Aria’s POVThe minute Silas and I stepped into the kitchen and out of earshot of the kids, he opened his mouth and the verbal lashing began. I’d already braced myself, preparing for it.“You need to tell Lucian about his children,” Silas said, not for the first time. This was a tired argument betwee
Aria’s POVOpening the letter, I recognized the familiar scrawl at once. This letter was from Jasper.Over the past five years, Jasper and I had become something of avid pen-pals. We wrote each other frequently, and even talked on the phone now and then, though those long distance calls were too exp
He’d be a good husband, a good match.I was lucky to have caught his eye, and would be even luckier to claim him.Yet, even knowing that, I couldn’t tie him down to me. He deserved someone who loved him as passionately as he loved.That, unfortunately, was not me, and I didn’t know if it ever could
Lucian’s POVAfter the meeting, as I reached the car, Ben, my Beta, held open the backseat car door for me.“Should I take you back to your office, Alpha?” he asked.“No,” I said. “I’d like to go home, please.”This surprised Ben, who looked at me strangely. I could understand this reaction. For yea
To know how deeply she admired and loved me. To know how much I shattered her illusions of me, and then slowly broke her heart over the years of our marriage.It was almost too much to bear, but I bore it.I didn’t approach the desk now, though. My readings had started to become rarer. Loneliness wa
Aria’s POV“I can’t believe how quickly everything is moving,” Piper said. “They just signed the peace treaty yesterday, and now they are repairing the railways. I saw on the news the flight paths have shifted too. Now that they are able to fly over DuskHowl territory again, we could be home in less
Lucian’s POVFor the rest of the day, I allowed the routine to take over my actions, while I kept my thoughts very quiet. Even my wolf was silent, as if mourning in his own way.The numbness stayed wrapped around me like a cold, damp blanket. I moved through a fog, completing my work. On the outside
Aria’s POVWorking with Piper was like a dream. She was so incredibly talented, sure to surpass me someday, and we were very much in sync.Already this morning, we’d helped a patient deliver a healthy baby through a difficult child-birth, both mother and child were doing well. Then, we’d helped rest
Lucian’s POVI knocked on my parents’ door and hugged my mom after she answered. She squeezed me somewhat tighter than usual.“One of my friends told me she saw you working at the hospital,” Mom said as she led me inside.“I’ve been helping Aria,” I told her. “Her friend Cathy was very sick, and Ari
Aria’s POVI hated to break up the scene, wanting Lucian and the kids to spend as much time together as possible, so I watched from a distance for a while, before tracking down one of the nurses to discuss Cathy’s condition.I checked on her a few separate times before deciding that she was healthy
“I don’t know what you mean.”“Don’t lie.”My blush continued to burn but still I said, “Even if I do have some idea what you mean, and even if I might even agree in a way, this… thing between Lucian and I doesn’t matter in the long run.”“What are you talking about?” Cathy said. “You love him.”“My
Aria’s POVCathy came in right away, bringing the kids in tow. Piper kept them busy in the hallway while Lucian helped me administer the cure. It was an injection into her IV line. The cure would affect her, so I wanted to make sure she was connected to fluids in case she became weak.Cathy didn’t e
Aria’s POVI called in Piper to go over my findings. Together, she and a few other Healers that I trusted from the hospital reviewed all the work that Lucian and I had did.I wanted everything peer-reviewed, cross-checked and checked again, before I risked administering the cure to Cathy.While the
Aria’s POVLucian might not have gone to medical school, but he was intelligent and a fast learner. And above all, to my surprise, he took direction well.Together, we started early and worked long until the evening. While I ran the tests, Lucian took notes. If I asked, he would grab me things, or k
Aria’s POVI expected some pushback at the hospital, given the revelation. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but I imagined it would be something. Though the Healers had been generally accepting of me since my return to the pack, I could still remember the times in the past when they had dislik
Lucian’s POVI had no idea how some of these nobles received permission to be in this room for this revelation, but at this point, I was beyond caring about logistics. The facts were, they were here and they were giving Aria grief. That was more than enough reason for him to, not just lose his tempe
Lucian’s POV“No,” I said quickly. “I couldn’t be.”Early in our marriage, Aria and I had tried rather enthusiastically to have children, but we never managed to succeed in getting Aria pregnant. Eventually, I came to the realization that we couldn’t get pregnant, for one reason or another.Likely,