Do we want Draven to Kiss her?
*** Draven’s POVThe meeting with Jasper and Jason had been mercifully brief. I’d laid out the details with the precision of a man eager to be elsewhere. Their Luna candidate, Eleanor McTavish, was arriving tonight from Scotland. She was the daughter of a rare twin-alpha bond herself, familiar with the nuances of such a dynamic. They were to pick her up from the airport and ensure she felt welcome, and dinner would serve as an introduction for everyone involved.The twins had listened attentively, but Kronos, my wolf, snarled his displeasure every time they shifted their weight or adjusted their posture. I knew why. The tension in the air was palpable—an unspoken warning from the wolf in me to stay away from what was mine.“Mine!” Kronos growled, his voice echoing in my mind.I forced him back, reminding myself for the hundredth time that Miria couldn’t feel the mate bond. She had no wolf to sense it, and that truth simultaneously relieved and enraged me. It gave me time to protect her
*** Ariana’s POVThe air felt electric. Draven’s hand lingered under my chin, his thumb gently brushing against my jaw. His eyes, dark and hooded, locked on mine with an intensity that made my heart race and my thoughts scatter. I wanted him to… kiss me. More than I should.My pulse thundered in my ears as the space between us seemed to shrink. The warmth of his hand sent shivers down my spine, a pleasant contrast to the chill that crept through the room.The logical part of me—the part that had built up walls around my emotions—was screaming at me to pull back, to put distance between us. But the rest of me? The rest of me didn’t want to move.But what if I was wrong?What if I leaned in, and he didn’t? What if this wasn’t the moment I thought it was?The doubt was suffocating. Draven had told me—just days ago—that he never intended to make Miria his Luna. So why did I want him to kiss me now and complicate things even more?Draven’s thumb stilled against my skin, his gaze droppin
*** Ariana’s POVThe faint morning light filtered through my curtains, tugging me reluctantly from the edge of sleep. My eyes felt heavy, gritty even, like I hadn’t slept much at all—which was true, considering I’d stumbled into bed just a few hours ago. Or had I? My body ached as I stretched, memories of last night flashing back in pieces.Draven. His hand on my cheek. The unbearable tension as he leaned in. My heart hammering in my chest, expecting—what exactly? A kiss? An argument? My own idiocy exposed?I groaned, dragging a hand down my face. “Why am I like this?” I muttered into the quiet room.I’d spent half the night curled up in front of my office&rsq
*** Ariana’s POVThe crisp morning air carried a sharp bite as I tightened the laces on my sneakers, steeling myself for the run ahead. My usual pre-run peace was disrupted by the sight of my guards waiting near the tree line. Mika, Jake, and Jorge? That was a new mixup. They looked casual, but something about their body language felt… different.Mika stepped forward as I approached. “Good morning, Lady Miria,” he greeted, his tone warm but measured.“Morning,” I replied, nodding towards Jake and Jorge. “Mixing it up today? What’s the occasion?”“Master Oren’s orders,” Mika said smoothly. “He wants us to get used to working together more fluidly. Changing up the routin
*** Ariana’s POVDinner was a lost cause.Despite the ache in my muscles and the hunger gnawing at my stomach after training, I could barely eat. Every time I lifted my fork, I felt his gaze on me, subtle yet heavy. Draven didn’t say a word, but his presence in the dining hall was enough to leave me unsettled. Or maybe it wasn’t him at all, but my own foolish heart.It had been just over a day since the near-kiss, yet the memory of it lingered like a fire too stubborn to extinguish.I finally gave up, abandoning my plate with barely a dent in its contents, and slipped quietly from the dining hall. If Draven’s