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.
Banners hung across the walls, pink and white, with “Congratulations” written in bold letters. Streamers dangled from the ceiling, and our dining room table was lost under piles of gifts wrapped in pastel paper.“What the hell?” I managed, my jaw dropping as Bella rushed forward with Theo balanced o
AriaA year had passed since Darren and I signed that treaty, and life had settled into something sweet, even with all its ups and downs.The scars on my chest had faded to thin white lines, and Darren’s wound was just a memory beneath his shirt. We’d become godparents to Bella and Liam’s little boy
AriaLunar Labs was reduced to a shell of its former self.The once-sleek and vibrant building, surrounded by lush gardens and pebbled fountains, was now barren and burnt. The glass walls were shattered, the halls within burned and destroyed. Those damn slurs were still painted across nearly every s
He didn’t hesitate. “No.”The word hung in the air for a long moment. The president blinked, clearly startled. “With all due respect, Mr. President,” Darren went on, leaning forward in his chair, “we’re not coming back. Not like that. After being deported, hunted, abused by your government—my people
AriaDarren and I stepped out of the car and faced the sprawling estate that was the human president’s home. My chest still ached faintly from my wound, the stitches long gone but the pain lingering. Beside me, Darren subtly favored his left side when he moved, still healing from the hole in his che
We stayed like that for a while, neither of us speaking. At some point, I must have begun to drift off again, too exhausted from the day’s events to keep my eyes open.But then, suddenly, the door burst open, shattering the stillness, and I jolted upright, wincing as the movement pulled at my wound.
AriaDarren and I lay tangled together in the hospital bed, much to the nurse’s earlier chagrin. They had finally allowed us to remain together, reinserting my IV and moving my monitors to his side of the room, when my eyes had glowed and a low growl had accidentally ripped from my throat when they
He didn’t answer. I didn’t even think he heard me.Finally, the wail of sirens pierced the air, and red and blue lights flashed through the crowd. Paramedics pushed their way toward us with a stretcher rattling between them. Liam waved them over, shouting instructions I couldn’t process. Hands reach
AriaThe world erupted into chaos around me, a deafening roar of fury and movement as the protesters surged forward. Hundreds of voices shouted, feet pounded the pavement, and bodies pressed together in a wild rush toward Bella’s father.I caught a fleeting glimpse of him, his face twisted with rage