Aria’s POVAs we strolled toward the dining area, Jackson cast a curious gaze my way."So, how are you really holding up, Aria?" He asks.I hesitated, debating how much to tell him."It's complicated. I miss the freedom, but being stuck in this house made me realize some things." I smile.Raising an eyebrow, Jackson asks, “Like what?""Like, nature is prettier than I thought it is." I say as we arrive at the dining table, where Julia has laid out a surprisingly elaborate spread. The aroma of the food triggers my appetite, a reminder that I haven't eaten much in the past few days.As we settle down, Jackson speaks up."This looks amazing. What's the occasion, Julia?""No occasion. Just felt like doing something nice for a change." Julia smiles politely, and my jaw almost drops to the floor. Julia was never nice; I’ve never seen her smile – all I have seen are her famous scowls."'Nice' is not a word I'd associate with you, Julia." I tease."Well… People can change. Enjoy your meal." Sh

Aria's POV:"Are you expecting anyone? If not, I think someone just broke in," I tell Julia.When the front door shuts, a deep musky scent fills my nose, and my stance becomes more defensive."The guards were supposed to switch today. They always switch them daily," Julia cocks a brow."It must be the new guys," she adds.But my shoulders were still stiff. I tried taking deep breaths, but nope, they didn't seem to be working."I'll go and check," Julia must've noticed my expression."I'll go with you" I tell her. If my body tensed, then something might be wrong. Even if I weren't close with Julia, we were currently bonding, and I know we'll get closer soon; her guards will gradually fall and crumble soon.The slow walk to the living room came to an end, and Julia was right; it was the guards."How do you know they were guards?""I know them from their scent; it’s obvious." She shakes her head."Why are you being so dramatic?" she asks.I don't know if it is because I haven't been out

Aria's POV:"Can you move aside?" I ask the guard standing in front of me with a mocking smile plastered on his face, his hazel eyes filled with mischief. "Well... I could, but the orders were to let you do everything and anything you want, but indoors," he says, hands stuffed in his pocket in an intimidating stance. Something about him tells me he's not just a guard."Well, it looks like we are breaking those rules today, because I'm going to walk out that door today," I tell him, placing my hand on my hip while using my free hand to point at the door behind him.I scan the room and, for some reason, he's the only guard in sight."I don't think you can," he smirks."Well, I am not asking you to go out. I'm telling you I'm going out now, move!" My tone a bit higher than before."Damn, Xander got a feisty one," the amusement in his tone evident.Did he just call him Xander? All my times here, the only person who's called Xander by his name was Jackson. They all call him alpha. So why

Aria's POV"I wouldn't say awful," Simon's voice was a little low when he said that."They weren't good people, but they changed when you came along they did their best to become better. They saw their death as a way to make up for all they had done in the past.""So… who was tracking them, and what did they do to that person or people?" The least he could do after shattering the good image of my parents that I had: is to tell me who killed them and why they did it."The alpha of Blood Moon pack was looking for your father because he felt your father betrayed him by abandoning his duties as the beta and going rogue with a woman when he could have rejected. Your father knew a lot of things that could end Alpha Lysander if they were leaked. To protect those dark secrets, he decided to hunt down your parents and end them. But then, your parents made a lot of enemies when they started working for Alpha Julius of Moon Waters pack. Like I said, I didn't know how they met him or what they di

Aria’s POVI stiffen when the door creaks open. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know who it was. From the cedar scent, I knew it was Xander. After days of staying in the pack house or wherever the heck he had been staying, he finally decided to crawl his way back into the room."Maybe he’s here to pick something up and leave," I thought to myself.With my eyes still tightly shut, I could feel his movement in the room. When the movements stopped, I felt the bed dip as he lied next to me, and I instinctively shifted. His hands curved around my hips and pulled me until there was no space between us.“I know you aren’t sleeping,” he whispers, his voice gravelly, deeper than it normally was.I keep quiet, still putting up the sleeping facade.I feel his nose in my neck, breathing in and out, causing jolts of electricity to shoot up to every part of my body that his skin touched.I don’t know what he’s trying to achieve with his sudden appearance and out-of-pocket intimacy. Every part of m