Page 13 of Country and Clove
Life felt empty, meaningless, cold. The burning ache in Aaron’s muscles was the only thing reminding him that he was still alive. Two weeks had passed since he rejected the mate bond and the ache in his chest hadn’t lessened one bit. He thought of Clove every second of the day. His wolf was in mourning. The damn animal practically howled its unhappiness, clawing up his insides, urging him to go to her. His body was sore and tight. He’d upped his physical exertion to an all-time high in the past few weeks. If he wasn’t working, he was running, hitting the gym, patrolling the woods, or practicing drills in the training room.
He and Lucas were currently partaking in one of their morning runs. The two of them moved through the mountains and forest until the sun rose, bathing Mountain’s End in its silky purples and soft peach. Aaron sighed. Even the color peach made him think of Clove and her mouthwatering, juicy scent. The sunrise hues brightened, spilling over the forest and dipping the trees in pastel-painted yellows and pinks. They were nearly to the base of the mountain when the soft blue of the new day filled the sky above.
“We’re back early. Wanna grab breakfast at The Coop?” asked Lucas.
“Let’s grab something from the complex cafeteria instead,” Aaron quickly offered. He couldn’t go back to The Coop. Couldn’t risk seeing Clove there, serving up coffee and beaming in the way that only she did. One whiff of her scent and he’d lose all the resolve he’d built up.
Lucas eyed him for a moment but agreed to the request. Lucas had been pushing for The Coop nearly every day and Aaron had turned him down each time. It almost felt like Lucas knew something, and was testing Aaron when he suggested it. Aaron hadn’t told Lucas about Clove. He hadn’t told anyone. Everyone had their secrets, especially Lucas. Maybe that’s why he tended to know when it was okay to pry, and when to let it go.
The complex cafeteria actually had pretty good food. Lucas got himself two trays and then forced Aaron to eat the second tray in addition to his own. Lucas just shrugged, pretending it was no big deal.
“You’ve been running your body extra hard lately. You need to fuel up.” He was hard to say no to. That’s how Lucas was now. Always checking on Aaron, making sure he ate, slept. It hadn’t always been like this. Just since the attack.
The meeting with Gideon today was one he’d been dreading for a while. Everyone had been respectful with the mourning period for the lost lycans from Aaron’s team, but it had been more than two months. Aaron’s sleep had been shit the past few nights. Okay, it had been shit for months now, but even more so recently. This meeting was like a ticking bomb in his heart. It was time to move forward, he knew that. But the lingering nightmares that plagued him held his grief in some sort of prolonged, unhealable stasis.
Every night they cried out for his help, and every night he watched them die.
He couldn’t save them even in his dreams. Those fucking Veil creatures had blindsided them. Both monsters had been deadly, but it was the one in the sky that haunted Aaron most. The wraith. The way it plucked his recruits off the ground one by one, draining their blood and then dropping them to their deaths.
Aaron shuddered at the memory. Wolves were incredible fighters—on the ground. They had no defense against monsters who could fucking fly.
Gideon’s office door swung wide as Aaron approached. Aaron and Gideon were close friends, but they both knew when to step into their work shoes and focus on business.
“Come on in.” Gideon placed his hand on Aaron’s shoulder as he walked past. The Alpha energy was soothing, safe, and just what he needed to steady his spun-up nerves.
Gideon’s office was massive but familiar. Dahlia’s scent was all over the space. It grew particularly strong as they approached the oversized desk.Note to self, don’t touch anything. Gideon had sprayed some type of expensive cologne in the air but he wasn’t fooling anyone.
“Have a seat.”
“Before I do, mind telling me which one you’ve had the least sex on?”
Gideon’s lips pressed into a flat line and a faint red crept up his neck. He sighed. “The one on the left is a better choice.” He cleared his throat and Aaron frowned at Gideon’s guilty expression. Apparently having a fated mate made you do all sorts of stupid things. Including fucking your wife on the desk directly before a meeting. Aaron shook his head. Things here were getting more unbearable by the day.
A quick, unwanted vision of Clove splayed out across the desk with her lips parted and knees pressed to her chest while he pounded the life out of her danced behind his eyes. He swallowed, quickly pushing the image away. The office doors opened again and Dr. Sawyer entered. He was flanked on either side by Lucas and Dane. It gave Aaron pause. This was supposed to be a meeting between himself and Gideon. He looked to Lucas, and his friend gave him a regretful smile.
“What’s going on?” Aaron asked, his defenses rising.
“I asked these three to be here for support. You’re a vital part of this pack, Aaron. For years now we’ve trusted you with training our recruits.” Gideon stilled and the three men stood near the edge of the desk. “What you went through is unfathomable.” Gideon dropped his voice, his tone sympathetic. “But it’s been two months, and we cannot afford to put off training a new batch of recruits any longer. That being said, I’d like to offer you a choice.”
Aaron’s heart was beating a torturous rhythm against his rib cage but his blood had run cold. “What’s the choice?” he asked, his throat dry.
“You can pick up where you left off and take on a new group of recruits.” Gideon’s eyes softened. “But if it’s too soon, we can reassign you to Lucas’s division to help with search and rescue ops and private security. I want to make sure you’re ready. After everything that happened—”
“I’m ready.” Aaron stood, his face burning. “This is my job. When I accepted that position, I never intended to let it go. My pack is counting on me.”
“But if you need more time—”
“I need to get back to work. Sitting around obsessing over the past isn’t helping me. Training new recruits and ensuring they’re prepared for something like that in the future is what I want to do. Ineedto do.” He took a shaky breath in. “I need to do this.”
Gideon leaned back in his chair, thoughtfully. “I have conditions.”
“What are they?” Aaron already knew he was going to hate where this was going.
“You can take over the new recruits again, with Dane as your assistant.” Dane stood stoically beside Lucas. “I believe he will be a great addition to the training team. I also need you to check in weekly with Dr. Sawyer to ensure you’re holding up mentally and physically.” Aaron opened his mouth to protest but Gideon silenced him with a wave of Alpha energy. “I know you’re going to claim that you feel fine, but the truth is you aren’t fine. We’ve all noticed a shift in your behavior, personality, and habits over the last few months. It’s understandable after what you went through. It doesn’t make you any less right for the job, but it does mean you’ll require extra support for the foreseeable future.”
Aaron couldn’t shake the feeling that they thought he was damaged goods. Something permanently broken.
Gideon stood, rounding the desk, and placed his hand on Aaron’s shoulder. “Let us be here for you.”
