My friend and I looked at each other, too stunned to move. The flannel guy seemed pretty shocked himself, probably trying to decide if he was in the mood to start a bar brawl now—he certainly seemed drunk enough for it.But at that moment, a warm arm wrapped itself around my waist and tugged me clos
DarrenAfter everyone left the office that night, I stayed behind to do some digging of my own. Something wasn’t adding up with the printer fire; there was no way that hair tie just fell in there by accident, but it also seemed unlikely that Aria would have done it intentionally.I pulled the printe
“Good morning, handsome,” Sarah cooed, circling my desk and perching on the edge of it, less than a foot from me. “Did you need me for something?”I felt my eye twitch as I looked up at her. She’d been laying on the seduction pretty thick lately. Maybe I hadn’t made it clear enough that it wasn’t wo
AriaSarah came storming out of Darren’s office that morning like hell on wheels, her shoes clicking loudly on the polished floors. I couldn’t help but watch her as she swept past. Her face was as red as a beet.Curious, I glanced up at Darren’s office, wondering what had just happened. But all he d
Liam looked at me for a moment before he nodded and said, “I’ll talk to him about your pay. I think he just didn’t want to seem like he was playing favorites since there’s no solid proof as to who started the fire, but if you’re doing this, I think that more than makes up for the incident.”“Thanks,
AriaI had been having that same nightmare for almost my entire life.It was always the same: Sarah standing over me, preparing to strike. That feeling of fear, of knowing that she was going to hurt me and that no one would come to my rescue, because no one ever cared.And then that black dog leapin
He glanced at his watch again. “It’s late. Let me drive you home.”I couldn’t argue with that, so I followed him out of the building and into the parking lot. He unlocked his sleek black car with a click of the fob, but as we climbed in, he turned the key in the ignition and nothing happened.“Dammi
AriaI groaned softly, pushing myself up to a sitting position. I was still in my clothes from the night before although my shoes had been removed at some point, and my head was pounding something fierce from a night of sleeping on a sofa.Darren appeared in the doorway with a cup of coffee in his h
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