labor without taking any pain relief medications before going to sleep–the same kind of pain I felt that day.

“You are finally awake.”

Kael’s sharp, annoyed voice greeted me. Turning to the direction his voice came from, I was met with a piercing gaze sharp enough to penetrate my skin. Fear gripped me, and a sudden embarrassment washed over me.

I thought I had messed things up regarding the wolfing out until he pointed at my neck.

“When were you going to inform us that you have a mate?”

Frustration shot into my chest and I started panicking. He saw it, he saw the mate mark Jace left on my neck. Damn it! I should have known that Kael would see it.

“Who did it?”

His face was still stern when he asked me. And the fear of telling it to him scared me to the bone. They’d basically warned me to stay away from him. If I told him it was Jace and the rest of my brothers found out, hell would let loose.

“It’s just a bite.”

I forced a smile, hoping he would buy that and forget the mark.

“How do you see me, Aria?”

He asked, stepping closer to the bed.

“As my brother. So tell me how it went. Did she come out? How was she? Huge? Small? Pretty? Or…”

“Don’t even try to change the topic.”

He scowled. To stop him from saying anything further, I frowned.

“Dude, that’s my business not yours!”

I snapped, glaring into his eyes.

“But I am your oldest brother and…”

“And I am your Alpha leader. Didn’t you say my business stays with me and I have the right to involve anyone or not?”

He looked defeated.

“But that doesn’t mean you can’t tell your brothers you have a mate. Who is he? You should know that you must announce him so that everyone knows you have a mate.”

More like Jace announcing me because how would I announce the Supreme Alpha as my mate? So funny.

“I heard you. So do not push me, I will do that at my convenience. Now answer my question!”

Even though it was all over his face that he didn’t like the topic being changed, Kael still answered my questions because he knew his little sister well.

“She is so pretty and…”

He was interrupted by Damien, Elias, and Rafe who had just barged in.

“We heard you passed out. How bad is it?”

They chorused, fear written all over their faces.

“Not too bad…”

Kael said, sitting on a stool.

“Aria wolfed out.”

“What!”

They exclaimed, their eyes wide in shock.

“Was it painful?”

They rushed to my side, holding my hands and touching my face.

“It wasn’t.”

I smiled. Truthfully, aside from the sharp pain in my chest before I passed out, I felt nothing more. Thinking about my intimate moment with Jace really did ease the whole thing.

“Oh, my poor baby.”

Rafe gently tucked a strand of my hair behind my left ear.

“Why didn’t you inform us beforehand? We would have been there with you to support you.”

I was lucky they weren’t there because they would only instill more fear into my soul.

“And she has a mate.”

Kael suddenly turned the caring atmosphere to something else.

“A mate?”

They chorused again.

“Yes, the one she is keeping from us. Look at her neck, she has a fresh mark on it which means she either got it yesterday or today.”

“What!”

They exclaimed again, this time, pissing me off. Must they always talk at once?

“Aria?”

They called, pulling away from me one after the other until they were at the edge of the bed. The four of them kept staring at me, demanding an explanation I wasn’t willing to give.

“Bruh! Some of my life isn’t your business!”

I scoffed, leaning against the headboard.

“It is. You are our sister. What if it is someone we don’t like?”

Rafe frowned, numbing the tattoo on his face.

“Then you must learn to like him because he is the one I chose–my mate.”

I was even surprised by what I said. I never intended to say that, not to them.

“Whoa!”

Damien shook his head.

The room went quiet as if there weren’t any people in it except for the sound of the air conditioner.

“Guys?”

Elias broke the silence.

“I think I saw Jace in the Bloodmoon pack today.”

My heart thudded.

“He was coming out of her company…”

He pointed at me, his eyes squinted in suspicion.

“You said the mark is fresh…”

“Was it Jace?!”

Kael snapped, his eyes turning red.

I slowly got down from the bed, slid my foot into my slippers, and managed to stand straight.

“You guys are exaggerating it.”

I chuckled softly.

“Why would I let someone like Jace mark me?”

“Then what was he doing in your company?”

“To assure me that the Redmoon Pack won’t trouble me anymore. I told you guys he was helping.”

Before they could pin me down with another question, I had managed to leave the room. As quickly as I could, I hurried inside my room, shut the door, and turned in the keys. It was already midnight so none of them would want to disturb me again.

‘Why did you do that’

Liza finally spoke, angrily.

“You want them to go after Jace?”

‘They can’t. He is the Supreme Alpha.’

“Apparently, you’ve forgotten who my brothers really are. And for goodness sake, stop saying things about Jace. I am sure it was you who put those words in my mouth earlier on.”

‘Of course, Aria. I am an Alpha wolf and all I do is control who is housing me.’

Oh, so that was it! Luckily, I am a master at blocking Liza so it wouldn’t be so hard to block her from prying into my affairs.

‘Jace’s wolf wants us, and Jace loves you a lot. Just put aside the prejudice and accept your fate.’

That was the most painful insult ever. How could she? Anyways, that wasn’t the problem. The real problem was how not to let my brothers find out that the person who marked me was Jace.