Aria’s POV
My mouth opened, but nothing ca out. My head buzzed like a swarm of angry bees. My wolf let out a low, distressed whine inside . This house... this was the first real ho Lana and I had had in a while. The first place where we didn’t sleep with shoes by the door in case we needed to run.
And now—
Now we were losing it.
Because of .
Peter was in this ss because of . How could I possibly tell him not to sell? What right did I have?
My savings... my grandmother’s inheritance... everything felt like sand slipping through my fingers.
He must’ve seen my guilt written plainly on my face. Peter reached out and gently patted my shoulder, his touch warm and soothing to my wolf.
"It’s alright," he said quietly."The house might be old, but it’s a well-decorated little villa, and the location’s great. Once it’s sold, things will ease up for ."
Ease up for him, but cost everything for .
"But after that," he continued,"we’ll probably have to rent a temporary place."
He forced a tired smile, one that made my chest ache."I’ll do my best to give you and Lana a better life. You’ll stay with , won’t you?"
I opened my mouth, ready to shake my head.
Stay with him?
What did that even an?
I was grateful to Peter, deeply. He’d been my anchor when my world kept collapsing. But stay? Live under the sa roof again? Keep dragging him deeper into the ss my life had beco?
My wolf shifted uneasily beneath my skin, sensing my turmoil.
"I was actually planning to start looking for a new place soon... sowhere I could move to with Lana," I began.
But the mont my gaze t Peter’s eyes, the rest of my sentence dissolved in my throat. They were bloodshot, tired, worn down in a way I’d never seen before.
I froze. My wolf let out a small, sympathetic whine.
"We’ll talk about it later," I murmured instead.
Peter nodded slightly, as if forcing himself to accept the half-answer."After the house is sold, we can move into one of the firm’s apartnt units," he said."It has three bedrooms. We could even set up a little play area for Lana."
He tried to hide it, but I heard it, the hint of longing in his voice. My werewolf hearing didn’t miss the tiny break between his words, the soft exhale of hope he was trying to smother.
Everyone from the firm lived in that building Peter spoke of. If they saw and Lana living and eating with him under the sa roof... they’d assu we were a family.
My chest tightened. I didn’t know what to say. My silence stretched between us like a thick fog.
Peter took that silence as acceptance.
A flicker of happiness, small, tired, but real, lit his eyes. But just as quickly, sothing else shadowed his expression.
Peter let out a soft, humorless laugh."Even if it’s just temporary," he said quietly,"I’m really glad."
For him, that small amount of closeness was enough.
The auction details were finalized, and a few minutes later, Peter got another call which he answered briefly and told he needed to go sowhere.
I stood by the window and watched him walk to his car. His back was straight as always, but the ease he once carried, the smooth, polished confidence of the rising star attorney that everyone admired, was gone.
Now he moved like a man carrying a boulder on his shoulders.
My heart ached.
My wolf pressed against , grieving quietly for him.
*****
In the past few days, Peter had barely been ho during the day. He was constantly out, handling calls, etings, paperwork, doing so damage control. He was too busy to even spend a last peaceful night in the house we were losing.
That night, the sky had already darkened when I realized he still hadn’t co back.
A quiet unease crept into my chest, prickling beneath my skin.
My wolf paced restlessly within . Sothing was wrong.
Peter wasn’t the type to stay out late without warning.
Even if we would soon go separate ways, I couldn’t shut off the worry tightening around my heart.
I finally sent him a ssage, checking in.
His reply ca a minute later. It was short, clipped and tired.
[Just sleep first.]
The words sat cold on my screen. Sothing in them felt off.
And even as I tried to lie down, my wolf refused to settle. I was bothered, seriously worried about Peter. For so reason, I could feel sothing was wrong.
A few minutes later, while scrolling through the lawyers’ group chat, a video caught my eye and my breath froze.
User Comments
0 comments from readers