Aria’s POV“No,” Lucian said quickly.I ignored the flash of relief that surged through me. Foolish heart, foolish feelings. Lucian and I had broken our bond. What did it matter now who he decided to have his future children with?Subtly, I placed my hand over my growing belly.However, Sheila just
Lucian’s POVAfter a moment, I shook the thoughts away. Little good it did to dwell on the past now, and on the things I couldn’t change. Aria was gone from my life now, just like Dr. A was soon to be. While there are holes in my daily life, places that once Aria had filled with brightness and goodn
Aria’s POVI only needed a little while to pull myself back together, ready to face the rest of the day and the duties that come with it.Near the end of my shift as Dr. A, the hospital director himself, Mr. Clive, came to my office. As soon as Piper saw him, she jumped to her feet with nervousness.
Lucian’s POV“A person should not continue to be punished forever for the mistakes of their past,” Lucian said into the microphone, while thinking of his own situation.If Sheila could not be forgiven, then what hope did Lucian have with how much he’d hurt her?“Regardless, I would request that you
My stomach twisted. I was going to be sick.Piper moved at once, providing me a trash can. She very generously held my hair back as I lost my breakfast.When I’d finished and was sitting on the floor, Piper said, “I send your patients home.”“No,” I said. “I need to finish everything here. I have to
Aria’s POVWhile I continued to try to wrap up most of my life at home and at the office, preparing for my move, one of my key distractors, day after day, was the presence of Jasper.Every single day after I broke my mating bond with Lucian, Jasper sent flowers to Cathy’s house. Sometimes he would e
“Did he ever tell you what happened between them?”That would require Lucian to talk with me at all. “No.”“Lucian rejected her. Of that much, we’re sure of. Sheila did not take that particularly well and demanded that Lucian find her a new mate. Lucian introduced her to one of his old friends, Brad
Lucian’s POVAs I sat in my work office at home, I was surprised when the head housekeeper walked in unannounced. Even more so when she slapped her resignation down on the desk.“What is this?” I asked, though I could see clearly from the first sentence of the letter that she was resigning.“For yea
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