Aria’s POV
Francis’s eyes narrowed. He reached into his briefcase, pulled out a thick manuscript, and slamd it on the table.
This ti, his smile vanished entirely.
“My oversight,” he said coldly. “After all, Alpha Nathan handles thousands of matters daily. We nobodies can’t expect to fit into his precious schedule.”
The sarcasm was sharp enough that my wolf bristled, and my brows furrowed deeply.
Francis rarely lost his composure.
Which ant sothing here was far more volatile than I realized.
Nathan’s face darkened so sharply that even the air around him seed to drop in temperature. My wolf went still, her ears flattening, sensing the Alpha tension radiating off him.
He stood abruptly, his shadow falling over . “You’ve seen him,” he said, his voice low and firm. “You should go ho.”
Ho. He emphasized it like a claim, like a wolf circling a boundary and marking it for all to see..
My wolf snarled inside .
Francis’s gaze flicked between us, confusion slowly settling in his expression. He hadn’t seen either of us for over a year. He was still stuck in the past, before everything collapsed. Before Nathan and I beca whatever... this was.
Back then, Nathan tolerated at best. Barely looked my way. Never restricted .
But now?
Francis studied more closely as if wondering if I was in danger so he could swoop in for the rescue.
I gave him a tiny wink, an unspoken I’m fine. Then I faced Nathan with calm steel.
“I’m not busy,” I said. “Alpha Nathan, you have thousands of matters waiting for you. You should go to work.”
Nathan didn’t like that. His jaw tightened, and unease flashed beneath the coldness.
I could sense his agitation like static in the air.
“No.”
He threw the word like a command.
I t his stare without flinching. My wolf raised her chin.
“Then,” I said smoothly, “I’ll use the condition you promised yesterday. If divorce isn’t allowed, Nathan, are you also going to forbid from seeing my friends?”
Nathan froze. His eyes widened just slightly but enough for my wolf to taste his shock.
To him, I must have looked like a caged bird lashing out.
But the truth? He was the one rattling the bars.
I knew he’d give anything I asked for— money, jewels...But all I wanted... was a little ti with Francis. Sothing so small, sothing so harmless.
Yet it knocked the breath out of him.
Nathan stared at us, his gaze dark and unreadable.
Then, suddenly, he smiled. Not the warm kind.A cold one..the kind that made the wolf inside bristle.
He gritted out, “Fine.”
Then he turned and walked away so fast that a gust of wind followed him, ruffling the papers on the table.
Francis reached out calmly and pressed them down so they wouldn’t blow off.
His composure made smile faintly.
When Nathan finally disappeared, Francis shifted closer, his presence warm and grounding, so different from the storm Nathan always carried.
He asked, his voice low with concern, “You ntioned divorce. What happened?”
Before I could answer, he continued, his brows furrowing.
“You were so set on marrying him. Why divorce now? Is this because of what happened over a year ago? Or did sothing else happen?”
His growing seriousness tugged at my heart. Francis had always looked out for even when I didn’t deserve it.
I inhaled, letting the truth spill out in softened words. Not everything, but enough. Enough for him to understand how much of myself I had lost.
He listened, his eyes shadowed by both sorrow and relief.
“Aria...” he said quietly. “I’m glad you’re finally choosing yourself.”
Then he suddenly stood, moved my untouched steak aside, and said, “Let’s go.”
I blinked. “Where?”
“To eat real food,” he said, lifting his car keys. “I still haven’t sold my place in Asterfell. I had the driver bring my car. Co on—I’ll take you to that ho-style place we used to go. You never liked fancy food anyway.”
My chest tightened. Kate, my grandma used to cook als like that. Warm, gentle and comforting. Her absence still ached like an old wound.
Just the thought of that familiar little restaurant stirred sothing bright in . I stood with a burst of energy.
Francis led downstairs and we slid into the car. I opened the window, letting the breeze rush over my skin.
I felt light and free.
But then, my eyes caught movent.
Nathan.
He hadn’t left yet. He was standing a short distance away, rigid and unreadable.
Sophia and her advisor stood behind him, their expressions a blend of surprise and tension.
My wolf stiffened, golden eyes narrowing.
Francis followed my gaze and saw them too. He reached across and calmly rolled up the window.
Without a word, he started the engine.
And we drove away.
Leaving Nathan standing behind us in silence, watching.
I pressed my lips together, trying to steady my breathing as the city blurred past the window. My wolf paced restlessly beneath my skin, claws scraping, sensing the storm I was pretending not to feel.
Calm down, I warned her.
But she only growled softly, unsettled by Nathan’s stare.
Francis kept sneaking glances at through the rearview mirror.
He didn’t say anything, but his eyes narrowed slightly, sensing the stiffness in my shoulders, the way my heartbeat refused to settle.
I knew he felt sothing was off.
Francis always noticed the cracks I tried to hide.
He finally looked away and focused on the road, driving us toward the small ho-cooked restaurant that had once beco our sanctuary after long, stressful days.
But when the car rolled to a stop, my stomach sank. The storefront was different.
There were new colors and a new sign.
The place was gone, replaced.
Just like almost everything else in Asterfell.
“How about we just grab sothing else?” I asked softly, even though disappointnt tugged at my chest. My wolf whined, missing the warm, familiar comfort the place used to give us.
Francis shook his head, determined.
“No. I’ve been craving this place ever since I left the country.”
His stubbornness made smile faintly.
Even my wolf huffed in amusent.
Francis pulled out his phone to look up the new address, tapping quickly.
A few seconds later, he froze.
Not his whole body, just a subtle flutter of his eyelashes. The kind only soone who knew him well would notice.
I leaned forward a little. “What is it?”
He didn’t answer.
But on the bright screen in his hand...
The new location glowed:
Hemsworth Group.
My heart stuttered.
Francis didn’t hesitate, not even for a second. He simply turned the wheel with cool finality and drove us straight toward the place I least wanted to be.
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