Aria’s POV
It was Alpha Richard. He was standing outside the slightly open glass window.
For a mont, I genuinely wondered if he was an illusion, so cruel trick of my exhausted mind. How had he gotten past the guards?
My wolf bristled in warning.
I clutched Lana tighter and instinctively stepped back, baring my fangs slightly in reflex. My protective instincts roared through .
Richard’s eyes dimd at my reaction. But he tried to recover, forcing a smile I didn’t return.
“Aria,” he said softly, “I’ve co to save you.”
A harsh laugh slipped from before I could stop it. “Save ? Oh, let guess save with Sophia? Save and drag to prison?”
Richard flinched. The hurt in his eyes was obvious... but so was the guilt.
“Aria,” he whispered, “why won’t you believe ?”
Because I can sll lies. Because my wolf snarls whenever you say my na. Because trusting you once burned so deeply I still feel the scar.
He glanced around the luxurious room then looked back at .
“It was Nathan who insisted on sending you to prison,” he said bitterly. “But you’d rather stay here in his villa than co with ?”
I t his gaze, cold and unblinking. “You’re all cut from the sa cloth. Get out. I don’t want to see you again.”
He froze. The rejection hit him hard. I could scent the mix of anger and frustration pouring off him.
Richard swallowed, masking his expression with a slow, strained smile. “I told you before, my life is stable now. I can provide for you and the child. But you would rather rely on Nathan than even look at .”
My grip on Lana tightened. I rely on myself. I rely on no one.
At my silence, his voice dropped into a cold sneer. “This is the Nathan you trust so much. Look at what he’s been doing behind your back.”
He raised his hand and a rain of photographs fluttered down around us, blowing into the room like dark snow.
One slid to a stop at my feet.
My breath stalled.
I slowly bent down to pick it up. It was a picture of Nathan and Sophia, standing together. They were too close.
Nathan’s hand was gently wiping the corner of Sophia’s lips in an intimate manner.Sophia blushing shyly under his touch. Nathan was smiling at her.
My wolf went silent. My throat closed.
Sothing sharp and cruel lodged itself deep inside , making it impossible to breathe.
Richard didn’t even bother hiding the contempt laced with mockery rolling off him.
“He just brought you back,” he sneered, waving the photo like a trophy, “and now he’s already nestled in Sophia’s arms.”
I bit my lip hard enough that my wolf growled in irritation. Not because of Nathan... but because Richard thinks he can speak to like this. Like I’m still the weak little Luna who never dared to lift her gaze.
He had no idea.
Just as he leaned in, expecting to crumble, anger flared within . My head lifted, and my cold and lethal gaze locked onto his. My wolf surged forward, sharpening my eyes until they glowed faintly gold.
“And you?” I said, my voice low, edged with a warning growl. “Sneaking around... taking photos in secret? How are you any better than him?”
His pulse spiked. I could hear it. I saw a flicker of fear mixed with confusion flash in his eyes.
A bitter laugh sliped from as I threw the photo to the floor, stomping it underfoot.
“Get out,” I snarled in anger.
Richard paled instantly. His eyes widened, more confusion swirling with fear.
Did he think the year I spent imprisoned would broke ?
Unfortunately, he was wrong.
It remade .
I am no docile rabbit.
I am a feral wounded wolf who is no longer afraid to bare my teeth.
Before he could say another word, a loud bang echoes through the room as I yank the curtains closed, cutting off his pathetic attempt at spying through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The thought of him standing out there, breathing my air, watching like prey, filled with disgust. My wolf hissed.
I exhale sharply, the sound edged with resentnt.
A mont later, his leather shoes clicked down the hallway, growing fainter until silence finally settled.
The mont he was gone, my strength drained out of . I collapsed onto the bed, my breath hitching as the image haunted again...Nathan and Sophia, smiling and intertwined.
My fists clenched until my claws pierce my palms.
It’s been a long ti. A long ti since the prison, the darkness, the chains. I no longer hate him... but the anger burns hotter now, sharper.
Why? Why drag back to this pack?
Why force a marriage he has refused to honor?
Why pull into his world only to fold himself into Sophia’s arms?
“What am I to you, Nathan?” I whisper. “A Luna? A trophy? Or just a decoration you want locked inside your house?”
I ripped the photo apart piece by piece, shredding Sophia’s smile and Nathan’s arm around her. Then I shoved the remains into a tal bin, struck a match, and toss it inside.
The paper curls into ash as hungry flas flicker upward.
I watch it burn until nothing remains.
I can’t wait for all these to be over so that I can finally be done with him.
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