Chapter 39

Aria & Darren

Aria

A flicker of surprise crossed Darren’s face when I asked him to shift for me. I wasn’t even entirely sure why I had asked—simple curiosity, most likely. I wanted to see the color of his fur, his size, his wolf’s face.

But there was something else there, too. Another reason why I really wanted to know what he looked like in his wolf form.

His eyes had looked so familiar that day in the tent. And I supposed I just needed to see his coat, just to be sure. It seemed unlikely that that puppy that I had taken care of for the span of a few months all those years ago had been a werewolf, but…

I needed to see for myself. For a little bit of peace of mind, if nothing else. Maybe I was being silly, but I just needed to know for certain.

“You want to see me shift?” he cocked his head slightly to the side. “I thought my wolf form would frighten you.”

“I’m not frightened of you,” I corrected quickly, feeling a little exasperated that he would actually think that of me. “I’m just... curious. I know what Lucas and Liam both look like in their wolf forms, but not you.”

Darren paused for a few moments, clearly a little surprised by my request—and my admission that he didn’t scare me. For a moment, I thought he might decline; maybe it was rude or something to ask to see a werewolf’s wild form, like asking to see someone naked.

But then he nodded and shrugged off his jacket, handing it to me. I clutched the leather in my hands, feeling the warmth of his body still clinging to the material.

“Alright,” he said. He took a step back and underwent the transformation in the blink of an eye.

Within the span of a fraction of a second, where there was once a man standing in front of me was now a large black wolf.

Before, when I had seen Liam as a full-grown werewolf, I’d thought that he was enormous. Now, I realized that Liam’s size was nothing compared to Darren’s. He practically towered over me, his haunches alone a good foot above the top of my head.

I couldn’t help the sharp intake of breath at the sight of him. But I wasn’t afraid.

He wasn’t just huge. He was… beautiful. His fur, thick and bluish-black as night, gleamed beneath the faint light filtering through the towering pine trees, and his heterochromatic eyes—one a deep amber, the other a bright, startling blue—seemed even more striking in this form.

I took an involuntary step forward, as if my body was drawn to him in a way I couldn’t quite explain. Mate, something deep inside of me seemed to growl. Like every fiber of my being knew that he was mine, and I was his.

Darren didn’t move, his gaze locked on me, those mismatched eyes watching my every step. There was something familiar in the way he held himself, something regal and commanding, yet at the same time, oddly gentle.

My heart ached unexpectedly, the memory of my childhood puppy rising to the surface.

They looked similar, but it wasn’t him. My puppy had been pure black, and had shared that heterochromia, but Darren had a large white spot in the center of his chest that my dog definitely didn’t have.

Yet again, I couldn’t decide whether I was relieved or disappointed. Although I didn’t know why I felt that way.

“Can I…” I reached out hesitantly, itching to feel his fur. Darren dipped his head in a silent gesture of permission, and I took a step forward. Slowly, carefully, I sank my fingers into his fur.

It was softer than I had expected, like silk and surprisingly warm beneath my touch, and I couldn’t help but murmur, “You’re beautiful.”

A low rumbling sound emanated from his chest, something between a growl and a purr, and I felt a strange warmth flood my chest. His enormous forehead dipped to my height and then gently pressed against mine, the contact so intimate and tender that I felt tears sting my eyes.

I wasn’t even sure why I was so moved by the gesture—maybe it was the memory of the lost puppy that had once been my only friend and protector in the entire world, maybe it was the vulnerability we were both displaying, or maybe it was the sheer wonder of standing here, in front of a creature that I’d only ever read about in fiction books.

Eventually, Darren pulled back, and our connection broke. I quickly wiped at my misty eyes, hoping he hadn’t noticed the ridiculous tears, although I had a feeling he had. He shifted back into his human form with the same quiet grace as before, and it was all I could do not to collapse after everything.

He cleared his throat as he held his hand out.

My heart stopped, and for a moment, I thought he was reaching for me. But then I realized that he just wanted his jacket back.

Blushing a deep crimson, I handed it back to him.

“We should go inside,” he said, abruptly turning and heading back toward the elevator. “It’s getting cold.”

…

Darren

The feeling of her fingers in my fur lingered long after we had gone back inside.

I hadn’t expected it to hit me so hard—the softness of her touch, the way it awakened the memory of Sarah when I was just a pup.

Aria was so… gentle. It was as if the two sisters had swapped places in adulthood, Sarah going from a sweet and tender little girl to a raging bully and Aria going from the bully to a kind soul. It didn’t make any sense.

And then there was that kiss in the tent.

I had to leave the moment it had happened—had made up an excuse to not be around her for an entire week. The way her scent had surrounded me, filling my senses, overwhelming me in a way that shouldn’t have been possible.

There were, of course, tiny traces of werewolf DNA in her system—but they were barely there, diluted to the point of literally being unnoticeable. She shouldn’t have had a scent that was anything but human. I shouldn’t have been so drawn to her, and yet I was.

Instinct did funny things sometimes, though, I supposed. I had accidentally marked her, after all. My wolf was just confused, mistaking her human scent for something more potent.

But it didn’t matter. A trace amount of werewolf blood didn’t change what she really was at the end of the day—human. And completely unfit to be my mate.

That was why I had really been gone all week. I needed to find a way to break the bond, to sever the growing connection before it was too late. If I accidentally lost control of myself and Goddess forbid slept with Aria or something, then it would just make our situation that much worse.

So I had gone to the pack lands, not just to deal with the rogues, but to search for a way to put an end to this mate bond once and for all.