Fake Heiress True Luna (Irina) novel Chapter 27

Chapter 27: I’m Going To Kill Him

Aiden’s POV

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I leaned back against the heavy wood, dragging a hand down my face. Irina’s words-her fury, her pain, the absolute, gut-wrenching truth in them-replayed in my mind on a vicious loop.

‘You hated me. I never understood why, but you hated me.’

“She’s right,” Arlo snarled, his voice a torment in my head. “You’ve been a colossal, prideful fool. And now she thinks you brought another female to torment her. She thinks you want

Debbie.”

“I had to!” I growled back, pushing off the door and pacing the room like a caged animal. “/ didn’t want the Elders to keep pestering me about taking Julie as a fated mate.”

“You could have told her the truth.”

“Yeah, right, like she would f*****g let me.”

My phone vibrated in my pocket, a jarring intrusion. I yanked it out, ready to snap at whoever was interrupting this fresh hell.

It was Ethan.

I almost didn’t answer, but if I kept thinking about Irina, I was going to go insane. I needed a

distraction.

“What?” I barked, my voice rougher than intended.

“Well, hello to you too, sunshine,” Ethan’s lazy drawl filled the line. “Just got off the phone with my dear cousin. She says the Blue Moon pack is lovely, the rooms are adequate, and she met the most beautiful omega she’s ever seen. Said she had spirit. Also said she heard you and said omega having a rather… heated discussion in the hallway. Care to fill me in? I’m certain the omega she is referring to is Irina.”

I closed my eyes, a fresh wave of frustration washing over me. Of course Debbie had called

him. Of course.

“Ethan,” I sighed, the fight draining out of me, leaving only a hollow, weary ache. “It’s not what you think.”

“Sure, you are going to come up with another excuse, but I won’t buy it this time. Irina is your mate, isn’t she?”

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I sighed. “She is.”

“And yet you brought my cousin into this mess.”

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“She saw us arrive,” I said, the words feeling like ash in my mouth. “She saw me help Debbie out of the car. She thinks… she thinks Debbie is my girlfriend or something.”

The line was silent for a beat. Then, Ethan burst out laughing. It was a full, rich, utterly amused sound that grated on every single one of my raw nerves.

“You’re joking. Please tell me you’re joking. You brought my notoriously bubbly, completely platonic cousin, who everyone knows is like a sister to me, and will probably gag if she were mated to you? Moon Goddess, Aiden, even for you, this is a new level of idiocy.”

“I’m still your Alpha,” I growled.

“You are, but I’m your Beta and apparently Irina is our Luna,” He countered.

“She is not our Luna,” I snapped back. “I won’t accept the bond.”

Ethan let out a long and heavy sigh. “Why? I know you had some grudge with her, and to be honest, I never truly understood why.”

“It doesn’t matter. She is not going to become Luna, and that is final,” I growled, the words tasting like a lie even as I said them. Arlo let out a furious snarl, a visceral rejection of the statement that made my head pound.

“Right,” Ethan said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Because it makes perfect sense to reject your fated mate, the one your wolf clearly wants, in favor of… what, exactly? Eternal brooding? Watching her from a distance while she eventually finds someone who isn’t too much of a coward to claim her? Because let me tell you, from what Debbie said, that new Alpha, Reigrow, seems plenty interested. And he doesn’t seem like the cowardly type.”

The image of Derek’s hand on Irina’s waist flashed behind my eyes, followed by the memory of her defending him. Rage, hot and acidic, burned through my veins.

“He’s a rogue who challenged his own Alpha,” I snapped. “He’s dangerous.”

“He was a rogue. Now he is an Alpha, and if he is interested, he is going to go for it,” Ethan argued back.

“I picked your call to be in a better mood, not to make it worse,” I grumbled as I still looked

out the window.

I saw a familiar figure walking outside. She was carrying a huge trail to set the tables for the Alpha ceremony.

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Chapter 27: I’m Going To Kill Him

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Even in those ragged clothes, even if her hair was not as bright as it used to be, she was

beautiful.

“I won’t lie, you have the worst temper I have ever seen, but since you are not here, I can call you out on your bullshit,” Ethan snickered. “Jokes aside, you should really think about what you want to do next, because whatever the reason for your hatred is, it may cost you everything.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. This conversation was only dragging me deeper into a pit of frustration. Irina was outside, working herself to the bone, and here I was, hiding in a room, arguing with my Beta about a past I’d let fester for far too long.

“Ethan,” I said, my voice losing its edge, replaced by a weary resignation. “Just drop it.”

“I can’t,” he replied, his tone shifting from teasing to deadly serious. “Because my job is to protect my Alpha. And right now, the biggest threat to you isn’t Reigrow, or some rogue pack. It’s you. Your pride is going to destroy you. It’s already destroying her. I know you think she was pampered and spoiled. I thought so myself, but I’m not so sure anymore. After what I saw in our pack, I’ve been asking around and learned a few things.”

“Like?” I questioned.

“Like she was rejected, every publicly, if I may add,” He replied. “She has suffered enough, don’t you think, Aiden?”

As if on cue, my eyes were drawn back to the window. Irina stumbled under the weight of the heavy tray, her body swaying. She caught herself, but the effort was visible even from this distance. She was exhausted, pushed to her limit.

A fresh wave of that unfamiliar feeling-the one that had choked me when I saw her bloody and broken in the woods-washed over me. It was a fierce, protective urge so strong it stole my breath. It wasn’t just Arlo. It was me.

“She is thinner. Whatever is going on here, our mate is suffering,” Arlo whispered, his anger gone, replaced by a profound, aching regret.

“I have to go,” I said abruptly, cutting Ethan off.

“Aiden, wait-”

I ended the call and shoved the phone into my pocket, my entire focus narrowing to the woman in the garden below. The reasons, the excuses, the years of bitter history-they all faded into white noise. None of it mattered in that moment. All that mattered was her.

I strode out of my room, my purpose clear for the first time in years. I didn’t have a plan. I

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didn’t have the right words. I only had a driving need to get to her, to stop her from carrying that burden alone for one damn second.

I took the stairs two at a time, bypassing the main halls and heading straight for the side door that led to the gardens. The cool evening air hit my face as I stepped outside, the scent of damp earth and flowers doing little to calm the frantic beat of my heart.

I saw her then. The setting sun caught the sweat on her brow and the slight tremor in her hands.

She hadn’t noticed me yet. She was in her own world of duty and exhaustion.

I walked toward her, each step feeling more decisive than the last. The anger that had always been my default setting around her was gone, burned away in the crucible of our hallway confrontation and Ethan’s blunt truth-telling. What was left was something raw, terrifying, and undeniable.

She finally sensed my approach and went rigid, her back straightening. She didn’t turn around, but her shoulders tensed, bracing for another attack.

I stopped a few feet behind her. “Irina.”

Her name came out softer than I intended.

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