Chapter 105

Carol’s POV

“What does one wear to brunch?” I asked as I shuffled through all the clothing I brought. I had never been to a country club before; I had never even been to brunch before. I wasn’t really sure what to expect and my anxiety was through the room.

Aiden’s mother already didn’t like me, and I wanted to make a good impression on her despite everything

“What about that yellow evening dress you have?” Aiden asked as he came out of the bathroom.

He was wearing nothing but a towel, and my eyes immediately traced his torso and down to the towel. Suddenly, every thought I had was out the window and my mouth started to water at the sight of him. How was it possible for someone to look that good? He was a complete dreamboat, and he was my mate.

My insides lurched in pleasure at the very thought of it.

Aiden cleared his throat and when I looked back up at his face, I saw that he was smirking. Humor danced around his eyes as he approached me.

“My eyes are up here,” he said teasingly. “I wish we had more time because I’d like to know what you were just thinking about.”

My cheeks flushed and I quickly turned away from him.

“Yellow evening dress it is,” I said, biting my lower lip.

I could hear Aiden chuckling as he grabbed his clothes from the drawer and walked back into the bathroom. I was already hot and bothered this morning; how was I going to survive brunch with his mother?

I quickly dressed and I left my hair down so it could cascade around my shoulders delicately. Aiden took one look at me, and he whistled his approval. I blushed at the compliment.

He wrapped me in his arms and peppered kisses around my jawline and down the nape of my neck, sucking on the spot that he would soon mark and claim me as his. Tingles course through my body from the sensation and I found myself getting breathless from his close proximity.

I pushed at his chest, chuckling.

“We should go. I don’t want to be late,” I told him, smiling up at him.

He sighed but then he nodded. He knew we couldn’t be late to see his mother; the one thing she couldn’t stand was tardiness.

The driver was waiting for us as we walked out of the building and into the busy streets of the Capital. He opened the door for Aiden and me to enter the backseat and we sat hand-in-hand while we drove for a few blocks until we reached a giant and gorgeous-looking resort.

My mouth nearly hit the ground at how big and beautiful the building was. There was a water fountain in the shape of a horse in the front of the building and the ground was made of white cobblestone. The windows on the building were huge and allowed for a lot of natural light to shine through.

“This place is massive,” I whispered.

“My family owns it,” he confessed.

I snapped him a look that he seemed to not notice.

“What?” I gasped. “Are you serious?”

He nodded.

“We own almost everything here,” he explained. “Considering my father was the Alpha.”

“I guess I don’t know all that much about it,” I whispered, staring down at my hands.

He nudged my shoulder with his and when I looked up at him, I saw that he was smiling tenderly at me.

“And I’ll teach you everything you need to know. Don’t worry,” he assured me.

I relaxed from his words, and I couldn’t help the smile on my lips. The driver pulled up to the front of the door and then opened our doors to let us out.

Aiden took a hold of my arm and escorted me inside of the building.

“Good morning, Mr. Cruz,” the receptionist at the front desk greeted. “Your mother is in the restaurant waiting for your arrival.”

“Thank you, Sabrina,” Aiden said politely as he walked past the front desk. I gave the girl a small smile and she scowled at me in return.

I wasn’t sure what I did to upset her, but I had a feeling I was going to get a lot of scowling faces while I was there.

“What’s her problem?” I whispered once we were far enough away.

Aiden looked over his shoulder at the receptionist and he remained quiet for a short while before answering, “Katrina’s best friend.”

I paused in my tracks and looked up at him.

“Sabrina and Katrina?” I asked, raising my brows.

He let out a low laugh.

“Yup,” he said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. “They are quite the pair.”

“I bet,” I muttered as we continued to walk. “I’m sure she knows all about me then.”

Aiden pulled me closer to him, wrapping an arm around my waist.

“Don’t let them bother you,” he said gently. “They will have to get over the fact that you are going to be their Luna. They have no choice in the matter.”

