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.”
Aria & Sarah Aria “I’m not the same weak little girl who you could walk all over,” I growled as I clutched my sister’s hair. “You have no right to treat me this way.” Sarah’s earlier bravado was gone, replaced by the same emotion I’d felt when she’d whispered in my ear earlier: fear. She whimp
Aria “I still can’t believe it, Aria. Working for the man you impulsively kissed at the club…” Bella’s voice crackled through the FaceTime call as she put on her makeup. “It’s unreal!” I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. I hadn’t told my friend everything, of course—how could I? She’d think
Alfira, as per our request, was capturing it all on cameras that she’d surreptitiously placed throughout the space. “You’re trending already!” she announced gleefully, showing us her phone screen where thousands of comments poured in from supporters around the world. Humans and werewolves alike.“St
AriaI stepped into the candlelit ceremonial hall, my fingers trembling around the bouquet.The hall had been transformed. Hundreds of candles lined the path in front of me, their golden light flickering against the stone walls. White flowers—moonflowers and lilies—cascaded from every corner, their
“It wasn’t that bad!”“It was worse,” I deadpanned, making Wendy chuckle.Bella secured the end of the braid with a ribbon, then stepped back to admire her work. “Perfect.”Wendy moved to the wardrobe in the corner, carefully removing a garment wrapped in protective cloth.My pulse quickened as she
AriaI sat on the edge of my bed, my fingers fidgeting with the soft material of my nightgown as Wendy bustled around the room, gathering various items from the dresser. My shoulder still ached, the wound healing but tender beneath the fresh bandages Dr. Edward had applied earlier. The pain was mana
“Shut up, Jenkins,” the commander—Fletcher—snapped.Darren circled the table slowly, approaching the kneeling men. “Someone high up the chain of command wants us dead,” he said. “I want to know who, and I want to know why.”Fletcher remained silent, but his resolve was visibly weakening.“We can do
AriaThe pain in my shoulder had dulled from a sharp, stabbing agony to a persistent throb by that evening. Dr. Edward insisted that I stay in bed, but the moment he left me, I started to move.I winced as I pulled a loose sweater over my head, careful to avoid jostling my bandaged shoulder. The wou
She nodded slightly, closing her eyes briefly. “Good.”I turned to the doctor hovering nearby. “How bad is it?”“The bullet embedded in her shoulder,” he explained quietly. “There’s significant tissue damage, but no major arteries were hit. Thankfully she was in her wolf form when she was hit, so it
DarrenThe last of the gunfire had finally died away. Blood and sweat dripped down my face, stinging my eyes as I stood over the human commander, who now knelt on the ground with his hands tied behind his back. Around me, other warriors had subdued the remaining soldiers, forcing them to their knees
We were halfway to the house when a high-pitched scream cut through the din. I froze, my head snapping toward the sound.A child’s scream.“Take him,” I instructed the others, relinquishing my hold on the stretcher. “I need to check that.”I ran toward the sound, rounding the corner of a building. T