Voices plagued her dreams. Harsh whispers, loud screams, painful cries. Aria Jean tossed in her bed. She was uncomfortable. She was sweating all over. Memories from the past plagued her. She could feel the burning rage and hatred radiating from her father. She saw his angry face every time she tried to please him. She heard his scolding screams each time he rejected her. She heard his voice again, from the night of the ceremony. “I hereby cast you Aria Jean Hendrix out of the Blood Moon Pack. From today, you shall be a rogue and you shall be severed from the pack connection. You are no longer Hendrix, and you are no longer a member of my pack!” Those words cut through her heart and she felt herself drowning in a darkness that was beneath her. Suddenly, the images melted away and Damien’s face entered her dream. She saw his warm amber eyes. His eyes seemed to convey a message. It was a message that she understood clearly. Safety. There was safety in Damien’s eyes

“Aria,“ She heard someone whisper her name. Aria stared at the picture with wide eyes. Aria wasn’t sure if it was in her head or if she heard the picture call out her name. Aria could not tear her eyes away from those cinnamon eyes. Was this Damien’s mom? Aria Jean thought to herself. But the woman was young and looked nothing like Damien. She looked the same age as her. Her black hair was placed up in a bun and the ball gown she wore hugged her body to the perfect size. She had full lashes and the perfect plump lip, she had a round face and the most delicate smile she had ever seen. Aria’s eyes strayed to her chest and she saw something she had seen somewhere. The crescent pendant. She stared intensely at the necklace until she remembered where she saw it. Damien’s tattoo. It was the same thing. “Aria!“ Damien’s deep voice called her name and she gasped in shock. She turned around to see an angry Damien approach her. “Damien? You’re back?“ Aria

“I forgive you,“ Aria whispered. Damien stared up at her in disbelief. He could not believe his ears. She had said it out loud. He could not believe that he had pulled it off. For the first time in his life, he had succeeded in getting through to a girl without his sister’s help. Aria stared down at his shocked warm amber eyes. She didn’t know what had pushed her to do it. Maybe it was her wolf— Keera who kept pushing her to forgive him. Or maybe it was because she felt entitled to forgive him. As she stared at his eyes, she felt the fear that she had felt earlier disappear from her heart. The nervousness that had been sitting on top of her heart like the fear had also disappeared. The anger she felt earlier was gone. She no longer hated him. She was no longer angry. Maybe it was because he had explained himself. It was because of his uncle. Suddenly, she remembered that his uncle was an evil twin just like her pack had declared upon her. She broke their gaze and looked awa

“Two years ago,“ Damien breathed. Aria suddenly felt pain hit her hard as the news reached her ears. Damien had lost his mate just two years ago while she was still sixteen. She remembered that there was a time when she was sixteen that she felt sudden pain hit her. She had felt sudden emptiness deep within her and she thought she was going to die. As soon as it came, it died down immediately. She had never got to know what had caused it. Could it had been because of the death of Liona? Aria took her eyes back to Damien. There was a storm in her eyes as Damien assessed her. Damien was fascinated by the fact that she felt this much connection to his dead mate. The Moon goddess had known from the start that Liona was going to be taken away from him. Yet why did the moon goddess have to create a link with his old mate and a new mate? What was the moon goddess playing at? “How did she— die? How?“ Aria asked. She felt herself become uncomfortable. Breathing became ha

“How are you so sure that I am your mate? How can you be this sure?“ Aria demanded. Damien turned all his attention to her. His eyes were still wet from his tears. He had tried to clean them away but some had still lingered in his eye. He was surprised that they were still on this page. He thought by now they would have gone past it yet she still kept bringing it up. He wondered what was going on in her head. He wondered what Aria was thinking. “I can feel it. I can feel the mate bond pulling and yearning for only one person. That person is you, Aria. Only you,“ Damien stated with certainty. “Isn’t this mate bond thing supposed to work both ways? Aren’t I supposed to feel it too?“ Aria questioned him. At this point, Damien was short of words. He didn’t know what to tell her that would make her believe that she was his mate. “Maybe you can’t feel it because you are my second chance mate,“ Damien announced. “There’s no such thing as a second chance mate, Damien. I