“I just don’t want to step on anyone’s toes,” I murmured.

We walked into the restaurant, which was huge and dazzling looking. There were crystal chandeliers on the ceiling and huge windows that overlooked the ocean. There was outdoor seating as well, but it was a little too cold for that right now.

“Good morning, Mr. Cruz,” the hostess said. “Come with me.”

She brought us towards the back window where Aiden’s mother sat. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when seeing his mother, but despite how red her eyes were from crying, she still looked beautiful. She wore a white blouse and black loafers. Her dark hair was pulled out of her face, and she wore a light layer of makeup, which was less than what she usually wore. Probably because she’s been crying and knew she would just cry it all off.

I had never seen her look quite so sad though and my heart tugged for her. She was sipping on her coffee and gazing out the window when we approached.

“Hey, Mom,” Aiden greeted, drawing her attention to us.

Her lips thinned when she saw me standing beside him and she narrowed her eyes at me.

“Oh… Carol, you came too? I thought this was just going be a brunch with my son,” she said, sounding painfully bitter as she stood to hug Aiden.

Aiden kissed her cheek and whispered, “Be nice.”

She swatted at him and curled her lip in disdain.

“I’m nice,” she shot back as she took her seat, completely ignoring me.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and sat beside Aiden.

“You are late,” she said without even looking at him.

“We are 2 minutes early,” Aiden said, looking at his watch.

She shot him a look.

“If you aren’t 5 minutes early, then you are late,” she replied.

“Sorry, Mom,” he said boyishly. It was strange seeing Aiden act like such a boy to his mom. I suppose moms brought that out in their children regardless of their age.

We were quiet for a while before I asked, “So, how are you doing, Mrs. Cruz?”

She snapped me a look and her lips thinned once again.

“How do you think I’m doing? My husband has been poisoned,” she said through her teeth.

“Mom,” Aiden warned.

She sighed and rubbed her temple with her fingers.

“Sorry, I’m still trying to process it,” she said, shaking her head. “They found wolfsbane in his system. He was poisoned by his own staff. The Investigating Force that I had something to do with this and spent all day yesterday interrogating me.”

“They can’t be serious,” Aiden said, his brows pinched together. “You love Dad. There’s no way you’d do something like that.”

“That’s what I told them, but they said that in cases like this, it’s usually always the spouse,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But after a day of interrogations and lie detector tests that ruled me innocent.”

“Are there any other leads?” Aiden asked, irritation clear in his tone.

“A couple,” she admitted. “Maybe you’ll be able to speak with them yourself. You’ve always been good at that kind of thing. Getting information out of people. I’m sure you can do better than the I.F.”

I looked at Aiden; I wanted to tell him that I could probably get their information out of them. But I didn’t want to overstep or cause his mother to be angry. So, I kept my mouth shut.

“Yeah, I’ll see what I can do,” he said.

After a few minutes, the waiter arrived, and instead of taking our orders, he gave Aiden and me some coffee with cream, sugar, and milk on the side.

“I’ll be back with your orders,” he said, bowing his head to us.

“But we didn’t order,” I told him.

“We have a usual,” Aiden explained.

“Oh,” I said, watching as the waiter walked away.

I was never going to get used to this.

“Are you going to be visiting your father in the hospital this evening?” His mother asked as she continued to mindlessly stir her coffee.

“That’s the plan,” he answered.

“Good. Even if he’s not awake, he would like you to see him. You realize you might have to take the responsibilities as Alpha, right?”

Aiden nodded.

“I’m aware.”

“Right now, Oliver is making sure the pack is well maintained. He takes after his father. He’s going to be a great Beta to you,” his mother continued.

Aiden opened his mouth to respond, but a voice stopped him.

“I’m so sorry I’m late! Traffic was crazy.”

I turned and my heart fell into my stomach when I saw Katrina rushing towards us.