Tonight, however, he seemed to be my shadow. When I went to the drink table to pick up some sparkling water, he came with me. When I stood near the wall on the pool deck people watching, he stayed right by my side, like a statue – or a bodyguard. “Lucian…” I started to say, though I wasn’t sure
Aria’s POV “Lucian,” Julia scolded. “You should be more considerate to Aria.” “Sheila’s presence in my home has nothing to do with Aria,” Lucian replied. My home, he’d said. Not, our home. That hurt more than it should have, especially now, after I’d left. He really mustn’t miss me at all. A
Lucian’s POV I went into the house with the full intention of getting a piece of cake for Aria. I could tell from her tone that she was annoyed with me and that I’d done little to rectify the situation. I’d thought the topic of her having a child might help resolve things, but it’d only seemed to
“Yes, Alpha,” Ben said. Sighing, I walked out of the living room and into the hallway. At the end of the hallway, near the back of the house, I entered my father’s study. A wide desk was near a set of windows. Bookcases lined the far wall. I moved to the desk and lifted the phone that was on top o
Lucian’s POV It took a while for me to finally calm Sheila down enough to hang up the phone, but when I finally did, I breathed a big sigh of relief. At the end, she still insisted I come home, but at least she wasn’t threatening suicide anymore. I’d convinced her that I would leave early. Early
“Aria…” “You don’t love me, Lucian,” Aria said, looking straight into my eyes. “Not enough. Maybe not at all. Without love, even if we’d had intimacy as often as physically possible, I wouldn’t have gotten pregnant.” “How do you know this is true?” I asked. “We could consult a Healer.” “I had
Aria’s POV Nothing I said to Lucian was a lie. For a werewolf to conceive, both partners needed a certain measure of love and affection for each other. That I was pregnant could, from the outside, be seen as something of a miracle. But I remembered the night that Lucian came to me, a couple of w
“That’s not enough,” I told him. “Aria…” “I need more,” I said. “Unless you can promise to love me, I see no other way forward for us.” He’d never be able to make that promise, and we both knew it. Lucian had already told me he didn’t know how he felt about me. After overhearing his phone call
Lucian’s POV“Of course not,” I said at once, a bitterness rising up within me.Trusting Sheila had been the worst decision of my life. Not only had I been complicit in ruining Travis’s life, but I’d also allowed Sheila to come between Aria and I, enough to help destroy our marriage. I couldn’t blam
Looking past her, I motioned toward Ben, my Beta. “Take her away, Beta. I want her in lockup until the time for a trial can be arrange.”“A trial?” Sheila gasped.“Yes,” I said, looking at her. “You will face punishment for your crimes. I will personally see to that.”“But, Lucian –”“Do not say any
Lucian’s POV“I want the truth, Sheila,” I demanded.The longer Sheila looked at me, the more her wide-eyed nervous gaze shifted into one of fury. “You trust him over me?”“Give me a reason not to.”In the past, I had let my guilt over having introduced Sheila to Travis to fully critique her story.
Lucian’s POVWithout another word, Sheila pushed past Dr. A and her assistant and burst into the hallway.“Sheila!” I called after her, both annoyed and confused by her outburst. Must she act so erratically?I followed her into the hallway, with Dr. A and her assistant in tow.Sheila was halfway to
Lucian’s POVWhile I didn’t agree with Sheila that Aria should be totally forgotten, I could acknowledge, at least to myself, that my clinging onto the past wasn’t healthy. So, after installing a lock on Aria’s old bedroom door, I resolved to keep it locked and not visit it again.Every time I had s
She slammed the door to her room loud enough to echo through the hallways.Sighing, I wondered if I had any hope of detangling myself from Sheila and this guilt without marrying her.At this point, I just didn’t know.Aria’s POVPiper was on break and Cathy was in a different section of the hospital
Lucian’s POVAs I watched, Sheila’s entire demeanor shifted, from happy and curious to increasingly upset and alarmed.“That’s Aria’s room,” she said.“Yes,” I replied, seeing no need to hide it.“Why were you in Aria’s room?”It wasn’t any of her business, but I knew I couldn’t just say that to She
Weak with heartsickness, I peeled back the cover of the diary and began to read a later chapter, from nearer the end of our marriage.Dear Diary,Tomorrow is Lucian’s birthday. While he’s never been much for celebrating, I still want to do something special for him. With hope, maybe this will start
Aria’s POVAt work, Cathy, Piper, and I gather in the office that morning over coffee. At my insistence, Cathy didn’t bring the newspaper with my photo on it, but to my dismay, Piper already had one. I believed she was fully ready to frame it and hang it behind her desk.“You know that my identity i