Aria's POVI was going to be introduced to Knox's pack as the Luna Queen. My heart pounded, and cold sweat dripped down my spine as I imagined standing in front of the crowd. An omega without a last name, claiming the title of the Luna Queen.My mind flashed back to the sneer on his Beta's face, and the depreciating look on the Beta sister's face. How would the rest of the pack react?I winced as I remembered how I had been pounding on Knox's office door yesterday, drawing attention to myself.“Aria?” Knox's concerned voice pulled me back into reality. It looked like he had been calling me for a while.I blinked, and turned to him with a smile that didn't reach my eyes.He furrowed his eyebrows and approached me looking worried.“Are you okay? You look… pale.”I nodded and gave him a small smile. “Yeah… yeah… I'm fine.” I tried to assure him. I didn't want him to worry.He wasn't convinced. He placed his hands gently on my shoulders.“Are you sure?” He asked softly, his gray eyes peer
Aria's POVI felt something break in me at Shawn's words. “How do you know that I can do it?” I whispered, hating how exposed and vulnerable I sounded.Shawn smiled genuinely. “Because I can see a quiet strength in you. You were previously the mate of an alpha, now you're the mate of the alpha king himself. The moon goddess must have seen some qualities in you that qualify you to be a Luna.”His words left me speechless, and I blinked rapidly to fight the tears that wanted to fall. It wasn’t just what he said, but how he said it—with such conviction and belief.“At first, I was scared for you, but when I saw how you courageously confronted the Alpha King yesterday, insisting on what you wanted, I knew that the moon goddess did not make a mistake. Nobody could ever dare that with him, but you did it so easily.”The image of Astrid leaving Knox's office flashed through my mind, but I ignored it.He shrugged. “That's why I know that you can handle it.”“Thank you, Shawn,” I said quietly,
Aria's POVAs Shawn led me through the hallways, I could feel the eyes of the passing pack members on me. However, I ignored it and kept my head high. I didn’t feel confident inside, but I was going to fake it till I became confident.A sense of déjà-vu washed over me as I remembered how Shawn had led me to be introduced as Knox’s mate at the Gray Moon pack. Shawn led me to Knox’s office. He opened the door, and led me inside. However, Knox wasn’t inside.I turned to Shawn. “Where is Knox?” I asked.“He wanted you to wait for him here. He will be here shortly. Please make yourself comfortable,” he replied, leading me to sit on a chair in front of Knox’s table, then he excused himself.As I waited, I glanced around the office space. The last time I was in the office, I was too pissed to notice anything in the office.Knox’s office was very large, with a high ceiling and large windows. There was a massive desk in the center, and there were shelves filled with books and scrolls around th
Aria's POVWe walked to the grand hall in comfortable silence. The hallways were empty.“Everyone is in the grand hall.” Knox informed me as we walked.I nodded in acknowledgment.With Knox beside me, my confidence grew a thousand-fold. I felt like I was ready to face them all.I lost count of the various turns we took before we got to the front of a large double door—the door to the grand hall. Two highly muscled male werewolves stood at each side of the door. They were identical twins, and looked like mirror images of the other. They were even putting on matching tuxedos.“Alpha, Luna” they both greeted in unison, bowing slightly.Knox nodded. “Zane, Zander,” he replied, while I just nodded to them with a small smile.As they turned to open the large doors of the grand hall, Knox lifted his hand, and they paused.He turned to me with a soft smile. “You are going to be great.” He assured me.My heart warmed at his words, and I smiled in reply.He reached into his pocket, and pulled o
Aria's POVAfter Knox’s announcement and the applause, the pack members began approaching me hesitantly. At first, they didn’t, they just kept staring at me from afar as I spoke to Knox. However, Knox noticed.“I think some of them want to greet you, but they’re too scared because of me. I'll have to leave you for a while, so that they can meet you” he whispered subtly in my ears.His hot breath against my ear caused a shiver to run down my spine. I furrowed my eyebrows as I glanced around. And sure enough, he was right. Many of them kept glancing between the two of us nervously. It was so obvious that they were reluctant to meet me because of Knox.It was at that moment that I realized what he said the other day. His pack members respected him, but they were also terrified of him. The image of his eyes flashing crimson passed through my mind, and I resisted the urge to shudder.“They’re intimidated by you,” I realized, looking him in the eyes. An unreadable expression crossed his fac
Aria's POVWe excused ourselves from all the crowd of people that wanted to greet me, and Knox led me towards the center of the dance. I could feel the eyes of the pack members on us as we walked.The couples that had been dancing stopped, and they patiently waited for Knox and I to start.A slow melodic tune began to play. My heart pounded in my chest as I thought of dancing and embarrassing myself terribly.As we reached the middle of the floor, Knox turned to face me.“It’s simple,” he said lowly, “Just follow my lead.”I nodded nervously as I placed one hand on his shoulder while he held my other hand in his, then he placed his hand on my waist, “Relax,” he murmured, his gray eyes softened as they stared into mine. “You’ll be fine.”Then we started dancing. Knox began to move, and he led me as he moved with the music. At first, I kept stumbling over and over again, but Knox caught me each time, making it look smooth and hiding the fact that I was actually stumbling.Gradually, I f
