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
The CEO was silent for a moment as he studied the cart. Lucas had already picked out a couple other things he wanted to try: pre-popped popcorn, frozen dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, and french fries.Finally, Darren shook his head. “Sorry, Lucas, but no. You’ve already picked out a bunch of thing
I took another step forward, still holding Darren’s hand. “You wouldn’t dare shoot your own people,” Darren said, his eyes fixed on the chief. “Would you?”For a flickering instant, I thought I saw uncertainty cross the faces of some of the officers holding guns. Their weapons seemed to lower slight
Aria“Stop!”Darren held his hand up to halt the procession as those guns pointed at us. I felt suddenly sick, and couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder at the crowd of people behind us—humans and werewolves alike.They wouldn’t shoot, would they?Beside me, Darren tightened his grip on my finge
As I spoke, I became aware of a strange silence falling over the scene. Not just Darren, but everyone seemed affected by my words. The officers had lowered their weapons slightly. The crowd had gone still, quiet… calm.My voice seemed to carry farther than it should, resonating with a power that fel
AriaI couldn’t breathe. The white fog permeated everything—my clothes, my skin, my lungs. It burned with each inhale, making my wolf howl inside of me. The tincture couldn’t have prepared us for this. Not entirely.But most terrifying of all was the absence of Darren by my side.“Darren!” I shouted
But as we turned onto the main avenue, the counter-protesters grew bolder. They followed alongside us, shouting slurs and insults.“Go back to the forest where you belong!” one man yelled.I kept my eyes forward, trying to project a calm I didn’t feel. Beside me, Darren was doing the same, although
AriaThe trek back to the portal was long and tiring, and by the time we arrived at the mysterious little elevator in the woods, the sun was beating on our backs and a fine coat of sweat had formed between my skin and my jacket. Darren, Liam, and the Lunar Labs gang and I stepped into the elevator f
Nodding, I hugged her again, tighter this time. “I promise.”Wendy approached next, her arms filled with flowers—wildflowers gathered from the meadows surrounding the village.“An old pack tradition,” she explained, placing a stem in my hand. “Carrying a piece of home with you for protection.”The f
AriaOur wedding was never meant to spark even more of a revolution, but somehow, it had. Over the following days, the videos Alfira had captured and shared with the world had gone viral.“Ten million views and counting,” Alfira said one morning as we were going over our plans for the upcoming march
He guided me onto the bed, the sheets cool against my back as I lay down. Darren settled above me, his body a warm, solid weight against mine as he braced himself on his forearms.Our eyes locked, and for a moment, we just breathed together, the air between us like static electricity. Then he kissed