Darren didn’t even try to hide his laughter as he stepped toward me. “You okay down there?” “Oh, I’m just peachy,” I grumbled, trying to sit up. My skis tangled awkwardly, and I flailed like a bug stuck on its back. “Stop laughing and help me up!” Still chuckling, Darren grabbed my arm and pulle
Darren I glanced over my shoulder, grinning as I carved a path down the slope. “You keeping up back there?” But the answer never came. My smile faltered. Aria wasn’t there. I turned my skis sideways, snow spraying up in a flurry as I came to a stop. My breath fogged in the cold air as I look
As if on cue, I heard it coming. It was faint, but unmistakable: the distant, droning buzz of wings. My blood ran cold. The swarm would be here in moments. Aria blinked up at me slowly, as if she hadn’t heard a word I said. Her hands moved to my chest instead, clumsily gripping my coat. “So muscul
Aria Darren’s arms around me felt like the one thing I had been missing all my life. As he held me there, curled up on the floor with nothing but the snow and the wind outside, I felt more safe and steady than I’d ever felt before. I had never felt like this with any man—certainly not Jackson, a
Then, with painstaking slowness as if teasing me, he hooked one finger under my bra strap and slipped it down. The moment his mouth connected with my breast, my back arched of its own accord. I couldn’t contain the small whimper that escaped me as he carefully twirled his tongue around the nipple,
AriaThe snow mobile ride back to the pack house the next morning felt long and quiet, but maybe that was just because I couldn’t stop glancing sideways at Darren’s profile over his shoulder. He hardly looked at me, but I could feel the way his fingers occasionally brushed across where my hands were
“They’re not games for kids,” Darren said with a completely straight face.Lucas thought about that for a second, then nodded solemnly. “Okay… But next time, I wanna come and play games for kids!”Darren set him down, patting his head. “Deal. Now go get ready for breakfast.”Lucas scampered off, and
AriaThe cold air nipped at my cheeks as I stepped outside, pulling my coat tighter around me. Breakfast had been… well, uncomfortable. Between Wendy’s knowing glances, Darren’s calm and collected demeanor, and Lucas’s innocent chatter, not to mention Tracy’s angry glares followed by suddenly stormi
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