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
I’d been too lenient with her, and in doing so, created a monster. I had no one to blame for her behavior but myself. “This is not a matter that is up for debate,” I said firmly and definitively. Anyone else would have heard the warning in my voice and accepted what I had to say. But not Sheila.
Lucian’s POV Knowing that if we tried to have this conversation in our home, Sheila would just storm off to her room and slam her door in my face, I called Sheila to my office in the Alpha headquarters building to have a discussion on her recent press appearances and interviews. When she arrived
After all this time, my heart should have been numb. Nothing had changed from then to now. It was always the same pain, again and again. Lucian loved Sheila. He didn’t love me. It still hurt. My foolish little heart still longed for a day when Lucian would want me instead. Distance was going t
Aria’s POV “Hello, Jasper,” I said. “What are you doing here?” Jasper grinned as he walked closer to my bedside. “What, a guy can’t just visit a friend?” I narrowed my eyes, immediately suspicious. Jasper had proven to be a decent friend to me, keeping my secret and helping me with Caleb’s fam
Aria’s POV Forgetting about the mask entirely, I dropped my hands to my belly instead. “Also safe,” Cathy said at once. “Both of you are okay.” Closing my eyes, I reached into myself, asking my wolf for confirmation. “The baby is safe,” Luna replied. “We both shielded her when you fell. And
Aria’s POV My unconscious mind dreamed of the past. I’d been born into a lower class family. My parents fought hard to give me the best life they could, each working two or three jobs. But that hard work led to exhaustion, and that exhaustion left them susceptible to illnesses that they might ha
Lucian’s POV As Dr. A slouched forward, I quickly realized that she was fainting and reached out to grab her before she could hit the table or the floor. She slumped into my arms, and as I held her I continued to marvel at just how very much she reminded me of Aria. But she wasn’t Aria. She coul
Aria’s POV Cathy had a good point, so, taking her advice, I started weeding through my case load. Piper made the calls, redirecting some of my patients to new Healers. No one seemed happy about it. An angry few even came to my office to shout at me. Fortunately, the security guard removed them bef
I braced myself, but annoyance still surged through me as Sheila’s face filled the screen. This wasn’t just an interview in passing. She was on a set. This had been arranged. “Dr. A refuses to save Caleb, who has made great contributions in the war,” Sheila said. “Whether this brings Dr. A’s loyal