Nine.

Aria's POV

It happened every night for the next week. The vivid dreams of Ryan and I. Somehow a part of me enjoyed it while the other part of me hated it. At least Ryan was sleeping elsewhere!

They always woke me at the same point though. With Ryan saying he thought I was a good girl. I didn’t know what that meant, I had no control over my dreams.

When he unlocks the door, he seems different. Happier almost. Today I notice that he hasn’t brought me breakfast.

“Come Aria, we are having breakfast downstairs today?”

I was surprised and even more confused when he smiled. The smile was genuine, there was no force behind it like the other times.

Nodding my head, I followed him out the room. Over the last week, I had learnt that it was better not to say anything, not to give him any clues about how I was feeling. He didn’t need to know that I had practised shifting every night. He certainly didn’t need to know that it was getting harder and harder for me to not act on the mate bond.