Mag-log inRain 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
Aria’s POVBy the time the sun dipped low enough to cast gold across the clearing, I had memorized every step of the mating ritual.That had been the goal.If I was going to stand inside that circle tomorrow, I needed to understand exactly what I was standing against.“Hand me the silver cord,” I to
I pushed the image aside.“She’ll stay out of the way,” I said, quieter now.Lyra nodded, satisfied. “That’s all I want. Peace.”Peace.The word scraped against the inside of my skull.Another elder approached, clapping me on the shoulder with hearty approval. “You’ve handled this beautifully,” he b
There it was.I met her gaze finally, and whatever she saw in my eyes made her smile falter for a fraction of a second but I did not rise to it.Reacting would mean admitting how deeply this cut. Reacting would give her exactly what she wanted—proof that I was unstable, jealous, dangerous.So I held
Aria’s POVThe river was too cold, it punched the breath out of me the second I hit the surface.The current yanked me under, rolled me against rocks, filled my mouth with silt and freezing water.I kicked wildly, arms flailing for anything solid.Mira’s hand found mine—slippery, desperate and we br