eyes followed me on the way out, I didn’t dare look back to confirm it.The
*** Draven’s POVThe crisp night air bit at my skin as I prowled along the pack's border, the rhythmic pounding of my boots against the frozen earth doing little to drown out the chaos in my head. My patrol tonight wasn’t necessary—my warriors had the border secured—but Kronos was restless, his snarling demands echoing through my mind.Go to her. His voice was a growl, insistent and sharp. She’s ours.I clenched my fists, forcing the wolf back. No. Not tonight.I’d already made a fool of myself earlier at dinner, watching her like some lovesick pup while she pointedly ignored me. Miria sat at the farthest table, her head bent low over her plate as if her food was the most captivating thing in the world. She didn’t even spare me a glance when she left, he
*** Ariana POVThe cool forest air bit at my cheeks as I adjusted the straps of my training gear, my boots crunching softly on the carpet of leaves beneath me. Three days had passed since the fire, and though my lungs no longer ached with every breath, the faint scent of smoke still clung to my memory, as if it had seeped into my very bones.Everything had felt off since that night. The packhouse had been cleared, and most had returned to their quarters, but the alpha floor remained sealed off for repairs. I’d spent the past few nights at Draven’s personal residence—a luxurious and unnervingly quiet space—but I wasn’t even sure where Draven himself had been staying.Not that it mattered. Distance was exactly what I needed.I avoided him at meals, preferring the relative calm of the hospital where I busied myself tinkering with herb-based protocols for Dr. Alexander to experiment with. It was safer this way—for both of us. My feelings were a tangled mess of confusion and something dan
*** Ariana’s POVThe forest was a silent accomplice, the air chilling my skin as Mika’s lifeless body lay crumpled on the ground. His blood seeped into the earth, pooling in a way that made my stomach turn. My breaths were shallow, hitching with the weight of realization.“Ariana.”The voice cut through the silence like a blade, my name sounding sing-songy.I froze. That name—my name.Not Miria.Oren stepped out of the shadows, his smirk chilling and predatory. A large revolver swung casually at his side—a sharp, acrid, smoky smell rolling on the light breeze my way from the still hot barrel.
*** Ariana’s POVOh, this swaying is going to make me sick. I reach out blindly, searching for something to steady myself against the rhythmic pull rocking me side to side, but my wrists burn and are unresponsive. My head feels heavy, my neck stiff, and there’s a dull thrum vibrating beneath me. I crack my eyes open.My fingers graze smooth leather. Not my car. My pulse quickens, a sharp beat pounding in my ears.I crack my eyes open, squinting at the dim light filtering through darkened windows. The world outside is a blur, shadows and faint lights streaking past. None of it familiar.I sit up—too fast. The seatbelt yanks against my shoulder, locking me in place. My stomach lurches. My chest tightens. Where the hell am I?“Good, you’re awake,” says a voice—deep, calm, and detached.My head snaps toward the sound. The driver. I catch his reflection in the rearview mirror: sharp green eyes, a scar running down his jaw, short-cropped hair. “I think I’m going to be sick” My voice cracks
*** Ariana’s POVThe walk back to the cottage was a blur, each step heavier than the last. My body moved on its own, but my mind was spinning—overwhelmed, splintering under the weight of everything.Simon’s message echoed like a poison in my veins.He’s your mate and you’ll get him killed.You’ll make him weak and he’ll hate you for it.I gritted my teeth, tears stinging my eyes as I stumbled through the underbrush toward Draven’s private residence. The sharp winter air bit at my skin, but it did nothing to clear the fog clouding my thoughts. 
