LOGINAfter the party ended, Sam and Cecil’s parents retired to their rooms, worn from the long day. But Cecil stayed behind by the bonfire, barefoot in the sand, and a little too quiet.
Waves whispered behind her, but none of it calmed the storm inside. She cracked open another can of beer and took a long pull, swallowing until it was half gone. The alcohol burned, but not enough to drown her thoughts.
Her family was finally whole again… and yet she couldn't stop thinking of Aria. Of Aria's parents, still imprisoned, still suffering.
“Wow,” came a voice from behind, smooth and teasing. “My mate can drink a lot like me, we will surely get along.”
Cecil didn’t turn around. “Leave me alone, Jacob. I want to be alone tonight
Mason’s POVThe moment we stepped into Silver Moon Medical Doctors Hospital, Hailey broke away from us the second we crossed the threshold.“Mom!” she cried.I followed her gaze down the corridor, and my chest tightened.Quinn was on the bench crying with her sister, her elegant clothes wrinkled, her composure completely shattered. Her sister was crouched beside her, arms wrapped tight around her shoulders, whispering useless comforts through tears of her own.My stepmother looked small.Fragile.That alone told me how ba
Mason’s POVA smirk tugged at my lips the moment Aria asked the question. I could tell by the crease between her brows that she was already running through possibilities, thinking ten steps ahead the way she always did.To her, this wasn’t a small matter; it was the future of an entire pack. And even though that pack betrayed her, there are still people in there that truly cared for her, and she cared for.To me?It was already half-solved.“I might already have the perfect candidate in mind,” I said casually, leaning back, letting the confidence in my voice speak for itself. “I just need to convince him.”
Aria’s POVThe door swung open so abruptly that both Sam and I froze mid-bite, our hamburgers hovering inches from our mouths. The sound alone, sharp, almost violent, cut through the relaxed ambiance of the room like a blade.Mason entered first, his aura still bristling, followed closely by Jacob. They were clearly in the middle of an argument, their voices low but charged, the kind of tension that didn’t need shouting to be felt. Alisher and Julian came in right behind them, deep in discussion themselves, brows furrowed as if the same problem had simply followed them from one room to another.For a few seconds, none of them noticed us.They were too wrapped up in whatever storm they had just walked out
Aria’s POVAfter the speech ended, I barely had time to take a breath before the room filled with excited energy.The students were buzzing with excitement, voices overlapping, hands already lifting into the air, eyes bright with curiosity. Their teachers exchanged glances before one of them approached Sam and politely requested a short question-and-answer session. Only a handful of students would join, they said, while the others were free to roam the museum and explore the exhibits.Sam prepared a small adjoining room nearby. It was cozy and intentionally informal, low sofas arranged in a circle, colorful bean bags scattered across the floor, a setting that felt less like an interrogation and more like a conversation.
Aria’s POVI found Sam exactly where Mason said she would be, curled comfortably on one of the long charcoal sofas in the waiting area of the Chairman’s floor, her posture relaxed in a way that told me she had already claimed the space as familiar territory.Alisher sat across from her, deep in a low-voiced conversation with Jacob and Julian, their heads bent slightly together like wolves instinctively closing ranks before a coming storm.The moment Mason and I stepped out of his office suite, all four of them looked up.Mason’s hand slid to the small of my back, warm and grounding, his presence steadying me even before I realized my shoulders had tensed. He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to the crown o
Aria’s POVMason did not let me go.Not right away.Not even when the haze slowly lifted, and my breathing steadied, when the world began to make sense again, and the sharp edges of pleasure softened into something warmer, heavier, almost sacred.He kept me close, his arms firm around me as if letting go might somehow unravel everything we had just shared.We didn’t make it very far before he pulled me with him into the private bathroom of his suite, an extension of his office, polished marble and muted lighting, the kind of place built for someone who rarely stopped working and even more rarely rested.







