Chapter 134

Aria’s POV

Lucian’s request caught me off-guard, and for a moment, I just stared at him, uncertain. I had no idea what he could be thinking, asking me that out of the blue, as if he’d been thinking of me and only me these past five years we’d been apart.

But that couldn’t be. Even if Cathy said he’d been a confirmed bachelor all this time, that didn’t mean he’d been pining for me. It didn’t mean he’d been thinking of me at all.

These feelings he was showing now, wanting to pursue me again, were likely the trigger of some nostalgia left over from when we were married. If I even agreed to this proposal, he’d likely remember why he ignored me in a few days’ time. Whatever he was feeling right now how to be temporary.

And, that wasn’t the only that thing was temporary.

“I’m not staying here forever,” I reminded him. “This is only a temporary visit while Dr. A works on curing Cathy’s disease.”

“I understand,” Lucian said. “But even so, I miss having you in my life, Aria. I’m determined to find a way to keep you from wanting to leave it again.”

Listening to him, it seemed he was determined to use the time I had in Nightfall to convince me to stay.

“Lucian,” I started, because this was a terrible idea.

“Please,” he said. “Just think about it.”

I didn’t know what else to say. In this moment, I believed him to be earnest and that took me by surprise. But it had to be nostalgia. There was no way these feelings of his would last.

He’d tire of me, just as he had done the first time.

I walked to the door and held it open. “Goodnight, Lucian,” I told him, signaling to him that it was time for him to leave. He took the hint well, walking to the door.

“Goodnight, Aria,” he said and left.

I closed and locked the door behind him, afraid to watch him leave. Seeing him walk away from me, even like this, still hurt me as much as it had the first time after our mutual rejection. Already, my wolf was whimpering.

At that moment, Cathy finally made her appearance, coming up the hallway from my room. “When I heard it was Lucian, I decided not to interrupt.”

“I almost wish you had,” I said. “Now he’s met the children…”

“Yes, they seem to like him,” Cathy replied. “That must be a relief.”

Why would that be a relief? Keeping my voice low, I reminded her, “I didn’t want them to meet at all.”

“It was bound to happen eventually,” Cathy said. “Fate would intervene sooner or later.”

“Fate has never been particularly kind to me.”

Cathy shrugged lightly. “I’m only saying that now, if you had any reason to worry about whether they would like each other, you have no more reason to worry about it.”

The worst part of all this was that she was right. I did feel some measure of relief about the kids liking Lucian and vice versa, even though I had no good reason to feel that way.

My intent on coming here had nothing to do with Lucian. In fact, I hadn’t hoped to see him at all. Earlier, it had been alright, as I had been disguised as Dr. A and the kids weren’t there, but now the kids are present. And I’m not Dr. A at the moment.

This should never have happened.

Cathy watched me like she was trying to decipher what I was thinking through my facial expressions. Without seeing myself, I had no idea how much I was giving away, and how much she could discern.

“You didn’t tell him no,” she said.

“What?”

“Lucian,” she said. “You told him goodnight, but you didn’t tell him no.”

“No, I did… I…” I paused a moment, reflecting. Oh, gods, she was right. In the moment, I hadn’t told him no. I cursed under my breath.

“Did you want to tell him no?” she asked me.

No, was my first reaction, but I bit it back. Rubbing my forehead with my hands, I told her, “It doesn’t matter what I want. All of this is a bad idea.”

“How do you know that?”

“He just missed me. If he had me back, things would go right back to how they were.”

“And how do you know that?” Cathy asked, with more emphasis.

I shook my head. “Because anything else is impossible.”

“Is it? Or are you just being stubborn as always?”

I dropped my hands and gave her a look. “Since when have you ever been on his side? You, more than anyone, know how much I was ignored when we were together.”

“I do know that,” she said. “But I also know that you are still in love with him. Even now, even after all this time. I want you to be happy, Aria. And he has been alone for five years. Sheila’s gone. Maybe he’d do things right this time.”

For Cathy to call me out so plainly made it pretty obvious how I felt. I could deny the truth from myself but not to my best friend. She could see my feelings more than I could, as if they were printed all over my face.

“You can admit it,” she said. “It’s okay.”

“Yes,” I told her. “I admit it. I still love him, but that love has brought me nothing but trouble. And I’m telling you, Cathy, he hasn’t changed. Whatever this fascination he has with me right now, it will fade.”

Cathy gave me a skeptical look, but I was positive.

A leopard didn’t change its spots.

The next morning, I went back to the hospital to continue my research. Midway through morning, I was interrupted by Piper, who was out of breath, seemingly from running all the way to my office.

“Piper? What’s wrong?” Per our prior conversations, she was going to spend the first week or so of our visit catching up with her family and friends. I’d told her that I needed that time to research possible cures anyway, which she could help me develop after she came back.

Her early arrival was odd, but not as odd as her having ran here.

“I saw them,” she said. “At the train station, when I was waiting to meet my grandma.”

“Them? Who?” I asked.

“Paul, Frank, and Harry,” she said.

I paused, trying to remember how those names were familiar to me. When it came to me, I froze with surprise. “From Moonglow,” I said.

“Yes,” Piper said. “They are here.”

In the five years I spent in Moonglow, I had acquired many admirers. Perhaps because I helped so many people as their Healer, or perhaps because I was one of the few available women my age in the pack, I wasn’t sure. Regardless, I’d developed quite a following.

Paul, Frank, and Harry were chief among them. They had been kind, and we’d all been friendly, even though I knew they each wanted more with me. Time and again, I reminded them that I was not looking for a relationship, but they just kept replying that they would wait.

They didn’t need to wait. I had told them that too. I didn’t ever see a future with them.

Yet they persisted.

And now they were here.