Chapter 115

Lucian’s POV

Watching Dr. A’s plane leave created a strange sort of unpleasantness inside of me, though I couldn’t explain what it was or why it was happening.

My wolf felt it too as he paced and snarled wordlessly in my mind.

There was no reason for it. The only thing I could think was that perhaps the physical similarities between Dr. A and Aria were causing my dilemma. They looked similarly, that was true, but I had already proven to myself time and again, they were not the same person.

Yet why did it feel like Aria was flying away from me at that moment, lost to me forever?

When the plane was out of sight, the crowd that had gathered to bid farewell to Dr. A started to dissipate. Still, I stood unmoving beside the opened backseat door of my sedan.

Ben was beside me, looking at me with barely-hidden curiosity. “Sir? Are you alright?”

Realizing I was worrying my Beta, I forced my gaze away from the blue sky where the plane had disappeared within.

“I’m fine,” I told him, a blatant lie. He had to know as I didn’t do much to hide it, yet Ben was a professional. If I didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t bring it up. If I lied to him, he would pretend as if he believed that lie. At least for now.

“Should we return to the office, then, Sir?” he asked me, a hint of worry in his gaze.

I hadn’t meant to worry him or anyone else, but my longing for Aria was so overwhelming that I struggled to focus on anything else.

“No,” I said, with a sudden jolt of inspiration striking me. “I’d like to go to the florist.”

Ben’s worry increased. “The florist, Sir?”

“Yes,” I said. “I need a dozen red roses. Then, we will be going to Cathy’s house so that I can speak with Aria. I’ve put this off for far too long.”

Being without Aria, knowing that she was going away, sat within me like a lead weight. It had to be the reason I felt so distressed about Dr. A leaving, imagining Aria was soon to do the same.

I didn’t want to feel like this anymore. Aria was the perfect woman for me, but it had taken me too long to figure that out. I couldn’t let any more time pass by without telling her that to her face. At this point, I’d told other people. Dr. A. Ben. My parents. Yet Aria was in the dark.

She deserved to know the truth of how I felt, and, if she still wanted to leave me afterwards, I would understand. But not before I had the chance to fully express my feelings.

“Yes, Sir,” Ben said, and there was a touch of hope in his eyes now too, pushing away his worry. Had he been waiting for me to make this choice? Maybe everyone around me had.

I had let Sheila control things around me for far too long. Now that she was gone, it was like I could see clearer. Without the weight of guilt and responsibility, I could make the choices I wanted to make for myself, not having to concern myself with her or her overwhelming emotions.

Finally, I entered the backseat. Ben moved to the driver’s seat and drove the sedan to the flower shop where he said he purchased the sunflower bouquet. The florist within was surprised to see me arrive on my own. I supposed not many Kings walked into this tiny shop.

“I need a dozen red roses,” I told her, and her eyes lit up like Christmas morning.

“A bouquet of love!” she said excitedly. “I have just the thing.”

Somehow, over the course of the purchase, I managed to buy a bouquet of red roses, but also one containing an assortment of rose colors.

“The colors mean different things,” the florist had told me. “If the person you are giving this to is truly the love of your life, then you want her to know that you don’t only want her romantically. You want her everlasting love as well as her friendship…”

The florist was right so I differed to her knowledge. Gathering my bouquets, I returned to the car where Ben was waiting. Seeing my haul, he lifted a brow but didn’t say a word. I did catch his growing smile though.

I didn’t need his approval, but I was glad to have it.

Some of my pack was cruel to Aria in the past. I’d allowed it, focused on other things, but that would all change this time, and not just because the overall public perception of Aria had improved. This time, I would stand beside her in all ways, in all things. Everyone in my pack would understand that to disparage Aria, my love, would be the same as disparaging me.

Flowers purchased, we drove over to Cathy’s. Carrying my bundles of flowers, I exited the car.

“Good luck, Sir!” Ben called from the window.

With a spring in my step, and determination in my heart, I rushed to the front door and rang the bell.

This was it, the moment that I might be able to save the shattered remnants of my marriage. I needed all of my charisma for this, all of my diplomacy skills, and I also needed to tap into my emotions.

That would be difficult, because I wasn’t used to it. For Aria though, to repair all the damage I had caused, I would wrestle those emotions and drag them to the surface for her to see, so that she would have no doubt as to my sincerity.

I wanted her back. As my mate, my wife, and my love. And I was willing to do whatever it took to ensure that happened.

After waiting a long moment, I rang the doorbell again. Perhaps I was too impatient, too eager to start the rest of my life with the woman I adored by my side.

Hopefully she could forgive me.

Finally, Cathy opened the door. She seemed slightly ill, holding a washcloth to her head like she had a headache. She was flush and pale and her eyes were a little damp.

Perhaps she was sick. No matter.

“It’s you,” she said, looking at me like I was an intruder in her home, and not the Alpha King of her pack standing on her doorstep. Though as she was Aria’s closest and most dearest friend, I could only accept her distain. I’d earned it, after all.

Perhaps after I convinced Aria to give me another chance, she could help influence her friends to do the same.

“I’m looking for Aria,” I said. “Could you tell her I’m here? I’d like to speak to her.”

Cathy glanced from the state of me, down to the flowers, and then she sighed. “She’s not here.”

“Where is she?” I asked. “If she’s out, I’m sure I could meet her –”

“You can’t meet her,” Cathy said. “She’s not in the pack lands anymore.”

“You can’t mean…” My stomach started to drop.

“I do,” Cathy said. “You are too late. Aria’s already gone.”

Lowering the flowers, I look around, at the house, and back to the car. Ben was on the Carphone. That was strange. Who could have called now?

“Alpha King!” Ben called out, hanging up the phone. He rushed over to me. “I’m sorry, sir, but that was your housekeeper. There’s been damage to your home.”

“What?”

“Sheila broke into Aria’s room,” Ben said. “And she trashed it.”