Chapter 9

Aria

I woke in a familiar atmosphere, in my room. The rays of the morning sun peered through the gap of the curtain and fell on my face waking me up from the slumber that I wished would never end.

The surreal memories of last night attacked me from every side, the rise and fall of my chest increased as the pace of my heartbeat gradually turned rapid. The tears once again began gathering in my eyes but what could they bring? Nothing.

Except for adding more to my misery, these tears were as useless as the mate bond between me and Hunter Rodriguez.

He despised me, all he had ever shown to me was his hatred and this mate bond was not a blessing, it was a curse. A curse that was going to ruin my life completely, snatch the last hopes that I had left inside, the hopes that gave me the strength to keep my shattered life together.

I did not have any idea what I should do.

I was a mess!

And just when I was on the verge of breaking down once again, a sudden knock on the door broke the chains of my thoughts.

"Aria, are you awake?"  Mom spoke from the other side of the door.

"Yes, mom," I hurriedly wiped my tears with the back of my hand, "Come in."

She walked inside the room, with the breakfast tray in her hand. The signs of concern remained vivid on her face despite her attempts to not let it be visible.

"Good morning, sweetie," She flashed me a smile.

"Good morning," I forced a smile even though I knew she was going to realize in a blink that I had forced it.

Mom's smile dropped for a second but she did not say anything, instead of handing me the glass of water.

As I took a small gulp of the water, it indeed felt like sandpaper scarping down my throat and leaving the burning feeling all over. I closed my eyes for a second, suppressing the cough behind my hand.

"What happened, sweetie?" Mom asked, worried.

"Nothing, mom. It's just my throat is dry," I croaked out, "I am okay."

"Are you sure you are okay?"

NO!

I wasn't okay. Everything fucking hurt. My heart, the pieces of my shattered dreams, the beautiful memories with Hunter I once cherished— Everything hurt. I was breaking apart from the insides.

Hunter broke me; Completely.

"Yeah." I nodded.

She fell silent for a few moments before she finally decided to break it and spoke after what seemed like she decided at the end of the debate in her mind.

"Yesterday, Hunter brought you home," Every fiber of my body froze upon her sentence, and my breath got caught in my throat, "You fell unconscious in the woods maybe because the shift caused a significant loss in your energy."

My fingers unknowingly tightened around the glass, and my other hand fisted the bedsheet.

I knew this was not what mom wanted to say, I knew it very well that she saved the question for later— The question that could be what I did not want to hear at all.

"You and Hunter used to be best friends," As I had thought she uttered those exact words I hated to remember, I hated them from my core, the words that triggered those memories I had been trying to wipe off for years; The guilty pleasure I tried to forget over and over again.

"I don't have any idea what caused you two to become so distant from each other but... if it's not about your mate then is it something about Hunter that is bothering you?"

I did not if I should laugh or cry right now.

No matter how much I was trying to erase that one person from my mind and heart, the entire universe was pushing me more and more into that same old turmoil that never ends.

Whether my mother understood it or not...with that question, she had deepened the wounds I had been trying to heal, cut open the scars, and forced the pain inside me I was trying to avoid ever since. -

How could I tell mom that truth was that out of the entire world the only person I have ever received hate from was the one I loved, the one who hurt me in every chance he'd got and broke me to the extent where I could not find any way to heal myself was my mate; My tormentor— Alpha Hunter Rodriguez.

Noticing my silence, mom decided to speak once again.

"Aria..."

"You said it by yourself mom," My voice got out louder than I intended it to be, "We USED TO be best friends. So there's relating to a person who does not exist in my life or is close to me, will bother me in any circumstances. Nothing about him concerns me, because he simply does not matter to me."

In the eyes of my mom, there were a lot of questions, they were visible and dying to get an answer but she did not ask them out. I knew she wanted to but she didn't ask them because she probably knew it too that there was not going to be any response from my side that could lead her to the answers she wanted.

"Ok, honey. Now take your breakfast," She sighed and raised the sandwich to my mouth.

The sight of food did not cause the slightest amount of hunger to rise within me though I had not eaten anything from last night; Even till now, I did have any appetite at all.

"Mom, I don't feel like eating." I mustered.

"Aria, you can't neglect your health like this," Mom sighed, "You haven't taken anything from yesterday and we know something is wrong, you are not telling us and I won't force you if you are not ready to let us know but I am your mother, I can see it in your eyes— You are not okay. I just want to see you happy and that's all I and your dad want. " she began tearing up, causing the guilt to take place within me instantly.

"Mom...please don't cry," I moved closer to her and hugged her from the side.

The last thing I wanted after all the shit that'd happened in my life was to hurt my parents; They loved me a lot, even more than themselves. If keeping them happy meant forgetting about my pain for a while, I'd do that without a doubt.

"I am sorry," I said, "Please don't cry." I reached out and wiped her tears.

"You have to know it, Aria; Me and your dad, we both love you and are here to support you in any circumstances. We don't care about anything but you, and we can do anything to keep you safe and smiling.'

"I know mom, I know," I placed a kiss on her cheek.

This time a smile indeed broke on my face, and even though it was barely noticeable my mother's eyes caught it.

"Now will you feed me or not?" I pointed to my open mouth and a chuckle slipped past her lips.

Watching her smile again, lessened my worry and helped the guilt slowly fade away. I wanted to see my parents happy as much as they wanted me to.

"Yes, I will." She kissed my forehead before she raised the sandwich to my mouth once again and I took a bite.