AriaI went to my house, knowing I had a lot of explaining to do. Ella and Valeria had witnessed something incredible and they wanted details. Alpha Jackson had asked me to keep the attack against his mate a secret from the rest of the pack. Ella had been my trusted friend though, and I was sure she wasn’t any different in this life. As for Valeria, she ranked as my second best friend and she would keep the secret to herself.“We have the coffee ready and Valeria baked us a cake,” Ella said when I entered the house. It surprised me to see my best friend moving so comfortably around Valeria. She barely knew her.“You are their connection, Aria. That makes things easier for them,” Tania said and I smiled. My wolf was, once again, correct.“So cut to the chase, Aria. What happened today? And don’t tell me nothing happened because I don’t think Alpha Jackson took a hasty decision based on Luna Sarah’s feelings. I won’t buy that excuse.” Ella looked at me, crossing her arms.“Ella, let her
Aria“What are you doing here?” Daniel roared when he saw me enter. Alpha Jackson, who stood beside him, kept silent, watching my interaction with Daniel.“I heard about what happened and wanted to see it for myself. Have you got any idea what led the prisoners to this?” I asked indifferently, skipping the formalities and kneeling beside the dead bodies.I didn’t get a reply and I looked up. Daniel had his back to the cell railings. His eyes were on me, and he had crossed his arms in front of his chest.“Fine!” I thought angrily, “Have it your way,” and turned my attention to the dead, looking for clues that could lead us to the truth.“Their eyes are dilated, and their mouths seem dry, too dry for my liking. When did this happen?” I asked and my father who had just arrived replied.“About an hour ago. Why?”“Well, their temperatures are very high, a sign that they must have taken a drug or something. All the symptoms lead to one thing,” I said, touching the dead man’s hand and feeling
Beta JasonI looked at Aria suspiciously, waiting for her reply.“Beta Jason, you are a good person and I hate lying to you. Haven’t you noticed how Alpha Daniel treats me? He is prejudiced against me and if you tell him my suspicions I am certain he will think I want to slander his girlfriend. We need to make sure our assumptions are correct and have solid evidence before telling him anything,” she blurted out, keeping a straight face.I kept silent, pondering her words. Aria was right. Daniel was aggressive towards her and most of the time doubted Aria’s good intentions. We needed to investigate first, ensure Lea drugged those men, and then tell Daniel. I would do a background check on Erick Williams and see if he was related to Lea somehow. “Okay, Aria, let’s do it your way. But I will tell Alpha Jackson. He must know,” I replied.“Will he keep it from Daniel? If you explain why we want to keep it from him, will he agree to keep it from Daniel until we are sure she is the culprit?
DanielI left my room before Lea woke up and headed to my father’s office. I wanted to ease my doubts by looking for evidence that could lead to another culprit, not Lea, as I suspected. Guilt overwhelmed me, thinking I might have wronged my girlfriend by doubting her innocence.I put my thoughts on paper and tried to figure out what had happened and if I had missed something important. Maybe they had those drugs on them and they used them out of despair.Yes, that could be a plausible scenario. And it would solve many problems. I buried myself in papers and wrote down every detail from when I met the prisoners at the mall, fighting with Aria.That was how my father, Aria and Beta Jason found me when they entered the office. They seemed surprised to see me there.‘Good morning, son. We didn’t see you and Lea at breakfast today. I thought you were still sleeping,” my father said.Shit! I forgot that Lea never went to breakfast without me. She must have been waiting for me in my room.“
Aria“I knew it. I knew she was connected to Erick when I saw them at dinner,” I whispered my thoughts and Daniel’s father approached me.“What do you mean, Aria?”“She seemed anxious and was giving him funny looks. Did she tell you or Daniel that Erick was her uncle?” I questioned.“No, she didn’t. She pretended not to know him,” Daniel’s father and my dad said in unison.“Why would she hide her relationship with him if not for the reasons we mentioned? What if Erick is behind the attacks and Lea is his informant, Alpha Jackson?” I looked at him.“Please forgive me for asking you these questions, Alpha. Since you asked me to be part of the investigation, I thought it best to clarify everything to understand why someone would do such a thing,” I explained.“We need to investigate further. Maybe I should tell Daniel about Lea and Erick’s relationship,” Alpha Jackson replied.“I think you shouldn’t, Alpha Jackson. If you tell him, he will confront Lea, and she will tell Erick. And if Eri
Daniel“You have to be kidding me, dad! You want me to marry Aria because of some insignificant incidents between us? This is pure madness!” I protested, flinging my hands in the air.“You call the way you treated the poor girl insignificant, Daniel? How dare you? You are the next Alpha, son; all you have done so far is show our people how to mistreat others. And that’s Aria. You will marry her to compensate for your behaviour and protect her from the gossip of the pack members,” my father snarled, leaving me speechless.“Alpha Jackson, that won’t be necessary,” Aria whispered, lowering her head. “You see! Aria doesn’t think I should marry her, dad. I will publicly apologise to her and we can consider the whole matter a misunderstanding,” I proposed, hoping my father would accept my idea.“My decision will not change, Daniel. You will marry Aria and you will do it before you graduate. I want her to escort you to your graduation ceremony. That will shut everyone’s mouths,” my father in
AriaI followed Alpha Jackson into his office. I should be happy with the way things turned out, but a heavy burden made my stomach ache and a knot in my throat threatened to leave me breathless.“Aria, why are you like this? It’s what you wanted, isn’t it? I mean, to become Daniel’s Luna. And now that his father has given you what you wanted, you seem troubled and unwilling to marry Daniel,” Tania commented.“It’s not how I wanted things to happen, Tania. I wanted Daniel to fall for me, not marry me because his father blackmailed him. That would only make things worse between us,” I confessed my worries to my wolf.“Aria, I want to apologise for my manners back there, but what I told Daniel is valid. I will not have him humiliate you like that. Marrying you will be a good way for him to redeem himself for his lousy behaviour,” Daniel’s father announced.“Alpha Jackson, don’t you think forcing your son to marry me will make Alpha Daniel hate me more? I am grateful for your support, but
Lea I threw myself into Daniel’s arms but he remained rooted to the spot, not responding to me. Something seemed off and I stepped back, waiting for him to talk. Daniel was silent and avoided looking me in the eye. Had he found out what I’d done? Was he there to accuse me of betraying his trust and punish me? I didn’t dare ask what was on his mind. Cold sweat ran down my spine, soaking my t-shirt and making me uncomfortable as I anxiously waited for Daniel to speak. “Lea, we need to talk.” Daniel sounded upset. I breathed deeply, realising that I was wrong. Daniel was still unaware of my involvement in the death of those prisoners. “What is it, baby?” I asked, feeling the tension leave my body. I sat on the bed, curious to hear what he had to say. “Lea I am afraid we can no longer be together. We need to break up,” Daniel paced up and down, still averting his eyes. “Is this a joke, Daniel?” I narrowed my eyes waiting for the punchline. “I am afraid not, Lea. My fath