Chapter 163: Chapter 163 

~ NYSSA

“I think we should both calm down,” I began but Aria cut me off.

“She doesn’t know shit about planning a ceremony and thanks to you both, it had to be done within a week. You can do without her for a few hours. You have the entire night to yourselves.”

Rowan turned to me, his eyes roaming my face. I had no idea what he was searching for, but I tried my best to show him that I wanted this to end.

After what felt like hours, he sighed, grumbling curses under his breath before finally releasing his grip on me. He pressed a soft kiss to my temple before lifting me effortlessly as he stood and placing me on his chair.

It was just a chair, and there was no reason to read too much into it, but it felt… different. No one else sat here, no one but him.

He walked out of the room without another word, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Aria smiled triumphantly when Rowan left, a wide grin that seemed extra happy and misplaced given the situation.

She clasped her hands in front of her, her lips stretching wider as she spoke. “Great, now that he’s gone—”

“Why now?” I cut her off.

She turned to me with furrowed brows. “What?”

“Why did you have to do it now?” I asked. “Did you just want to piss him off? Or is there something else?”

She stared at me for a long minute before turning away and reaching into her pocket to pull out a pen. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She reached for one of the napkins on the table and began to scribble some words.

“You’re not prepared for this. You don’t even have paper. My guess is that you came here for something else and decided to just piss him off… but why?”

She shot me a bored look. “Do you want to plan the ceremony or not?”

“I don’t.”

“Good so we can—wait, what?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “You heard me, if you’re not going to be honest then I don’t want to plan it. I’m sure there are multiple people in the pack who would love to help me. I don’t have to do a thing.”

She stared at me incredulously, her mouth opening and closing like a fish.

I was bluffing of course, but she didn’t know that.

I kept my face impassive, brow cocked in challenge as I waited for her to leave but she never did. She just sat there, staring at me in complete silence before sighing finally.

“I… I just wanted to steal you away.”

That was a good start, but there was more. “Why?”

“Because!” she threw her hands up in defeat. “You’re always together. It used to be Rowan and I but now, you’re here. I don’t hate it, hell, if there is anyone who deserves love, it’s Rowan, but that doesn’t make it any easier to handle. I’m now all alone.”

She exhaled shakily.

“It used to be Rowan and I in the dining room after work. It was our way of debriefing, and somehow, I just… I thought it was going to be like that today but I saw you and I was caught off guard and I just… I wanted him to be alone for once, to feel like an outsider…”

She trailed off, the last part of her sentence disappearing into the wind but I heard it… she wanted Rowan to feel like an outsider because she felt that way.

“I’m sorry.”

She waved me off. “Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re his mate, I have no right to feel this way.”

“Yes, you do. I can never imagine the bond between the two of you. You’ve known each other for decades, surely it can’t be easy to have someone just walk in and change that. I would never want you to feel like an outcast in your own home.”

She shrugged. “It is what it is. If I’m lucky, I’ll find my mate as well.”

“Or you could choose one,” I offered. She turned to me but I refused to lock eyes with her. I twiddled with my hands on the table, trying to appear nonchalant as I continued. “Eric is a good guy, and he’s right there.”

“What?!” she exclaimed, sitting up straighter. “I never—Eric is your guard.”

I shrugged. “He’s a good guy, he’s sweet and he’s funny.”

“He’s a child.”

I raised a brow at her. “I’m younger than Eric, and your brother is older than you are.”

“That doesn’t matter,” she snapped. “That arrangement would never work. I don’t know why you would even suggest that. That is very inappropriate.”

I held up my hands in mock surrender, shocked by her outrage. “I was just giving an example. I didn’t say you had to get mated. You don’t have to take the advice.”

She muttered choice words under her breath, scribbling onto the napkin in front of her. A part of me wanted to apologize for getting her upset but I didn’t even know where to start. I just stared at her blankly until she finally stood to her feet harshly, her chair flying back from the force with which she stood.

“I should go freshen up,” she murmured, more to herself than to me. “I think it’s best if we continued the planning another time.”

“Aria—”

She was out of the room before I even got the chance to get her name out of my mouth.

I stared at the door she disappeared through, unsure of what I could say or what had even gone down.

After a few minutes, the door opened, and I perked up, thinking it was her, but Rowan walked in, hands crossed over his chest in amusement.

“I saw Aria storming to her room,” he began slowly. “What did you say to her?”

“I suggested that she and Eric would make a good couple.”

His brows rose in amusement. “I thought Eric had a thing for your maid.”

My eyes widened in shock. “He does? How? When did this start?”

“Oh little wolf,” Rowan drawled. “There is so much you don’t see.”

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