Aria
Frustration washes over me as I walk back into the room I share with Mim at the end of my shift and look at my bed. No letter. I growl and walk over, sitting down on the empty comforter and slipping my shoes off.
Mim is in the shower. I can hear the water running. I really want to take one myself, but I can wait. I wish I was still in Sebastian’s room, but after he got back from work, he said he had to go out on a run with Dez and the rest of his detail, and he didn’t know when he’d be back. Something was bothering him. It was evident in the way he was talking. I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but I didn’t get the chance. We kissed a little, and then he headed into the bathroom to change, and I left.
Now, I’m sitting here, wondering what to do--not about S
SebastianI don’t like being sent away from home. Not right now, anyway. Tomorrow is Aria’s day off, and I was planning on spending it with her. All day with her. Trying to determine how in the world I’m supposed to decide between the woman I love, the woman I know I'm meant to be with, and the pack I know I’m meant to lead. But as the car pulls away from the house, my eyes linger on the windows on the third floor. I can’t see her room from here as it’s on the other side of the house, but I can imagine her standing up there, looking out, watching me leave, wondering why I’m going away.Because I have to….My father has asked me to drive over and pay a visit to the Alpha of a neighboring pack. Alpha Jared Sykes rules the territories on the far si
AriaIt takes some preparation, sneaking out in the middle of the night. Mim is certain that the cameras are not something that I need to be worried about, that Dez has assured her that they are not monitored. I’m not sure I believe her, but I don’t know for sure I’ll be able to completely avoid them. I will do my best. The biggest problem will be carrying clothes. I don’t want to get to the city and have to shift into my human form without them. Mim suggested I put some clothes in a pillowcase and carry that in my mouth. I don’t like the idea of not having my mouth to help me because in a lot of ways, it can serve as a hand when I’m in my wolf form. I can’t think of any other way to handle it, though, so I decide to take her advice, shoving a pair of old jeans, tennis shoes, and a shirt in the pillowcase and setting it outside on the roof fo
AriaIt’s early in the morning, and I’m about to cross police tape that shouts at me not to go in. I should probably be quiet, but I can’t help the cries that are coming out of my mouth as I move toward the door of my parents’ apartment. I am begging the universe, the Moon Goddess, anyone who is listening, for this all to be some sort of sick joke or an awful mistake. My parents can’t possibly be gone!“Mom! Dad!” I shout, ducking under the tape and turning the knob of the apartment door. It doesn’t open. It’s locked. I force it open, but just as I am about to go in, I hear a noise behind me.“Oh, dear! You must be the daughter.”I turn around to find the little old woman who l
AriaI don’t want to wander around the city all day thinking about how my parents are gone, but then, I also don’t want to go back to the Kurts’s mansion. If Sebastian was there, I might feel differently, but he is still out on that job that his father sent him on. If I knew I could collapse in his arms and cry, and that he would make me feel better, I’d probably go straight there, but he isn’t at home, and even if he were, I don’t think there’s anything he could say to ease the pain in my heart that feels like I’m being stabbed all the way up to the hilt of a knife, buried in my chest.I walk through the park, smelling the crisp air and trying not to cry. I have tears in my eyes when I saw an older couple walking with their daughter who is about my age. I don’t know how I’m ever
Aria“What are you doing in here, Dez?’ I ask as I turn to look at the man staring at me. Mim’s bed is made, which means she hasn’t slept here. At least, that’s what I surmise from the fact that she should be here now if she has slept here. For a moment, my mind goes to the obvious; Mim has gone to Dez and told him what happened. I feel anger starting to well up inside of me.“Cameras, Aria,” he says, his voice infused with sadness, as if he hates that he’s the one standing here talking to me. “We saw you on the cameras when you left. I convinced Mr. Kurts not to send Grip or anyone else after you, promising you’d come back. I’m glad you did, or it would be my neck on the line, too. What the hell were you thinking?”I can
AriaMr. Kurts is staring at me like I am an alien and he isn’t sure whether he should destroy me or dissect me. I am delivered to the center of a circle the rest of the suits have formed beneath a bald lightbulb that glares down on me, leaving their faces in the shadow. As soon as Dez walks me over, Mr. Kurts says, “Thank you, Desmond. You are dismissed.”Dez tries to object. “Sir, if I may--”“I said you are dismissed!” Victor Kurts is not messing around. I shake a little at his tone, but I try not to flinch because I don’t want him to think I’m scared of him.I catch Dez’s eyes as he leaves. He looks like he knows he is leaving me to be burned alive, and I can see that he’s sorry.
SebastianI’ve never wanted to get home so quickly as I do right now, this Monday afternoon, after Dez let me know that Aria was back and that my father had ordered that she be punished both for sneaking out and also for shifting. I can only imagine what the two punishments will be, but neither will be good, and there’s absolutely nothing I can do to help her from where I am now, the car.I ask my driver to go faster, and he nods, but the car doesn’t seem to speed up. I haven’t left the job my father asked me to do any earlier than scheduled. I was just able to finish the negotiations earlier than planned. We have come to a peaceful arrangement. Making other packs see the benefit of working with us without resorting to violence and threats is a specialty of mine, one I did not learn from my father. I am glad I was
AriaI wake up with my bottom on fire, and for a moment, I have trouble remembering where I am and what’s happened. It all seems like a dream, a horrible nightmare, something that can’t possibly be real. Not just the paddling and the fact that I now find myself in solitary confinement but my parents’ deaths and the betrayal I feel toward the entire Kurts family. I remember my oath, that I will make the people responsible for my parents’ murders pay, and that I have no doubt in my mind at the moment that that person is Victor Kurts. The physical pain I’m feeling is nothing compared to the whole in my heart.“How are you, dear?”A voice in the darkness reaches out to me, and I am alarmed at first, thinking I’m just hearing things. No one can possib