Aria’s POV I blinked, my fork hovering halfway to my lips. “A surprise?”Before I could press, the doors at the far end opened, and the sound of heels clicked against the stone. Every head turned as Daniella walked in.His twin sister.She moved with her usual elegance, her dark braid trailing over one shoulder, and she wore a gown in the exact shade of fabric of that woman I had seen in the courtyard before she disappeared. My chest tightened, the image searing into my mind.“You’re here,” I whispered before I could stop myself. “When did you arrive?”She smiled faintly, her voice soft but sure as she stepped forward. “Earlier today. I thought it would be nice to surprise you all at dinner.”She came back earlier today? My heart lurched. That meant she was here as at the time I saw that figure. Could it have been her?But why would Daniella be sneaking around instead of coming to me directly? She’d never given me reason to doubt her before in the past, but my thoughts tangled i
Aria’s POV What if she had told Darren to get me those flowers and hid behind to see how I’ll react to it?The walk back to the Pack House felt heavier than the ground beneath my feet. Eros’s arm was still around me, steady, protective, as though he didn’t trust me not to stumble again. Elara walked a step behind us, silent except for the soft rustle of her dress against the wind. Her presence pressed against my back like a blade at my spine. Every few steps, I glanced subtly over my shoulder looking at her. She smiled whenever our eyes met, all sweet and harmless, but I didn’t miss the way her gaze lingered on Eros’s hand at my waist.By the time we reached the grand doors of the Pack House, my nerves felt like live wires. I stopped short, forcing both of them to pause with me.Elara’s explanation still rang in my ears light, airy, like it should have put me at ease. But it didn’t. I turned fully toward her, Eros’s hand falling reluctantly from my waist. “Elara,” I said, keeping
Aria’s POV Before I could stop myself, I ran towards the direction I had seen the figure, hoping to catch her once and for all.“Aria!” Eros’s voice snapped behind me, sharp with alarm. “What the hell are you doing?”He asked, but I didn’t answer. My feet pounded against the stone as I chased the figure, my heart racing faster with every stride. Whoever she was, she obviously wasn’t supposed to be here. And if she was the one who had been shadowing me in the pack, then I needed to know who she was and why she was here.The woman was quick, her steps almost floating as she slipped through the edge of the courtyard toward the trees beyond. She was seconds away from disappearing altogether.I pushed harder, ignoring the stitch in my side. Just as I reached out, my fingers brushing the air where her cloak had been, my foot slid on a patch of damp moss and I crashed to the ground.The impact jolted through my body, scraping my palms raw. I hissed, biting back the sting, and slowly pushed
Aria’s POV “You mistake patience for weakness,” Eros growled, his voice low but sharp as a blade. He bent Darren further, Darren’s face tightening with strain. “But hear me well. If you ever try to lay your hands on her again, if you so much as breathe in her space without her wanting it; I will break you. Do you understand?”At first, Darren just hissed and clenched his teeth against the pain. But then the sound shifted, low grunts turning into strangled yells.And then he broke.“Let me go! You’re breaking my arm!” he shouted, his voice sharp and desperate, echoing against the courtyard walls. “King Eros! Please stop! This isn’t fair! Let me go!” The more he struggled, the more ridiculous he looked. His face flushed red, his knees dug into the stone, and still he writhed like a trapped animal. The scent of alcohol clung to him, sour and heavy, mixing with his sweat.I should’ve been horrified, I should’ve been running to peel Eros away, to insist that it was enough and that he s
Aria’s POVThe doors of the prison slammed behind us with a hollow thud, leaving the air strangely lighter yet heavier all at once. My chest still carried the tension of what I’d seen inside the prisoner’s silence. He had left us with no clarity, no answers. Just more shadows where I desperately needed light.I hugged my arms close as we made our way across the courtyard, my mind spiraling through unanswered questions. Eros walked beside me, silent but steady, his presence like a wall at my side. I should have found comfort in it, but instead it only stirred something restless in me.And then I saw Darren, he was standing there in the open courtyard as though he’d been waiting for me, holding a bouquet of roses in his hands; red, fresh, and painfully deliberate.My stomach turned.“There you are,” he said, his tone far too warm, and too rehearsed. He stepped closer, eyes flicking to mine with a softness that felt wrong, a softness hiding something bitter underneath. He lifted the ro
Eros’ POVWhen Lowell called me down that day at my pack house, I already knew something was wrong. His voice carried that tightness it only ever had when things slipped out of control.By the time I reached the courtyard, two of my betas were pinning a man to the ground. An intruder. Someone who’d thought he could sneak into the Lycan kings territory without being caught.At first, I thought it might be the man who’d managed to switch the flash drive. And that thing that looked like a flash drive I had seen on Ronan’s trousers, that I’d thought was the missing drive. It turned out it wasn’t, it was just one of his carved pieces, the little fragments of wood he called “art.”But the timing, the look in his eyes when I asked, it left me unsettled.The intruder Lowell had caught admitted he’d been the one that switched the drive, but he wouldn’t say who sent him, or why. And then he was gone, vanished into the woods like smoke, and all I had left were more questions.Since then, I’ve b