CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE: ARIA

The Lumina representatives were scheduled to arrive at dawn tomorrow, giving me enough time to wrestle with the decision that would determine the rest of my life.

I spent most of it in the pack's garden, sitting on a stone bench with my mother's pendant warm against my skin, trying to sort through the chaos of emotions and revelations from the past few days.

The garden was peaceful in the late morning light, filled with the kind of flowers that seemed to thrive in Portland's mild climate.

Roses climbed trellises against the stone walls, their perfume mingling with the earthy scent of fresh soil and the distant pine fragrance from the surrounding forest.

It was the kind of place that should have brought me comfort, but my mind was too turbulent for peace.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice I was no longer alone until a shadow fell across the path in front of me.

Looking up, I found Reena standing there with an expression of such pure malice that it made my blood run cold.

"Enjoying your last few hours as the pack's resident charity case?"

she asked with false sweetness, settling herself uninvited on the bench across from me.

"What do you want, Reena?"

"To have a little heart-to-heart conversation,"

she replied, her grey eyes glittering with something dangerous.

"Sister to sister, you might say."

"We're not sisters."

"No, we're not," she agreed readily.

"Thank the moon goddess for that. But we have been living under the same roof for ten years, which means I know you better than most people. I know your weaknesses, your insecurities, your pathetic little dreams about belonging somewhere."

I started to stand up, not wanting to endure whatever cruel game she was planning, but she continued speaking before I could escape.

"I also know you're in love with Alpha Kael."

The words hit me like a physical blow.

I sank back onto the bench, unable to deny something that was probably written all over my face.

"I thought so," Reena said with obvious satisfaction.

"The way you look at him, the way you hang on his every word, the way you light up whenever he pays you the slightest bit of attention. It's really quite pathetic to watch."

"If you came here just to be cruel—"

"I came here to give you some advice, actually." Her smile was sharp as a blade.

"As someone who's watched you pine after something you can't have, I thought you should know exactly what you're up against if you're foolish enough to stay and fight for him."

"What are you talking about?"

"Lyra, of course." Reena leaned forward, her voice taking on the conspiratorial tone of someone sharing delicious gossip.

"Did you know she and Kael have been intimate before?"

The garden seemed to tilt around me.

"That's not true."

"Isn't it? They've known each other since childhood, trained together, fought together. She's beautiful, powerful, everything a Luna should be. Do you really think two attractive, unmarked werewolves spent all those years together without exploring their... compatibility?"

"You're lying."

But even as I said it, doubt crept into my voice. It would make sense, wouldn't it?

Two people who'd grown up together, who understood each other's world perfectly, who were expected by everyone to end up together eventually.

"Am I?" Reena's smile widened at my obvious distress.

"Why don't you ask Kayla if you don't believe me? Or better yet, ask Kael himself. I'm sure he'd be happy to share the details of his relationship with his perfect golden wolf."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I'm tired of watching you embarrass yourself," she said with false concern.

"It's painful, really. The way you've convinced yourself that you might actually have a chance with him when everyone can see you're just a temporary fascination. A novelty that will wear off the moment something better comes along."

"That's enough." I stood up abruptly, my hands shaking with anger and hurt.

"Is it though?" Reena rose as well, circling me like a predator who'd scented blood.

"Because I haven't even gotten to the best part yet. Do you want to know what Lyra told me this morning?"

"No."

"She said Kael came to her last night. That he was conflicted about sending you away, needed someone to talk to about his feelings."

Reena's voice dripped with false sympathy.

"Apparently, he spent hours in her room, working through his emotions with someone who really understands him."

The image her words conjured made me feel physically sick.

Kael seeking comfort from Lyra while I sat alone in my guest quarters, wondering if I'd imagined the connection between us.

"You're enjoying this," I said quietly.

"Of course I am," Reena replied without shame.

"Do you know what it's been like, watching everyone fuss over poor little Aria for ten years? Poor orphaned Aria who needs protection. Sweet, innocent Aria who never did anything wrong. Perfect Aria who somehow made everyone love her despite being completely ordinary."

"I was never ordinary to you," I realized suddenly.

"You always knew, didn't you? About what I really was?"

"I suspected," she admitted.

"There were signs if you knew what to look for. The way plants grew better around you, how cuts healed faster when you touched them, the fact that you never got sick despite being supposedly human. I knew you were hiding something, and it drove me crazy that everyone else was too blind to see it."

"So you decided to make my life hell."

"I decided to put you in your place," she corrected.

"Which is exactly what I'm doing now. You don't belong here, Aria. You never did and the sooner you accept that and stop fighting for things that were never meant to be yours, the easier this will be for everyone."

Before I could respond, footsteps on the garden path announced someone's approach.

We both turned to see Lyra walking toward us, looking absolutely radiant in a flowing sundress that made her seem like some kind of ethereal goddess.

"Reena, Aria," she greeted us with a warm smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

"Not at all," Reena said sweetly. "We were just having a friendly chat about relationships and the importance of knowing where one stands."

"How lovely," Lyra replied, settling gracefully onto the bench I'd vacated.

"Actually, I was hoping to speak with Aria before the Lumina representatives arrive. There are some things I think she should know about what to expect."

"Of course there are," I muttered under my breath.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing. What did you want to tell me?"

Lyra's expression grew serious, though there was still something calculating in her gaze.

"I wanted you to know that I spoke with Kael this morning about your situation. He's... well, he's struggling with the decision to let you go."

"Let me go?" The phrase stung more than it should have.

"He cares about you, Aria. Perhaps more than he should, given the circumstances."

Lyra's voice carried a note of gentle reproach.

"But he also understands his responsibilities as Alpha. Sometimes the kindest thing we can do for someone we care about is to let them find happiness elsewhere."

"How noble of him," I said bitterly.

"It is noble," Lyra insisted, though her eyes flashed with something that might have been irritation.

"Do you have any idea how difficult this decision is for him? How much it's costing him emotionally to do what's best for you instead of what he wants?"

"And what does he want?"

I asked, though I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer.

Lyra hesitated for just a moment too long.

"He wants you to be safe and happy. Which is why he believes the Luminas can offer you something he can't."

"Such as?"

"A place where you truly belong. Where your power is understood and valued rather than feared. Where you won't have to constantly prove yourself worthy of acceptance."

Her words echoed too closely to my own deepest insecurities to be coincidental.

She was pushing exactly the right buttons to make me doubt everything I thought I knew about my place here.

"The representatives should be arriving soon,"

Lyra continued, rising from the bench with fluid grace.

"I do hope you'll give their offer serious consideration. It would be... unfortunate if you made a decision based on false hopes rather than realistic expectations."

After both women left, I remained alone in the garden, my mother's pendant feeling like the only real thing in a world that suddenly seemed full of lies and manipulation.

Reena's cruel revelations about Kael and Lyra's history swirled in my mind, mixing with Lyra's careful insinuations about his true feelings.

Was I really just fooling myself?

Had I read more into Kael's kindness than was actually there?

The thought of him seeking comfort from Lyra while pushing me away made my chest ache with a pain that felt surprisingly physical.

The green-eyed monster of jealousy had done its work well.

Now I had to decide whether to fight for something that might never have been real, or accept that some dreams were simply too painful to pursue.

The pendant at my throat pulsed with warmth, but even my mother's love couldn't tell me which path would lead to happiness and which would lead to more heartbreak.

I would have to choose and live with the consequences of that choice, whatever they might be.