Chapter 59

Lucian’s POV

With no way of knowing what this rejection could mean for Aria, I wanted to believe that she had finally come to her senses and would at last be returning home. Perhaps she realized once and for all how silly this desire for a divorce truly was.

The thoughts pleased me more than I would have thought they would. A sense of relief filled me, ignoring my internal warnings of caution.

As much as I wanted Aria to return home and fulfill her duties as my wife and the pack’s Luna once more, I could not allow myself to relax until she had actually done so.

Rejecting Matt was a good step, but it did not place her back in my life and my home.

To ensure she continued in the correct path to reconciliation, I needed to take certain steps to push her decision over the edge and ensure she made the right choice.

At that moment, Montgomery and the others noticed me standing there. They blanched slightly and immediately quieted. I wouldn’t order them to make a choice, but the right one was clear to me.

Matt needed to be told that Aria did not desire him in the same way he desired her. Though I gave no commands, I did stare at Caleb’s family until they either lowered their eyes or looked fully away.

Certain that my opinion was made clear to them, I continued walking, saying nothing as I walked by their group.

Outside, I entered the backseat of my sedan. The driver in the front glanced back at me.

“Where to, Alpha?”

“The office,” I said.

“The long way?” the driver asked. The Alpha headquarters building was only a couple of blocks away from the hospital. The trip by car, without traffic, would only take a handful of minutes. The driver’s offer of going the long way meant that he would drive around until I told him otherwise.

Normally, this gave me time to think.

“The long way,” I said.

The driver nodded and started the car. I pushed the button, bringing up the partition that separated the front seats from the back. Though I appreciated my driver, I needed time to think and consider my next moves.

I had to act carefully here with Aria. Whatever I did next might be enough to convince her to return to the life she abandoned, or it might only push her even further away.

As I considered, I looked out the window. The driver had turned into a residential neighborhood, so I watched the various houses blur by. I wondered how many families within them were going through similar struggles. Conversely, how many were happy?

So lost in thought, I startled when my car phone started to ring. Worried it might be another emergency, I answered it.

“Lucian,” came Sheila’s voice through the line.

Shit. With everything going on, I’d totally forgotten that I’d been ignoring my car phone for a reason lately. That reason was entirely Sheila.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” she said sourly.

She wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t admit to it. To do so would only make her more irate and extend this conversation unnecessarily.

“Just tell me what you want, Sheila,” I said, cutting straight to the point. I didn’t have the time, energy, or patience for her usual games.

“Come home,” Sheila snapped. “That’s what I want.”

“I’m working.”

“Are you?” Sheila asked. “I keep calling the office and they tell me you are out.”

“I’m the pack Alpha. My duties require more than sitting in an office all day. Sometimes I need to be out among my people.”

“Well, your people need you here. I need you here. Lucian, you’ve been avoiding me so long.”

Her voice became uneven, which meant the waterworks were soon to follow.

I was under no obligation to listen to her, to obey as she wanted me to, but I knew once the tears started, the accusations would follow.

Like clockwork, she began, “Is this how you treat the women you’ve wronged? You totally forget about them? About me?”

“You are very aware that is not how things are.”

“What am I supposed to think? You lock me away here and take off to who knows where. I’m lonely, Lucian, and I’m frightened. What if I’m never able to have a child?”

Familiar guilt crept up inside of me. Sheila was a handful, but she was still my responsibility. Perhaps I had been in the wrong for neglecting her all this time.

“I will consider returning home tonight,” I said. “After work.”

She sniffed dramatically. “You won’t forget?”

I really wanted off of this phone conversation. “I promise to consider it.”

That had to be good enough.

Until Dr. A found a treatment for Sheila’s infertility, there wasn’t much I could do to make her feel better. I would do what I could for her, but I also had Aria to consider.

Right now, my next steps with Aria, so vitally important, felt like my top priority.

Aria’s POV

With everything going on, my shift at the hospital felt like it might have gone on forever. By the time quitting time rolled around, I was more than ready to head home and try to relax for a while.

Relaxation was certain to be elusive tonight, however, with how distracted my thoughts were regarding Lucian and the decision he said he made about our marriage.

Would he finally give me a divorce? Or would he keep fighting it?

My heart ached with either option. I didn’t want things to end, but if they were never going to improve, a divorce was the only way forward for me. I couldn’t bind myself to a loveless marriage for the rest of my life. I wanted better for me and my child.

Heart heavy, I opened the front door of Cathy’s house –

“There you are!” Cathy said.

“Surprise!” Piper called.

Cathy and Piper stood just inside the door, wearing party hats. Behind them on the wall over the couch, a banner hung that read, Congratulations! Bracketing the word on either side were tiny graduation caps.

“What’s this all about?” I asked, stepping inside. Immediately I felt lighter by the absurdity of it. “Who’s graduating?”

Piper blushed slightly, embarrassed. “That was the only congratulations banner I could find on such short notice.”

“You’ve done a great thing,” Cathy said to me. “You were able to help Caleb and establish your professionalism, overcoming the adversity of those crotchety old Healers and your detractors on the news.”

“Things have been so serious lately,” Piper added. “We thought it might be fun to finally celebrate something.”

“I don’t know what to say.” I laughed a little. Their kindness and caring for me warmed me from the inside out.

“So don’t say anything,” Cathy replied. “Just enjoy yourself for a change.”

The two women both held champagne flutes. Cathy passed one to me. “Non-alcoholic,” she said as an aside, so I accepted it.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

“That’s probably Jasper,” Cathy said. “I invited him too, but he said he was running late.”

Placing my drink on the coffee table, I said, “I’ll get it.”

With an unusual skip in my step, I headed for the door. There, I pulled it open, expecting to see Jasper’s smiling face.

“Jasper, I hope you…”

My voice died in my throat.

It wasn’t Jasper at the door.

Instead, Lucian was standing there.