Romans de Jasminewrites

Aria's POVWhen I arrived home, I stood in the doorway of the living room and did not announce myself.Lana was on the rug with a picture book, one hand on the page and the other ferrying a cookie to her mouth. She is a little over four years old now.Rowland was on the sofa, reading aloud with the exaggerated character voices he always used because Lana found them devastating.He looked up when I appeared. He always knew before I made a sound."Hey," he said.Lana turned, saw me, and dropped the book entirely. "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy—"I crouched and caught her, pressing my face into her curls and breathing her in the way I still did every time."You smell like sugar," I told her."Uncle Rowland gave me cookies," she said immediately. Lana had long decided honesty was simply the more efficient policy with me.I looked at Rowland over her head.He raised both hands. "She looked at me with that face. I'm only a wolf, Aria. I'm not made of stone."Lana turned her most serious expression on

Aria's POVThree Years LaterMy office had a window that faced west.I had chosen it for that reason. I loved the way the afternoon light came in at that angle and turned the whole room gold before the day ended. My grandmother had always said that people make better decisions in a good light. I did not know if that was true, but I had kept the habit of working in it.I leaned back in my chair and let the thought settle across the afternoon.The Darvin Group shares had collapsed in the six months following Patrick's sentencing, as such things do when the architecture of a company turns out to have been built partly on fraud.I had watched the numbers with the particular attention of someone who has done their homework, and was waiting for the right moment to strike. I had bought the shares at the bottom and climbed into the structure from the inside.I had spent the better part of a year rebuilding what could be rebuilt and discarding what couldn't, and now I sat in this office as its

Aria's POVI looked at Nathan, at the man I had once loved with the whole, uncomplicated faith of someone who had not yet learned that love was not the same as safety. At the man who had stood and watched me be led away. At the man who had cried in the hallway outside my door and signed divorce papers with a shaking hand.At the man who had helped me as much as he could in my quest to clear my name and make my father pay fof his crimes.He was all of those men at once. People were not simple. I knew that, but I was done, completely done with the man standing in front of me."No, I can't do that." I said.He closed his eyes briefly."Nathan." My voice was not unkind. "It's not that I don't believe you. I think something in you has genuinely changed and will continue to change."I held his gaze. "But change doesn't erase what was. And I can't unlearn what it felt like to be in that cell and know help wasn't coming. I can't undo what my wolf learned about what it felt like to need you an

Aria's POVPatrick pled not guilty despite all the evidence stacked against him. The DNA confirmation of Sophia's parentage was the moment his lawyer stopped arguing and started managing damage.The judge found him guilty and gave him fifteen years imprisonment.Patrick was led out with his face set into something rigid and furious, and as he passed my table, his eyes found mine.I smiled at him, just slightly, just enough.He looked away first.Margaret, still in the gallery, turned her face away from his as he was led past. He noticed. I watched him notice. Whatever else happened in the years ahead, Patrick Darvin would carry the memory of his wife unable to look at him out of the room.Sophia's case followed.Her performance held longer than I expected. She was better at it than Patrick, more practiced in a certain kind of self-presentation, more fluent in the language of innocence. She was a lawyer after all.But evidence does not care about performance, and when the final pieces

Aria's POV"Sophia is not my sister." I corrected."They are both in custody, and you stand here looking at me like you didn't cause this?""I didn't cause it," I said. My voice was completely steady. "They both caused it. When they decided to commit crimes that are against the law.""You pretended!" She was almost shouting now. "You came to our house not too long ago, you sat at our table, you let us think things were being repaired , and all along you were building a case against your own father?""I sent you evidence," I said. "Multiple times. I gave you the truth in as many forms as I could find and I handed it to you anonymously." I looked at her. "You didn't use them or maybe you just chose not to believe them.""I knew they were from you, and yes, I didn’t believe them because I knew they were fabricated!" She jabbed a finger toward me. "You wanted to destroy my marriage the way you destroyed yours, and you thought if you took Patrick from me—""Mother." The word came out sharp

Aria's POV"I came to help," Nathan said, staring at me."I didn't ask for your help.""I know." He stepped forward slightly. Rowland didn't move. "Let me speak. Then if you want me to leave, I'll leave."The room was very quiet.I looked at him. His eyes were steady, and beneath the steadiness there was something strained and exhausted that he was managing with considerable effort. My wolf noted it automatically."Speak," I said.He nodded once. "I can see you are trying to bring Patrick down. You have evidence, that's good, you have a witness —" he glanced briefly at Tyler, who had gone very still, "— but just like Jonathan said, you need Clarence."He had eavesdropped on our conversation from outside."We're aware," Chloe said dryly."I know exactly where she is right now." He said it simply. "I mean her exact location. She left Sophia's apartment, I had her tailed to her current location. She's now staying at a property in the north quarter of Asterfell, under a false name, but we