*** Ariana’s POVThe hallway outside Draven’s hospital room felt both suffocating and endless. My limbs were heavy, my steps sluggish as I stumbled out of the sterile room. I leaned against the cool wall opposite the door, the faint beeping of machines still echoing in my ears.Looking down at myself, my stomach turned.Draven’s blood—dark, dried, and clinging—streaked my clothes, my arms, even under my nails. It coated my skin like a mark of shame. I rubbed frantically at my hands, my breathing quickening.“Get it off,” I muttered to myself, scrubbing my palms against my shirt. “Get it off.”No matter how hard I rubbed, the crimson streaks smeared and darkened
*** Ariana’s POVThe journey from the clearing to the pack hospital had been a blur—voices shouting, orders barked, and the coppery tang of blood staining my hands, my clothes, and my memories.When they’d finally placed Draven in this sterile white room, I hadn’t left his side. The rest of the world faded into insignificance as I pulled a chair close, wrapped my trembling fingers around his, and refused to let go.Dr. Alexander and his team moved around him with practiced urgency, voices lowered to murmurs I couldn’t comprehend through the haze in my mind. Exhaustion dragged at me, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him.Draven, the unshakable Alpha, lay still. His face—always sharp and commanding—was far too pa
*** Ariana’s POVThe violent heaving finally stopped, leaving my throat raw and burning. My body trembled, half from exhaustion and half from the sight before me—the blackened remains of Master Oren’s body still smoldered faintly, the air thick with the acrid scent of charred flesh.“Goddess,” I whispered, wiping at my mouth with the back of my trembling hand.A sharp intake of breath startled me, and I looked up to see Dr. Alexander standing frozen a few paces away, his face pale and his eyes wide with horror.How much had he seen? Enough, judging by his expression.“You’re late, Doctor,” I snapped, my voice hoarse but steady. There wasn’t time to let h
*** Ariana’s POVI prayed silently as I worked, my hands slick with Draven’s blood. The world around me faded away, my entire existence reduced to the desperate effort to save him.“Hold on, Draven,” I murmured, my voice breaking. “You don’t get to leave me like this. Not now.”Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to stop.One bullet down. Two to go.And as I worked, a single thought echoed in my mind.Please don’t let me be too late.I’m tired. Tired of lying… to everyone and to myself.Lying had done it
*** Ariana’s POVMy world spun as adrenaline coursed through me, but I had enough presence of mind to scoot away from the pained, gurgling sounds coming from what could only be Jake. The noise was grotesque, wet and hollow, punctuated by the occasional shallow wheeze.He lay about fifteen feet away, his face contorted in silent agony. The cuffs that had dangled from his chin earlier were gone, but one of his legs was missing—severed not so cleanly, the gruesome stump bleeding profusely.The missing limb wasn’t far. It rested, disturbingly intact, in the massive jaws of a wolf—a wolf so enormous it defied belief.It didn’t take much to recognize him. Kronos.Draven’s wolf.A shudder ripped through me, half from relief and half from disbelief. My mind struggled to process what I was seeing.Why was Kronos here?Draven had gone to such extremes to have me “handled.” Mika had died protecting me. Oren had killed packmates to cover their tracks. And now, Kronos was here, tearing through war
*** Ariana’s POV“This is just the beginning, Ariana,” Jake said, his voice low and menacing. “By the time we’re done, you’ll wish you’d stayed dead.”“Now, now, Jake,” Oren cooed… “He does want her alive-ish and she’s not a great healer”.“What he wants with a piece of beta bait, is beyond me”, Jake spewed hatefully, mocking me as a worthless female unable to attract a ranked mate.Oren’s warning seemed to register in some way with Jake as he at least lowered me enough for my feet to catch the ground. “We need to get out of here now,” Jake said, turning to Oren. Jake's grip on my throat forced me to face him and I couldn’t see what oren was doing behind me… but I could hear it and feel it.“Aethel, Aethel, late pateat, nunc resideat porta,” holy hell, Oren’s a halfbreed! I could feel the air around us getting colder as Oren repeated the chant a second and third time.The cold was gradually replaced by a tingling, electric feel… something like static electricity building.I’m not su
*** Draven’s POVThe southern border was chaotic.I could see the telltale shimmer of magic distorting the air even before I reached the clearing, like ripples on a still pond disrupted by an unseen force. As I crested the ridge overlooking the chasm, the faint hum of power tingled against my skin—a sensation I hadn’t felt in years. Portals.“Status?” I barked through the mindlink, directing my question to Simon.“Portals keep opening and closing over the chasm,” Simon responded. “Nothing’s come through yet. It feels… off.”Off didn’t even begin to describe it. I leaped onto the ridge that overlooked the natural barrier—a deep, winding chasm carved by the river below. The sound of rushing water echoed faintly, blending with the eerie silence of the night.Portals shimmered sporadically across the gap, their deep blue hues lighting up the darkness in short bursts. They opened and closed, almost rhythmically, as though someone was toying with us.“Anything on the other fronts?” I asked