Chapter 38

Lizzie's POV

"What the hell Jack, why the f*ck would you tell her" Aiden's voice booms, it reverberates through the house that it startles Lizzie, stirring her from her sleep. She slowly blinks as she rubs her eyes. She couldn't believe that she'd fallen asleep.

Rolling over, she grabs her phone from Aiden's night stand. She squints at the light before her, trying to register the numbers on the screen as her eyes widen at the time. 

Without wasting a second, she quickly sends a text off to her parents apologising for not telling them about her whereabouts and informing that she'll be home after dress shopping.

She'd make another excuse this week for when she'd actually need to go dress shopping.

"Because she asked" Jack snarls back

At the sound of Jack's voice, Lizzie quickly recalls Aiden's furious tone only moment ago. She slowly crawls out of bed and carefully approaches her door. Thankfully it was open a crack wide allowing her to clearly hear the conversation below.  

"So you thought it was a good idea to scare her, now she'll never feel safe"

A sense of relief washes over Lizzie as she hears Aiden's voice again, he'd safely returned home.

"And you think it's better to keep her in the dark? If she's your mate shouldn't you be trusting her with information"

"Are you questioning my judgement" Aiden asks

Jack pauses for a moment and Lizzie can almost feel his alpha authority rippling through the house. Lizzie almost feels the urge to submit to him.

"My role is to keep her safe, not-"

Aiden pauses as Lizzie leans too much on her door,  it loudly creaks open, announcing her presence. Heat floods through her check as she tentatively takes a step out hoping that Aiden and Jack were too focused on their conversation to acknowledge the creaking door.

Lizzie reaches the end of the hallway as she peers over the railing. To her complete embarrassment  both Jack and Aiden were staring up at her.

"Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt" Lizzie says

Jack only rolls his eyes earning him a glare from Aiden before he looks up at her a small smile on his lips.

"I'm sorry we woke you" Aiden apologises, running a hand through his ruffled hair, taming it. Dirt coated his arms and legs and he had a vicious scratch along his left arm but it appeared to be healing quickly.

"It's not entirely Jack's fault, I wanted to know more about the rogue attacks".  Lizzie explains, hoping to shift some of the heat directed towards Jack.

Aiden's turns towards Jack before looking back at Lizzie, appearing conflicted,

"I understand but it's my role to tell you things"

"Were you going to tell me?"

Aiden hesitates for a moment, "Yes of course"

Lizzie knew in that moment of hesitation that Aiden had never planned on telling her, would've happily kept her in small protected bubble.

"It's probably safe for me to go back home now" Lizzie suggests, knowing there was little point in staying if Aiden was going to soothe her anxiety by feeding her lies.

"Wait, we should talk" Aiden says racing up the stairs, he throws Jack a look as if to indicate that they would resume their conversation later.

Aiden gives Lizzie little time to consider his request as he guides her back to his bedroom, he pauses as he steps into the room, taking a deep breath.

"It smells like you" he says softly, a gentle smile resting on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry" Lizzie admits, wishing she'd sprayed more perfume on this morning.

"No, it's perfect, you should stay over more" He turns looking at her intensely

Aiden gently pulls her onto the bed until they're sitting face to face. Lizzie tries not to let the butterflies creep through her stomach as she stares at Aiden.

"Why didn't you tell me what was happening, didn't you trust me?" Lizzie asks as Aiden goes to speak, he'd probably already prepared some half truth version of the events that happened this afternoon. 

But Lizzie knew that she wasn't going to settle for lies or half-truths, she'd been brought into this world and deserved to know what was happening.

"I do trust you" Aiden says leaning forward to interlink his fingers through hers.

"You only trust me with the superficial things." Lizzie clarifies  "Today you thought I was an Everdale spy because I knew about mindlinking"

Aiden sighs, running his hand through his hair, "Elizabeth, I do trust you, I just reacted badly, I had a lot on my mind"

"With the rogue attack"

He nods,

"Then tell me, I don't want to be kept in the dark" Lizzie says, staring at Aiden

"I don't want to worry you when I can-"

Lizzie interrupts him, "But you do, when you leave and don't explain anything. All I can do is worry".

"But, when Jack told you, all I could feel was your anxiety, the stress literally poured off you. Even from all the way in the forest I could feel your small human heart struggling to catch a breath as it beat against your chest"

Lizzie eyebrows draw in, "How?"

"It's our mate bond beginning to form. Once we're fully mated you'll be able to mind-link with me and the pack"

"You never told me that"

"Elizabeth, there is so much to tell you, I don't want to overwhelm you"

"But I want to be overwhelmed" Lizzie says, earning a surprised look from Aiden. "I want you to tell me about the rogue attacks, if I didn't know the risks then I'd probably go and explore the forest again by myself"

"No" Aiden growls, startling Lizzie.

Lizzie squeezes his hands in reassurance, "I just want you to trust me"

He considers Lizzie's words, "Okay, I will"

...

"Text you're parents, you're going to be home late tonight" Aiden announces as he speeds away from the school.

Lizzie groans, leaning her head back against the headrest. "Please don't tell me Kat's convinced you to take me to another dress shop"

She could already feel her headache looming in the corner of her head.

He chuckles, "Kat did try, but I knew you'd never forgive me"

Lizzie nods in agreement, "I purchased a nice dress yesterday, I'm not sure why Kat was complaining"

She had been at the shop for hours yesterday trying on dresses under Kat's orders. Lizzie kept sending silent pleas of help to Cassandra who would attempt to calm Kat but she was insistent that Lizzie found 'the' dress to wear to the ball.

