Chapter 24

Aaliyah POV

I wake to the light of the sun peeking in our bedroom window. I feel the familiar heat of Aaron surrounding me.

“Aaliyah,” I hear his soft voice mumble as he pulls me closer.

I shift slightly around, so I can sees his face. His body is relaxed and a light smile graces his lips. Our naked bodies run against one another and heat moves through my body as this new need radiates up.

“Aaron,” I whisper, wanting him to wake up with me.

His eyelids open and I’m met with the chocolate brown eyes I’ve fallen in love with.

“Morning angel.”

“Morning,” I kiss him, pulling us closer together. When I pull back, the need increases and Aiya yells at me to mate with him again.

We mated last night, I think to myself.

“You’re mine,” he says, definitely listening into my thoughts.

“All yours,” I agree, kissing him again.

“Just one last step, angel,” he reminds me.

“The sharing,” I hesitate saying I want to do it. There are so many memories in my head I would rather never think about again, and now I will have to relive some of them, “I don’t know if I’m strong enough for that.”

“Oh Aaliyah,” he whispers, “You are the strongest person I’ve ever met.”

“I wish I felt that way,” I say to him, not really believing his words, “But I want to be. I want to be strong enough to be your mate, your Luna.”

“You are going to be the greatest Luna this pack has ever had.”

We kiss again, running our hands over each other. I feel closer to him than ever as we move as one. The feeling of bliss falls over us at the same time.

I can feel the love he has for me wash over our bond like a tsunami.

“Let’s do it,” I say breathlessly as we both try to catch our breathes.

He laughs lightly at that, “Pretty sure we just did.”

I smile and laugh at that, “I mean the sharing.”

“Really?” He moves back to watch my eyes. I know he won’t agree if he spits even a glimmer of hesitation, but he won’t find any.

“I trust you, Aaron,” I tell him, “I can’t tell you that I’m not scared to go into my memories, I want this. I want to complete our bond.”

We kiss again and I try to show him the love I have for him, even if I still can’t say the words aloud.

*****

We sit together on our bed as we stare into one another’s eyes. He holds my hands tightly as he keeps watching me.

“Are you sure?” He asks again.

“You don’t need to keep asking,” I say, “I’m not going to change my mind, Aaron.”

He smiles at that, “Remember that as we go into my memories, don’t let go of my hand. If we separate, we could get lost in my mind.”

“I promise I won’t let go.”

He leans forward and rests his forehead against mine. Keeping our eyes connected, I reach into his mind until I connect to his mind’s door.

I knock softly against the wood and I see the knob turn before Aaron opens it on the other side. Light surrounds us as I walk inside with him.

The light fades away and we stand in the living room of his parents’ house. I see a little version of Aaron running around the room and placing stuffed animals in every open spot.

He’s adorable with his floppy hair and big brown eyes. He’s maybe three or four in this memory, so his chubby cheeks are big with a giant smile holding his face hostage.

"What are you doing?" I ask Aaron as I smile at his younger self.

"My parents are bringing my sister home from the hospital, so I put all of my toys out so she could pick which ones she wanted to play with. I wanted to be the best big brother every."

"And you thought giving a newborn your stuffed animals would do that?" I giggle at the adorable notion.

“Hey it made sense in my little mind,” he laughs at his logic, “Thatcher and Zach were always arguing over sharing their toys and I didn’t like that. I thought if I showed my sister that I would share toys with her, that would make me a good brother.”

“So what happened when they got here?” I ask him.

“My mother wouldn’t stop laughing when I explained it,” he chuckles, “But I got my sister to smile for the first time. Made me feel like the greatest brother in the world.”

“Of that, I have no doubt,” I say honestly. Aaron is the most protective and loving person I have ever met. I’m not shocked those qualities made him a great brother as well as they will make him a perfect alpha.

