Chapter 99

Aria’s POV

The divorce ceremony was generally simple and short. A reversal of a wedding, each partner was called to give a brief statement in front of the judge. I’d already written mine and carried it on a tiny slip of paper that I now held in my shaky hands.

Compared to the devastation of the mutual rejection, this event was sure to be more embarrassing than painful. Gathering here in front of everyone and admitting that our marriage didn’t work felt like adding insult to injury, and was why most divorces nowadays didn’t perform this in person anymore.

The Alpha King and his Luna were forever bond to tradition, however. So here we were, standing side by side in front of a judge.

I didn’t want to do this. Any of this. But the time for second thoughts was well behind us. To preserve a happy future for me and my child, I had to go through this act. Then, finally, we’d be free, and I’d never have to face Lucian as Aria ever again.

The judge looked down at us. He nodded to the stenographer, who readied herself to take down every word. This divorce would be a matter of public record, with anyone and everyone in the pack able to look up the exact transcription at any time.

“We’ll now begin. Today, we are here to finalize the divorce between Alpha King Lucian and Luna Aria,” the judge said. “Each has prepared a statement to read. Luna Aria, if you would please begin.”

Gathering the last remnants of my courage and strength, I lifted the slip of paper. I had reviewed the words enough times that they were burned into my thoughts. This was good, because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to read them anyway with how much my hands were trembling.

Searching for strength, I turned inwards. My wolf, Luna, had been against all of this from the start, but she had to understand now that there was little we could do. I needed her to stand beside me in this. I didn’t know if I could do it alone.

“I am always with you,” Luna said in my mind. “I mourn for our loss, but I will not stand against you. We are together in this and in everything.”

With her voice as comfort, I was able to read aloud my statement. “I, Aria, wish to formally end my marriage to Alpha King Lucian. We have grown apart, following different paths, and now it is time for us to part ways.”

I had to make my statement short and to the point. I didn’t know if I could have said the words so calmly otherwise. Inside, my heart felt like it was being ripped apart.

Lucian’s POV

“Now,” the judge continued. “Alpha King Lucian. It is time for your statement.”

Aria’s statement mostly included the standard for divorces like these. No one ever went into too much depth when standing in front of a judge, with everything on public record.

I was no exception. The statement I had prepared was very similar to Aria’s. Yet, standing here, looking at her, when I opened my mouth, nothing came out.

I couldn’t make myself say the words.

I didn’t want to divorce her.

“She is ours,” my wolf growled in my mind. “You have cast her away once. You cannot do so again.”

“I have to,” I whispered back in my mind. “She doesn’t want to be married to us anymore.”

“We have failed her,” my wolf replied. “She is ours but we’ve let her down. She believes we no longer want her. Tell her that isn’t the truth. Tell her!”

Aria looked at me with quiet, reserved expectation in her eyes.

My heart warmed while I was under her gaze. She was standing close to me, closer than we had been in a while.

I kept remembering the things she had written in her diary about me, about us. She had tried so much to please me. She couldn’t understand why I had always been distant.

Seeing her now, I didn’t understand it either. Inside, regret swelled, filling the entirety of my body.

Everything was so clear to me now. It was so much easier to accept my obvious affection for her in this moment. Why had it been so difficult to embrace her during our marriage, when I still had a chance of saving things?

It was too late now. Far too late.

I didn’t want to lose her, but the truth of it was, she was already lost to me.

She didn’t want to be with me. She had others that she loved. She’d even convinced my parents to go along with the divorce.

“Alpha King?” the judge prompted. “Pardon me, Sir, but it is time for your statement.

I’d messed up so many things over the course of our marriage. I’d pushed her away when I should have held her close.

I let her down time and time again.

The least I could do for her now was give her what she wanted. My affection for her was a double-edged sword. Cutting one way, I wanted to keep her mine. Cutting the other, I wished for her happiness more than my own.

With that in mind and in my heart, I found the voice to finally speak.

“I agree with the divorce,” I said. It was the most I could say, while still being the bare minimum accepted by the courts. The judge seemed confused, and Aria’s eyes went a little wide.

What did it matter now, though? It was done. Everything was done.

The ceremony continued on, and then, regretfully, it was finally over.

I stood off to the side, watching as Aria’s friends surrounded her, embracing her with support and love.

Mom came to join me, but she didn’t say a word, seeing where I was looking. Instead, she placed a supportive hand on my shoulder. I leaned into her, finding comfort in what she offered, even if it was not enough to fill the growing hole inside of me.

What could she say? What could anyone say that would make me whole again?

My wolf was quiet now, but I felt his misery as sure as my own.

I didn’t think I could feel any worse than I did in that moment, but then Jasper walked over to Aria. He said something that made her smile.

That Jasper made her laugh and smile felt like a blessing. I still didn’t trust Jasper at all. He was a playboy, who collected hearts like trading cards. He was enraptured with Aria now, but who knew how long it would be before he grew bored and moved onto someone else?

Yet, even that bitterness could not drive my feet forward.

Aria had made her choice, and she seemed happy. Who was I to interfere? I wasn’t her mate, or her husband any longer. I was still her Alpha King, but only until she could move away from the pack as she told my parents she intended to do.

Would Jasper go with her?

Seeing the way his eyes crinkled when she spoke, as he looked at her with affection, made sometime uncomfortable stir inside of me.

The way Jasper was looking at Aria was different than the way he looked at other girls he’d pursued. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he looked like he was in love.

My gaze shifted to Aria, to the open affection in her eyes.

However Jasper felt, Aria was clearly in love with him.

Which meant…

She had already forgotten about me.