LOGINAria stirred awake, blinking against the soft morning light. Her hand reached out instinctively—but the other side of the bed was empty. No sign of Mason.
She sat up slowly, a bit disoriented. She glanced down at herself and noticed that she was fully dressed in a comfortable shirt and shorts, her body clean and free from the stickiness she expected.
“Wait… Did he clean me up and dress me?” she wondered, brows drawing together in surprise.
Her gaze shifted to the bedside table, where a folded note rested.
She reached for it and opened it carefully.
[Sorry, I couldn’t wait for you to wake. Something urgent came up at the Federa
Mason’s POVThe room felt smaller once the circle was complete.Not physically, nothing had changed about the size of the VIP suite, but the air itself had thickened, as if the walls were inching closer, listening, waiting; it was suffocating. Even the noises outside of the suite beyond the glass wall seemed to fade, swallowed by something older, heavier.Shaman Orun stood at the center of the ritual circle, his staff planted firmly against the floor. The symbols beneath his feet glowed faintly, pulsing like a slow, steady heartbeat. Aurora and Cecil stepped back, giving him space. No one spoke. No one breathed too loudly.Orun reached for the small metal cauldron he carried with him everywhere, dented, darken
Mason’s POVThe nurse led us down the quiet corridor of the VIP floor. The lighting was warmer here, dimmed just enough to feel less like a hospital and more like a place where important people waited for miracles.Room 803.I memorized the number as if it mattered, as if knowing it by heart would somehow anchor my father to this world.“This is the suite,” the nurse said gently, sliding her keycard and pushing the door open. “We’ll move your father in shortly. He’s still finishing his IV round.”I nodded. “Thank you.”She hesitated, her gaze fl
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.







