LOGINRain tapped steadily against the windows while voices murmured quietly around us from the rest of the café.Finally, Mira narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re going to investigate this yourself, aren’t you?”I avoided her stare.“That’s a yes,” she sighed dramatically. “I hate when you get that look on
Aria’s POV“You look horrible.”I glared at Mira over the rim of my coffee cup while she slid into the chair across from me. “You always know exactly what to say to comfort me.”“I’m serious,” she replied, frowning as she shoved her curls out of her face. “You have bruises on your neck, your wrist i
He hadn’t looked at me once since we arrived and that hurt more than I wanted to admit.The infirmary doors opened suddenly, and Kade walked in.The moment his eyes landed on me, he crossed the room quickly. “Aria,” he breathed, grabbing my shoulders. “Are you hurt?”“I’m fine,” I answered quietly,
Aria’s POVThe second I reached Damon’s side, his arm came around me hard and fast, pulling me behind him like instinct had taken over completely. His chest rose heavily against my shoulder, his breathing rough from the fight, but his stance never wavered. Every part of him remained locked on Lex.R
Aria’s POVI heard Damon’s voice before I even saw him, it cut through the warehouse like a blade, sharp and commanding, vibrating through the walls and straight into my chest.“Move in. Now!”My body reacted before my mind caught up. Panic surged hot and immediate, and I pressed myself deeper into
Damon’s POVThe scent led me straight to the warehouse. It clung to the air long before I reached the entrance; faint, strained, but unmistakable.Aria.My steps didn’t slow, but everything else inside me sharpened. The world narrowed into a single point of focus, every instinct aligning toward one
Damon wore formal black tailored close to his broad frame, silver threading along the cuffs and collar catching the moonlight with restrained brilliance. The fabric accentuated the strength in his shoulders, the deliberate confidence in his posture. His dark hair had been drawn back neatly, revealin
“You’re imagining threats where there aren’t any,” I replied, though my pulse betrayed me. “This ceremony has nothing to do with me.”“Everything here has to do with you,” he shot back, anger slipping through the cracks of his composure. “You think people forgot what happened in that clearing? You w
Aria’s POV“Let go,” I said again through clenched teeth, forcing my voice to remain steady even as his fingers bit deeper into my wrist. “You’re hurting me.”Kade’s grip did not loosen immediately. His jaw flexed, eyes burning with a temper he used to hide behind charm. Up close, I could see the fa
Aria’s POVBy nightfall, every candle had been lit, every silver tray aligned, every silk ribbon drawn taut beneath careful hands. The pack house no longer resembled a home but a shrine built for spectacle, and I moved through it in the uniform Lyra had gifted me, the ivory fabric brushing softly ag







