LOGINI walked into the study. I didn’t even have time to take a look around the office, my eyes landed on Aidan immediately I walked through the doors.
“Dahlia, come…” Aidan had taken a seat by the window and he had no expression on his face as he scrolled through his phone. “Is there a problem?” I asked, taking a seat in front of my mother “Of course not sweetie, we have an announcement to make.” “Please don’t tell me you’re expecting a baby.” My mother sputtered out in laughter and Mr Smith chuckled. “We won’t oppose it if the moon goddess decides to bless us with a new pup but no, the announcement is that we’re going on our honey moon and we might stay for a while.” Mr Smith said “How long is a while? A week?” “Three weeks minimum.” My mum answered I looked up and locked eyes with Aidan. He was definitely thinking the same thing I was thinking. No way we would be trapped together in this house, ALONE!! “No, that’s not going to be possible. You can’t just leave me here for three weeks !!!” “Lia, stop being dramatic. You have your brother, it would be nice if you two bond together.” I was panicking. Bond, what kind of bonding! Bile rose from my stomach and burned the back of my throat. “I won’t be home anyways, I’ll be training for the new tournament and also, I’ll be preparing for college.” Aidan said to me. He must have noticed my discomfort. I didn’t know how to feel about his answer. “I don't want to discourage you from training. I know how hard you like to work but if you have any spare time, make sure to spend it with your sister.” Mr Smith said to Aidan He nodded once but it didn’t seem like he was listening. I smiled at Mr Smith and I hugged my mum. “I’m sorry for being a brat, I hope you enjoy yourself.” She hugged me back and when she pulled away, her eyes were glassy from unshed tears. “You’re not a brat Dahlia. I’m so glad that I have such a supportive daughter. I love you.” When they left the study, I turned to Aidan. I was surprised to see him staring at me, his phone was sitting on the table. “Aren’t you going to apologize?” The question shocked me, I didn’t realize I had said those words out loud. He cocked his head to the side. “Apologize for what?” I took in a deep breath, ignoring the pang of pain in my chest. “I caught you… I saw what you were doing with my picture.” “What was I doing?” He asked calmly, with a mischievous smile. Before I could answer, the door opened and a girl with platinum blonde hair barged in. She stopped when she saw me and then she ran to Aidan with a hug. I watched them kiss and it felt like someone had stabbed a fork in my belly. “Is this the sister you were talking about?” “Yeah.” “Oh, I didn’t see her at the wedding.” Her heels clicked as she walked towards me. “Hi, I’m Lisa, welcome to the Smiths family.” She said that as if she was a private secretary for the Smiths. “I’m Dahlia.” She frowned “That name sounds oddly familiar,” “ Let’s go.” Aidan said pulling her away “I hope we get along.” “Me too.” “Wait, I’ve got to invite her to my birthday party. It’s happening tonight.” She opened her purse and fetched out a card. “Oh, thank you.” “Make sure you make it. We’ll be family soon.” What did she mean by that? How would she be family soon? Were they mates?? That would be the only explanation. I felt another pang in my chest but I brushed it off quickly. “I’ll be sure to make it.” *** I looked at myself up and down in the mirror, wondering if the red dress would be worth it. I had gotten it some months ago but I've never had the chance to wear it anywhere. I put my hair in a half up, half down. My lips were painted red and I was certain my lip combo was eating. I just wasn't confident enough. This was Aidan's girlfriend's birthday party. I would be lying if I said I hadn't kept thinking about Aidan and Lisa. I've been unable to get her out of my mind. She was so pretty. I grabbed my purse and ran out of the bedroom, knowing that if I stayed another second, I would change my mind. The venue was packed. I could not count how many muscular guys bumped into me. Hockey players, they were all hockey players. I looked around, searching for the one person I shouldn't be looking for. Aidan. “Dahlia, , welcome to my partyyy.” Lisa said as she stepped in front of me. She appeared out of thin air and she was so beautiful. She was wearing a light pink dress and a tiara. “I love your dress.” “Thank you.” she said, giving me a hug. When she pulled away, I looked behind her to see Aidan approaching us. His face was completely unreadable. He wrapped a hand around her waist and whispered something into her ear. Her cheeks turned red and she bit her bottom lips. “Dahlia please enjoy the party, help yourself with anything.” I watched Aidan pull her until they disappeared into the crowd of people. “Who wants to play truth or dare!” someone yelled and I followed the sound of the voice. There were about thirteen people gathered around a table already. I took a seat and tried to get Aidan out of my mind but I kept looking back to where they had gone. “Luke, go first! Spin the bottle.” A tall guy with sandy blonde grinned as he spinned the dark brown beer bottle. I watched in complete horror as it stopped in front of me. He looked up at me and his grin widened. “Truth or Dare?” I could feel my heart slamming against my ribcage. “Dare.”Sylas didn’t remember letting go of the phone.One second it had been pressed to his ear, Dahlia’s voice still lingering in the silence she’d left behind, and the next it slipped from his fingers and hit the desk with a dull, final sound that echoed far louder than it should have.He didn’t pick it up.Instead, he leaned forward slowly and let his forehead rest against the cool wood, his eyes sliding shut as something heavy and suffocating settled over him.The man outside Aidan’s house.He hadn’t called him away not because he didn't want to but because he just couldn't. Because the truth, the part he had carefully carved out of the story before handing it to Dahlia, was that the man wasn’t just there for her safety.He was there for Sylas.To keep him out.To keep him away.To stand between him and the one thing his body was beginning to recognize as necessity.His mouth watered.The reaction was instant, visceral, humiliating.He lifted his hand and with the back of his palm, he w
