Chapter 86: Levels Above Them

Selene POV

Aiden was a fun person to be around. I didn’t put my glasses back on though. He was so hilarious and I kept smiling the whole time he was talking to me.

He was someone with big dreams ... a person who wanted to invent great things. He knew what he was talking about, but he had no tangible results yet. I wasn’t fool enough to start spilling everything I had done or everything I knew. So I listened more than I spoke.

"It’s getting late," I said. It was going on 9:30 and I had to get home.

"Yeah, we should start heading out," he agreed.

"I have a car. Can I give you a ride home?" he asked.

"No, don’t bother. I’ll get home on my own," I said.

"I refuse." He shook his head. "I have to at least drop you at your nearest stop. A brainy, beautiful wolf like you shouldn’t be out here alone at this time of night."

Aiden knew exactly how to flatter and convince. It was like his tongue was built with some kind of compelling power. I had just met him, so refusing to get into his car was the reasonable thing to do.

And yet ... I ended up in his car anyway.

I wasn’t much of a car person, but even I could tell it was a nice, new one. Aiden was a gentleman through and through.

In the car, we talked about our personal lives. I wasn’t sure how much he already knew about who I was, so I kept it light ... what I liked, my favourite book, a few things here and there. He did most of the talking though, and I didn’t mind. I was so caught up in the conversation that I didn’t even realise we’d reached my stop.

"Thank you for the ride, Aiden Coldridge," I said, smiling at him through the window.

"Just Aiden, please." He smiled back, then paused like he was working himself up to something. "I know this might be a bit forward, but I’m going to do it anyway."

I stayed by the car, watching him.

"Can I have your contact?" he asked.

Aiden had done way too much in one day for me to say no to that. He was like a million personalities packed into one body. I gave him my number and watched him save it before I turned and walked away.

Of course I couldn’t go straight to where I was sleeping ... with the breeders. I had to check on Ms. Ashlyn first.

She was still there. It was almost 10pm. She sometimes slept at the shelter even though she had a house of her own. What had happened to her was a tragedy. I hoped she was finding her way to heal, or maybe she already had.

"Hey, Ms. Ashlyn."

Her face lit up the moment she saw me.

"Wow, you look even more stunning than when you left. That glow is coming from a guy," she said, narrowing her eyes at me.

"Are you serious right now? No ... I don’t believe that," I said.

"So who did you meet?" she asked. "Any new people?"

"Yes, actually." She was already smiling before I could get another word out. "His name is Aiden. He came up and started talking to me. He’s really smart and interesting, so I enjoyed talking to him."

"Please tell me it wasn’t a one-time thing. Did you exchange contacts?"

"He asked for my number and I gave it to him."

"Because if he hadn’t asked, you wouldn’t have offered ... you only want to exchange ideas, not numbers." We both burst out laughing. She wasn’t letting up on me at all.

I sat down and she helped me out of the dress and the jewelry she’d lent me, then helped me unpack my hair. She was a gem, honestly.

When I tried to hand the dress back to her, she pulled a face.

"What’s this?"

"Your dress," I said, suddenly feeling awkward.

"I don’t want it back. I can’t take it back ... it’s yours now," she said firmly.

"Oh ... really? Thank you so much." I pulled it back toward me, looking it over again.

I loved that dress. It spoke beauty and elegance in a way that made you carry yourself differently. The last time I’d worn something that beautiful was at my baby shower ... back when Lucian was still my whole world.

It was still hard to believe that Lucian was becoming my past. But I had stopped forcing things. I’d let them run their course, and so far, all I could say was ... it had been good. Better than I expected.

"You can come stay at my house too, you know," Ms. Ashlyn said.

I understood why she said it. I reminded her of her daughter. She had lost her entire family in a single day, and I suspected that every time she looked at me, she felt the weight of that. I didn’t want to be a constant reminder of what she blamed herself for.

"I can’t stay, Ms. Ashlyn. I have to be with..."

"The breeders?" She gave me a look. "Selene, you are levels above where you were. I know you love them like family, but you can’t pull them out of the mud if you’re still standing in it yourself."

I wasn’t convinced. What I had with the breeders went beyond just seeing them as family. I genuinely loved them.

"I still have to stay with them. I’m the only person they have," I said.

"Then at least stay here tonight. It’s already late."

I finally agreed.

We drove to her house and she showed me to the guest room.

"Thank you," I said.

"Oh, it’s my pleasure."

I lay down to sleep, but then my phone buzzed. I almost ignored it, but it could’ve been something important.

It was Aiden.

He hadn’t given up. He was already following up.

Hi, hope you’ve gotten home.

Yes, I have. Thanks for asking. Did you get home okay?

Yeah, I’m home.

Just like that, we were in each other’s DMs and a conversation started that refused to end. We went back and forth about how the party had gone, about everything and nothing ... and then he dropped it.

Would you like to go out sometime?

That fast? How am I supposed to trust you?

If you didn’t trust me, you wouldn’t have given me your number.

Hmm. Aiden and his lines ... always landing them clean, and I couldn’t find it in me to refuse. But I didn’t want to seem desperate either.

I’ll think about it and get back to you.

I’ll expect a reply by tomorrow, he said.

Twenty-four hours was even more than I needed. I had already made up my mind ... yes, I would go out with him. But I’d let him wait until tomorrow.

He kept going with the jokes after that, and I was laughing hard enough that I didn’t realise Ms. Ashlyn had heard me from her room until she appeared in the doorway.

"This gentle wolf must really be something special," she said, watching me with that knowing look on her face. "Got you rolling around in here like this."

"He’s just funny, Ms. Ashlyn," I said, still laughing.

She leaned against the doorframe. "Keep it going, okay? People can be the best thing that ever happened to you, and they can also be the worst. But when you find a good one ... a genuinely good one ... it’s worth keeping. My advice? Get to know him more."

She was making sense.

"Thank you. I will."

"Good night," she said softly and pulled the door shut.

Video call tomorrow? Aiden’s message came in almost immediately.

Okay.

Goodnight, I typed first ... I wasn’t waiting on him for that.

And we ended the chat.

I still wasn’t sleepy though. My phone buzzed again before I could even put it down.

This time it wasn’t Aiden.

It was from the king’s chambers.

What the hell did Lucian ... or whoever they were sending messages for ... want with me at this hour?