Ditched Cheating Alpha, I Led My Daughter to Life's Peak novel Chapter 67

Dammit. I fight the urge to slap myself. What the hell did I just say?

I shake my head. I'm already knee-deep in this shit now. I might as well finish what I started. Maybe I'll say something of redemption by explaining. I stare at the back of his head and just let out everything I've been feeling, too much honesty or not.

"At least..." I think of Carson and Axel. "At least they try, and that's all I'm asking. You? You're just like this cold, angry ball of mean, negative energy. You just hate everything, and I'm standing here trying and you don't even care."

This last part hits me like a ton of bricks. It's like I don't even realize what I've been feeling until I finally say it in his presence. "You don't want me dead, but it doesn't feel like you even want me alive either." It's true. If he knew I'd be safe, I think he could live with never seeing me again. No... I think he wishes he never even knew I was alive to begin with.

He wastes no time responding. "Once a month."

"...What?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Once a month is the least amount of times a werewolf can interact with their imprint without losing their mind." He starts walking again. "I'll speak to you when I need to."

My jaw hits the floor. What did he just say to me? I stand there, staring at him wide-eyed. "What, Aiden, do you think you can just take me once a month? You think I'll just politely interact with you when it's convenient? I'm not an fucking antidepressant, Aiden." He's driving me insane. I want to throw this water bottle at his head. "I'm a living person," I scream at him. "You can't talk to me like that."

He turns around abruptly. "I wouldn't have to if you'd just listen."

"To what? You shitting on me? You ordering me around?"

"I'm just trying," his voice raises.

I scoff. "Trying to what?"

"I'm just trying."

I try to think of something to say, but I can't. I just watch him.

He stares at me for a while. Then he looks away. "I'm not my brothers. If that's what you're looking for, you're not going to find it here. So just stay away."

My eyes start burning. Not because I'm going to cry but because I'm so overwhelmed. This is all just so heavy. When did we get so confused? Why is all we do hurt each other? I rub my forehead and whisper. "I don't want you to be your brothers."

He nods. "I know. You don't want me at all."

"No, I'd just like you to be nicer."

"To baby you?"

"You rejected me." he says so quietly I almost miss it.

I look at him. His usual coldness doesn't feel like a harsh stare or irritation towards me. The anger, the aggression, the frustration is pointed towards himself. It looks like it's eating him alive, and he looks so tired.

I have no words. "Aiden."

"You didn't even consider me," he looks at me and there's something in his eyes that makes my heart drop. "I don't understand why I wasn't even an option for you. Have I not tried with you? Have I not shown you... affection?" He looks into the thin air like he's grasping for an answer he'll never find. He looks over me, lingering on my eyes. "Or do you just need Carson to give you that?"

I shake my head. "That's not... I shouldn't have said I prefer him."

"But you did," he says.

I have nothing to say to that. He's right.

He nods, slowly. "An imprint is supposed to be the one person that picks you above anyone else. Who loves you unconditionally." He looks at me incredulously. "You hate me. You're killing me, and I don't even know how to ask you to stop."

I take a step towards him. "I didn't mean to make you feel rejected."