LOGINAria:I woke up slowly.Not to sickness this time, but to a deep, heavy fatigue that weighed down my limbs. The bed felt impossibly warm, the blankets wrapped around me like a cocoon. For a moment, I didn’t remember where I was, only that I felt safe.Then I felt him.Dominic was sitting beside me, close enough that I could feel the heat of his body even before I opened my eyes. His hand rested lightly on the mattress near my hip, careful not to crowd me.He was reading a book, which was placed on the edge of the bed.“Morning.” I said, making him smile.“Morning,” he said softly.“What are you reading?” I asked, running my finger over the book gently.“Just one of the novels that I have in my library.” He was watching me closely, concern written all over his face, his usual sharp edge dulled by something gentler. “I didn’t want to wake you, and I didn’t want to go anywhere until you woke up.”“You could have gone to finish up whatever you had to do, you know that.” I said, making him
Dominic:I looked down at the small woman that I now called my own as she lay in my arms. Curled slightly on her side, tucked beneath my blanket, her breathing slow and even now, nothing like the weak, shaking breaths from earlier.My Aria.I hadn’t slept again.I couldn’t.I just kept my eyes on her, fearing that she would need me again.Something had changed.Not loudly. Not violently. But unmistakably.Her scent was different.Subtle, so subtle that unless one focused on it, they wouldn’t notice it. But my wolf felt it instantly. The sharp edge of her heat had dulled, fading into something warmer, deeper. Protective instincts coiled tight inside my chest, fierce and sudden, as if my wolf had stepped closer to hers without conscious command. It was as if he was now bending the knee to her, wanting to keep her safe of all harm, wanting to cradle her in ways that only nature could explain.She was exhausted. Drained in a way that had nothing to do with the long night or the shift. I h
Aria:I woke to the steady rise and fall of Dominic’s chest.His arm was draped around my waist, warm and firm, holding me against him as though his body instinctively refused to let go. Morning light slipped through the curtains, soft against my eyelids, and for a moment… I didn’t want to move.Then the nausea hit.It rose so sharply that my throat burned. I pushed at his chest suddenly, desperate.Dominic stirred instantly. “Aria?”I didn’t answer, I couldn’t. I barely managed to pull away from him before I practically stumbled off the bed, one hand clamped over my mouth. He was beside me in a heartbeat, catching my waist before I collapsed.“Aria…”I dropped to my knees, gripping the basin beside the fireplace just as my stomach twisted violently. Dominic knelt with me, one arm wrapped firmly around my shoulders, steadying me as I vomited.“It’s alright,” he murmured, his voice low, steady, grounding. “Breathe, love… just breathe. You’re okay, baby.”Another wave hit and I leaned f
Brenna:The moment the Alpha stepped inside the chamber, everyone in the hall felt it…A ripple, subtle at first, then unmistakable, rolled through the walls of the estate. The kind of instinctual shift the pack hadn’t felt in years. The air thickened, charged, humming with a familiar energy.Heat.Not common.Not casual.Not accidental.The Alpha’s mate was in heat.I stopped mid-stride, my entire body going still as the truth hit me with the force of a blow.This wasn’t just desire between them anymore. This was nature moving. And unless I took charge of things, we were going to have a shift that I wasn’t sure that even Aria was ready for. A shift that said control, that said Luna. And as much as I wanted her to be one, she still couldn’t claim it. Not before she’s given a child.I exhaled sharply. “Oh, dear…”Two guards glanced at me, confused, until the realization dawned on them as well. Their eyes widened, their wolves restless, needing to obey, to bend the knee.I snapped insta
Dominic:When I pushed open the door to my chamber, the first thing I saw was her.Aria stood near the window, the fading winter light brushing over her hair, her shoulders tense, her hands clasped in front of her. She turned when she heard me, quickly, almost sharply, like she wasn’t sure what version of me was walking in.Her eyes met mine.Not angry.Not distant.But wary.“Aria,” I said quietly.She exhaled, just a little, and that sound alone loosened something inside my chest.I crossed the room in a few strides, stopping just close enough that I could feel her breath. “Brenna told me you came straight here. You chose not to deviate and actually listened.”She nodded. “I… I wasn’t sure how you would react if you didn’t find me here when you walked in. And the last thing that I wanted was for you to be angry after what happened earlier. You needed peace, and I wanted to be that peace.”I lifted a hand and brushed my knuckles down her arm, light, careful. She didn’t pull away. “Yo
Aria:“Why did you stop…?”“Because arguing in front of an angry Dominic was not going to be a good option.” She said, stopping me.She looked at the guards who bowed the second they saw me approaching, and I looked away from them, my chest aching with the feeling of being watched, knowing well that it was not going to be going anywhere that is good from here.“But for him to do…”“For you to be spending the night out with the Alpha… it is bound to trigger her.” Brenna said, stopping me. “We will talk more about this when we get inside.”I went quiet after that, my heart racing with each step that we took until we entered the room.Brenna closed the door behind us, and I watched as she inhaled before she locked the door. My pulse hadn’t slowed yet, not from Katherine’s fury, not from Dominic’s words, not from the way his hand had rested on my back like I belonged to him.Brenna turned to me, her face grave, eyes sharp with a warning she hadn’t yet spoken.“Aria,” she breathed, steppi







