Chapter 5.

ARIA'S POV

I look at Damon's name on my phone, and my stomach does something funny because his contact is still saved as “Mon Cheri,” with eight heart emojis.

I saved his number like this when I was fifteen, right after he showed me the smallest bit of affection.

Oh, Moon Goddess. This is so cringe...

Embarrassment creeps up, then a wave of nausea.

"Goddess, do I really have to call him?" I mutter.

"Yes," Dana says. "Unless you want to walk into the Dark Forest with just you, me, and my very new, very weak wolf who gets scared by squirrels."

"Your wolf does not get scared by squirrels."

"She does! Now call him, Aria!" she snaps.

"Okay." I hit call before I can second-guess myself.

Goddess, I hate what I'm about to do...

It rings once, and then anxiety floods me. This is the man who ordered my cruel punishment in my past life. It led to my death, and my babies'.

No. I can't do this with him. I pull the phone away from my ear, ready to hang up, when he suddenly answers, his voice breathless like he's just been running.

"Aria?"

Hearing his deep voice does something stupid to my chest. Something that feels like it belongs to the old Aria, not me.

'Get it together, Aria,' Sasha growls, and I compose myself.

"Hey," I say calmly, but my voice comes out colder than I intended.

There's a long, awkward pause. I can almost imagine him frowning on the other end, probably wondering why I sound so different.

"Hey? That's it?" he asks.

"Yes. That's it." I clear my throat. "Anyway, where are you?"

Another pause.

"At the training arena. Why do you ask?"

"I need to see you. In person."

The silence that follows is longer this time, because in my past life, whenever I said I need to see you, it meant I was bringing him food, begging to sit and watch him train, or finding another excuse to drool over him like an idiot.

And he always turned me down without a second thought because he joked that I was too needy and clingy.

"Now?" he asks. "I'm in the middle of—"

"Now." I cut him off. "and before you say no, know that it's important."

He goes quiet for a moment.

"Okay. You'll find me at the training arena."

"Okay."

I hang up first, before the conversation can get any more awkward.

Dana stares at me with amusement. "Wow. That was the most awkward phone call in the history of phone calls."

"Shut up and help me pick an outfit."

"As you wish."

She digs through my clothes before pulling out a pair of blue bootcut jeans and a white fitted T-shirt.

"Simple," she says, handing them to me. "Says you're not trying too hard to get his attention."

"Good call."

I change quickly, then tie my dark hair into a messy bun. There's no time to style it properly, and honestly, I don't care.

I glance at myself in the mirror.

Jeans. White T-shirt. Messy hair.

Nothing like the old Aria, who would spend an hour choosing an outfit just because Damon might see her.

This time, I'm not going there to impress him.

I'm going there, ironically, to get help making sure we don't end up together.

---

When we get to the training arena, the first thing that welcomes us is dust and the smell of sweat, because there are a lot of pack mates training like we're about to go to war any time soon. I can hear wooden staffs clacking against each other as a small crowd gathers around the main ring.

"Now, where's Damon?" My eyes scan his favorite workout stations, but I don't see him — only his two best friends, Chris and Nate.

They're leaning on the fence with their arms crossed, smirking and laughing with a beautiful she-wolf.

Before, I would have stopped to talk to them and tried my best to be friendly because I wanted them to like me.

I believed that if they liked me, Damon would like me too.

But not now.

This time, I ignore them. I walk right past them and follow Damon's scent, which leads me straight to the middle of the ring.

And there he is.

He's shirtless. His dark hair is damp and messy, falling over his forehead, slick with sweat. Shoulders wide enough to block the sun. Chest all hard muscle, stomach cut with lines that flex every time he moves. Back smooth and broad, sweat running down it.

He has that lazy, sexy Alpha aura that makes every unmated girl in Silver Ridge stare when he moves. This is the body I used to go weak over every single time he took his shirt off.

I forget how to breathe for one second, and I hate myself for it.

'Aria,' Sasha snaps.

'I know, I know.' I compose myself, and that's when I notice the she-wolf pressed against him.

It's none other than Lily, holding the same staff as Damon.

She's wearing a different sports bra from earlier. This one is tiny, showing off even more cleavage for obvious reasons. Her blonde hair is in a sleek high ponytail, bouncing as she moves. She's holding the staff wrong on purpose, leaning her back right into his front.

"Like this, Damon?" she giggles, all breathy. "My hands are too small — show me again?"

Damon's hands cover hers to correct her grip, his chest to her back like they're already a couple.

How stupid and blind was I, not to see the signs right in front of my face.

