Chapter 44

Aria

The office felt different the next morning. It felt lighter, thanks to Sarah and Arthur’s absence. For the first time in what felt like ages, I made my way into work feeling ready to take on the day, rather than fearful of what sort of shit those two might stir up.

As I made my way to my desk, I passed by Lily, who was already hard at work at her computer.

“Morning,” I said, stifling a yawn. “You’re here early.”

She shrugged, glancing up from her screen for only a second. “I thought I’d get a head start on my next project.” She held up her hand, showing off her nails. “I gotta save up some points for another one of those nail salon vouchers.”

I couldn’t help but smirk. “Of course you do.”

“Oh!” Lily popped up over the partition, watching as I shrugged off my coat. “Did you hear about Tracy?”

I paused, furrowing my brow. “Tracy?”

“Yeah, I heard Mr. Avarise mention it earlier. She might be coming in to replace Arthur.”

“Oh,” I said, glancing up at Darren’s office—he was inside right now, pacing back and forth with his phone pressed to his ear. “Well, I’ll look forward to meeting her.”

I just hope she doesn’t immediately hate me for being human, I thought, but didn’t say that out loud—for obvious reasons.

Once I got settled in for the morning, I made my way to the breakroom for a coffee. My mind was still buzzing with thoughts of someone new coming to the office, someone who may or may not take kindly to the only human here. I wasn’t sure if I could handle more workplace strife, at least not for a while.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn’t notice anyone else was in the room until I nearly walked straight into a sturdy, familiar frame.

Strong hands caught my shoulders before I could stumble. I looked up, startled, only to find Darren standing there. His cologne hit me like a brick wall, making me wonder if he’d overdone it on the scent this morning.

“Careful,” he murmured, his hands still resting on my shoulders for just a moment too long before he let go.

I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry. “Oh. Sorry,” I mumbled, feeling a flush rise to my cheeks. Uncharacteristically, I felt… shy around him. That heart pounding, palm itching, face heating sort of shyness.

It was because of our last conversation yesterday. Nothing more than instinct, he had said right after he’d kissed my fingers. Just a day after he’d kissed me on the mouth.

Instinct.

I should have been relieved that it was just that—instinct. It would have made things a whole hell of a lot simpler. But I couldn’t help but feel… disappointed. Because there was a naive little part of myself that wanted it to be more than that.

And seeing him now just made me feel like a high school girl with a crush on the football captain.

Darren shifted slightly, stepping aside just enough to give me room, but the break room felt smaller with him in it.

As I edged around his broad form to reach the coffeemaker, I was hyper-aware of the space between us—of the way his gaze followed my every movement. Of the way those mismatched eyes had followed me in his wolf form, unwavering and oh-so-familiar.

“How’s your leg?” He suddenly asked.

I focused on filling my mug—a big pink one that read ‘World’s Best Best Friend’ on it, a gift from Bella to congratulate me on my first day—and kept my eyes down the entire time.

“Better. Still sore, but... better,” I replied. There was a pause, then I added, dropping my voice a little so the others couldn’t hear, “How is yours?”

“About the same,” he said simply, although I could practically taste the tension in his words. He probably wasn’t used to healing slowly. I wondered how quickly werewolves could heal—maybe an Alpha like him would have healed in moments if it weren’t for me.

The silence that followed was long and uncomfortable. I splashed some vanilla creamer from the communal fridge into my cup, accidentally sloshing a couple of drops onto the counter due to my fingers trembling slightly.

Cursing under my breath at my flustered state, I grabbed a nearby paper towel and wiped it up. Darren watched me all the while like a bug under a microscope. He didn’t say a word the entire time, and the overpowering scent of his cologne didn’t help any.

“I should, uh... I should get back to work,” I said, forcing a tiny smile before quickly turning away and wishing I could just shrink into oblivion. What had gotten into me?

“Aria...” The way he said my name made my heart stutter, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn around. I hurried past him, feeling his eyes on me as I walked away. I swore the smell of that cologne followed me all the way back to my desk.

As I got back to my cubicle, I stole one last glance toward the break room. Sure enough, Darren was still standing there, watching me with that same intensity that left my skin tingling. He was probably wondering why I was acting like such a weirdo today.

If I was being honest, I didn’t know why I was acting this way, either.

“Are you okay?” Lily’s voice startled me, and I whipped my head around to find her watching me curiously from her desk. “You look a little flushed.”

“What? Oh, I’m fine,” I replied too quickly, dropping into my chair and setting aside the coffee that I suddenly had little interest in drinking. “It’s just a little warm in here.”

Lily didn’t look entirely convinced, but she didn’t push the issue, thankfully. I dove into work, burying myself in my tasks in the hopes that the distraction would be enough to make me forget about whatever the hell was going on with me today.

But around lunchtime, a commotion outside caught my attention. Raised voices echoed through the window. It sounded like someone was fighting in the parking lot.

“What’s going on?” someone asked, and I could hear the scraping of chairs as several people got up from their desks to rubberneck.

Despite myself, my curiosity got the better of me, and I followed them. Melissa and Brandon had already gathered there, whispering amongst themselves as they peered out at the parking lot.

My stomach dropped the second I saw what they were looking at.

Sarah. She was standing in the parking lot, in a heated argument with one of the security guards. But it wasn’t the argument that made my blood run cold—it was the massive bruise covering the entire right side of her face.

A dark, angry purple that stretched down to her neck.

“Is that... Sarah?” Lily whispered beside me. “What happened to her?”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. Because at that moment I could see two other figures getting out of the car, and I felt like I might be sick.

Our parents.

She had brought our fucking parents here.

It didn’t matter that I hadn’t seen them in years—that the last I’d seen or heard of them had been that day when my emancipation papers had gone through when I was sixteen. I still remembered the mocking looks on their faces when I’d walked out with a single backpack containing everything I owned.

“Don’t come crawling back,” my adoptive father had said with a chuckle.

“I won’t,” I replied. And I didn’t. I never wanted to see them again. Even Sarah wasn’t too dense to know that.

Which was precisely why she brought them here—to humiliate me.

Well, she wasn’t going to.

Before I could stop myself, my legs were moving toward the door. Lily called my name, but I didn’t look back, didn’t stop. I stormed down the hall, ignoring the ache in my injured leg, and shoved out through the front door without so much as my coat.

“Ma’am, you have to leave—”

“I’m not leaving until I see her!” Sarah screamed, clutching her face. “Let me in!”

“Mr. Avarise said—”

“I don’t give a damn what the boss said. Let us talk to her.” My adoptive mother’s voice. It was like nails on a chalkboard, and had me slowing at the top of the steps, my hands clenching into fists at my side.

The moment Sarah saw me, her eyes narrowed with malice—but I could sense the hint of sick glee behind it, too. She pointed a perfectly-manicured finger at me and sneered, knowing fully well what she was doing.

“There she is!” she screeched, her hand trembling. “She’s the one who attacked me!”