Chapter 121

Aria’s POV

Opening the letter, I recognized the familiar scrawl at once. This letter was from Jasper.

Over the past five years, Jasper and I had become something of avid pen-pals. We wrote each other frequently, and even talked on the phone now and then, though those long distance calls were too expensive to make a habit of.

For five years, his feelings for me had persisted, even though I had tried time and time again to discourage him, he seemed adamant to wait for my own feelings to come around.

Once, about three years back, on a phone conversation, he had even talked of moving to Moonglow to be near me.

“I could leave this all behind,” he had said. “Come to Moonglow, and help out you and Piper. I could even be your assistant.”

“But what about your own career?” I had asked him. Since my departure, he had fully committed himself to his work, even moving up in the political sphere.

“I could leave it,” Jasper had said. “You are more important than all this.”

It had been kind of him to imply that, and would be a terribly romantic gesture – one that would make any other girl swoon. But even then, as now, my heart was still tangled up with old feelings for Lucian. Then as now, I wasn’t able to commit my heart to anyone.

So, with reluctance, I had said to Jasper, “I think you should stay in Nightfall.”

“But –”

“I’m sorry, Jasper.”

I’d worried for a time that he might just appear anyway at my door, but as days and weeks passed, and our letters resumed, I knew he wasn’t going to come here without my permission.

The letter began with a heartfelt introduction.

My dearest friend Aria –

What followed was written in a quick, excited scrawl.

I don’t know if you’ve heard the news on your end, but it seems the war that separates us is soon ending. Everyone is buzzing about the new trade routes. There’s even talk of repairing the railways.

I hope this joyous news means that a visit will soon be in order.

Nightfall hasn’t changed much in the past five years, though I have. I’d love to show you my new office. It’s in the corner. I even have a window. Didn’t I tell you I’d make something of myself?

Admittedly, my desire for you to visit is far from selfless.

For five years, I’ve dreamed of your face. To see it in person again…

I won’t say more. I know your heart remains locked away. But maybe, on your return, when you see how I’ve changed, you will consider me.

If not, it would still please me to see a dear friend.

Dutifully Yours,

Jasper

I wished I had the capacity for love. Jasper was so good with words, and his devotion these past five years spoke of his earnestness. Though, admittedly, I believed – and hoped – he continued to pursue others with me out of sight.

Even so, his words were warm honey, and I couldn’t deny they filled me with a sort of satisfaction.

I only wished I could return his feelings.

But now, and for the foreseeable future, I just didn’t think it was possible. In my darker moments, I truly believed I would never be able to love again.

For so long, I had fully committed the entirety of my heart to Lucian, only for him to throw my feelings back in my face. Everything about that time, from leaving him until I left Nightfall pack, was a painful memory, yet even so, my thoughts returned to those moments again and again.

Jasper was a respectable member of society now, with a steady job, good income of his own, and a career path that had a lot of opened doors.

He’d be a good husband, a good match.

I was lucky to have caught his eye, and would be even luckier to claim him.

Yet, even knowing that, I couldn’t tie him down to me. He deserved someone who loved him as passionately as he loved.

That, unfortunately, was not me, and I didn’t know if it ever could be.

Because of this, even a trip to Nightfall would feel like I was leading him own. The repaired trade routes would be good for Moonglow pack, who could more easily receive supplies. But I personally would not be taking advantage of them.

I had left Nightfall behind, and that included just to visit. Now was the time to look forward.

Moonglow was my home. My life was here.

I set Jasper’s letter aside in my office, promising to write back later, and then returned to the kitchen to finish the dishes.

Lucian’s POV

For five years, I had worked to bring about this peace treaty between the two warring packs BloodFang and DuskHowl. Work had been slow going, with both Alphas even more stubborn than I was.

They’d each over the course of their history had made so many slights against the other, that neither could remember how it started. They only knew they were offended and would see it end.

The war itself have been relatively bloodless, with both packs protecting their borders more than invading out of it. But that standoff had lasted so long, it disrupted everything from immigration to trade routes. Both packs entirely cut themselves off from the world around them.

Now, five years later, I was finally able to convince them to give up this standoff. Without any imports, both of their economies had stalled, and without the shared knowledge of medicine and technological advances, both packs were behind in those areas too, to the detriment of their people.

The Alphas had been stubborn but even they cracked under the weight of their people’s wishes.

There had been ups and downs trying to fix this peace treaty for the past several years, but now that it was finally accomplished, I felt like a heavy weight had been lifted up off of my chest.

All these years, my only lead about Aria had been to follow Dr. A, and as far as I knew, Dr. A had gone to Moonglow pack to help heal the poor.

Moonglow pack was wedged between the ocean and these two warring packs.

I’d wanted to travel there myself to search Aria out, but I’d been forbidden to, the elders worried about my safety with the war. Even perceived favoritism could have thrown the careful balance of the standoff into chaos and potentially pulled Nightfall into the war.

Therefore, despite my every desire to rush after Aria, or the best lead I had to find her, I was confined to my own pack lands until the war was done.

Now, finally, it was, and I could be free to follow Dr. A to Moonglow and possibly find the answers I sought.

“Thank you for your continued efforts, Lucian,” said the Alpha of BloodFang. “Without them, this treaty might have never occurred.”

“I agree,” said the Alpha of DuskHowl. “All these years, in trying to hurt each other, we’ve only been hurting ourselves. I’m glad we can work toward a better tomorrow, starting today.”

The Alpha of BloodFang rolled his eyes. “Save the pretty speeches for when the reporters can actually hear you.”

I shook the hands of both Alphas, one after the next. “Thank you both, gentlemen. I’m relieved we could find common ground, and look forward to working together in the future.”

With that, the meeting officially adjourned, and we all went our separate ways.

For the first time in a very long time, I started to look forward to what happened next.