- LUCA
I’d made it halfway to the office before I realized I’d left my personal phone on the nightstand—the one with the direct encrypted line to the Council.
I pushed the door open, my boots silent on the heavy carpet. I expected the room to be empty. I expected the ghost of our argument to be the only thing waiting for me.
Instead, I found her.
Aria was sitting on the edge of the chaise lounge, bathed in the soft morning light. She was nursing Aurora, her head tilted back, her eyes closed. She looked ethereal—and completely out of reach.
My heart did a slow, painful roll in my chest.
This was my mate. This was the woman who had told me, in no uncertain terms, that she wanted to rip our lives apart.
She looked so peaceful, yet I knew that behind those closed eyelids
