"How long has he been in there?" I heard Judy's voice ask outside my room."Three days," Atlas replied. "Losing one's love to another takes its toll. Why are you even here, Judith?"Judy scoffed, her voice turning sour."Because I'm his oldest friend and I haven't heard from him in days," she said. "I've come to comfort him.""I bet you have," Atlas replied skeptically. "Well, don't hold your breath, because he won't see anyone. I'll let him know you stopped by if he comes out."I could imagine Judy's scowl as her footsteps faded down the hall. Once she was gone I could sense Atlas lean against the door. He had been doing this for days, trying to convince me to get some fresh air."Is today going to be the same as yesterday, buddy?" he asked.I didn't answer. I had no will to speak. No will to move. No will to eat or drink. All I could picture was Aria in Chris's arms; the way she gazed at him lovingly and looked at me with disgust.This was my fate for some wrong I had
Judy leaned in for a kiss. I could almost feel her lips upon mine, but just before they touched, I pulled back."Sorry, Judy, but I can't," I muttered. "I should be heading home."I got up to leave, but Judy quickly grabbed a hold of my sleeve. She gazed up at me with hurt yet gentle eyes."Noah, I'm sorry if I came on too strongly," she said, "but you have to realize that I care so much for you. We grew up together, we were best friends—please understand that I want nothing more than to make you happy."I smiled and gave her a hug. Her warmth was nice and comforting. "I appreciate that, Judy," I said. "Perhaps next time, though. We should not be this drunk."Judy gave an amused smile as I turned to leave."Giving up so soon?" Atlas asked, catching up to me. "Here I thought you were going to bed that viper.""Judy isn't a viper, Atlas. I've known her since we were kids. She's a good person," I said."Then why aren't you taking her back to your place?" Atlas asked. "Mos
**Chris POV"I thought I told you not to come here without an invitation, Judith," I said irritably, "and besides, aren't you supposed to be distracting your childhood sweetheart?"The blonde woman fumed and plopped herself down on my sofa. She truly was insolent."Oh, I was," she hissed, "and I would have had him falling for me hook, line, and sinker if he wasn't still hung up on Little Miss Healer! I thought you said you disrupted their mate sense—it did not look like his sense was confused at all to me!"I sighed, composing myself. "I said that I disrupted hers," I said coolly. "I held up my end of the bargain and delivered you a Noah who is single and emotionally vulnerable. Your further complaints do not interest me in the slightest.""Well it should, because if Noah is still bonded to her then he will stop at nothing to get her back," Judith pointed out."And if he comes after me then he violates Damnatio Memoriae." I shrugged. "I am not concerned about him or your fa
I wouldn't have thought it was possible for me to feel even more anger than before, but the sight of Judith towering over me, delighted at my pain and suffering, skyrocketed my rage up to new heights."Oh, how the mighty have fallen," she said with glee. "Or should I say, how the scum has become scum again. You are where you belong now, Aria: in the dirt."I spat in her face. Judith recoiled and slapped me. I tasted blood in my mouth."That is enough!" Chris said warningly. "You have your plaything, Judith. This one is mine.""Ugh, fine," Judith grumbled.She knelt down next to and placed her mouth inches away from my ear. My eyes grew wide when I picked up remnants of Noah's scent on her clothing."I'll tell Noah you said hello while he's making me scream in ecstasy," she laughed cruelly."Touch him and I will kill you, Judith," I growled.She got up, blew me a taunting kiss, and left me and Chris alone."You should get some rest, Aria," Chris said. "You and I have a
**Aria POVMy torment under the thumb of Chris did not cease in the months that followed. He allowed me to return to work in order to keep up appearances and not cast any more suspicion on him, but when I returned to him at night, a new round of torture would begin.He had discovered that no amount of bribery would tempt me, so he had resorted to mental and physical humiliation and abuse."This can all end, Aria," he taunted me, using his chains to squeeze and constrain me until I could barely breathe. "All you have to do is surrender and agree to be my mate, and I'll give you full control of your body back."I spat in his face since that was about all I could move on my own, which earned me more punishment.He kept a close eye on me when I was at the clinic. After all, like he had said, it would raise suspicions if I were to suddenly vanish altogether, and that would include abandoning my brand new practice. But all the while, two burly members of his pack would act as my 'b
I was no longer myself. I was now Megan Arius, a new intern in the marketing management department at Bergmann Inc.One would think that after a few months of pretending to be Arianna Lupa Avaroux that I would be used to taking on false identities. But I was far from comfortable in my new role, especially if that role was to steal information for Chris and then assassinate my boyfriend.From the very beginning, Chris really had no intention of facing Noah in Damnatio Memoriae. But I was certain that the information he wanted me to get was pivotal to whatever he was planning.As I was about to enter Bergmann Tower, I caught sight of myself in a window reflection. I was dressed in a dull gray pantsuit, hair tied in a tight bun and face covered in cheap makeup—and completely unrecognizable, thanks to Chris's potent illusion spell. It even went as far as to hide my scent.Even if I came into contact with Noah, I would probably have a hard time convincing him that it was me."Mega
"Atlas, did you file the report on—" Noah paused when he saw me and Atlas. "I did not know you had company."Atlas and I were standing very close to each other as we whispered, so I did not look like just another colleague."Oh, this is not that sort of company," Atlas fumbled. "This is…""…Tessa from IT," I added quickly. Yet another name to add to my growing list. "Mr. Oasis was having some issues with his computer."Noah furrowed his brow. "Huh…I thought you were an expert with tech, Atlas," he said."I said I'm tech savvy," Atlas said. "That does not mean I'm an expert who's not in need of a real expert."As Noah took a casual step forward, his scent suddenly accosted me, wafting into the air, and I was once again ravaged by feelings of intense nausea. Chris's spell still seemed to affect my physical response to Noah's presence."You seem all set, Mr. Oasis," I said, trying not to double over with pain. "Send me those images of the issue just so I can log it in in cas
**Aria POVI hurried away, fearing that I might attack Judy and tear her away from Noah without any mercy or regret. How dare she act so casually around him, knowing what she condemned me to, and having taken pleasure in my suffering?It was getting dark outside and the building had begun to empty. The corridors seemed almost deserted.This really was sick of Chris, to place me in such close proximity to Noah. He probably knew how Judith was cozying up to Noah, too, and that I'd have to watch."You there! Intern!" someone called dramatically. I wiped a single tear from my eye and turned around in surprise, only to see Atlas beckoning me. I approached, and he pulled me into an empty cleaning closet."Okay, so I was right!" he exclaimed excitedly. "The ritual site on Bergmann territory is a Nexus point for dark communion. I remember I sold an old map of Romulus to a collector a few years ago which marked all the ancient ritual sites in the area. That collector was Edmund Han