Aiden's POV
'Don't take Lydia's name! It was an accident!'
Blake's presence surged, pushing against my control harder than ever before. I had to grit my teeth and fight back with everything I had to keep him from taking over.
"It was the curse, and you know it," I hissed, clenching my fist and breathing hard. "If you keep going down this path, the curse will kill her, too. Is that what you want, Blake?"
'Stop with the excuses! You hate her—you've said it a thousand times. So why are you suddenly concerned? Why are you pretending to care?'
"Because I don't want what happened to Lydia to happen to her," I said, my voice tight.
'Why should you care? She's an Ashford! You'd be happy if she died. So why does it matter?'
"Because I care for her, damn it!" The words erupted out of me before I could stop them. "Because she's my mate and I'm supposed to protect her. Because I don't want to see her hurt!"
The moment I said it, everything went quiet.
