Chapter 13: Aria

Chapter 13: Aria

The territory of the Silent Shadows Pack was twice as big as the Grey Creek Pack, and their den reflected as much. While I was accustomed to the cozy villa where I could see most buildings and knew my way around, the Silent Shadows Pack comprised an entire village. Lucas accompanied me up to the edge of the village bordering the forest, where a row of small houses thick with familial scents were illuminated from within.

“We can afford to provide housing for most family units in the pack,” explained Lucas. “Families tend to live together, regardless of their rank in the pack. Parents, grandparents, children—we ensure that they all have enough space and comfortable shelter.”

A pang in my heart made me briefly wistful for my own family. But they didn’t want me anymore. I may as well have no family at all. “What if a new family arrives? Or a mated pair wants their own home?”

“We build them one.”

I blinked in surprise. “You can just… give them a house?”

“Well, they have to provide proper documentation confirming their mate status, and we give preference to families with children or children on the way,” clarified Lucas. “But yes. The happiness and well-being of my packmates are important to me.”

Oswald should take notes, I thought bitterly. Most likely, he didn’t give a damn about families unless they were of higher status because those were the families who brought in more income for the pack. There was no hope for Omega couples looking to build a life. Every now and then during my Alpha training, I thought about them with pity, imagining that once I was Alpha Female, I could change things for them. But would I actually have tried to change things or simply accepted the state of the pack once my own position was secured? Now that I was an Omega, their plight felt so much more real.

Still in our wolf forms, Lucas and I pressed deeper into the village, following a paved road that led to a larger main road cleaving through the heart of the territory. This late at night, there wasn’t anybody around, but I imagined that during the day, the street would be bustling with packmates flitting in and out of the shops and offices. We stayed in our wolf forms until we reached a modest, two-story home, and Lucas led me around the house into the backyard. “You can transform here. I’ll grab you something to wear,” he said and was already shedding his fur before I could respond.

I watched in awe as Lucas’ body transformed, his bones snapping, muscles thinning, and anatomy warping into an upright posture. Within seconds, he was standing before me as a man, his bare skin a rugged shade of tinged peach, black body hair flush across his chest and arms. He held himself with the dignity of an Alpha despite being stark naked. Even though the normalcy of shifting between forms usually granted wolf shifters a lack of modesty, I couldn’t help but avert my eyes. The sight of Alpha Lucas Black was like a sacred vision I was never meant to see.

Without another glance my way, he took off inside the house, leaving me to transform alone. My own transformation was gruelling and arduous. My wounds felt like they were tearing open wider as my body changed, struggling to hold myself up as all my parts morphed from wolf to human. I clenched my jaw as much as I could until I was left on my hands and knees in the grass, panting, sweating, and bleeding.

“Here,” said Lucas, handing me a t-shirt and shorts. “We’ll get you cleaned up, then I’ll give you something a little more substantial to wear.”

My cheeks burned as I realized he must have watched the last half of my transformation. Not only was I bashful to see him naked, but now I hovered here before him naked, too, all of me on display for him to see. When I flicked my eyes up to him, Lucas held my gaze, not daring to look at any other part of me. I appreciated him for respecting me like that. But at the same time, I was convinced that there was nothing about me worth looking at in the first place.

What was I thinking? It wasn’t like I wanted Lucas to look at me like that.

The thought flustered me. I grabbed the clothes and quickly dressed myself before Lucas led me inside.

“Make yourself at home,” he offered, gesturing to a sofa in the living room.

The instant my butt hit the seat, I melted into the plush, comfortable cushioning, but it might have been more the relief of being in a safe, warm space than the quality of the sofa. I sighed and leaned back, closing my eyes and forgetting for just a moment where I was.

Until I felt a weight on the seat beside me.

I opened my eyes to see Lucas already reaching for my arm. Reflex had me flinching, staring wide-eyed at Lucas while he paused. “Sorry, I just want to look.” He gently held my arm below a gaping slash opened up by the Rogues. “I’ve already called a healer to come to see you.”

The words registered, but I was too stunned by his touch to react. His hand was soft and warm, reminding me of the comforts of physical contact. But I’d been barred from touch by Oswald, and my fear of agitating him by breaching his orders urged me to pull away.

Lucas looked at me in confusion. “Did I hurt you?”

“N-No,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s just… I’m supposed to be touch-starved.”

The Silent Shadows Alpha furrowed his brow. “Forget about that. I’m dismissing the order,” he said. “If Oswald has an issue with it, he can take it up with me.”

I stared in surprise that Lucas would do that for me. Of course, he had the power to, but I wasn’t worthy of his mercy. An inkling of fear resided in my chest as I imagined how Oswald would respond to Lucas, overriding his decision to punish me. It probably wouldn’t end well for me. But, if Lucas wanted to ignore the order and give me the physical contact I’d been so desperately craving while I was here, then who was I to deny it?

