Day two, she came in tighter leggings. No hoodie. Sports bra under a cropped tank.
If he noticed, he didn’t say a word. But his hands lingered more. His eyes dropped lower. And when he stepped behind her to demonstrate a hold, his front brushed against her back and her knees nearly buckled.
“Stiffen your spine,” he murmured near her ear, one hand on her abdomen, the other sliding down her arm to position her elbow. “You keep melting every time I touch you.”
“I’m melting from rage,” she lied breathlessly.
He laughed. “Sure you are.”
She spun to elbow him, but he caught her mid turn once again, arms locking around her waist as they fell into another sparring match. She
The pack house was buzzing with movement and noise by the time Aria and Mira arrived. The air was thick with the scent of smoke, cleaning supplies, and the faint copper tang of blood. Wolves moved in and out through every doorway, some carrying supplies, others tending to scrapes or burns. The hum of voices was constant, worried, determined, urgent.“They work fast,” Mira murmured beside her, eyes scanning the scene. “But this one’s going to take a while to recover from.”“What about the people whose homes were destroyed?” Aria asked.Mira’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “Some are still in shock. They’ll wait for the Alpha’s decision. But… we do have some rooms here for emergency housing. They haven’t been used in years.”
The moment they turned down the long gravel drive to the Black Moon estate, the air seemed to shift, heavier somehow, charged.Kieran eased the sleek black car to a stop right in front of the main steps. Before she could reach for the handle, he was already out, coming around to open her door. He offered his hand, but instead of simply helping her out, he pulled her directly into his arms.The kiss he gave her was slow and deliberate, like he wanted to anchor them both in that moment. Her fingers curled against his shirt, ready to melt into him.“Alpha!”Rafe’s voice cut through the air, sharp with urgency. Both he and Thorne were striding toward them from the pack house, their expressions tense.“Sorr
The drive back to the house was easy, unhurried. The windows were cracked just enough for the cool evening air to slip in, ruffling Aria’s hair. She sat back in her seat, watching the blur of trees and hills roll by while Kieran’s hand rested on her thigh in that casual way of his that still made her pulse pick up.They talked about nothing and everything, until Kieran’s voice shifted, low and steady, as he began to tell her about the world beyond the Black Moon borders.“There are other beings out there,” he said. “Some we tolerate, even trade with when it suits both sides. Others…” His mouth curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Not so much.”“Like the vampires,” she guessed.&ld
He didn’t let her go right away. Instead, he sat there on the side of the road with her in his lap, one hand resting firm and warm on her lower back, the other tracing slow, soothing circles between her shoulder blades. The hum of the idling engine was the only sound for a while, and she let her head rest against his chest, listening to the steady, grounding rhythm of his heartbeat.Eventually, she shifted, lifting her head to look at him. That’s when she saw it, those familiar flecks of molten gold swirling faintly in the deep blue of his eyes. Without thinking, she reached up and stroked her fingers along his jaw, the coarse rasp of his stubble brushing her skin.“You said the gold was your wolf,” she murmured.He nodded, not breaking eye contact. “It is.”
The car hummed softly beneath them, the road stretching out in a blur of asphalt and fading light. Aria sat angled toward the window, watching the scenery pass in silence until the question slipped from her lips.“Why?” she asked quietly.Kieran glanced at her, one hand loose on the steering wheel, the other resting on her thigh like it was second nature. “Why what?”“Why did you take me to see Jade? And my mum?” She turned toward him, her voice edged with suspicion but softened by the memory of those visits.He kept his eyes on the road, but there was a shadow of a smile at the corner of his mouth. “Because you said you missed them. You were worried about them. I trust you, Aria. And I want you to be happy.”
Aria climbed back into the passenger seat of the sleek black sports car, the leather cool beneath her legs. She tried to blink away the heat stinging her eyes, but a single tear betrayed her, sliding down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away before Kieran could see.Of course, he noticed anyway.His large, warm hand slid over to squeeze her thigh, his touch both grounding and quietly reassuring. He didn’t say anything, just started the engine and eased the car into motion. The low hum filled the silence between them, and for a long stretch, neither of them spoke.The landscape changed gradually, the urban edges falling away to winding roads and tree lined streets. An hour later, something about the houses and the curve of the road started pulling at her memory. She sat up straighter, her pulse kicking up.