Aria’s POV
“Call if you need anything,” I said, lifting my phone slightly so Rowland could see.
Rowland blinked up at and nodded. “You should head back. It’s late, and...”
I didn’t let him finish.
“I have heard you, I’m leaving.”
If I stayed another second, he’d say sothing ridiculous again, and I was too tired to wrestle with his nonsense or my own thoughts.
I turned and walked out without looking back.
By the ti I got into a cab outside the hospital, the city had gone still. That strange hour when even the traffic thins and the world slls colder.
I leaned back against the seat.
Only then did I let my shoulders drop.
The tension drained out of slowly, like air from a punctured lung.
I tightened my grip on my purse. I knew why Rowland had made that ridiculous scene about the private room. It was not because he was embarrassed.
It was because of .
My wolf huffed quietly.
I’d just divorced Nathan. My na has been on too many tongues lately. Different packs talked about and they were quite vicious about it.
There had only been a few people outside the operating room earlier... but all it took was one story twisted the wrong way.
A she-wolf spending the night in an alpha’s hospital room.
I closed my eyes.
He’d been trying, in his stupid, dramatic way, to protect my reputation. Idiot...Kind idiot.
The cab dropped at Shevron Estates. My wolf stirred, soothed slightly by the familiar territory scent markers.
But my mind wouldn’t rest.
*****
The next morning, I’d barely woken from sleep when my phone rang.
I groaned, reaching for it. “Hello...”
“Aria, I heard Rowland is in the hospital,” Kathy’s gentle voice ca through.
I pushed myself up, rubbing my eyes. “He’s okay—”
“Do you know which room Sophia is in at Asterfell General Hospital?”
I blinked at how fast she changed the topic.
That was not where I thought this conversation was going.
My wolf lifted its head, alert, yet I answered.
“She’s in the inpatient building,” I said slowly. “Fifth floor, room eight.”
There was a pause.
“Aunt Kathy... what are you planning?” The title still felt strange in my mouth.
Kathy gave a soft, unreadable laugh. “That’s a secret for now. Don’t worry about it. Pretend I never asked.”
“Aunt—”
The call ended. I stared at my phone. The room felt too quiet. My wolf paced inside , restless.
Sothing was moving beneath the surface and I had the uneasy feeling I’d just helped set it in motion.
Nathan’s POV
The top floor of Hemsworth Group was silent.
Even the city noise couldn’t reach this high. There was only the low sound of electronics and the sound of my own heartbeat which was slow, heavy and restrained.
My wolf was restless.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Co in.”
The door opened, and Collins crossed the room quickly, carrying a thick stack of files.
“Alpha, the investigation results are in. The surveillance restoration is complete,” he said, unable to hide his urgency.
That was the evidence I had been waiting for.
I set my pen down. My fingers laced together on the desk, but they weren’t steady. My wolf stood, hackles rising.
“What do they say?”
Collins’s expression tightened. He handed the files over.
“You were right, Ms. Aria was wrongfully accused.”
I already knew that deep down in my heart after all the fragnts of evidence I had pieced together, but I still needed proof and now, I had it.
My claws pushed against my fingertips.
“Give it to .” I opened the file.
There were surveillance stills, ti stamps, marked figures. It showed Aria entering the archive room, taking a case file she was working on and leaving.
Nothing else...Nothing was stolen.
My vision sharpened, predator focus locking in.
Another na was highlighted in a different color.
It was Sophia.
“Sources from the secure room confird Ms. Sophia used the computer there,” Collins said quietly.
Collins laid another docunt down. A still image of Sophia pulling a USB from a terminal.
He placed a USB on my desk. “All footage is saved.”
My lips trembled just once. I clenched my jaw until it hurt.
Since Aria was put in prison, a shred of doubt had lived in my bones like a buried splinter but I had told myself I did the right thing.
That the evidence had been clear and that I had no choice.
But now—
Truth stood in front of , and it slled like blood.
“There’s another video,” Collins said, opening a tablet.
I watched.
It was a video of Sophia and Richard.
They were too close, whispering stuff, their hands brushing as sothing passed between them.
That was the day before Aria was accused.
My wolf snarled low in my chest.
Betrayal and conspiracy had happened right under my nose, in my company.
The videos weren’t perfect, but they were enough. Enough to clear her. Enough to damn .
My forearms trembled where they rested on the desk. I could hear my own pulse roaring in my ears.
I now had proof that I was wrong about everything. Not slightly, not partially but completely.
Aria...
I had thrown my own mate to the wolves.
The mory slamd into , her in prison, locked within cold cell, her shoulders thinner, her eyes that once burned, dulled by isolation.
She was pregnant and all alone.
Because of .
My hand flew to my chest. It felt like sothing was tearing inside, slow and brutal.
I had trusted the wrong person.
Doubted the one who had stood beside . No wonder she looked at like I was nothing.
If I had believed her...Even once...
Would she still be mine?
Collins stood in silence, grief written on his face too. He’d followed my orders back then. We both had blood on our hands.
“Alpha,” he asked quietly, “should I send this to Ms. Aria?”
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