AIDANBy the time I got back to the apartment, my hands were still shaking.Not visibly.Not in a way anyone else would notice.But I could feel it in the way I gripped the door handle, in the way my jaw refused to unclench, in the way my thoughts kept circling back to that office like something unfinished had been left behind.Dahlia opened the door before I knocked.She must have been standing there.Waiting.Her eyes went straight to my face, scanning, searching, reading everything I hadn’t said yet.“Aidan.”Just my name.But it held relief and worry and something softer beneath both.I stepped inside and shut the door behind me, the outside world cutting off like a lie I didn’t want to hear anymore.For a second, I just looked at her.She was wearing one of my shirts. Sleeves too long, hem brushing her thighs. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, slightly messy like she had been running her hands through it without realizing.Home.That was what she felt like.Something in my
DAHLIAThe apartment felt too quiet after Aidan left.Not the peaceful quiet.The wrong kind.The kind that made every small sound feel deliberate. The refrigerator humming in the kitchen. The hush of trees outside swaying to the wind. The distant rush of traffic far below.Even the clock on the oven sounded louder than usual.I had tried distracting myself for the better part of an hour.I folded one of Aidan’s shirts that did not need folding. I made tea and forgot to drink it. I switched the television on and stared at a cooking show without seeing a single thing. I opened the files again, then shut them just as quickly because every page felt like another trapdoor opening beneath my feet.So instead, I stood by the window and watched the city move.Rain threatened overhead. The sky had gone pale and swollen with clouds, the kind that sat heavy before evening storms. People crossed the street below with umbrellas tucked beneath arms. Cars moved in impatient lines. A delivery bike n
AIDANThe building had no sign outside.No company name.No brass plaque.Nothing that would tell an ordinary person what lived inside those walls.It stood in the center of the financial district, polished glass and black stone rising into the grey morning like a monument to wealth. Men in tailored suits moved in and out through revolving doors with the kind of faces that never smiled unless profit was involved.My father always did like hiding rot beneath expensive things.I stepped out of the car and shut the door harder than necessary.The air was cold enough to sting my lungs. I welcomed it.I had barely slept after his call. Every time I closed my eyes I heard his voice again.It is high time you took your crown.As if I were a child late to dinner.As if crowns had ever interested me.As if he could summon me with a sentence and expect obedience.I walked through the lobby without speaking to anyone. Men at the front desk straightened the second they saw me. One reached for a p
Sylas woke to pain so complete it felt intelligent.It sat behind his eyes first, a slow drilling pressure that made the dark room pulse every time he blinked. Then it moved lower, spreading through his jaw, his throat, the hollow of his chest. Even his feet were cold. Not ordinary cold, but corpse-cold, the kind that made the bones ache from the inside.For a long moment he stayed where he was, staring at the ceiling as dawn bled weakly through the curtains.He wondered if this was how monsters unraveled.Not with violence.With discomfort.With humiliation.With the body turning traitor piece by piece.A curse left no dignity behind.He pushed himself upright. The movement made nausea twist through him and he had to brace a hand against the mattress until the room steadied. His breath came slower than usual. Too slow. Too measured. As though something inside him was rationing life.“Beautiful,” he muttered to no one.He crossed the room barefoot.The floorboards were freezing beneat
Sleep came badly.It dragged me under in pieces, never fully, never kindly. One moment I was lying beside Dahlia with her leg tangled over mine and her hair spread across my chest. The next I was back inside those files, reading names written in blood and ink, hearing my father’s voice behind every line.I woke with a sharp breath.My skin was damp.The sheets clung to my back.For a second, the room was only darkness and the pounding of my own heart. Then I felt Dahlia beside me, warm and soft, still asleep, her hand curled loosely against my ribs like even unconscious she needed proof I was there.The phone vibrating on the nightstand felt louder than thunder.I snatched it before the second ring.My father’s name glowed across the screen.Every muscle in my body tightened.I slid carefully from beneath Dahlia and crossed the room barefoot before answering.“What?”No greeting.No hesitation.Silence breathed through the line for a beat.Then his voice came, calm as polished steel.
“Don’t worry about Jace and Damir,” I hear Aidan’s voice in my mind. “They’ll come around. We just have to wait for the shock to wear off.”Underneath the table, I felt a hand on my thigh.I turned to Aidan sharply and he gave me a mischievous smirk.“Don’t.” I said in my mind.“Don’t what? Don’t s
I COULD NOT BREATHE.I could not even think as he slammed into my pussy. The lines between pain and pleasure blurred and merged together to forge a third emotion. Something I had never felt before.He pulled out almost immediately and slammed in again, burying himself to the hilt.“Dahlia.” His moa
When Aidan said he had sent everyone home, I hadn’t realized that he meant every single soul in the entire building. The mansion was a graveyard that amplified every tiny sound, even the sound of my breaths.The sound of the butter in the pan bounces over the surface of the stainless steel furnishi
“Ready for the big game?” Esmeralda asks as she pours coffee beans into the grinder.“I don’t think I’m going,”“You’re not going?” Luke asks, as he grabs the box and places it in his courier bag.“No, I don’t…” My phone vibrates on the counter. I grab it and stare at the screen.“Wait, I just got







