LOGIN“If anything,” I added, my fingers curling slightly at my sides, “it would be a risk. If my wolf dies because of something like this…” My voice faltered for a split second before I forced it steady again. “Then I will never forgive her.”The words came out colder than I intended, but I meant every s
Aria’s POV“The man said you were friends.”My voice came out quieter than I expected, but it still cut through the heavy silence in the room. The words seemed to settle over all three of us at once, pulling us into the same unsettling thought.Damon didn’t respond immediately. His jaw tightened, hi
Aria’s POVLyra’s hand came at me fast… too fast for someone wearing heels.But I had spent the last few months running, hiding, shrinking myself to survive in a world that kept trying to swallow me whole. I wasn’t that girl anymore.I moved and her palm barely grazed my cheek before I caught her wr
Aria’s POV“What do you mean by ‘finally?’” Lyra’s voice cracked, sharp and disbelieving as she stared at Damon like he had just insulted her very existence. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her fingers curling into fists at her sides. “I’m right here. I’ve been here for a long time!”A laugh slippe
Aria’s POVMy hands wouldn’t stop shaking.I was still gripping the steering wheel, my knuckles white, my breath coming in sharp, uneven bursts that burned my lungs. The engine hummed beneath me, but everything else felt distant, muted, like the world had been shoved underwater.I stared ahead at hi
Aria’s POVThe world still rang from the explosion of glass.My ears hadn’t fully recovered, the sharp echo of that unnatural sound lingering like a ghost inside my skull, but the silence that followed felt worse. Too heavy. Too aware.And then he stepped out of the trees.I froze.He didn’t look li
Aria’s POVThe world wouldn’t stop spinning.I stayed on my knees, my palms pressed flat against the cold stone as I struggled to keep myself upright. Every breath scraped through my chest, uneven and shallow, and the warmth spreading beneath me told me what I already knew—I was still bleeding.Lyra
Then she stepped forward herself. “Fine,” she said, her voice deceptively calm. “If you’re all too incompetent to follow orders…”Her hand clamped around my arm. Hard.I gasped as pain shot up my side, my knees buckling slightly as she yanked me forward. “I’ll do it myself.”“Lyra, don’t—!” Mira sta
Aria’s POV“What?”The word tore out of me before I could stop it, sharp and breathless as it scraped against my throat. For a moment, I just stared at Lyra, convinced I had misheard her, that my mind was still clouded from the pain, from the blood loss, from everything that had happened, but she on
I let out a shaky breath, my hands curling into the thin blanket draped over me.That wasn’t it, that couldn’t be it.Damon didn’t do things halfway. He didn’t hover. He didn’t stay. He commanded, he left, he handled things.But staying by my side? That felt… personal.A groan slipped past my lips a







