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.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open a little further. Darren’s bedroom was immaculate, not a thing out of place. A massive bed with neat charcoal gray blankets and pillows, ever the minimalist, sat in the middle of the room. Two nightstands sat on either side of the bed, one of which look
I felt a pang of guilt, knowing that our campaign had inadvertently put the pack at risk. Once, I might have felt offended by their fear of humans, but now with the protests… I couldn’t blame them anymore.I couldn’t blame anyone for being scared anymore.“I understand your concerns,” Darren said, p
AriaReturning to the pack lands felt like a breath of fresh air after a year spent underground.It had been barely a month since we had been here, but returning felt different now. When I had first set foot in Moonglow pack territory, I had been, for all intents and purposes, a human. I had entered
The man glared at me, but refused to say another word. He called out to the guards, saying he was done speaking without a lawyer present, and the guards entered and took him away.“Well, that was… frustrating,” I muttered under my breath once I was alone. “And useless.”My wolf growled once more in
DarrenThe station was cold, sterile, and reeked of stale coffee. I sat in the interrogation room, my fingers drumming against the metal table as I waited for the man to be brought in. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, already giving me a migraine. Or maybe that was just the sensation of my wo
We spent the rest of the evening watching movies, curled up on the couch with Lucas sandwiched between us. He fell asleep halfway through the second movie, his head resting on my shoulder. I glanced down at him, my heart throbbing just at the sight of him curled up against me.Countless nights were
AriaThe moment Lucas jumped out from behind the sofa, flashing me a wide grin with his party hat askew on top of his head, I felt my previous frustration melt away like snow under the warm morning sun.“Surprise!” Lucas shouted, running up to me and taking one of my hands in his. He gestured to the
I smiled, but it didn’t reach my eyes. “Thank you, Anna. I’ll try to come visit once in a while.”But we both knew that wouldn’t happen. Not when her dog hated me. Not when she clearly was a little frightened of me, too.When I returned to my apartment, Darren was already waiting for me, leaning aga
AriaIt felt strange, standing here in the middle of my living room, surrounded by half-filled boxes and the remnants of a life I was about to leave behind. Strange, but necessary.Packing up my tiny, run-down apartment was a lot harder than I had expected. Every item I picked up seemed to carry a m
The police arrived a moment later and took the man into custody. After that, we were questioned about the incident.Then, we were told to go home for now.As if we could possibly sleep after what had happened.Later that night, as Darren and I lay in the warm comfort of his bed together, it was just