Ava's POVJasper’s hesitation lasted only a heartbeat before he moved. He crossed slowly, then stopped at the edge of my bed like he expected rejection.His head was down, his shoulders tight, like a young wolf trying very hard not to look like prey.I lifted my hand and tilted his face up gently.“Does your face sting? Any other bumps or bruises?”His eyes flickered away from mine, but I didn’t let him hide. I checked him carefully. There were only scrapes, swelling on his cheek, a bruise forming near his eye. Nothing life-threatening, but still enough to make my wolf growl low in irritation.I rolled his sleeves up next, checking instinctively for hidden injuries.When I was satisfied, I let go.“Next time,” I said firmly, “don’t ditch your bodyguards and go running off. You’re the alpha heir of the Moonshadow pack. There are vultures everywhere. You got lucky this time. Don’t count on it again.”His throat bobbed.“Yeah… got it.”I studied him for a moment longer, then pointed ligh

Ava's POVRichard and Nora had to be close. They had to be searching nearby. I just needed to hold on until we found them.Just a little farther. But my body was too weak.I coughed and spat a mouthful of blood onto the pavement.Jasper gasped. I slapped a hand over my mouth and kept running.Another cough tore free, and warm blood spilled through my fingers, splattering across Jasper’s cheek as I dragged him onward.He looked up at me then and saw my pale face, my tightly drawn brows, the blood, and the pain I could no longer hide.And for the first time since I had known him, the arrogance left his eyes.“Damn bitch!” Ryan’s voice roared through the air. He had reached us.Before I could steady myself, his hand tangled in my hair, yanking hard enough to make my vision blur. The world spun, and then my back slammed against a tree with sickening force.Then came the slap.My head snapped to the side, the crack echoing unnaturally loud to my heightened hearing. My wolf snarled, clawing

Ava's POVI closed my eyes briefly.My wolf groaned. Stupid pup.One thug laughed. “Ryan... isn’t Victor Smith the richest Alpha in the country?”“Yes!” Jasper shouted desperately. “My dad is Victor, the richest Alpha in the country! Let me go right now! You’ll regret it when he gets here!”Fear made his voice shrill and shaky, but arrogance still clung to every word. He had no instinct for survival, only entitlement.My wolf snarled. He is provoking them.A sharp crack split the night. The unmistakable sound of a slap.Then Jasper burst into sobs.“How dare you hit me! My dad will…”The shouting grew fainter, swallowed by the alley walls, until it turned into muffled sobbing.I clicked my tongue in irritation and pulled out my phone.“Richard,” I said the moment he answered, keeping my voice low, “park alley near the east side… bring Nora, now.”I ended the call before he could question me.My wolf prowled beneath my skin, claws itching. We should have shifted already.“Not yet. Let’

Ava's POVA visible shiver ran through Nora. I knew how cruel it sounded, and I also knew I did not care.Victor and Laura had taken a soft-hearted woman and ground her against stone until only sharp edges remained.Nora sighed heavily and motioned for Richard to sit down and eat. Neither of them argued further. They chose, wisely, to ignore the boy outside.So did I… at first.*****By ten o’clock, the outside remained quiet. At last, Nora could not hold herself back.“Ava... what if the kid gets abducted?”I leaned back calmly, wiping my hands with a napkin.“If he gets kidnapped,” I said evenly, “then the kidnappers can demand ransom from the Smith family.” I met Nora’s eyes. “What does that have to do with me?”I felt the old ache stir in my chest, but I kept my face unreadable. “Does that child even call me Mother?”No… to the world, he was the son of Laura and Victor, not mine.“Ava,” Nora said softly, her voice tight with worry, “I’m not concerned about him. I’m afraid they’ll

Ava's POVMy hand froze on the doorknob. For one moment, an ugly feeling twisted in my chest.I said nothing, but my wolf lowered her head.I turned away from the door and walked back to the sofa. Then I dropped onto it, closed my eyes, and leaned back.I thought about father and son, two impossible wolves, enough to split my skull open with stress."Ava..." Richard's voice softened as he looked me over. "What in the Moon's name is going on?"I didn't answer. He crouched beside the sofa."You look terrible. Why don't you sleep for a bit?""No." I forced myself upright. "I have materials to review."If I stayed still, I would think. If I thought, I would rage.So I opened my laptop and began scanning information on recent exhibitions, symposiums, and restoration showcases.My mood soured within minutes. Everywhere I looked, there was Laura's name.And worse, my own old works from five years ago kept appearing in feature lists, catalog references, and professional discussions.I stared

Ava’s POV.Victor's expression hardened into stone. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black card. The same one I had left behind.He set it on the table between us."Keep this," he said. "Buy what you need. If it's not enough, let me know."For a moment, I only stared at the card.Money… that was all he ever offered. As if silver and paper could mend broken bonds or wash blood from guilty hands.My wolf bared her teeth.Throw it at him.But before I could move, Victor turned and walked toward the door.I snatched the black card off the table and hurled it at his back. It struck the wall beside the door and clattered to the floor."Victor, are you deaf?" I shouted, my voice ragged with fury. "We're done. I never want to see you again for the rest of my life!"He paused for half a second but didn't say anything. He didn't even bother to pick up the card.Then he disappeared down the stairwell like a shadow slipping away. The silence he left behind was worse than his presence.