Aria's POVI arrived at the front door and after taking in a deep breath, pushed the door open. I walked out, the basket of strawberries held close to my bossom as I walked down the front steps. My eyes kept on searching the place for King Ryder as I walked down the last steps. "Where are you?" I muttered under my breath as I clutched the woven basket in my arms tight. I was about giving up and going back into the house to ask for Ma Levine to show me where the Lycan King was when I heard someone shout my name."Luna Aria," I heard the person call again and I swirled round in search of the owner of the voice. I stopped short after sighting the house's butler, John, standing close to the mansions conservatory. He looked excited as he waved and kept on screaming my name.I raised my hands in the air, showing him that I had heard his call as I began walking towards him. Either John didn't hear me or he was just oblivious to my gesture due to his excitement as he immediately left the con

Aria's POVI felt the air around me tighten as I and John continued on our way to the stable. There was tension in the atmosphere and I knew that John could feel it too. It was written evidently on his face."This dress is very uncomfortable," I said, breaking the unsettling silence that had settled in our midst. I also wanted to do as much as I could to shift our thoughts from the encounter that we had with the Lycan King's brother. "It's uncomfortable?" John asked as he stopped walking. He turned to me and with a concerned look on his face, asked, "how bad is it? Is there any way you can go back to the mansion to go change?""No, no," I muttered as I placed my hands in the neck of my dress and pulled it. "I don't think it's really the dress that's the problem.""Oh," John mumbled, the concern look he had on growing. "What then is the problem? Maybe I can help with it.""Oh, don't worry," I said with a small smile, picking up the helm of my gown. "Let's just continue with the walk.

Hudson's POVThe smile I wore immediately disappeared after I turned away from Aria. As I walked towards the mansion, my gaze could not help but dart occasionally towards Aria's retreating figure. John, the old butler, caught me during one of my glances, giving me a knowing look before pulling the Luna towards a turn behind the conservatory. From the direction that they had taken, I was sure that they were both headed to meet my step-brother. "Hmm," I grunted with a small smile as I raised one of my brow. My step-brother really was going through with this stupidity of his. With a soft grunt, I turned and continued with my walk towards the grandeur of the mansion I called home. Hands in pockets and head raised to the building, I proceeded with careful steps, running the events and happenings of the day and the day before as I approached the manor.Something told me that Elder Parker had already gone to the dead Elder, Hugh's, home yesterday. I was sure he did so immediately after I

Aria's POVMy body had slowly grown accustomed to the feeling of the soft texture of my clothe fabric as it rubbed against my skin. The sun high up in the sky though became another problem for me as it casted it's heat rays down upon me as we rode into the town. "Here," I heard John say behind me and I turned. He had ridden his horse a little bit close to mine. I looked down at his outstretched hand and saw that it held a hand fan. He must have probably seen my discomfort from the scorching sun. Or maybe it was the evident beads of sweat that rolled down my forehead. "Thank you," I said to him with a small smile as I collected the hand fan from him. I turned back to my front, holding tight the reins of my horse as my saddle shook. I looked up from the reins and saw that the Lycan King had had his eyes turned to me. "Feeling hot?" he asked as he looked down at the fan that I held. I slowly nodded in response to his question. With a small grunt, the Lycan King turned back to his fro

Aria's POVThe clouds that were once covering the sun had now dissipated, leaving us bare to the rays coming from the giant torch ball in the sky. The heat this time was not as much as it was before as the cold breeze had now picked up, causing the grass below us to flutter and the trees to dance to the rythm of it's melodic sway. I looked at Ryder and saw that his jaws were clenched. He has his gaze fixed on the path that we were on and the expression on his face was stern. I really had touched a sensitive topic. "You know, if you don't want to talk about it, you can decide not to," I muttered, a small frown on my face as I began to reconsider my words. "I don't really want to--""No, no, no," Ryder interjected. He turned to face me with a sad smile on his face and a distant pain evident in his eyes. "I think it's time that you know everything about her. It wouldn't be nice keeping you in the dark for so long." I studied the Lycan King's face and I could see from his expression th