Aria’s POVThe hug with Jasper lingered. Five years was a long time to be away from a friend, and it was nice to catch up, so I didn’t totally mind. When we did eventually part, he looked me over, smiling like I hung the moon in the sky.“You look exactly the same,” he said, grinning.I couldn’t say
Aria’s POVThe moment Lucian stepped into the breakroom, everything else faded away. My heart began pounding in my ears, beating so loudly that I felt like I was trapped inside of a bass drum.Lucian was here. He was right there in front of me.He looked exactly the same. Stern and tall in his tailo
Jasper’s POVEven after all this time, Jasper was still unaccustomed to being rejected. Even though Aria had rejected him consistently for the past five years, he had somehow still convinced himself that Aria would accept him this time.He believed, if she could see him, see how much he had changed,
Aria’s POVI regretted how things had to end with Jasper. Though I was relieved we would continue to be friends, I didn’t like having to hurt him, even if it was the right thing to do.I couldn’t live a lie, not even for Jasper, who I knew would try his best to make me happy. We might even have some
Aria’s POVAfter Lucian left, I returned to my office and then down to the lab, where I worked with the researchers until their shifts were done. At that point, the jetlag began to set in, and I grew tired myself.When I was tired, it was difficult not to keep my thoughts from wandering.Lucian had
Lucian’s POVMy voice trailed as I stared at Aria. Seeing her again brought many old feelings to the surface, things I had thought buried. What I fool I had been.She was as beautiful as ever, barely aged a day in my eyes, despite five years having passed since I’d last seen her. Her scent, so famil
Aria’s POVLucian’s request caught me off-guard, and for a moment, I just stared at him, uncertain. I had no idea what he could be thinking, asking me that out of the blue, as if he’d been thinking of me and only me these past five years we’d been apart.But that couldn’t be. Even if Cathy said he’d
Aria’s POVThe biggest problem with my admirers having followed me here was that, in Moonglow, I had no need for secret identities. Aria and Dr. A were synonymous and everyone knew it. Paul, Frank, and Harry had no idea that they needed to keep the secret here.As they knew I was a doctor, they woul
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