Her Decision

Faint Scents

Aliana

“Are you stupid?! Do you know what you’ve just done?! You called the future alpha by his first name!” My dad shouted at me the moment we closed the doors to his Land Rover. “Jared you don’t need to yell to make your point.” My mom said. I was surprised that she was standing up for me. “That’s easy for you to say. Your parenting wasn’t publicly criticized in front of people you respect.” My dad shot back. “Neither one of you has more room than the other to talk.” I said. “Jeff probably knows more about me than either one of you.” I wasn’t lying either. Our butler Jeff always made sure I had eaten. He constantly got on me about keeping my grades up and never let me disrespect my parents in front of him.

We all sat in silence as my dad angrily drove us home. I could tell that the comment from JD’s dad had bruised his ego. I shook my head. I couldn’t believe I said that to Jamar’s dad. He wasn’t wrong. My dad tried to pretend like he was active in my life, but really he just threw money at me. He spoiled me rotten because his first love was the air. Second were my mom and me. Hi princess. I felt Terrance mindlink me. I suddenly missed him so much. Hi baby. I linked back to him. How was the dinner? He didn’t want to know. But maybe I could get him to agree to picking me up tonight. I could tell that my parents were gearing up for an epic fight.

I hated when they argued because it would last for hours. I know my parents loved each other and were destined mates, but sometimes I felt like they argued as if they didn’t even know one another. Not good. Can I see you tonight? It was already 8:45. I would have to sneak out. I knew there was no way my parents were going to let me out of the house. Let me know when your parents go to their room. I knew he would come through for me. “Aliana did you hear me? Can you ask Simone to check with her mom and see if you can stay there tonight? Your dad and I need to go visit Las Cruces.” I was shocked.

My mom was born beneath the ground. Her family were called the Sand Walkers. I hardly ever got to see my mom’s side of the family because she had left them to be earth side with my father. “Sure mama I can ask, but I don’t mind just staying home either. It’s been a long night and I’m not really up for company.” I said as I stretched the truth. It was true, I really didn’t want to hang out with Simone. I did want to see my mate though. I was ready to fully accept him. We don’t have to sneak out anymore. My parents are going to visit my mom’s family. I thought to Terrance. I was actually excited to see him and embrace him as my mate. When are you going to tell him that we’re carrying his pup?

Terrance

I could feel Aliana’s emotion and they were warring like crazy. I was feeling doubt, passion, guilt, and anger the most. That meant she was either in JD’s presence or something was really bothering her. I wanted to mindlink her so bad, but I resisted. Aliana had to come to me on our her own terms. I was determined to make this work. I originally wasn’t checking for Ali because of the way she carried herself. Not to mention the fact that she was Jamar’s girl. We weren’t cool like that, but we did hang in the same social circle since we both played basketball on the school team. Ali becoming my mate and basically getting caught cheating made things hard for us.

A lot of the team stopped talking to me out of loyalty to Jamar. At first I was pissed off because I didn’t appreciate being treated like that. But then I realized I was lucky. JD hadn’t found out what happened in the diner. I needed to talk to Amber and make sure she would keep up her end of the deal. The problem was that Aliana thought I was stupid. She accepted me as her mate all while still wanting Jamar. I couldn’t trust her. Sometimes she would win me over for a while but then something would happen and I’d be over it again. Like tonight. She was all lovey dovey until she got to that meeting. I knew that JD and his family were there because my mom is the packhouse chef.

My mom mentioned that dinner had gone completely sour and how just about everyone had been dismissed from dinner. Ali and her family were the first ones to leave. My mom wasn’t very happy to learn that Aliana was my mate. She had told me that Ali still had a lot of learning and growing up to do. I felt conflicted so I started talking with Luca, my spirit wolf. Luca? You there? Where else would I be? I can sense that you feel conflicted about our mate. I was starting to think I had made a mistake. There was way too much going on way too fast. Just then I got a mindlink from Ali. She wanted to see me! Any thought of doubt vanished from my mind.

I figured I would pick up some of my girl’s favorite snacks and we could just spend some quality time together. I realized that we didn’t know each other that well and I wanted to change that. My parents just left. Ali’s voice came into my mind. I smiled. We could make this work. Since I only lived a neighborhood away, I got to her house pretty quickly. When I pulled up, I saw Sayed and Simone getting out of a Jeep. What were they doing here? I wasn’t trying to have s*x with my mate, but I was disappointed I wouldn’t get to spend quality time with her. She emerged from the house smiling. For the first time I really took her in. Beautiful white teeth, brown curly hair, and she was petite. I even caught her scent. She smelled of Amber oil and baby powder. But there was also a faint scent that I couldn’t put my finger on. I tried to put the disturbing thought out of my mind and focus on being with my mate.