Aria's POVI glanced around subtly to see if there was anyone close by who would notice the man approaching and would probably intervene.Unfortunately, there was no one watching. I didn't want to look like I was panicking even though I really was.Instead, I braced myself for what I knew was going to be an awful encounter.As he reached me, he gave me a condescending look.“I am Cornelius Langley, a loyal member of this pack.” He introduced himself with arrogance in his voice, and his nose in the air.I decided to be polite, hoping that maybe he was just overconfident. “I'm—”He cut me off with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I know who you are—everybody knows who you are. The omega without a name who was picked up by the Alpha King to be his mate.”His words stung, but I forced myself not to react. I had been hearing things worse than this. I wasn’t going to let him get to me.However, he wasn't done.“You may have caught the Alpha King’s eye, but don’t think for a second that you’r
Aria's POV“What's wrong?” Knox asked, looking concerned.“I'm fine,” I replied with a soft smile.He shook his head, stepping closer to me with a small frown. “Something has been bothering you, Aria. You can tell me, and I'll take care of it.” He urged.I hesitated. Cornelius’ words replayed in my mind.‘Do me a favor and keep this between us. Or you could go running to him like the little girl you are.’I knew what Cornelius was trying to do. He was trying to keep me silent, so that I wouldn't tell Knox.“Aria?” Knox called, furrowing his eyebrows in worry when I didn't reply.I released a sigh. “I'm just worried that some of your pack members might not be pleased that an omega like me is coming to be their Luna Queen.” I said vaguely, without mentioning names.He furrowed his eyebrows even further. “What are you talking about? First of all, they are your pack members also—our pack members. Secondly, didn't you see the kind of welcome they gave you? They love you!” he exclaimed.I b
Aria's POVI closed the door behind me, watching as Knox paced the length of the room. His movements were sharp, restless, like he was barely keeping himself together. His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides, his entire body coiled tight. Whatever was on his mind, it wasn’t just about the meeting. It was deeper. More personal.“Knox? What's going on?” I asked.He didn't reply at first, but I knew he heard me because he glanced at me for a split second.I waited patiently for a few minutes, hoping he would respond. But nothing, he just kept pacing.“Knox!” I snapped, and he paused in his pacing, turning to me slowly.“What the hell is going on? You're freaking me out! Is it the threat of the vampires that is causing you to react this way?” I asked.“I know that everyone is tense, but there's something more bothering you. What is it?” I asked firmly, keeping my eyes on his.He ran a hand through his hair, looking so frustrated, but in the frustration, I saw something else. Somethi
Aria's POV‘We have two options today,’ Jade muttered as I prepared to go to the pack’s clinic. ‘We could heal that little girl in room 76, or we could heal the young woman in room 128. But I suggest we heal the young woman instead.’I paused, frowning. “What? Why? That little girl’s sickness is more serious. The healers are already losing hope on her. The young woman’s illness isn’t so bad—her treatment is just complicated.”‘I think healing the young woman is better. It’s less risky,’ Jade insisted.My frown deepened. “Okay, something’s up. Lately, you keep pushing for smaller cases. At first, I thought it was because you wanted me to rest after healing Hunter, but it’s been three days.”Jade was silent for a moment before sighing. ‘Look, I’m trying to be cautious, Aria. If you want to take on a complicated case, make sure Knox approves it first. I don’t want to give your mate more reasons to hate me.’I smirked. “Oh my goddess, I can’t believe it.”‘What?’ Jade asked, sounding confu
Aria's POVI opened my eyes to see Knox hovering over me, his gray eyes with worry. His hands were holding onto mine tightly, like he was afraid I would disappear if he let go.“Aria?” He said softly, and I smiled.“Hey,”He exhaled sharply in relief, and his shoulder sagged as if he had been holding his breath this whole time.“Thank the moon goddess.” He breathed, running a hand through his hair. “Even though you had told me what to expect, I didn’t expect it to be that scary, Aria.” He admitted, gripping my hand tighter.I lifted an eyebrow at him. “Did you freak out?” I asked with a small smile.He scoffed as though I had asked a ridiculous question, “Of course I did. Do you have any idea how scary it was to watch you pass out so abruptly?”I furrowed my eyebrows in thought. “How long was I unconscious?” I asked.“Four hours, Aria. You were unconscious for four damn hours,” he replied, clenching his jaw.I blinked in surprise, “Four hours? Really? But it didn’t feel like that over
