Chapter 4: The Truth Exposed

It felt as if the room closed down on me, the air riddled with tension so thick that it could snap at any moment.

Aiden froze in the doorway, his eyes racing between me and Xander in an attempt to piece together the impossible scene before him. The confusion within his gaze darkened into something so much more painful in a split second. Anger, hurt, betrayal that crashed onto his features like rising and colliding waves.

Something, anything, I wanted to say to explain, to cushion the blow, but my voice betrayed me. I could only hear the racing thudding of my heart, deafening in my ears, drowning out the sound of reason.

Xander didn't bat an eye, however; he acted like Aiden showed up to ruin his morning coffee. He merely stood up, his eyes never once leaving Aiden with a simmering challenge behind his dark eyes. He had expected this. He knew the fragile web of lies I had been weaving would eventually fall apart, and now that it had, he seemed almost. satisfied.

"Aiden." I whispered, my voice barely audible. The situation knocked the breath from me.

Aiden stepped forward; he was focused solely on Xander. He was pale, but his jaw had set. "What is he doing here, Lena?

I tried to speak, but the words caught in my throat. How could I possibly explain this? How could I tell him that not only was Xander the Alpha of our rival pack, but that he was also. my mate? Worse still, how could I reveal that I was **also** bonded to Aiden?

But I didn't utter a single word, for Xander shifted beside me, and suddenly his presence was a stubborn force, and he closed the space between us fractionally, almost protectively. 

"She doesn't owe you an explanation, Beta," Xander said, his voice low, laced with condescension that sent a chill through the air.

The way he spat the word "Beta" was like pouring fuel on hot coals. I saw Aiden bristle, the muscles across his shoulders tensing as his eyes flashed with anger. Xander's dominance filled the room like an oncoming storm cloud: suffocating, impossible to ignore. My heart sank because I could see where this was going, and I wasn't at all sure I could stop it.

"Aiden, please…" I pleaded, taking a step toward him. "Let me explain."

His eyes flickered to me and for a moment the pain softened the anger, but only for a brief second. "Then explain, Lena. Why is **he** here? What's going on between you two?"

Before I could answer, Xander's voice cut through the room like a blade. "We're mates.

The words landed like a punch. Aiden's face lost all color, his eyes wide with shock. His gaze snapped to mine in search of some sort of denial, but when I said nothing, the reality hit him full force.

"Mates?" his voice wavered, heavy with disbelief. "You're mated to him?

Slowly, I nodded, my stomach twisting in knots as the weight of my silence settled between us. "I didn't want you to find out like this."

His face twisted in hurt. "You didn't want me to find out at all, did you?" His voice was raw with pain and betrayal. "How long, Lena? How long have you been hiding this from me?

"I didn't-" My voice faltered as I reached out for him, but Aiden stepped back, shaking his head. His eyes were full of incredulity, as though it couldn't quite be real.

"How long, Lena?" he demanded, his voice rising. "How long have you known?"

A few days," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, my heart quaking as the betrayal burrowed deeper into his eyes. "I was trying to figure it out. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to hurt you-"

"Hurt me?" Aiden's laugh was sharp and bitter. "Lena, you've been lying to me this whole time. And you didn't want to hurt me?

"I didn't know what else to do," I pleaded, tears welling up in my eyes. "I didn't want this. I didn't ask for any of this."

Aiden's eyes darkened and hurt gave way to anger. "And what about me? Was I just some fool you could string along until you figured things out?"

It came then, like a sledgehammer in the gut. I opened my mouth to respond, but the words wouldn't come. Everything sounded hollow coming from my lips, and I could see it in his eyes. The trust between us, years in making, was breaking right before my eyes.

Xander said nothing. He was like an immovable wall beside me. I turned to him, hoping he would somehow intervene, but his eyes did not veer from Aiden's face, the tension between them growing heavier with every passing second. There was no trace of guilt within his eyes. If anything, he looked. ready for this.

"I don't believe this," Aiden whispered, his voice quivering at the seams. "You're mated to him? **Xander Stormclaw?** The Alpha of the Shadow Moon Pack? How did this even come to be?" 

"I don't know," I whispered. "I don't understand it either."

"But it doesn't matter," Xander said, coldly and finally. "The bond is real. She's mine."

Aiden's eyes snapped back to Xander and his anger flared. He took a step closer, his fists clenched into balls at his sides. "She's not yours, Xander. You don't get to decide that."

Xander didn't move. "The bond says otherwise. You know how this works, Aiden. Don't make this harder than it needs to be.

Aiden's voice dropped to that dangerous growl. "I don't care what the bond says. Lena's not some prize for you to claim."

The tension between them drew tighter and tighter, closer to that breaking point. My wolf stirred inside me, tugged in the war between the two bonds I shared. The dominance radiating from Xander pulled at me, urging me toward him, but Aiden's fierce protectiveness called to me just as strongly.

"I won't let you take her," Aiden threatened, stepping forward. His voice was quiet, echoing deadly serious in my ears.

Xander's eyes narrowed. "And what're you going to do about it?"

My breath caught. This was going to go too far.

"Aiden, please," I begged, trying to get between them. "Don't do this. You don't know what you're-

His gaze finally met mine, and for the first time, they softened. Anger was replaced by confusion and pain. "Then make me understand, Lena. Tell me why you're letting him take control of you."

I shook my head, the tears spilling over as I struggled to find the words. "It's not that simple. The bond. it's too strong. I can't fight it.

His voice went low to a whisper and was edged with desperation. "I won't lose you to him. Lena, you're my mate too. I can feel it."

His words hung in the air like a thunderclap.

Xander went rigid beside me. Dark eyes snatched toward me, his low voice thick with restrained fury. "What did you just say?

Aiden didn't flinch. "She's my mate too."

The room fell into a stunned silence. The revelation hung between the three of us, heavy and inescapable.

Xander's eyes darkened with rage. "You're lying."

But Aiden didn't back down. "I'm not. We're both bonded to her."

The air crackled with tension. Two mates. Two wolves. The truth was out, and now, there was no turning back.