Chapter 76

Lucian’s POV

As soon as I asked the words, I realized it was over the line. While Dr. A and I were cordial, we did not have the kind of relationship that would allow for these kinds of questions. She had just saved my father; I needed to be more respectful.

I was just tired, under so much stress with Sheila and the pack. And now with my father so close to losing his life, and Mom stuck out of town, unable to get here to be with him, everything felt like too much.

I was needlessly sentimental tonight.

“Yes,” Dr. A said, after a long moment.

I blinked, startled, not having expected her to answer. Looking at her, I tried to understand.

“I did love someone once.” With how her face was angled, I could have sworn she was looking right at me. “But it didn’t work out.”

That was not the answer I had been hoping for, for her sake, especially as she was with child. This likely meant that she would have to raise her child alone.

My heart ached for her. She was such a brilliant mind. What kind of male would not be honored and proud to have such an accomplished Healer by their side? Unless her chosen lover had been one of those men who did not appreciate the brilliance of their partners and wanted them only to be soft and agreeable.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “It wasn’t my place to ask. I shouldn’t have pried.”

Her affairs were truly none of my business, yet… “Perhaps it is the similarities I sense in you, in comparison to Aria, but I feel… protective of you in a way that I would be for Aria.”

“I’m not your wife,” she said coldly.

I deserved that. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“I can take care of myself.” Whatever moment we might have been sharing seemed abruptly over now. “Please excuse me.”

Without another word, she stepped out of the room, leaving me alone with my sleeping father.

It was wrong of me for having spoken to her like that. Worse of me to once again bring up her similarities to Aria. Yet, I could not deny the truth inside of me.

I worried about Dr. A and her unborn child, especially as she seemed so set on leaving the safety of the pack. I didn’t want her to have to face the world alone like that. What kind of man would abandon his wife and child?

If I’d known who she loved, I would go and have a talking with them. I’d shake them and insist they not waste their chance with an amazing woman, as I had wasted mine with Aria.

Mates were precious, especially those that borne fruit in the form of a child.

Was that father to never be in that child’s life then? Was this the life they would have now? Mother and child on their own in some foreign pack, while the child’s father lived it up like he had no responsibilities?

Was this why Dr. A was so desperate to leave?

The whole thing made me livid and enraged. Yet, without knowing who the father was, that rage had nowhere to go. Besides, my interference would likely be unwelcomed by Dr. A. She was a strong, independent women. If she said she could take care of herself, I believed her.

And yet…

I could have sworn I detected some measure of yearning in my voice. I might not have noticed it at all if it hadn’t matched my own loneliness in a familiar way.

Maybe Dr. A and I weren’t all that different.

But O wasn’t being chased from the pack with a broken heart. Instead, I was watching the woman who had loved me leave me behind of her own violation.

I did not appreciate her. I did not love her as she wanted me to. In return, she left to find someone who would.

No, maybe I was not like Dr. A after all. Perhaps I was more like the man who hurt her.

Hanging my head in defeat, I felt my own self-loathing start to rise.

Aria’s POV

Lucian’s personal questions – his concern – caught me by surprise.

Mixed feelings swirled inside of me. On one hand, Dr. A’s business was none of his own, and for him to pry into my personal life in that way made me furious. I didn’t need his protection as Aria, Dr. A, or anyone else.

On the other hand, Lucian was not a man of overt emotion. For him to feel protective over Dr. A, claiming it was because of his protective feelings for Aria… That felt like an admission of something.

Not love, exactly, but something. Affection, perhaps. Dedication? At the very least, he wanted to keep me safe.

That shouldn’t be enough to lift my spirits. And it certainly shouldn’t be enough to make me yearn for him once more.

Lucian is a man from my past, nothing more. Perhaps genetically he was also the father of my child, but that was not something my child or Lucian would ever know. Lucian broke the mating bond between us. Sheila was the woman in his life now.

He didn’t need me, just as I didn’t need him.

He didn’t want me, either.

That was what I told myself over and over to give myself the courage to keep walking. One foot in front of the other. As far away from him as I could go.

This motivation worked for a little while.

For a few days, even. I continued to work, careful to check on Harold only when I was certain Lucian wasn’t around. Eventually, Harold was well enough to be released from the hospital, on the promise that he keep an eye on his stress levels.

After that, I had assumed everything was over with Lucian again.

I figured I’d probably never see him again.

That night, Cathy worked late while I came home early. After changing out of my Dr. A disguise, I thought it might be nice to make a real dinner for a change. Yet, on the way to the kitchen, a knock on the door gave me pause.

Reasoning it was probably Jasper again with today’s flowers, I didn’t think of any reason not to throw the door open wide in a welcome greeting.

Except there were no flowers to greet me on the other side.

There was no Jasper either.

Instead, Lucian was there, looking even wearier than he had when I saw him at the hospital. He looked so tired, like he might collapse at any moment.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him, pushing down my worry. This was the most important question. Forget everything else.

“Aria,” he said, looking at me as if he was stunned by me. I couldn’t fathom why. Yes, I had a similar reaction when I had seen him again after our break, when I had been disguised as Dr. A.

But I had been the one in love with him. As he was never in love with me, the loss of the mate bond should not affect him so much.

Blinking, he recovered himself. “Aria, I want to ask you to please attend the family gathering for this month.”