The Alpha Ceo's Hidden Luna

First Days, Old Friends2

Part Two

For several seconds, Naomi didn't answer.

The bustling sounds of the emergency department drifted faintly through the phone, accompanied by the occasional announcement over the hospital's intercom and the hurried footsteps of medical staff changing shifts. Aria had become so accustomed to those background noises over the years that she could almost picture exactly where her friend was standing. Naomi was probably leaning against the nurses' station with a paper cup of coffee growing cold in one hand while pretending to organize patient charts with the other, hoping no doctor would interrupt the conversation before she had extracted every detail.

"That's an interesting choice of words," Naomi said at last, her voice noticeably softer than before. "You don't usually describe people like that."

"I know."

"So, are we talking about a normal interview where your new boss happened to make intense eye contact, or are we talking about something that genuinely unsettled you?"

Aria rested one hand against the kitchen counter, unconsciously tracing the edge of the granite with her fingertips as she searched for an answer that made sense even to herself.

"I've been trying to figure that out since yesterday," she admitted. "Nothing inappropriate happened. She was professional, respectful, and surprisingly patient considering how direct she is, but there was something about the way she looked at me that I can't explain. It wasn't as though she was evaluating me for the position. It felt..." She paused, shaking her head. "Forget it. It sounds ridiculous."

"Try me."

"It felt like she already knew me."

Naomi didn't laugh.

She had known Aria too long to dismiss her instincts, particularly when they were this difficult to articulate.

"Did she say anything that made you think you'd met before?"

"No."

"Did she ask unusual questions?"

"Not really."

"Then maybe she was simply impressed."

Aria smiled faintly.

"You've never met Xavier Vance."

"No, but I've read enough articles about her to know she doesn't impress easily."

"I don't think she does either."

"Which means you probably stood out."

Aria wasn't convinced. Standing out was the last thing she had wanted yesterday. She had walked into Vance International hoping to blend quietly into the background, demonstrate her competence, and leave with a job offer if fortune happened to smile on her. Instead, she had walked away feeling as though the interview had somehow become deeply personal without either of them acknowledging it aloud.

Before she could respond, Leo tugged gently on the sleeve of her blouse.

"Mommy."

She lowered the phone.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"I think Luna's drawing your boss."

Aria blinked.

"What?"

Luna looked up from the notebook resting on the table, entirely unbothered by the sudden attention. Throughout the conversation she had been quietly sketching with a box of colored pencils, her small hand moving across the page with careful concentration.

Aria crossed the kitchen and looked down.

The smile faded from her face.

The drawing was remarkably simple, the kind of picture expected from a five-year-old, yet one detail stood out immediately.

A tall woman wearing a dark suit stood beneath an enormous glass building.

Her eyes were colored silver.

Aria's heartbeat stumbled.

"Luna..."

Her daughter looked up innocently.

"What?"

"Who is this?"

"The lady you met yesterday."

The apartment seemed unnaturally quiet.

Aria glanced toward Leo, but he looked just as confused as she felt.

"You've never seen her," Aria said gently.

"I know."

"Then why did you draw her?"

Luna tilted her head, considering the question as though the answer should have been obvious.

"Because she was thinking about you."

A silence settled over the kitchen so complete that even Naomi's voice calling Aria's name through the phone seemed distant.

"...Aria? Are you still there?"

She blinked, pulling herself back to the conversation.

"Yes."

"You disappeared."

"I'm sorry."

"What happened?"

Aria looked down at the drawing once more before carefully closing the notebook.

"Nothing," she replied, forcing steadiness into her voice. "Leo was showing me one of Luna's pictures."

"You sound distracted."

"I'll tell you everything tonight."

"You'd better," Naomi said, though concern lingered beneath her lighthearted tone. "And congratulations again. I'm proud of you, Ari. I know how hard you've fought to get here."

Emotion tightened unexpectedly in Aria's throat.

"Thank you."

"I mean it."

"I know."

"We're celebrating after work."

"I start today."

"Then tomorrow."

Aria laughed softly.

"Tomorrow."

"Good. Now go show that billionaire why hiring Aria Lane was the smartest business decision she'll ever make."

The call ended, leaving the apartment wrapped once again in quiet domestic comfort, though Aria's thoughts were anything but calm.

She looked at Luna, who had already returned to eating breakfast as though nothing unusual had happened.

"Luna."

"Yes, Mommy?"

"How did you know what my boss looks like?"

Her daughter swallowed another bite of pancake before answering with complete sincerity.

"I don't know."

"You don't?"

"I just... do."

There was no deception in her voice.

Only certainty.

Aria reached across the table and gently brushed a curl away from Luna's forehead, trying not to let her growing unease show. Over the years she had learned that questioning Luna too intensely only confused the little girl. Whatever these strange moments were, they didn't seem deliberate. They simply... happened.

She glanced at the clock mounted above the refrigerator.

Seven fifteen.

If she intended to arrive at Vance International by eight, they needed to leave immediately.

"All right," she said, forcing brightness back into her voice. "Shoes on. Backpacks."

Leo jumped from his chair with characteristic enthusiasm.

"Race you to the door!"

"No running," Aria called after him, already knowing he would ignore the instruction until the very last second.

Luna slid quietly from her chair and reached for her backpack.

As Aria gathered the breakfast dishes, she missed the brief moment when her daughter turned toward the apartment window.

Outside, parked across the street beneath the shade of an old maple tree, a black SUV sat motionless with its engine idling.

Luna stared at it for several seconds.

Then she whispered so softly that no one else heard.

"The wolves found us."