Chapter 57

Aria

Lily’s voice was muffled against my palm, but I could make out the odd burst of words here and there: “Knew it—mates—possible—Goddess!”

Darren and I exchanged panicked looks as I kept my hand clamped over her mouth. If she kept this up, half of the office would catch on. And this was not what either of us wanted.

“Lily,” Darren whispered urgently, glancing back at the locked door. “Promise you’ll keep it down if Aria removes her hand. Just—just be quiet, okay?”

She nodded fervently, and I slowly removed my hand from her mouth.

But the moment she was free, she blurted out, “You two are mates?!”

“Shh!” Darren and I hissed and stepped forward in unison, reaching for her. She clasped her own hands over her mouth this time, eyes wide, and repeated in a much quieter voice, “You two are mates?”

I sighed, glancing at Darren. It was a little too late now to play stupid. He paused for a moment, realizing this as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. Finally, he murmured, “It’s… complicated, Lily. I told you this already.”

My eyebrows shot up at that. Darren sighed and gestured to Lily. “She found out I have a mate the other day. I didn’t tell her it was you.”

“Oh, Goddess,” Lily said, running her manicured fingers nervously through her hair as her voice rose again. “A human, as my Alpha’s mate—how… This should be impossible!”

Darren shushed her once more, this time leveling her with a stern and intimidating look. “Listen, Lily, this has to stay between us. If you say anything to anyone, I’ll personally see to it that you end up working at the packhouse with Arthur. Understood?”

Lily’s face fell, and for a split second, she looked genuinely hurt by the threat. I winced as well, understanding the implications of such a threat now. Darren was probably bluffing, but it still stung to see him say something like that over me.

But she nodded. “Fine. But you two have to tell me everything.”

Darren looked at me, and I could almost feel the gears turning in his head. I knew he didn’t really want to do this, but Lily clearly wasn’t going to let it go until we gave her some answers. And we were lucky to have caught her alone. Maybe, if we told her the truth, she would stop asking questions. And the fewer questions there were, the less of a chance there was for anyone else to find out.

“Alright,” Edwin murmured, folding his arms and leaning back against the copier. “It’s true, Lily. Aria is my mate.”

Lily stared at us, her eyes as wide as saucers. Slowly, cautiously, we began to explain everything. We told her about the kiss at the club, the accidental marking, even our shared childhood past. Everything.

When we were finished, she just kept gawking at us, speechless for the first time since I had met her. It was a rare sight, seeing Lily so quiet. That must have meant that she truly was stunned.

Finally, she managed, “Wait, so… is that why you hired her?” Her gaze was fixed on Darren now, almost accusingly. “Because she’s your mate?”

Darren hesitated, and for a moment, I saw a flicker of something unreadable in his expression. I felt my own heart stutter; I doubted it was the case, but the very thought made me nervous.

But then his jaw tightened, and he responded calmly, “There were multiple factors, Lily.”

I narrowed my eyes. That reply seemed so… practiced. But Darren didn’t know that I was his mate when he hired me, that much I knew for certain.

As for keeping me hired after finding out…

No. I wouldn’t let my mind go there. And I hoped Lily’s mind wouldn’t go there, either.

Lily pressed her lips together, absorbing his words. “A human as my Alpha’s mate is… not ideal,” she admitted, glancing at me. “I like you, Aria, don’t get me wrong, but… I don’t know how to feel about this.”

I swallowed hard. Lily was normally such a bubbly and sweet person, it was a little frightening to see her like this.

But I didn’t blame her. This was a big deal. I understood the implications behind a human being mated to an Alpha. The matching wound on Darren’s leg was a prime example of the danger behind our unwilling bond.

Finally, Lily sighed and shook her head. “But if you two love each other, then I guess that’s all that matters, right?”

Love?

I looked at Darren, not sure what to say. Love had never been a part of the equation.

Before I could say anything, Darren quickly ground out, “You know I plan on breaking the bond, Lily. The very moment I figure out how.”

The finality in his voice hit me like a punch to the gut, and I forced myself to keep my expression neutral, even though something in my chest ached at his words.

Of course, we had always known it would come to this. He was an Alpha and I was the thing that would do nothing but hold him back. There was no fairytale ending in this story. But hearing him say it so firmly—it stung more than I cared to admit.

Lily looked between us, her eyes slightly narrowed. “But… are you sure? I mean, if the Moon Goddess put you two together… doesn’t that mean something?”

Darren’s jaw tightened, and I could feel his discomfort in the silence that followed. He didn’t answer her, just turned and left the room, muttering something about needing to get back to work. The door closed behind him, leaving me and Lily standing there.

She turned to me, her expression softening just a little. “Are you okay?”

I forced a smile, shrugging. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just… complicated.”

“Aria…” She paused, biting her lip. “When he said he didn’t hire you just because you’re his mate…”

I looked down, unable to meet her eyes. “He’s telling the truth. As far as I know.”

She sighed, her shoulders drooping slightly, but didn’t say anything else about it.

We returned to our desks, and I forced myself to focus on the day’s work—after rushing to the bathroom to quickly scrub the scent of Darren off of my skin, just to avoid anyone else finding out about our not-so-little secret.

And thankfully, no one did find out. Lily kept her promise, not uttering a word of our discussion or even hinting at what had happened, which was surprising; she was usually the first one to gossip.

In fact, she remained silent altogether.

As I passed her desk here and there, she kept her gaze fixed on her computer. Not once did she pop her head up over the cubicle. Not once did I see her manicured nails gripping the divider.

I wondered, truthfully, if she was upset that her Alpha was mated to a human. A human he had hired in his werewolf company, no less. Maybe she was, at least a little.

Or maybe Darren’s immediate threat to send her to work with Arthur had struck her. I decided that, if that was the case, I’d find a way to make it up to her; perhaps some extra sweet cookies were in order. Or maybe a bribe like that would just make things worse.

By mid-afternoon, I’d managed to immerse myself in enough work to dull the lingering worry. But just as I was beginning to lose myself in a report, Darren’s voice rang through the intercom, calling everyone to the conference room.

Curious, I joined the others. I quickly understood why he had called us all here.

Beside him stood a woman with dark hair that fell in loose waves around her shoulders, her dark brown eyes—so dark they were nearly black—sharply surveying the room. Those eyes scanned the group before ultimately landing on me.

She met my gaze, and something flickered in her own. Her lips turned up at the corners ever so slightly. For reasons I couldn’t yet understand, my heart began to race a little at the sight.

She was like a… huntress. And I felt like her mark.

But once everyone had arrived, Darren gestured to her, and she turned her gaze to him. Just like that, the moment was over, making me wonder if I had imagined all of it.

“Everyone… welcome Tracy to the team,” he said.