Romans de Esteria

(Aria POV)I leave Damon’s office while he’s still staring at the map on his wall like it owes him answers. My legs move before my brain catches up, carrying me down the east corridor toward the tech room. The door is cracked open, blue light spilling into the hallway. I push it wider without knocking.Fen doesn’t look up from her triple-monitor setup. “If you’re here to beg for Lena updates, I already told Rook no new pings since he left her block.”“Not here for that.” I step inside and let the door click shut behind me. “I need to see what you’ve got on Mason.”She swivels her chair half a turn. Twenty-six, sharp jaw, sharper eyes behind those wire frames. Human, not wolf, which makes her the only person in this place who doesn’t smell faintly of wet dog after a rain. She studies me for three seconds.“You’re persistent. I’ll give you that.”“Persistent is one word for it.”She snorts, spins back to her screens, and flicks a finger at the empty stool beside her. “Sit. Don’t touch a

(Aria POV)I leave the training yard with my arms still humming from the workout and head down the east corridor toward my room. Halfway there I spot three guards moving fast in the opposite direction, one of them carrying a plain brown envelope the size of a magazine. They’re headed straight for Damon’s wing. Something about the way they keep their shoulders tight makes me pivot and follow at a distance.They disappear through the double doors at the end of the hall. I wait ten seconds, then slip inside after them. The corridor opens into a small antechamber outside Damon’s private office. The guards are clustered around the desk. Damon stands with his back to me, already opening the envelope.One guard speaks low. “It didn’t come through the gate, Alpha. No courier log, no perimeter breach. Just appeared in the internal mail slot like it belonged there.”Damon pulls out a single glossy photograph and holds it up to the light. I step forward without thinking.The picture is Lena. My

Aria POV)Rook finally leaves me at the cafeteria entrance after insisting I try the chili for the third time. He’s still talking about how Ruthless needs a new exhaust when I slip away, ducking down the side corridor that leads outside. The training yard is empty except for one person.Damon stands alone in the center of the dirt oval, facing a heavy bag that hangs from a steel frame. The bag is patched in so many places it looks like a quilt made by someone who hates sewing. He’s shirtless, sweat already shining across his shoulders, and every punch lands with a sound like someone dropping a dictionary on concrete.I stop in the open doorway. My sneakers squeak once on the threshold. He doesn’t turn. He keeps moving, left hook, right cross, elbow strike, pivot. The bag swings wildly each time but never quite knocks him back. I watch longer than I should, arms folded, hip against the doorframe. He knows I’m here. Of course he does. The man can probably hear my heartbeat from across t

( Aria POV)"Rook will come by in the morning," and that is apparently the end of the meeting because he opens a folder and starts reading it like I have already left.I take the hint.I take it loudly, standing up with enough deliberateness that the chair scrapes, and walk out without looking back, which is a very mature and unbothered thing to do and I commit to it completely.Back in my room, I sit on the bed, look at the ceiling until I fall asleep, which takes longer than I would like to admit.Rook knocks at ten the next morning. I open the door and he is already smiling, hands in his jacket pockets, with the expression of someone who has been given an assignment he intends to enjoy far beyond any reasonable professional boundary."Morning, prophecy girl. I'm Rook. Your designated shadow for the foreseeable future."I cross my arms. "You sound way too happy about babysitting duty.""Correction. I'm thrilled about the upgrade from cleaning carburetors to hanging out with the girl

(Aria POV)I don't even startle. I just stop walking and turn around, and there he is, filling the hallway the way he fills every space he occupies, like the architecture quietly rearranged itself to accommodate him. He looks at me. I look back. The silence between us runs exactly long enough for both of us to understand that we are not going to pretend I was not crouched behind a steel shelf listening through a ventilation grate for the last twenty minutes."Come with me," he says.It is not quite a command. His voice doesn't have that particular edge to it, the one that turns words into walls. It lands more like an expectation, steady and patient, the verbal equivalent of a hand extended rather than a door slammed. I notice the distinction. I choose not to make a thing of it."Fine," I say, and follow him.He takes me down a hallway I haven't been in yet, shorter than the others, and pushes open a door at the end. I step inside and clock the room in about four seconds. Maps on the w

(Aria POV)He tells me to stay in my room and walk out, and I last exactly six minutes.In my defence, six minutes is a personal record. I sat on the edge of the bed, I counted the bricks on the wall opposite me, I even picked up the glass of water on the nightstand and drank half of it like a composed, rational adult who respects boundaries. And then the sound of raised voices filtered up through the floor, and my legs just, independently of any instruction from my brain, stood up and walked me out the door.I am not proud of this. I am also not stopping.The hallway outside the council chamber is long and dim, with a ventilation grate set low into the wall about halfway down, behind an ornamental steel shelf nobody has put anything on. I crouch behind the shelf, press my back to the wall, and tuck my knees to my chest.The voices come through the grate in layers, some clearer than others depending on where in the room each person is standing. I piece together the positions fast. The

