Ditched Cheating Alpha, I Led My Daughter to Life's Peak novel Chapter 68

He shakes his head. "Don't."

"I thought you didn't like me. You were always so mean..." Oh geez, why'd I say that? "I'm sorry." I move closer to him. He doesn't respond at all.

I touch his arm, but he pulls away from me. "Don't touch me. Don't ever touch me."

"Okay." I know better than anyone else that there are words that can't be unsaid. And you should never touch a person that doesn't want to be touched. So I keep my hands to myself [Selena Gomez anyone?].

He doesn't move at all. He doesn't say a word.

This isn't going anywhere. I look down at the crushed water bottle in my hands. I feel hopeless. Helpless [Hamilton anyone?]. I don't know how to fix this. I don't know what to say.

In fact, I don't know why this is going so wrong in the first place because... because well. It's not like I don't like Aiden. Just because it's easier with his brothers doesn't mean...

My shoulders fall and I pull the water closer to me.

He sighs.

I look up at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Sometimes," he starts, and every syllable feels like a task for him to get out.

I listen carefully because I'm surprised he's even talking at all.

"Sometimes people say that I'm not as easy to get along with as my brothers. Not as forgiving." He looks to the side. "Most of the time they just want to be coddled like infants."

Um...? What?

He keeps going, unfazed. "Infants are weak and defenseless. I want my pack to be strong and capable."

My eyes widen even more if possible. "You can't use babies as an example, Aiden. They're just babies. Of course they're weak."

He looks at me and there's something in his eyes. "Have you ever seen a baby die?" he asks.

I go quiet. My whole body freezes.

There's nothing in his eyes. "They just die, Mia."

I clutch the water bottle.

I look up at him, at a loss for words. I say the only thing I can think of, "I'm not sure if you're aware of this, Aiden, but I'm not dead yet." I offer a small smile.

He looks at me from the corner of his eyes, with a bored expression. "No. I suppose you're not. Yet."

"Yeah, and guess what. There's a difference between letting someone know something and freaking them out," I give him a look.

He shakes his head. "Now you sound like Axel."

"No I..." Hm... I guess I do. Maybe I finally understand what he was trying to say. "All I'm saying is, could you stop with the doomsday prophecies? I get it. I need to be careful and even then I could still die. But that's been true my entire life, even if it's a little more true now." I look down at the floor. Then I look back at him. "Maybe I could train."

He shakes his head. "I don't want your heart to give out."

I nod. I stay quiet for a while. "I could eat healthier. Try not to put myself in harm's way. No soda-"

He puts his hand up. "Can we drop the soda thing already?"

I look down and chuckle under my breath. "You were the one who kind of went crazy."