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
AriaI knew my adoptive sister’s tactics all too well. Years of being ruthlessly bullied by a person will do that to you.So I had come prepared.“Just hit play,” I said, jerking my chin toward the phone in Darren’s hand. “Then you can decide for yourself just who was the aggressor in this situation
I grit my teeth, but managed to reply, “I’ll spend the day with him.”Looking a bit relieved, Darren nodded and sat back in his chair. Sarah opened her mouth and closed it a few times, her face still crimson with anger, but seemed to think better of whatever she had been about to say and simply stor
AriaSpending the afternoon with the guy who tried to kill me wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind.But it was either that or spend the entire day in that frigid playroom, so I bundled myself and Lucas up in our winter coats and sucked it up.We made our way through the city, each of us holding one o
“Has he had the chance to make friends before?” I asked, glancing at Liam. We were sitting on a bench dusted with snow, holding our cardboard coffee cups in our hands. The warmth of the cup felt nice through my knit mittens.“He was a wolf up until recently,” Liam retorted, shooting me a sidelong gl
AriaDarren looked furious. I felt my heart quicken, no longer at the sight of his bare torso flecked with sweat and fake snow, but at the sight of the anger in his eyes.But to my surprise, he turned away from me and looked at Liam instead.“I can understand her making a mistake like that, since sh
AriaA little while later, we pulled up to the expensive supermarket downtown—you know, the type of supermarket where only the rich and people who are pretending to be rich but are really putting themselves into debt go to shop.Already, I felt a little out of place as we stepped out of the car and
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