Light starts to blur around us as we shift into another memory. When it fades, we are standing in a cafeteria of a school. I sees kids running around me as shouting wings out.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” Is chanted over and over as I take in the scene before me.

Aaron is maybe ten and is fighting another boy.

“What is this?” I turn to him beside me.

“Since we are one of the largest packs in the region, we allow the smaller ones to send their children to school with us. We were shifters or shifter family only so it was safer for the students in case anyone shifted. With young shifters, they don’t have the greatest control over their animal spirits.”

I nod my head in understanding. Many of the packs I grew up with had similar systems. The bigger packs would have private schools inside them and the little packs and groups could send their kids.

I even lived in one pack where they let the kids of a group of rogues attend. Each kid was offered a place in the pack after graduation if they wanted to be free of the rogue life. As long as they followed all the rules and kept their head down growing up, they got in.

“I’ll have to mention that to my father,” Aaron whispers in my ear. I didn’t even realize I left my thoughts open.

“There were a lot of issues in the beginning, but it was nice for those who needed it. It wasn’t the kids fault for being born a rogue,” I say and then nod towards the fight in front of us, “What happened here?”

“Rogue kids aren’t the only issue with multiple packs in one place. An alpha kid from one of our neighbors was in our class. We would butt heads a lot,” he explains to me, “I had found out that he tried to attack Thatcher without

“You were defending your pack,” I mumble as I watch his younger self knock the kid out. Aaron won the fight, “I get why this memory is one of your core.”

His eyebrows cross in question as he looks down at me.

“You aren’t only an alpha, but you’re a protector,” I lean against his arm. I rest my chin on his shoulder and look up at him, “Just like you’re my protector.”

He leans down and kisses my on the forehead. The light surrounds us again and we shift into another memory.

When the light fades, I recognize the woods around us. We are in the trees near the center of the pack with a multitude of wolves around us. I spot the dark fur of Aaron’s wolf standing ahead of us.

“A pack run?” I ask him.

“This is the first pack run I ran where I led the pack. I was eighteen when I started to take on the alpha responsibilities. By leading the pack run, I earned the respect and acceptance of the pack as the next alpha.”

We watch his wolf circle the pack until he stands before them all. His wolf sends out waves of strength and confidence. He is the impediment of an alpha wolf.

“I’ll never forget the feeling of the pack accepting me,” he says as I watch the similar feeling wash over him again, “I knew in that moment that I was the alpha. I didn’t need to challenge my father for the role. When the time comes, I will become what I’ve always been. I’m the alpha.”

“Until you stepped back for me,” I mumble as I look down towards the ground. I feel shame roll over me that my mate has had to give up so much for me.

“Hey. I don’t regret for one moment stepping back to help you heal,” he cups my face in one of his palms and pulls me closer. He makes sure my hand is still securely in his to keep our tether, “You are everything to me, angel. My love, my life, my soul. I would give up everything if it means I get you.”

“I don’t want you to give up anything for me.”

“I know,” he kisses me softly as the light surrounds us again. We move into the next memory as I focus on the feeling of being in my mate’s arms.

Looking around us, I spot the trees and greens. I recognize the woods as the same one that I escaped into after the laboratory.

“What is this?” I feel my fear spike as I spot my mate before me.

“This is the moment,” he tells me, “This is when I found an angel.”

I watch on as he takes off running through the trees. He plows into the hunter that had tracked me from the lab and ripped into him. We watch as he saves my life.

He stands over me like a protective warrior and when I watch our eyes connect, I feel our bond tug in my chest. The bond ties us together and solidifies the moment we meet.

“I’m one of your most important memories,” I say more to myself than to him.

“One of them?” He laughs slightly and hugs me close to him, “You are the most important. Every memory with you is the best moment of my life.”

We move out of the memory and back into the world. When my eyes open again, I watch him looking at me with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen.

A little dimple pops out near his right cheek before he’s kissing me again.

“I love you, angel,” he tells me between kisses, “I always will.”