Chris leans on the fence next to Nate and spots us first. He nudges Nate.

"Oh, shit," Chris says, loud enough for half the yard to hear. "Damon's number-one fan is here. Drama's about to start."

Every head turns to me and Dana. The whispers start instantly, because half the pack knew I'd had the biggest crush on Damon, and I never let any she-wolf get close to him.

"Oh, snap, Aria's here..."

"This is going to be good."

Dana grabs my arm. "Okay, deep breaths. Don't let this get to you —"

"Oh, I won't." I storm straight into the sand ring.

Lily spots me, and her face does that perfect fake-light-up thing. She lets go of the staff and steps forward like she's happy to see me.

"Aria! Oh my Goddess, hi! Have you come here because you have forgiven me? I was so worried after this morning, I —"

"I told you to stay away from me," I interrupt her flatly.

Her bottom lip wobbles instantly, on cue. "Aria, I just —"

"I said stay away from me!" I cut her off, my patience with her running thin.

Damon steps between us before she can respond, chest heaving, looking all sexy despite himself. He looks down at me, frowning.

"What's up with you?" he says. "Lily told me you were angry with her earlier. What happened?"

Of course he's concerned about Lily's well-being because she ran here to tattle first and get her sympathy story in before I even told my side.

How did I not see that Damon cared more about Lily than me in my past life?

I look at Lily over his shoulder.

"Oh, did she tell you?" I say. "Good for her. She always was fast at running her mouth when it makes her look like the victim."

Lily gasps. "Aria!"

"Anyway, I'm not here to talk about her." I look at Damon now. "I want to talk to you. In private."

Before Damon responds to me, Chris walks over, grinning like he's been waiting for his cameo.

"Oh, hey, Aria. Wondering when you'd come by. Can you get us some protein bars from the vending machine? We're starving here."

I look him dead in the eye, and old memories flood back.

For three years, I got them whatever they needed while they trained.

Food. Drinks. Towels. Snacks.

Anything they asked for.

I thought it made me useful for caring for Damon and his friends, thinking that maybe one day he'd finally see how much I cared about him.

But now?

All I can see is how pathetic I was.

"Chris, you can get it yourself."

Chris blinks. "What?"

"You have hands and legs. Go get your own snacks. I'm here to talk to Damon, not be your waitress."

Nate's mouth actually falls open. "Whoa. What happened to you? You always get us whatever we ask for."

A few pack mates nearby exchange confused looks.

"Did Aria just say no?"

"She always gets their food."

"Something's definitely wrong here."

I ignore them, and then Lily steps forward with that sweet smile of hers.

"It's okay. I'll get them for you."

She looks at Chris and Nate, batting her eyelashes.

"Aria's just having a bad morning. I'll take care of you guys today."

Of course she will, because it will make me look like I'm the unreasonable one and she is the reasonable one.

But before Lily can take another step, Damon speaks.

"No. Don't."

Lily turns toward him. "It's fine, Damon. I'm already going."

"It's too much trouble," he says. "We'll get them ourselves."

I almost laugh.

Too much trouble?

My fingers curl at my sides.

So it is too much trouble when Lily wants to do it, but when I spent years running around after him and his friends, it was never too much trouble for me?

Wow, this is a bitter pill to swallow... I glare at Damon and then Lily shakes her head.

"It's really okay. I don't mind."

Damon looks at her for a moment.

"You don't have to."

"I know." She gives him a small smile. "But I want to."

There it is.

That soft, sweet voice she uses to make everything sound like she's doing it because she genuinely cares.

I stare at her.

How did I never see this before?

Lily wasn't just soft spoken and pretty.

She knew how to make people feel good around her.

Especially Damon.

She never demanded his attention like I did in my previous life.

She made herself useful and easy to love while I was throwing myself at him, begging for scraps of his attention when Lily was quietly becoming the woman he actually wanted around.

Damon hesitates.

For a second, he looks like he's about to tell her no again. Then he sighs.

"Fine. If you really want to."

Lily's smile brightens. "I do."

She turns toward Chris and Nate.

"What do you guys want?"

I scoff under my breath while rolling my eyes.

Unbelievable.

But I'm not going to stand here and watch them play this little scene.

I turn my attention back to Damon.

He's already looking at me.

His dark blue eyes are fixed on my face with anger and confusion.

I hold his gaze.

"Now — can we talk, or not?"

He studies me for a long moment, like he's searching for the girl he used to know and coming up empty. Finally, he grabs a towel off the fence and wipes his chest down.

"Fine," he says. "Let's talk."