CHAPTER 5 - Distressed

The Opal Moon pack, California

Aria

I entered the packhouse and noticed that most of the pack members were there, ready to have breakfast. So many familiar faces greeted me, but I had no time to stop. I had to reach the third floor and find Maria.

My hands gripped the bannister tightly as I climbed the stairs to mine and Daniel’s room. The anticipation of being where Daniel and I had our happiest moments together was killing me. I had so many memories in that room. And today was the day that Daniel would return from his studies.

I couldn’t stop recalling the day Daniel returned from his studies. It was the day he claimed me as his mate and everything was so beautiful in our lives until that damn day when Erick Williams took him away from me.

Maria was waiting for me in the corridor as she had promised. I pretended I didn’t know the way and let her guide me to Daniel’s room. Just before we entered, Maria warned me.

“Try not to break anything. Keep your hands away from valuable things. Clean everything carefully and don’t stall Aria. We must finish before the Alpha’s son arrives.”

I nodded obediently and followed her inside. I entered the familiar room and faced the grey walls and the double bed in the middle. The drawn curtains blocked out the sunlight. I pulled them back, and the light flooded the room. I stood in the middle, deep in thought. Memories of Daniel and me surged through my mind and my high spirits crashed.

“Aria, control yourself. Don’t give in to the tests Alicia is putting you through. She will try everything to make you quit. She won’t make things easy for you. You know that already,” Tania whispered in my mind and I couldn’t thank her enough for supporting me.

“You are right, Tania. This is who I am now and I need to do my best. I should leave the past behind. Otherwise, I won’t be able to cope with what Alicia has planned for me. And I know what she is up to. She will tease me as I did with others so many times.”

Holding onto that thought, my mood changed. I turned to Maria, smiling.

“Maria, what should I do first?”

“Start from the bedroom and then move to the bathroom. You must clean it well, Aria. Then go down to the supplies room and get Daniel’s favourite shampoo. We should stock the room with the essential toiletries for our future Alpha. He has been gone for four years now, and we must replace everything,” Maria replied and then left to get clean sheets for Daniel’s bed.

Alone in the room, I started cleaning the furniture and arranging things as Daniel liked. When I finished, I headed to the bathroom and faced the vast round bathtub which used to welcome Daniel and me every time.

I shook my head, annoyed by the arousal I felt remembering how Daniel helped me bathe back then, and gritted my teeth.

“Alicia, that’s enough. I will not fall for your tricks from day one,” I murmured, cleaning the place. It was not a simple task since I had never cleaned a bathtub before.

My stubbornness overcame the difficulty; everything in the bathroom was soon clean.

When I returned to the bedroom, Maria waited for me to help her make the bed.

“Well, done, Aria. You have done a good job,” she praised my efforts.

I smiled, shaking my head, and helped her with the bed sheets.

Maria and I were chatting happily when the door opened. We both stood up and lowered our heads in submission seeing Daniel’s mother.

“Luna,” we greeted respectfully, and she smiled at us.

“Hello, ladies,” she replied.

“I came to see if everything is ready. Beta Jason has left for the airport. I can’t wait to have my boy back,” Luna Sarah turned behind, and I saw her.

Gloria, my mother and Luna Sarah’s best friend, stood at the door. She folded her hands in front of her chest and smiled with Luna Sarah’s enthusiasm.

“You sound as if Daniel is a three-year-old pup, Sarah. He is twenty-four, sweetie. A grown man who will take over the Alpha position in a few days,” my mother replied in her sweet voice.

I lowered my head to hide the tears in my eyes. My beloved mother was right there, a few metres away from me, and I could not hold her in my arms as I wanted to. I could not hide in her warm embrace and cry as I used to when Daniel teased me. My mother was a forbidden topic for me. And it would remain that way until the spell vanished, revealing my true identity. And I had a long way ahead of me.

The searing pain in my chest tightened my stomach in knots and a lump in my throat prevented me from breathing. I walked towards the window and opened it wide.

I turned and faced Luna Sarah’s smiling face.

“I thought the room needed some fresh air, my Luna,” I bowed my head remembering my position and afraid that my actions might have insulted her.

My mother laughed at my words and so did Luna Sarah.

“Excellent, my dear. What a beautiful girl you are. What is your name again?” Daniel’s mother inquired.

“Aria, my Luna,” I replied and saw surprise in my mother’s eyes.

“Aria?” she asked.

“Jason and I had it on our list for a girl’s name if we ever had one,” she said with a sad smile and I looked at her, confused. What did she mean by that?

“We never got to have any pups though,” she whispered and Luna Sarah hugged her.

“Now, now, my dear. You still have your Jason and he loves you dearly,” she tried to cheer my mother up.

They smiled at each other and Luna Sarah turned to me.

“Aria, I want you to be the one cleaning this room. Will that be okay, Maria? She turned to Maria and asked.

“Of course, Luna. Aria helps with the breakfast and in the kitchen, but I will rearrange her schedule so that she can spare a couple of hours after breakfast to clean the room,” Maria replied, bowing her head.

Great! That would allow me to get closer to my mate. I bowed my head in submission, hiding my smile.

“That’s great. Thank you, ladies,” Luna Sara replied and she and my mother left the room.

“Let’s go Aria. We need to prepare lunch,” Maria pulled me with her.

Downstairs in the kitchen, I was about to go for the food supplies in the cellar when Maria came rushing to me.

“Aria, we forgot the toiletries for Daniel’s room. Come with me.”

I followed her to the storage room and Maria filled a bag with all the necessities, including bath and face towels.

“I got distracted by our Luna’s visit and forgot about these. Hurry and take them upstairs, my dear. Our future Alpha will be here any minute.” Maria gave me the bag and jostled me out of the storage room.

I rushed upstairs to Daniel’s room and entered the bathroom. I placed the clean towels inside the cabinet, squatted down and arranged all the toiletries on the bathtub’s shiny surface.

Soon, everything was in place.

I stood up straight and stretched my sore body. A muffled noise made me twist my body to see what caused the sound and my nose hit a solid rock causing me to lose balance. A familiar scent of pine and sandalwood hit my nostrils and two hands reached to hold me from falling backwards.

I looked up in terror and there he was.

Daniel Taylor, my mate, stood in all his glory in front of me. His dark blue eyes looked at me playfully and he smirked at the look of surprise I gave him.

“What do we have here?” he said in his hoarse sexy voice and I felt my mouth dry. With the tip of my tongue, I licked my lips unconsciously and watched as his eyes went darker blue and his breathing became heavier.

“I,..” I tried to reply, but another voice interrupted the encounter with my mate.

“Daniel baby, where are you?” a female voice came from the bedroom.

“Coming sweetie,” Daniel replied and released me, leaving the bathroom.

“What?”

I followed him back into the room and froze.

My mate was hugging a tall blonde girl, kissing her.

“Sorry, Lea. I wanted to ensure everything was ready before I brought you here, baby,” he caressed her face.

A girlfriend? Daniel had a girlfriend?

“What? Alicia, this is too much,” I swore inwardly.

“Hey, you. Yes, you,” Daniel said when I looked up, confused.

“Get lost,” he ordered, and I looked at him with eyes wide open.

What the hell?