Aria’s POVThe divorce ceremony was generally simple and short. A reversal of a wedding, each partner was called to give a brief statement in front of the judge. I’d already written mine and carried it on a tiny slip of paper that I now held in my shaky hands.Compared to the devastation of the mutu
I kept remembering the things she had written in her diary about me, about us. She had tried so much to please me. She couldn’t understand why I had always been distant.Seeing her now, I didn’t understand it either. Inside, regret swelled, filling the entirety of my body.Everything was so clear to
Aria’s POVI could feel Lucian’s eyes on me long before I turned and caught him staring. Yet, even caught, he kept his gaze on me. Though his face was expressionless, his eyes were sad and filled with longing. He looked at me deeply, as if he could see straight down to the core of me.Did he know ho
In this moment, I wanted to tell her what I read, that I now understood the full depth of her feelings and could acknowledge how they helped awaken my own.But telling her that would only make her sad. It wouldn’t actually change anything.She’d smiled so brightly for Jasper. Now, standing near me,
Aria’s POVThe sight of Sheila with her arms wrapped around Lucian stayed with me long after the day of our divorce ceremony. It might have shattered what remained of my heart, and caused my wolf to go into mourning once again, but at the same time, it gave me the strength and determination to keep
“I wouldn’t suggest it just as a vacation spot. The fact is, that pack is relatively poor. They mostly rely on tourism for their trade, but the packs beside theirs are at war, cutting off most travel to the region. The people there, as such, as poor and in need of good medical help.”Instinctively,
Lucian’s POVI braced myself for the rejection I knew was coming. Dr. A had even less reason to stay with the pack than Aria did. Yet, losing them both felt much too cruel.Dr. A and I had only barely been friends. We’d had fleeting moments of closeness, but more often than not, those had been broug
Either they had gotten used to seeing us here, or they weren’t ones for the political or social gossip. The people who ate here were all of the working class. They cared more about their own families, and their own pizza, than they did about whatever we were doing.The laid back attitude of the plac
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