As the clock had neared 9:00, Lizzie had left purchasing a dress that Kat hadn't entirely approved of. She had wanted Lizzie to go with the long backless silver one that sparkled as she moved.

Lizzie did agree with Kat that the dress suited her well, it was snug against her body accentuating her curves. But with one look at the price tag, Lizzie had returned the dress without a moment of thought.

"It wasn't 'the' dress though" Aiden says, returning Lizzie to the conversation. She raises her eyes to the roof of the car at his imitation of Kat. 

"My dress is fine, the one Kat wanted was too expensive"

"I would've paid for it" Aiden says without hesitation

"I know, Kat mentioned yesterday, but it didn't feel right"

"Elizabeth" Aiden says, "You're my mate and the Luna to the Norhaven pack, you're going to have to get used to spending my money"

Lizzie nods silently, the idea of spending Aiden's money was definitely not something she would ever get used to.

"Where are you taking me then" Lizzie asks as she relaxes into her seat

"It's a surprise" He says, turning towards her grinning.

"A surprise" she squeaks, smiling back at him. "But I'm not dressed to go anywhere nice". Lizzie looks down at her clothes, she managed to find an old but clean top that was tucked in the back of her drawer and a pair of jeans that was one size too big.

It'd been such a busy weekend, that Lizzie hadn't had the time to do her washing and the last thing she wanted to do last night was hand-wash a few items for school.

"You look beautiful, and trust me your outfit is perfect"

At times like these she wondered if Aiden would ever dislike anything she wore.

...

Aiden turns left pulling onto a dirt track, the car vibrates underneath the pieces of rubble and loose rock and Lizzie finally realises why Aiden had driven her in the Jeep.

He drives deeper into the forest so that all Lizzie can see are the tree's huddled together preparing themselves for tonight's chill. Lizzie gazes down at her flimsy jumper and wishes she'd packed a spare coat in her bag.

"Kat's packed you an extra coat to keep warm" Aiden says noticing Lizzie's look of concern at her jumper.

"Thank you" Lizzie says, wishing her face wasn't such an open book.

As Aiden continues driving, Lizzie cant ignore the fact that under different circumstances this would be the perfect beginning to a horror film.

"You're not planning to take me to some abandon house or murder me and hide my body in the forest are you".

"Elizabeth your death is not something to joke about" Aiden says, his tone serious that Lizzie can't help but regret her words. "But to be honest, soon we'll be coming up the gravesite where we dump all the rogue wolves and enemies dead bodies"

"Really" Lizzie gulps as she pulls her face away from the window. This was not something she wanted to see, especially since Henry was considered their enemy.

Aiden leans over, squeezing her hands, "I'm joking, I would never take you anywhere close to that"

"That wasn't funny" Lizzie says as she turns her head to look out the window.

"Neither was your joke about me murdering you"

Lizzie rolls her eyes, "You're honestly so spiteful"

"Yes" Aiden says smiling as this was an achievement that he was proud of.

Aiden slows the car, turning onto a smaller path before he stops at a small clearing.

As she looks out the window, Lizzie gasps at the view before her, a large picnic blanket had been set out, bedecked with pillows and a blanket that sat directly in front of a small log fire.

Lanterns had been placed every few meters illuminating the small patch of forest which was circled by trees.

"This is beautiful" Lizzie whispers

"I wanted us to spend some more time together, away of everything"

Lizzie nods, words escaping her.

"Why don't you go find a comfy spot whilst I get the food and your coat out of the back"

 "You brought food" Lizzie asks in disbelief.

"Of course, I wanted everything to be perfect"

"It is" Lizzie smiles as she slowly opens the car door.

The forest was still awash in the afternoon sunlight, bathing everything in a picturesque glow, as Lizzie takes a seat on one of the cushions, pulling the rug over her legs. The fire crackled in front of her, it's heat providing a comforting warmth against the chill that hung in the air.

Aiden approaches with a picnic basket, settling in next to Lizzie.

"I didn't know what you liked, so I packed a little of everything" Aiden says as he pulls out a platter with cheeses, crackers, fresh fruit, cold meats and sliced vegetables.

"When did you get the time to do all this" Lizzie asks

"I prepared most of the food last night, whilst you were dress shopping and I skipped the last two classes today so I could set up all this"

Lizzie looks around, "This is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me"

"This is only the beginning" Aiden replies lifting her hand to kiss the back of it.

Heat travels to her cheeks as she locks eyes with Aiden, she could honestly get lost in the depths of his ocean blue eyes. Butterflies flutter in her stomach as Aiden closes the distance between them, his lips meeting hers. 

Lizzie leans in closer to Aiden as his hand wraps around her whilst his tongue slowly takes control.

Without breaking contact, Lizzie  surprises herself as she climbs onto Aiden's lap running her fingers through his hair.

He moans, a triumphant feeling passes through Lizzie. She had never experienced anything like this before.

Aiden moves his hand sliding underneath her top startling Lizzie that she pulls back.

"Are you okay" Aiden asks immediately

"Yes" Lizzie says breathlessly, "I just want to take things slow"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I just got caught up" Aiden says not meeting her eyes.

"No no everything was perfect" Lizzie attempts to reassure him but she can see the anguish settling into his face.

"No I shouldn't have rushed you"

"Aiden" Lizzie says cupping his cheeks so his eyes meet hers. "I promise you, it was everything I had imagined it to be, it was utterly perfect"

The worry eases itself from Aiden's features, his lips lifting into a smile.

"It was everything I had imagined too"