Nichole’s POVI had barely slept that night.Every sound made me scared. I could only stay up and think about the message on my phone..“Stay safe. They’re watching you.”I sat on the bed, as I held the coffee mug, staring at the floor.Claire was awake, but still under the blanket.The apartment felt… wrong.I just felt like something bad had happened.I tried to forget it, but deep down, I knew better.Something had changed.The morning was quiet until I heard the sound of my front door.My heart dropped.That sound shouldn’t be there.I froze, listening.Another click, it was the doorknobMy heart was pounding.I put the mug down, and walked slowly toward the door.My fingers were on the lock.No… no, it can’t be.I pushed the door open slowly.The apartment was empty.Not a trace of anyone was inside, not even footprints.But the door itself had been broken, small scratches."Claire!!" I screamed."What is it?" Claire responded softly."We've been robbed...someone broke into the

Nichole’s POVAfter looking for jobs for a week, I finally started working at Claire’s office. Many people stated they couldn't employ me because of "personal reasons", but even I knew it was because I was Daniel Lancaster ex-fiancée.So this was the only thing left.I arrived at the office earlier than usual, hoping I would be able to focus.It didn’t.The moment I sat behind my desk, my thoughts went in all directions.I tried to bury myself in spreadsheets, emails, anything that didn’t involve Alexander Lancaster’s face.But it was useless.Every time I got lost in thought, I could only think of him again.The way he stood between me and Daniel at that party replayed in my mind like a scene I couldn’t stop watching.And the worst part?My heart still pounded when I thought of it.“Coffee?” Claire’s voice interrupted my thoughts.She stood by my desk, holding two cups.“Please.” I took one.She leaned closer. “You didn’t sleep again, did you?”“Barely,” I admitted.“You need rest,

Nichole’s POVThe rain continued that night.Claire went to bed early, so it was just me and my thoughts in the living room that night.The test results were still on the table.Positive.I took the paper and read it again, and again and again.And it was still the same thing.There was no denying it.I was carrying life inside me, though all I felt inside was confusion and fear."Who are you?" I whispered, touching my stomach. "And who is your father?"But of course there was no answer.I stood up and went to the window.I could almost not recognise myself.I had dry skin, my eyes were tired.And even now I still had no idea what I was doing.“Just give me time,” I whispered. “Please, just a little more time.”***********The next morning, Claire woke up before me and made coffee.She was singing when I walked into the kitchen.“You didn’t sleep much, did you?” she asked, before she handed me the cup of coffee.“Couldn’t.” I said as I took it from her.“Nichole." She paused. "You d

Nichole’s POVThat damn dream came again.I was standing in a white dress but when I looked down, it had red stains.Around me I could only hear whispers and laughter.And then, somewhere in all of this I heard Daniel’s voice.Calm. Cruel.“Did you really think you were enough?”I tried to run to him, but I couldn't.I couldn't move.My chest ached, and for a moment, I didn’t know where I was.Claire’s apartment.Safe.Maybe.I stood up and went to the bathroom..I didn't even recognize who I saw in the mirror.This wasn’t who I was.The woman in the mirror was someone else, someone trying to rebuild herself while pretending not to notice that it all just keeps falling back apart.I put some water in my mouth, and poured cold water on my face, and stood there until I stopped shaking.When I stepped back into the room, Claire was standing there.Somehow, she always knew.She leaned on the door, as she folded her arms. “Rough night?”I nodded.“The same dream. He’s always there.”She

The rain had continued to fall.It should have made me calm, but the only thing it did was scare me even more.I sat on the coach, holding the test result like a secret.Claire walked in, with two cups of tea in her hands, as she studied me. "Nichole just tell what you're staring at, you've been looking at that paper for a while now."I stared at the floor.I couldn't look her in the eye.My hands were shaking as I finally managed to speak. “I’m pregnant.”Her eyes widened.The mug almost fell from her hand. “Wait...what?”I nodded.I could hardly see as tears filled my eyesClaire put the mugs down and sat beside me. “Nichole… how long have you known?”“I found out yesterday. At my grandfather’s party.” I sighed. "It’s like life is just out to get me, isn't it? One disaster after another.”She reached for my hand. “Does Daniel know?”I froze.Hearing his name brought back memories I didn't want to remember. “No,” I whispered. “And I don’t know if he ever should.”Claire frowned. “Y

Nichole's Pov I took another taxi and went to the apartment I shared with Daniel.I did not want anything that would remind me of any of them so I first removed myself from the family group chat and any other group chat I was in together with them and Daniel.Then I arranged my things and walked out of the house. The house was my own because Daniel rarely spent time there because he was always going on business trips but now I know those business trips were Lila.I took one last look at the house, took a cab and went to Claire's place."I'm sorry I would have to inconvenience you for a while till I find my footing," I told Claire."What nonsense, you can never inconvenience me okay, so you can stay here for as long as you want," Claire said.I was grateful that I had a place to lay my head. Since I was still on sick leave at work, I was not going to the office for the next two weeks so I had time to recollect my thoughts.It was Saturday so I didn't have anything to do. I decided to