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
“Oh.” She turned to Darren. “I didn’t know you had a son named after that… that horrifying dog.” My blood boiled at those words, and I rose from where I was crouched beside Lucas, prepared to set her straight. But then, something hot flashed through me, startling me—another presence. “Don’t.”
I felt a pang of guilt, knowing that our campaign had inadvertently put the pack at risk. Once, I might have felt offended by their fear of humans, but now with the protests… I couldn’t blame them anymore.I couldn’t blame anyone for being scared anymore.“I understand your concerns,” Darren said, p
AriaReturning to the pack lands felt like a breath of fresh air after a year spent underground.It had been barely a month since we had been here, but returning felt different now. When I had first set foot in Moonglow pack territory, I had been, for all intents and purposes, a human. I had entered
The man glared at me, but refused to say another word. He called out to the guards, saying he was done speaking without a lawyer present, and the guards entered and took him away.“Well, that was… frustrating,” I muttered under my breath once I was alone. “And useless.”My wolf growled once more in
DarrenThe station was cold, sterile, and reeked of stale coffee. I sat in the interrogation room, my fingers drumming against the metal table as I waited for the man to be brought in. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, already giving me a migraine. Or maybe that was just the sensation of my wo
We spent the rest of the evening watching movies, curled up on the couch with Lucas sandwiched between us. He fell asleep halfway through the second movie, his head resting on my shoulder. I glanced down at him, my heart throbbing just at the sight of him curled up against me.Countless nights were
AriaThe moment Lucas jumped out from behind the sofa, flashing me a wide grin with his party hat askew on top of his head, I felt my previous frustration melt away like snow under the warm morning sun.“Surprise!” Lucas shouted, running up to me and taking one of my hands in his. He gestured to the
I smiled, but it didn’t reach my eyes. “Thank you, Anna. I’ll try to come visit once in a while.”But we both knew that wouldn’t happen. Not when her dog hated me. Not when she clearly was a little frightened of me, too.When I returned to my apartment, Darren was already waiting for me, leaning aga
AriaIt felt strange, standing here in the middle of my living room, surrounded by half-filled boxes and the remnants of a life I was about to leave behind. Strange, but necessary.Packing up my tiny, run-down apartment was a lot harder than I had expected. Every item I picked up seemed to carry a m
The police arrived a moment later and took the man into custody. After that, we were questioned about the incident.Then, we were told to go home for now.As if we could possibly sleep after what had happened.Later that night, as Darren and I lay in the warm comfort of his bed together, it was just