Chapter 179

Aria

Lunar Labs was reduced to a shell of its former self.

The once-sleek and vibrant building, surrounded by lush gardens and pebbled fountains, was now barren and burnt. The glass walls were shattered, the halls within burned and destroyed. Those damn slurs were still painted across nearly every surface, like dried blood against the drywall. The cubicles were in ruins, the stairs leading to Darren’s office that overlooked the main area not even usable anymore after all the destruction.

I stopped short as we approached the front door, my feet unwilling to move further. Darren paused beside me, his hand brushing mine before lacing our fingers together. His grip was warm, but I could sense his tension through our bond.

This place was more than just an office. It was our home, too. I didn’t even want to know what the penthouse upstairs looked like.

“It’s worse than I remembered,” I said, my throat raw as I took in the wreckage. The last time we’d been here, during the march, I’d barely had time to process it. Now, with the chaos settled, the loss hit me harder than I expected.

Darren nodded as his eyes scanned the ruins. “Yeah. Doesn’t even look like the same place.”

We moved forward, stepping over chunks of concrete and twisted metal. The front doors hung crooked on their hinges, creaking as a breeze pushed through. Inside, the office area was a graveyard of overturned desks and scattered papers. The conference table was completely split in half, one leg snapped clean off. I bent down, picking up a shredded page from the floor. It was a document from the archives.

My eyes wandered to the nearby basement door, which now hung open. A cold wind seemed to seep upward from the basement archives, papers faintly fluttering through the open doorway.

“Remember when you found me sleeping in the archives?” I asked, glancing at Darren. “You must have thought I was a slacker.”

He smirked, kicking at a piece of debris. “I did, for a moment. But I also thought you were extremely cute.”

My face flushed. “It was exhausting work, okay? Your father should be ashamed of himself for the way he let those archives go.”

Darren huffed. “I’m sure he is.” He looked around, kicking at a piece of debris with his boot. “Thanks to you, though, a hundred years of Lunar Labs history was saved.”

I swallowed hard. Not anymore. Now, it was all wrecked—and if the foul, ashy smell wafting up the basement stairs was any indication, everything had been burned to a near-crisp.

We wandered deeper into the space, our footsteps echoing in the quiet. The cubicles were a mess of broken screens and crumpled filing cabinets, wires dangling like vines from the ceiling.

I stopped at what used to be my cubicle. My desk was still there, although my chair was completely destroyed and there was a massive dent in the top of the metal desk, as if it had been hit over and over again with a baseball bat. I winced at the thought.

Darren remained silent behind me as I gently reached into one of the drawers, pulling out a stupid little nail salon voucher that I’d won during my points program. Sighing, I pocketed it, planning to give it to Lily.

After a moment, Darren stepped forward, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as we looked around the ruined space. “Maybe it’s time to let it go, Aria. Tear it down, sell the land. I’ve got enough on my plate being Alpha King now. We could use the money for the pack lands, build something new there.”

I froze. “Tear it down?” The words felt wrong, like something bitter on my tongue. “No, Darren. We can’t just erase it.”

“But—”

“If we tear it down and sell it, then everyone who hates us will just win. No. We need to rebuild,” I said, turning to him. “Not just patch it up, but make it something even better. We could live in that little cottage you built for me—in the clearing—while we work on it. Turn Lunar Labs into a werewolf embassy.”

He blinked, his brow furrowing. “An embassy?”

“Yeah.” I stepped closer, my hands gesturing as the idea took shape. “A place where werewolves and humans can go—for help, information, anything. A real bridge between our worlds. We could work with Dr. Edward, too, and keep producing the tincture. It’ll be our legacy. Ensure humans and werewolves can live in peace together, forever.”

Darren stared at me, his expression unreadable. I held my breath, waiting. My gut twisted, but I kept my chin up, meeting his gaze. This was right—I could feel it, deep down where my instincts lived. We’d fought too hard to abandon this place and everything it meant to just let it become another empty lot.

He rubbed a hand over his jaw, glancing around the wreckage again. “Rebuilding is a hell of a lot of work,” he finally said. “And the cottage isn’t exactly big enough for us and Lucas long-term. It’s just a teahouse.”

“I know,” I admitted. “But we’ve handled worse. We can expand it, add a bedroom and a kitchen. We can make it work.”

Darren looked back at me, and I saw the shift in his eyes, as if his doubt were slowly melting away. “A werewolf embassy,” he repeated slowly. “I… I guess it could work.”

“So you’re in?” I asked, a small smile tugging at my lips.

He exhaled sharply, then nodded. “Yeah. We’ll have to plan first, but down the road, it could become a reality.”

Relief washed through me then, blotting out the pain of seeing the office in shambles. I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around his neck, careful of his still-healing wound. “Thank you,” I murmured against his shoulder. “I couldn’t let this place go.”

He hugged me back, his hands settling on my waist. “I think you might care more about this place than I ever did.”

I pulled back just enough to look at him, my hands resting on his chest. “How could I not? It’s where I finally found security for the first time in my life. And it’s where I fell in love with you.”

Darren’s eyes softened, and without a word, he reached up to brush a strand of hair out of my face. His mismatched eyes studied my own, something tender and quiet passing between us.

In those moments, I recalled all of the little instances of love that I’d felt within these walls. Sharing coffee in the breakroom, listening to him speak during conferences, arguing over reports or projects or office drama.

I’d loved him through all of it, I realized. These walls, even though they were crumbling, were a testament to that. The walls had burned and been broken down but the foundations remained, just waiting for the next chapter of our lives together.

Wordlessly, I stepped closer, rising on my toes, and pressed my lips to his. He met me halfway, his hand cupping the back of my neck, the kiss slow and steady.

It was a promise, sealed amongst the rubble, for a newer and brighter future.

Together.