Her Chosen Mate

Part 57

(POV - Aria)

Tears poured down Aria's cheeks, her heart squeezing tight with anxiety and fear. Aiden had snatched her phone and walked away, his back turned towards her. She stumbled to her feet and clutched at his arm, trying to take her phone back so she could speak to Marcus.

"Aiden, please," she begged, wincing when his free hand closed around her wrist painfully. "Stop this."

But he didn't listen, opening his mouth to snarl something else before she finally managed to wrestle the phone out of his hands.

"Marc?" she said desperately, hoping to calm him down and explain what had happened if he'd give her the chance. "Marc, are you there? Hello?"

Nothing. The line was dead. She whimpered and dialed his number again, her heart sinking when it went straight to voicemail. She walked back to the window, her fingers trembling as they typed out a text that she prayed Marcus would read before he jumped to conclusions. She needed him to know that she was sorry, that she hadn't wanted the mark. She wanted him to give her a chance to explain before he cut her off.

She just wanted to tell him she was sorry for letting Aiden mark her.

She'd been about to hit send when Aiden wrapped his arms around her, cradling her gently from behind, taking her by surprise. He tucked his face in the side of her neck, where her mark throbbed painfully, his breath ghosting over the torn skin.

"Aria," he murmured softly, his lips brushing over her pulse. "Please, let him go. There's no room for him here. You're mine now, let's just start over and do things the way we should have months ago."

Aria bit into her bottom lip to keep herself from crying. She hated the way her wolf leaned into his touch, despised how good it felt to finally melt into his affection, knowing that it was truly hers this time around. She wanted to shake him off, scold him for goading Marcus and yell at him for hurting her.

But all the venom had seeped away, leaving her even more exhausted than she had been before.

Gently, his hands turned her around to face him, and he cradled her face in his warm palms, his thumbs brushing away her tears.

"Will you give me another chance?" he breathed, the tip of his nose nudging hers. "Will you give us another chance?"

She shook her head slightly, lips parted and trembling.

"How can you ask that?" she whispered brokenly. "How can I give you another chance after everything you've done? Do you even understand what you did to me? How much you've hurt me?"

"I do," he said, and he sounded genuinely upset. "I can't imagine how badly, but I know I hurt you, and I want to change that."

"How?"

His gaze flicked from her eyes to her mouth, then to the mark on her neck.

"I promise you," he said. "I'll do my best to make it up to you, all of it. Every bit of pain I caused you, from the moment we met, I swear I'll fix it."

He looked so sincere, and Aria had never seen him so vulnerable in her life. She didn't know what to say. Refusing would have probably been the right thing to do, but she couldn't form the words she needed to do it. Even after everything he'd done to hurt her, she still didn't want to cause him any pain.

She felt so pathetic.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked, his palms already damp from her tears where he held her face "Please?"

She faltered, not expecting him to ask her so earnestly. She hadn't really expected him to ask her at all, especially not after he'd just taken what he wanted during his rut.