Aria “Stay with me, Lucas… Stay with me…” I didn’t know how I did it, but somehow I managed to carry the enormous dog back to the rental car. I sped down the winding roads, repeatedly glancing in the rearview mirror and hoping, beyond all hope, that he would make it. Eventually, the G****e Map
Darren I told her not to take Lucas out. I told her, and she fucking did it anyway. My knuckles were white around the steering wheel as I sped to the hospital. I should have been in Los Angeles right now, tending to business matters. Doing my job. And my son should have been safely asleep at h
I almost let out a howl at the sight of my son, hooked up to those machines as he lay unconscious in the hospital bed. It was a father’s worst nightmare, even though I knew he would be okay. But I restrained myself when I saw her. “She hasn’t moved all day,” Edward whispered as I slowly stepped
Aria This couldn’t be real. I had to be dreaming. Lucas was not a dog, but… A boy?! “No,” I murmured, grabbing my arm and pinching the skin as hard as I could over and over again. “No, no, I have to be dreaming…” The little boy who was sitting up in bed, in the exact same spot as where the d
Darren & Aria Darren When I burst out of the hospital and saw Liam advancing on Aria like that, I thought it was too late. She was done for; he had his mind set on ‘dealing with her’, especially now that she had tried to make a run for it, and I hadn’t moved fast enough. Time seemed to move in
Aria “Aria, your blood is quite unique.” The doctor crossed the room and held the test results out so I could see them, even though it was a bunch of medical jargon that I couldn’t really understand. “It looks like you are a hybrid.” “Hybrid?” Darren, Liam, and I all said in unison. Edward nod
Darren “She’s not my girlfriend.” I took the phone from my Beta and quickly declined the call, sending a brief text: “Long day. Can’t talk right now. Talk tomorrow?” A few moments later, a reply came through: “Fine… Can’t wait to see you! XOXO ;)” My Beta, who’d been looking over my shoulder
Aria I was the adopted child. The black sheep. It hadn’t always been that way. My parents had adopted me because they couldn’t have their own child, and they adored me. I was once the light of their life, the one precious thing they had in this world. But the doctors had been mistaken. Not l
Banners hung across the walls, pink and white, with “Congratulations” written in bold letters. Streamers dangled from the ceiling, and our dining room table was lost under piles of gifts wrapped in pastel paper.“What the hell?” I managed, my jaw dropping as Bella rushed forward with Theo balanced o
AriaA year had passed since Darren and I signed that treaty, and life had settled into something sweet, even with all its ups and downs.The scars on my chest had faded to thin white lines, and Darren’s wound was just a memory beneath his shirt. We’d become godparents to Bella and Liam’s little boy
AriaLunar Labs was reduced to a shell of its former self.The once-sleek and vibrant building, surrounded by lush gardens and pebbled fountains, was now barren and burnt. The glass walls were shattered, the halls within burned and destroyed. Those damn slurs were still painted across nearly every s
He didn’t hesitate. “No.”The word hung in the air for a long moment. The president blinked, clearly startled. “With all due respect, Mr. President,” Darren went on, leaning forward in his chair, “we’re not coming back. Not like that. After being deported, hunted, abused by your government—my people
AriaDarren and I stepped out of the car and faced the sprawling estate that was the human president’s home. My chest still ached faintly from my wound, the stitches long gone but the pain lingering. Beside me, Darren subtly favored his left side when he moved, still healing from the hole in his che
We stayed like that for a while, neither of us speaking. At some point, I must have begun to drift off again, too exhausted from the day’s events to keep my eyes open.But then, suddenly, the door burst open, shattering the stillness, and I jolted upright, wincing as the movement pulled at my wound.
AriaDarren and I lay tangled together in the hospital bed, much to the nurse’s earlier chagrin. They had finally allowed us to remain together, reinserting my IV and moving my monitors to his side of the room, when my eyes had glowed and a low growl had accidentally ripped from my throat when they
He didn’t answer. I didn’t even think he heard me.Finally, the wail of sirens pierced the air, and red and blue lights flashed through the crowd. Paramedics pushed their way toward us with a stretcher rattling between them. Liam waved them over, shouting instructions I couldn’t process. Hands reach
AriaThe world erupted into chaos around me, a deafening roar of fury and movement as the protesters surged forward. Hundreds of voices shouted, feet pounded the pavement, and bodies pressed together in a wild rush toward Bella’s father.I caught a fleeting glimpse of him, his face twisted with rage