Lucian’s POV It took a while for me to finally calm Sheila down enough to hang up the phone, but when I finally did, I breathed a big sigh of relief. At the end, she still insisted I come home, but at least she wasn’t threatening suicide anymore. I’d convinced her that I would leave early. Early
“Aria…” “You don’t love me, Lucian,” Aria said, looking straight into my eyes. “Not enough. Maybe not at all. Without love, even if we’d had intimacy as often as physically possible, I wouldn’t have gotten pregnant.” “How do you know this is true?” I asked. “We could consult a Healer.” “I had
Aria’s POV Nothing I said to Lucian was a lie. For a werewolf to conceive, both partners needed a certain measure of love and affection for each other. That I was pregnant could, from the outside, be seen as something of a miracle. But I remembered the night that Lucian came to me, a couple of w
“That’s not enough,” I told him. “Aria…” “I need more,” I said. “Unless you can promise to love me, I see no other way forward for us.” He’d never be able to make that promise, and we both knew it. Lucian had already told me he didn’t know how he felt about me. After overhearing his phone call
Aria’s POV I was worried about Piper, but I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to Julia and Harold. After all, my curiosity over what Lucian might say was only part of the reason I came tonight. My main priority had been to say farewell to his parents, knowing this would likely be the last time
Aria gestured toward the door. “We have to go now, Jasper. There’s no time for games. Piper works at the hospital. If she needs me, that’s where we have to go.” “The hospital…?” I felt like my brain was offline, all of my thoughts still enamored with her. “Yes,” she said, giving me a flat look.
Aria’s POV Aria knew enough about Caleb, the war hero, to know that this group were his children and their spouses. I’d never interacted with them. They’d always kept a wide berth from me, but we’d seen each other at parties. Granted, it was from across the room, but we still recognized each other
Maybe that was just one more mistake I’d made. “If you will excuse me, I would like to speak to Dr. A privately about this. Jasper,” I said, remembering him at my side. “Please stay here.” “But –” “This is a private matter.” He huffed like a petulant child but agreed, “Fine.” “Thank you,”
He didn’t seem to mind. In this, as in most things lately, Lucian had allowed me to take the lead. He’d remained supportive and contributed his ideas and opinions, but never once anymore did he state his opinions as law or facts. Instead, we’d had conversations where we weighed the pros and cons of
Jean’s POV“Come on, Luke,” Jean said, tugging on her brother’s sleeve. “I don’t want to be late.”“We won’t be late, Jean,” Luke replied with unfounded confidence. “They won’t start without us.”While the guests had been taking their seats in the wooden fold-out chairs arranged on the beach, and th
In a flash, Lucian was there instead, stepping into the space between us. I couldn’t see what happened, but I smelled Lucian’s blood. My wolf whined in sympathetic pain.The rest of the bottle quickly smashed on the floor.In the end, William was bound to a chair, treated even as the police were on
Aria’s POVIn our little house in Moonglow, I woke up early to head into work. Lucian woke up at the same time as me, I think to have tea with me in the little kitchen. He always took the kids to school before he started his assistant job at the clinic.“You sleep okay?” I asked him, as he heated up
She was beautiful. Why had I never noticed before?Why was I noticing now?Quickly, I looked down at the menu. It was far too soon for a new romance, not if I wanted to find one for real. I wasn’t about to play around with Cathy’s heart, when she had come to be such a friend.And I didn’t want to pl
Jasper’s POVA couple of days after I punched Lucian, and he quit and ran off with Aria, Cathy invited me out to lunch. Sitting across from me now, in a café that we tended to frequent when we got together, she was looking at me as one might a wounded animal, as if trying to determine if I needed co
But Jasper’s words still rang true. When was the last time, as Alpha, I had ever been happy?The job made me miserable, even before Aria had left me. Constant pressure, constant responsibility, constant ridicule, limited thanks. Years and years of it had worn me down, eroded like a rock in the water
Lucian’s POVJasper’s punch caught me by surprised. I stumbled back, nearly into the elevator again as the doors started to close. He definitely broke my nose. Holding it, I stepped forward again, back off the elevator. Blood dripped down onto my shirt.Jasper had several different reasons to be pis
Over the next few days, I didn’t see Lucian at all. Presumably he saw the kids after I took them to spend time with their grandparents. Harold was out of the hospital and eager to see the kids.With the kids there, I returned to Cathy’s and started packing up my clothes and that of the kids. Cathy w