Honey, give me a call.
I’m not angry. I just want to know you’re okay.
And ignore what the horrible people in the media are saying.
Si?
Hey
Thanks for checking in, mom
I’m fine
What you did was so brave.
Your father and I are here for you if you need us. We love you.
Thanks. That means a lot
This whole thing is really teaching me about my friends.
Patty came over right away and started saying some not nice things.
I don’t think I’ll be speaking to her again.
Jeez, was my mom seriously losing friends over what I’d done? That was the last thing I wanted to happen.
And what was the media saying about me?
Sister, all the gals at work think you’re awesome 💁♀️
I’m so proud to be related to you!
Not that I wasn’t before lol
Thanks, sis 😂
I appreciate the support
Im starting a new collection
calling it “fuck the pack-riarchy”
too far?
Just right, Goldilocks 👌
So, I was destroying friendships ~and~ spearheading social movements.
Great. Just great.
***
The car dropped us off at the pack house. I thought about having it take me home instead, but Aiden’s texts and voicemails had made it clear he had to deal with damage control and would be there for the rest of the day.
What they didn’t make clear was how he was feeling about what happened. About what I did. And not knowing was killing me.
As I approached Aiden’s office, I saw his mother coming out of it.
Well, she certainly hadn’t wasted any time poisoning his mind against me. And she probably wouldn’t waste any time before insulting me either.
“So ~there’s~ the woman of the hour,” she sneered. “Or should I say ‘child’?”
~Bingo.~
She put her hands on her hips. “Do you have any idea what your thoughtless little tantrum has done, missy? You’ve made a fool of my son and the entire pack!”
“Actually, I knew exactly what I was doing.”
“And what did you think ~that ~was, honey?”
“Refusing to participate in an archaic ritual that made me feel extremely uncomfortable.”
“Did you ever question why, in the thousands of years the pack has existed, you were the first to refuse to shift?”
I shrugged. “Times change.”
“Yes, my dear, they do. But people don’t.”
“Clearly,” I muttered under my breath as Charlotte stalked off down the hall.
Aiden was on the phone when I finally entered his office. He held up a finger to let me know it would be a moment before he was free.
I took comfort in the fact that he looked at me with the face of a man buried in work, not a man furious with his mate.
Still, his distance upset me.
I started running through what I would say to him when he got off the phone. How would I start? What if he said he was working late and I should go home without him?
“Hey, little girl.”
I looked up. Was he finished already? I still had no idea how I should begin.
“Hey, Mr. Wolf,” I said, stalling. “I wanted to know if you needed a lift home tonight.”
~A lift home?~ No, I wanted to know if we could talk about how I just turned our life upside down.
“Depends on who’s driving.” He stood up and walked toward me with a swagger that made my mouth water.
~Focus, Sienna.~
But instead of kissing me like I wanted, he stopped a few paces away and crossed his arms.
I couldn’t stand this tension between us. It was like we were each waiting for the other to take the first swing. The playful flirtations of the other morning felt like a millennium ago.
“Aiden, I want to talk about this afternoon.”
“What about it?”
“Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Don’t make me spell it out. You know I’m sorry about all this. It wasn’t my intention—”
“Look, Sienna, I understand why you didn’t shift.”
“You do? Then why are you acting so cold?”
His expression shifted to one of disdain. “I didn’t say I agreed with it.”
I couldn’t figure out what hurt me more, the fact that he understood how much pain it would cause me yet still pushed me to go through with it or that, even after the fact, he was upset with my decision.
My desire for reconciliation began to evaporate, replaced by a boiling rage.
“Why is it so hard for you to let go of your stupid traditions!” I clenched my fists. “Can’t you see they’re tearing us apart?
“And for what? So the pack can sleep happy, knowing that their alpha and his mate are at home fucking every night, trying to conceive the next alpha?”
“Why don’t we talk about this tomorrow, Sienna. We’ve both had long days.” His face stayed impassive, like he wasn’t really seeing me. “But I would suggest you take some time to cool off before you go home.”
I couldn’t believe he wanted to sideline this like it was some trivial item on his agenda. His nonchalance only stoked the fire inside of me.
“I’m not going to pick a fight with your mother, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“Really? Because you just blew up at me pretty easily, and all I did was try to reason with you.”
~I can’t believe him right now!~
“You call that reason? If it weren’t for these arbitrary rules, would you even want children? When was the last time you actually did something because you wanted to do it and not because it was dictated to you by some dusty book?”
Aiden scowled, and I could hear his heated breath escaping through his flared nostrils.
He got up close, and I had to tilt my head back so I could keep his gaze. We stared at each other for a full minute, both waiting for the other to speak, until finally, Aiden broke the silence.
“Grow up, Sienna.”
Out of all the things he could have said, that was the one that hurt the most.
It was clear to me now that I would never get through to him with words alone. I needed to do something that would grab his attention. I had to hit him where I knew it would hurt.
As I caught his gaze wandering down to my neckline, I knew I had my answer.
“On second thought, I refuse to put up with your parents’ disrespect for another evening. I’ll be sleeping at my parents’ house tonight.
“And until you and I come to an agreement about starting a family—and your parents decide to either get with the times or remain in the past and send us the occasional postcard—I won’t be coming home.”
Aiden gave me an assessing look. “I’m calling your bluff. The haze is going to hit any day now. You won’t be able to stay away.”
“I made do for two seasons before I met you, Aiden Norwood. I’m pretty sure I can take care of myself for a third.”
“That was before you were mated. The haze will let me do things to you that you can’t even imagine.”
I swallowed, but put on a brave face. “You don’t intimidate me, Aiden Norwood. We’ve been making love for a whole year. Even if you have a few new tricks, they won’t be enough to sway me.”
He leaned in so that his lips were inches from my ear. “We’ll see about that,” he whispered.
“Bring it on,” I replied, chomping my teeth.
Surely he would know I was serious now.
“I’ll see you on Monday then,” he said, straight-faced.
I couldn’t believe this was happening.
~What have I done?~
***
It felt like half of me was missing when I woke up the next morning in my childhood bed. Last night was the first time I’d slept alone since Aiden and I were mated.
Not that I slept much. Instead, I’d lain there replaying the scene in Aiden’s office over and over in my head.
If only I could go back and handle it all differently.
I went downstairs to join my parents for breakfast, but I could barely eat.
If my pangs of regret hadn’t suppressed my appetite already, then my parents’ pitying glances at me—and meaningful looks at each other—would have finished the job.
hey Si
👏👏👏
u ok?
Not really
Can’t wait for all this to blow over
that makes 2 of us
josh has been super pissy about it 😒🐺
but I set hm straight lol
Thx, Mich ❤️
here for u bitch 😘