Chapter 26

**YARA**

“I– What? Last week?” My aunt was even more taken aback now and she blinked at me. “Wait, Wednesday?”

I had lied about why I didn’t pick her calls that night and by the look on her face, she was questioning the story I told her. I gave her a sheepish smile.

“Sorry.”

“Does he know–”

“No,” I cut her off before she could complete it with *you’re a witch?* since Elijah might be listening to us. “No, I haven’t found the right time to tell him.”

“Right time. What do you mean *right time*?” Her voice rose a bit as she asked that and I quickly glanced at Elijah whose attention was now on his phone before I nervously shifted from one foot to the other.

She was rightfully worried about me keeping the truth from him and I also knew I was being ridiculous with my logic of finding out the pack members’ disposition towards witches before figuring out what to do next. I mean, what if they hated witches? …Then what? Would I tell Aiden or would I just leave in the middle of the night?

My stomach churned at that and I swallowed. I didn’t want to leave Aiden. Yes, I had known him for less than a month but he was *my* mate and I liked him… a lot.

“Who is he?” she asked.

“The owner of the hotel I worked at.”

“The Hendrix?” she replied and I nodded. “Are you *with* him?”

“…I’m staying with him.”

A surprise noise escaped her and she clamped her hand on her mouth, pinning me with a glare. “In his pack?”

I nodded before glancing over my shoulder again and when I faced her once more, she was staring at Elijah.

“Is he part of the pack?”

She must have noticed my aversion to speaking freely with him close by.

“Yes,” I muttered and she heaved a sigh.

“You’re really silly, you know that?” She pulled me in for a hug again and my thoughts weighed heavily on my mind as I hugged her back. “Text me?” she muttered and I nodded.

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Please be careful.”

“I will.”

We then said our goodbyes and went our separate ways – her to the parking lot and me to the faculty building. I spent the next couple of hours attending classes with Elijah following me around like I had a leash attached to him and when I told him he didn’t have to do that, he muttered something about Aiden killing him if he let me out of his sight.

The last class finally ended some minutes before two pm and as I gathered my things, Willow walked into the lecture hall. I grinned at her and when she was finally close enough to hear me, I said, “Gosh, you’re so early. The professor should take pointers from you.”

“I know right. I’m the blueprint,” she replied, tossing her curls over her shoulder with a flourish as she got to me. “Where were you yesterday?”

“Oh, now you ask? You didn’t even call me. I could have been dead,” I replied, narrowing my eyes at her.

“You obviously weren’t seeing as you texted me to lie to your aunt.” Her gaze slid to the stalker next to me and she tipped her head to the side, obviously surprised because I never sat next to anyone in class except her. “Hi?”

I glanced at Elijah and before he could respond, I said, “Willow, Elijah. Elijah, goodbye.”

“You’re not getting rid of me,” he stated.

“Oooohhh.” Willow waggled her brows and I gave her a blank stare before shifting so she could sit next to me.

“He’s new here.”

“I know,” she replied before she and Elijah shook each other’s hands and exchanged names. She then returned her attention to me. “So where were you yesterday? I dropped by your place but you weren’t there,” she added and my brows jumped at the fact that she went to my previous apartment. “Also, you changed your locks?”

I frowned. *The door was fixed? By who? Was it Ai–*

“Hellooo.” Willow waved a hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my thoughts and I blinked at her before remembering that I needed to let her know she shouldn’t go to my previous apartment again. The group those witches were from could be watching it and they might hurt her if they found out she knew me.

“I moved out,” I said and she drew her brows together.

“Where are you staying now?”

I couldn’t lie about where I was staying since she knew it wasn’t at my aunt’s and I didn’t have money to get another place.

“With my boyfriend.”

She paused. “Huh?” she muttered and when I didn’t say anything else for several moments, she let out a laugh. “Get real.”

I rolled my eyes at her reaction even though I had expected it and it was warranted. She hadn’t seen me show interest in any man and I had never brought a man up in our conversations.

“I have a boyfriend,” I said before wondering if calling Aiden my boyfriend was right since I didn’t know how the *mates* thing worked. Were Aiden and I dating, engaged or married?

“Since when?” she asked, her eyes still twinkling with laughter, and I clicked my tongue.

“Wednesday.”

She stared at me in silence for a little while and when she found no indication that I was joking, the mirth in her expression was replaced by confusion. “What? Who? How? Does he go here?”

“No, he doesn’t go here,” I replied before giving her a summary of Aiden and how we met, excluding the werewolf part. There was an incredulous expression on her face when I was done.

“And you’re staying with him?” she asked and I nodded. “Why? How? What the— Why? Why? You don’t know him. He could be a serial killer. Elijah, back me up here.”

My lips twitched into a small smile at the latter part of her statement while she faced Elijah and I did too.

“Uh…” he trailed off, not expecting to have been dragged into the conversation, as his gaze bounced between the both of us.

“You think Aiden’s a serial killer too?” I asked and he frowned.

“…Willow’s right. You shouldn’t trust people easily.”

“Thank you!”

“So you think Aiden’s a serial killer?” I asked again and he gave a noncommittal shrug before focusing his attention elsewhere. I then remembered that I had a date with Aiden tonight and I turned to Willow again. “I need your help to prepare for a date.”