Aria's POVI swallowed. “So… is that why I passed out?” I had been worried that something had gone wrong.“Of course it is,” Mama Felz said dryly, taking another sip of whiskey. “If you weren’t such a stubborn little shit, you would have stopped before it got this bad. Your body must have been giving you fucking signs.”I winced. It had been a long time since I had been called a ‘little shit’.Gosh, I was already missing Knox—he called me little angel.“So, what do I do now?” I asked her.She sighed and leaned back. “You wait. You rest. Your body needs time to recover. There ain't no quick fix for this, kid.”I pressed my lips together. I didn’t like that answer. Knox was probably losing his mind right now, and Hunter.My stomach clenched. “Will the person I was healing be okay?”She eyed me for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. What you did should hold. But if you push yourself like that again too soon, you might fall into a magical exhaustion coma, and those are fucking pains in the ass
Aria's POVMy mouth gaped open in shock as I stared at the glaring woman in front of me.Mama Felz looked me up and down like I was a stray dog that had just pissed on her doorstep.Was I hallucinating? Because there was no way I was back at the Gray Moon Pack.My heart skipped a beat. What if I was?“Hey!” Mama Felz snapped, “I asked you a fucking question! What the fuck are you doing here?”Panic gripped me as I imagined what would happen if I was back at the Gray Moon Pack.“Where… Where am I?” I asked shakily, glancing around as I prayed internally that I was hallucinating. “Am I really back at the Gray Moon Pack?”She frowned at me. “Of course not! What kind of stupid question is that? Have you started teleporting?”I shook my head slowly. “I don’t…I don’t think so.” I muttered slowly. I wasn’t sure, because I hadn’t even known that I could heal people.Mama Felz must have seen something on my face because she sighed. “You’re not here physically. This is just a projection.” She e
Aria's POVKnox had ordered everyone out of the room, claiming that the Alpha King and Luna Queen needed to pay their last respects to the Beta. At this point, Hunter was paralyzed.A small thrill of satisfaction coursed through me when Astrid rushed to Knox with tears running down her face, and he stepped away, coldly telling her to step outside too. I knew I shouldn’t be feeling that way, but I couldn’t help it. Knox wasn’t a comforting shoulder for her to lean on, and it wasn’t like Hunter was going to die.She sobbed, looking confused. “But… he’s my brother. He’s dying, and I need somebody to—”“My mate and I are here to pay our last respects. Step outside.” Knox interrupted coldly.It was probably cruel of Knox, as Hunter was her only living relative who was currently dying, but Knox knew how I felt about his relationship with Astrid. Besides, he knew that there was a probability that Hunter wasn’t going to die, so he wasn’t as cruel as they were probably thinking.Immediately the
Aria's POVKnox clenched his fists. “And I can’t stand by and watch you hurt yourself… you're too precious for that, I can't lose you.” he said softly.The room was silent, and the air was thick with tension.This was about Knox’s fear of losing me.I reached for his hand. “Please,” I whispered. “Trust me.”Knox’s jaw tightened stubbornly.“I won't be able to live with myself if Hunter dies, when I know I could have done something to help him. It will haunt me forever, please.” I pleaded, placing my palm on his chest.His eyes stayed on mine, filled with worry, frustration and desperation.After what felt like an eternity, he released a shaky breath.“Damn it,” he muttered.My heart pounded. “Knox—”“I’ll be there,” he said firmly, “And if I notice that anything is about to go wrong, you'll have to stop.”Relief flooded through me, and I nodded. “Okay.”Knox pulled me into his arms again. This time he held me tightly like he was scared of losing me. I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmt
Aria's POV“Absolutely not!” Knox snapped, and I flinched at his harsh tone.~Jade kept cursing me internally. She had wanted me to heal Hunter first, before telling Knox, but I was done with keeping secrets. So immediately I heard that Knox had returned and was in Hunter’s room. I quickly made my decision, and rushed out to meet him.Knox was on his way to my room when I met him. His clothes were torn and stained with blood. However, there were no scratches or bites on him. Relief flooded through me, and my tense muscles relaxed. Knox was alright.I knew we still had a few unresolved issues, but those could wait for now. I threw my arms around him as a sob escaped me. “Oh, thank the moon goddess, you’re alive”, I sobbed, tightening my arms around him.I could feel as the tension in his body melted away, and he relaxed, wrapping his arms around my body.“My little angel,” he murmured, burying his nose into my air and inhaled deeply, relaxing even moreAfter a few minutes, we pulled aw
Aria's POVMy hands shook as I walked away.‘Wait,’ Jade said abruptly, and I instantly froze.Hope flooded me. Maybe there was something Jade could do. I thought to myself.‘You can go heal him.’ Jade said.I frowned in confusion. “I’m sorry, what are you saying?” I asked.‘I think you should try to save his life.’ She replied.“What do you mean? You just persuaded me from doing so, reminding me that I was risking the life of my unborn child. Now you want me to go ahead?”‘No, no. I'm not asking you to risk your life or your pregnancy. There's something I want us to try. If it works, there's a high possibility that we can heal him—without harming you or the baby.’My heart skipped a beat. “What?”Jade pressed. “When you healed that man, you took his sickness. You absorbed it. But this isn’t just sickness—it’s venom. Something entirely different.”I swallowed hard, glancing at Hunter’s trembling body. “So what are you saying?”‘I’m saying that we need to do things differently.’ She re