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
Darren sighed, glancing at his watch and then at me. “I don’t know. Aria probably doesn’t have time…”I shrugged. “I could spare a couple hours.”Lucas grew even more excited at that, so much so that his little wolf ears began to poke through his hair. Darren quickly tugged Lucas’s winter beanie dow
AriaMonday morning, the vast majority of the office—me, Darren and Liam, Lily, Melissa and Brandon, and even Lucas—went to the park to oversee the Puppy Playground setup.Sarah was there too, of course, because she had to get involved in everything. But I just kept pretending that she wasn’t there,
Darren’s eyes widened as he saw Lucas’s current state. He reached for him, his brow furrowed, but Lucas darted out of the way and hid behind my legs.“I didn’t mean to!” Lucas exclaimed tearfully.Darren sighed and dropped to a crouch, holding his arms out to Lucas. “It’s okay, buddy, so long as she
Aria & Third Person Aria I couldn’t shake the image of those glowing eyes out of my mind. Darren always had beautiful eyes, as did Lucas. I had always loved the appearance of heterochromia—such a unique trait in what I once thought was a mundane world. But seeing them glow like that… somehow,
Maybe I had. Either way, I wouldn’t be seeing him for a week. I couldn’t seem to decide whether I was relieved or disappointed about that. … Third Person Sarah’s mind whirled as she swiveled back and forth at her desk, lips pushed out in a not-so-subtle pout. Thanks to Aria, she’d been r
Aria A week without Darren turned out to be a lot easier than I had initially expected. His apartment was the epitome of luxury—a guest room all to myself, a state-of-the-art kitchen, access to whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it. By the third day, I had found a comfortable rhythm with Lucas.
I found Darren in his study a little while later, his face pale and drawn as he stared at a stack of papers on his desk. He looked up when I entered, and his eyes looked glazed over.“How did it go with the lawyers?” I asked, although I already had a feeling I knew the answer.He sighed and ran a ha
AriaThe morning after the search party, Darren hardly allowed himself time to stir before he was heading straight into his study. He had an appointment for a video call with his lawyers regarding the deportation.I watched him go, feeling even more sorry for him than I did yesterday. A good night’s
Darren’s jaw tensed even more, but he nodded.“We’ll start a search party,” Darren said suddenly, rising from his chair. “If Alfira is still nearby, we need to find her before the human authorities do. I don’t want to risk her falling into the wrong hands before she can tell her side of the story.”
AriaWe didn’t waste any time rushing back to the pack house with the camera in tow. If the SD card held any clues as to where Alfira had gone or what had happened to her, no matter how small those clues might be, we needed to find them.Darren and I immediately hurried into the study, calling Liam
I felt a lump rise in my throat. “I didn’t do anything, though. I certainly didn’t keep us from getting kicked out.”He stopped walking then and turned to face me. His expression was serious, his eyes searching mine as he firmly said, “Stop selling yourself short, Aria. You’re Lucas’s rock. My rock.
AriaThe forest was alive with the sounds of spring. Birds chirped in the trees, their songs blending with the rustle of leaves in the gentle breeze. The air was crisp and clean, carrying the faint scent of blooming flowers and fresh earth. My wolf was at ease, rather than bristling in the back of m
AriaDarren went straight into his study and didn’t come out all night. Just before he disappeared, he said that he was going to make some phone calls and that no one bother him.I gave him his space, knowing that he was frustrated beyond belief. I could hear him talking on the phone, and although I
AriaThe deportation notice felt like a mockery.“Darren Avarise,” the government agent said, “you are hereby requested to leave the human world and return to your ancestral land.”The silence that followed was stifling. For a moment, I almost wondered if this was some kind of sick practical joke, b
Alfira had been nothing but kind and supportive since we’d met her. She’d gone out of her way to help us, to bridge the gap between humans and werewolves. The idea that she could have done something so violent, so senseless, was unthinkable.I opened my mouth to say something else, but Darren placed