Chapter 3

Aurora:

“You can’t be seriously expecting me to work with HIM?” I asked, looking at Alpha Giovanni who smiled at me.

“I know that you are surprised, and in all honesty, I never expected the two of you to be meeting the way that you did; but we both knew that I wouldn’t be staying forever, Aurora” he said, his voice softening.

“I didn’t even know that you had intentions of retiring anytime soon. Yes, I know that you wouldn’t have stayed in your position forever, but I expected to at least be notified. You know, to keep it in mind, to be mentally prepared…”

“You wouldn’t have agreed to work with Dante if you knew. At least, now, you don’t have any excuses, and I know that you don’t like how you two met; but if I mean anything to you, please do this for me” he said, his voice softening. I sighed, and stood up from my chair to get on my knees in front of him.

“Alpha Giovanni, you have been the father that I didn’t have. You saved my life when everyone around me was using me for being alive. I owe you my life for what you did, and you know it; however, I just need a little time to think about how all this is going to go. I know that you want me to work with him, and I know that I can never do anything to repay the debt that you did for me, but…” I said, stopping as I felt my chest ache. The fact that he didn’t even notice me as his mate broke my wolf, causing her to quiet down completely. But I knew not to tell Giovanni that his son was my potential mate “just let me think about it. I still have to speak to Aiden about this too”

“I thought that you two had an open relationship?” He asked, watching as I got up. I nodded and smiled.

“I told you that last night would be the last time I slept with any of the other men. I want us to try being real. You know, considering that it was me who told him that I wanted our relationship to be an open one, I believe that I should at least try speaking to him about wanting us to be real” I said, smiling. Giovanni chuckled and nodded. He got up from his chair and cupped my cheeks, gently kissing my forehead.

“You are forever going to be my daughter, do you understand that? I got Dante here, and I know that it is a matter of time till I’ve found my mate and daughter. They might not even forgive me for leaving the way that I did, but I know at least that I have someone who I can say considered me as her father over the years” he said, his tone softening. I stood on my toes and wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

“I will forever be grateful for your existence in my life, and whether or not you were my Alpha, my respect for you will always be infinite” 

******************************* 

I entered Aiden’s building, Casper’s Co., smiling at the employees who nodded in greeting at me. 

It wasn’t the first time that I came here, but this was the first time I’ve come unannounced; however, I wanted to surprise him with a nice brunch for the two of us.

I knocked on the door of his office twice before his secretary opened it for me. Her hair was messed up and needless to say that her makeup was a little messed up. She smiled at me and walked out, leaving me with Aiden who was fixing his shirt when he took sight of me.

“Someone was having fun” I teased, entering the office.

“Sienna was just leaving, but I wasn’t expecting you, is everything alright?” He asked, taking a step toward me. I extended the bags of food for him to see, and smiled.

“I brought us brunch, figured that it has been a while since the two of us have spent any time together…” 

“You are a lifesaver, you have no idea how starving I was” he said, stopping me. I couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t bother kissing or hugging me in greeting when he took the bags, and heading to the couch, the two of us sat, leaving a small distance between us.

Aiden dug in without saying a word, the man didn’t even bother looking at me “it is either you are very hungry, or something is bothering you” 

“No, nothing is bothering me. But I have been meaning to talk to you about something”

“So was I…” I said, smiling at him, my cheeks reddening as I blushed, now unsure how to open the subject.

“Oh? What’s wrong? Is everything alright at work?” 

“Yes, yes, everything is fine. You start though, I need to arrange the words properly in my head before saying them” I said, fiddling with my fingers, growing more nervous by the second.

“I think we should break up” now, to say that I didn’t expect that would not be a lie. My heart felt like it fell out of my chest, and instead, I felt like a bucket of boiling water was spilled over it.

“What?” 

“I know we agreed to keep this as an open relationship, but I can’t find myself looking at you as more than a friend, and I can’t keep doing this anymore…”

“Is it about us not spending time together? I already arranged myself at work to…”

“No, no, Aurora, it is not that” he said, stopping me “I’m in love with Sienna, Aurora”

I froze, processing his words for a few seconds before he went on, seeing as I didn’t respond “she is pregnant, and the two of us planned on getting married in a few months. I have been meaning to talk to you about it, but the two of us never had the time to do so”

“Sienna, as in your secretary, Sienna?” I asked, looking down at my lap. Aiden didn’t respond for a few seconds before he nodded, and swallowing the lump that formed in my throat, I smiled and nodded “well then, I wish the two of you a happy life together”

I got up from the couch and walked to the door before he could see the tears that formed in my eyes, not wanting to give him that bit of satisfaction “what were you going to say?”

“It doesn’t matter” I said, looking at him over my shoulder “have a nice brunch and I hope that you and Sienna are happy together”

“Aurora…”

I walked out of the office before he could say another word, practically running out the building. My tears fell from my eyes before I could stop them, and had it not been for the fact that my wolf was giving me the strength to keep walking, I know that I might have fallen on my knees as his words played in my head. 

Stopping in front of a bus stop, I forced myself to wipe my tears from my eyes before my phone vibrated in my pocket. I picked it up, expecting to find a message from Aiden only to be surprised when I found that it was from Giovanni.

-Don’t get too carried away with Aiden, mi amor, you still have a dinner date with Dante, and attached below is contact number in case you decided to say that you didn’t find the paper;).

Stay safe, and have fun.

I glared at the message for a few seconds before throwing my phone back in my purse, cursing under my breath as I massaged my temple while I sat on the bench.

Thank you, Giovanni, that was just what I fucking needed…