Chapter 96

Aria

The snow mobile ride back to the pack house the next morning felt long and quiet, but maybe that was just because I couldn’t stop glancing sideways at Darren’s profile over his shoulder. He hardly looked at me, but I could feel the way his fingers occasionally brushed across where my hands were wrapped around his waist, the way he grabbed my wrist and gently tugged me closer against his body.

The worst part was that I liked it.

I hated how easy it was to remember the weight of his hands on my waist or the way his breath had hitched against my skin. My knees still felt weak from it all, my throat still tingling where he had kissed and nipped at me.

Something felt different between the two of us that morning, of course. How couldn’t it?

But oddly enough, we didn’t really talk about it. Once we woke up in the cabin and realized that we had slept through until morning, we had simply gotten dressed and begun making our way back to the village.

I wasn’t sure what this meant for us—whether our night of passion would change anything in the long run. There was still so much to sort out, so many variables to consider before a real relationship could be on the horizon.

It was hard to tell what was going through Darren’s mind. Was he hesitant? Uncertain? Was there still too much standing between us?

Yesterday, after the blood oath ceremony, he had asked me if I wanted to stay here as his Luna. His mate. But… for how long? And in what capacity? And most importantly, if I accepted, would it be a bad idea?

For all intents and purposes, I was still a human to most of these people. Hell, I was still a human to myself; I hadn’t even begun the hard work of coming to terms with the whole ‘white wolf’ thing yet.

What if our differences in upbringing still kept us apart?

And what if last night was just that: one blissful night in a fantasy that would, like all other romance in my life, turn sour once the real world crept back in?

I tried not to think too much about it, though. My stomach was growling too much to think about it anyway.

After a little while, we finally made it back to the village unscathed. We parked the snow mobile and trudged along the snowy paths, and when the pack house finally came into view, I almost sighed in relief. Almost.

Because Lucas came barreling out the front door the second he spotted us.

“Daddy!” His tiny feet barely touched the ground as he launched himself at Darren, who caught him with ease, lifting him effortlessly into his arms.

“There’s my boy,” Darren said, pressing a kiss to the top of Lucas’s head. “Were you good for Nana?”

Lucas nodded quickly. “Uh-huh. But I missed you! You were gone forever.”

I snorted. “Forever? It was just one night, Lucas.”

He twisted in Darren’s arms to squint at me. “But it felt so long. Where did you guys go?”

Darren shot me a sidelong glance, his lips twitching in that way that made my stomach twist. “Just out skiing,” he said lightly.

Lucas leaned closer, dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Did you do fun stuff?”

My face turned crimson, my mouth falling open. But before I could answer, Wendy appeared in the doorway, her hands wrapped around a steaming coffee mug. Her gaze flicked between the two of us, and the faintest smirk curved her lips.

“Well, you’re both looking awfully rosy this morning,” she said, arching a brow as she crossed her arms. “Have a fun night out, I take it?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

Instead, I felt my face ignite.

Darren, of course, handled it like it was nothing. “We did,” he said, ruffling Lucas’s hair. “Lots of fun.”

Lucas perked up at that. “Did you play games? I wanna play!”

I nearly choked on nothing at all. “Uh—”

Wendy, the traitor she was, was grinning behind her coffee cup like she was enjoying this way too much.

“They’re not games for kids,” Darren said with a completely straight face.

Lucas thought about that for a second, then nodded solemnly. “Okay… But next time, I wanna come and play games for kids!”

Darren set him down, patting his head. “Deal. Now go get ready for breakfast.”

Lucas scampered off, and I shot Darren a withering glare. He just shrugged one shoulder at me and headed inside, leaving Wendy grinning at me on the stoop. She smirked at me over the rim of her cup, lifting one eyebrow suggestively.

But before either of us could say anything, my stomach growled. Loudly.

“My,” Wendy chuckled, gesturing for me to enter. “Looks like someone’s hungry. Come on, I’ll fix you a plate.”

I groaned under my breath, already regretting coming back, but followed her inside.

The dining hall was warm and loud, filled with the clatter of cutlery and the hum of soft conversation. But as we stepped inside, I immediately noticed the shift in the room. Tracy was seated at a long table near the end of the room with some other wolves I didn’t recognize, her eyes locking onto me the second we entered.

Her gaze narrowed as she looked me up and down, no doubt taking in my slightly disheveled appearance and flushed cheeks. I wondered if the gossip had spread already—the Alpha and his new mate spending the entire night together in the woods.

I tried not to squirm under the weight of her glare, but it wasn’t easy.

Wendy nudged me forward. “Come on. Let’s eat.”

We sat near the fireplace, Darren sitting down beside me while Wendy sat across from us. Lucas busied himself with a few slices of buttery toast and fruit, blissfully unaware of the tension still emanating from Tracy’s direction.

Darren, for his part, ate in silence. Lucas filled the silence, though, chattering nonstop about skiing and playing games and how much he missed us all night. Eventually, Darren finished his meal and took Lucas outside to play, likely to make up for some of the time missed.

But as soon as they were gone, Wendy leaned in close to me, lowering her voice just enough for me to hear. “So, about last night…”

I nearly dropped my fork, but somehow managed to keep a relatively straight face. “What about it? Nothing happened.”

Her grin was all teeth. “Your face is practically glowing, dear.”

“It was the skiing,” I muttered, stabbing at my eggs.

“Mm. I’m sure it was.” Wendy rested her chin in her hand, watching me with far too much amusement for an old woman who’d just deduced that her grandson had slept with someone. Her eyes scanned my face, then dropped to my neck, lingering on the still-red spot where I’d been bitten by that strange insect.

“Ah,” she cooed, narrowing her eyes at the mark. “Lovesting bugs. So you did get bitten.”

My face flushed, and I instinctively covered the mark with my hand. Tracy, who’d been lingering nearby at the coffee station, went pale as death. She stormed off without a word, letting the door slam behind her. I couldn’t decide if I was concerned or relieved by her sudden exit.

Wendy, however, seemed unfazed. “You know, those insects have an antidote, right?” she asked. “It’s stocked at all of the checkpoint cabins in case anyone gets bitten. Darren has used it plenty of times.”

I froze mid-bite. “Wait… what?”

Wendy arched a brow at me. “Oh , yes. He has been bitten while skiing more times than I can count. The antidote is right there, in a little kit by the door. So either he conveniently forgot, or…”

She let the sentence hang, and I felt my cheeks burn hotter.

“Or maybe he just wanted a good excuse to finally go all the way with you,” she finished gleefully.

That was my breaking point. I practically inhaled my food to avoid answering, shoveling bite after bite into my mouth as Wendy’s laughter echoed across the table.