We sat together in silence until the door opened. A tall woman with blond hair pinned up on the back of her head entered the living room with a large black bag hanging off her arm. “Oh, dear!” Her eyebrows lifted when she saw my scattering of injuries. “Lucas wasn’t kidding when he said you got beat up. Looks like it was quite the blood bath,” she said with no trace of mockery, an undertone of humor, perhaps, but mostly sincere sympathy that made me feel warm. The woman knelt in front of me, opening up her bag of medical supplies.

I watched with uncertainty as she set out bandages and cloths while Lucas retrieved a bowl of warm water. When the healer glanced up at me, her polite smile reassured me that I’d be taken care of. “Your name’s Aria, right? I’m Esther Weis.”

“Nice to meet you, Esther,” I said quietly. “And… thanks.”

“Of course. Any friend of Lucas’ is a friend of mine,” said Esther, carefully wiping the blood from my injuries. She placed her hands over my cuts and bruises, exuding the warmth of healing magic that didn’t mend my cuts immediately, but would help the flesh heal faster than if I’d left it to heal on its own. I was grateful I wouldn’t have to worry about infection, but keeping the wounds clean while I slept outside would be a trial all its own. I’d deal with that later. My mind was too fixated on the fact that Esther referred to me as Lucas’ friend.

“Will you be here for the Perseids Celebration?” Esther asked, shifting her attention to Lucas as she wrapped up my wounds.

Lucas wrung the water out of a cloth. “Yes. I’ve made sure to keep that weekend clear.”

“Good,” Esther said with a smile. “It wouldn’t be a proper celebration without our Alpha to kick it off.”

I looked between them, wanting to speak, but my confidence faltered until they both sensed the words on my tongue. “What’s the Perseids Celebration?”

“It’s a tradition of the Silent Shadows Pack,” explained Lucas. “During the Perseid meteor shower in August, we spend time together as a pack. We hunt, howl, and celebrate as wolves while watching the meteors.”

“We don’t do anything like that in the Grey Creek Pack.”

Lucas blinked. “Why not?”

“I’m not sure. Oswald has never been one for celebrations…” He was always too busy with work. But I was beginning to realize how little he seemed to care for strengthening the relationships between his packmates.

“Perhaps you should join us for the celebration this year,” suggested Esther, glancing at Lucas with a glimmer in her eye.

He smiled and nodded. “I agree. I think you’d enjoy it, Aria.”

“Really? I’m not part of your pack, though.”

“A personal invitation from the Alpha… I think that justifies exception,” Lucas said cheekily.

Warmth returned to me in greater magnitude. “You don’t have to… Really, you’re being too kind.”

“Nonsense,” said Lucas. “You’ve had a rough few weeks. I think you deserve to unwind a little.”

My eyes fell to the floor, and my lips pursed in a struggle against the surge of emotions that welled up inside me. “If you say so.” It was hard to elevate my voice higher than a whisper at the risk of it trembling; I didn’t want Lucas and Esther to see how deeply their kindness affected me. I felt foolish for it. It should have been easy to accept their invitation, but I fought even to believe that I was worthy of it.

After all my injuries were taken care of, Esther stood and extended her hand to me. “I’ll leave you to get some rest. But it was nice meeting you, Aria.”

I shook her hand and nodded. “You too.”

Esther smiled, but all I could produce in return was a look of bleak nothingness before Esther turned away. She gave a small nod to Lucas, then took her bag and left me alone in the house with Lucas again.

He stood up too, and my heart panged unexpectedly. I didn’t want him to leave.

“Get some rest, okay? Then we’ll go to the shop, and you can pick out some clothes. I’d get them for you, but I want you to pick something you’re comfortable in. Besides, I don’t know your style yet,” he explained with a good-natured chuckle.

Yet? Was he planning on acquainting himself with my wardrobe preferences? The old me would have tried to tease him about it, but all I could do was nod and lay down, obsessing over everything he said.

It was difficult to fall asleep, but once I did, I could have slept for a thousand years. By the time I woke up again, it was already mid-afternoon, and I felt like I’d wasted the day. I shot upright in a panic that I hadn’t hunted anything to eat, my stomach growling in warning.

Lucas looked up from the book he was reading on a nearby chair. “You’re hungry?”

“Yes,” I said sheepishly.

As if he hadn’t done enough for me, Lucas prepared me lunch, bringing it to me on the sofa. Again and again, I felt I didn’t deserve to be here. I was out of place, sitting in the Silent Shadows’ Alpha’s house, being doted on by him when my own pack hated my very existence. It felt as if I was keeping their mass rejection a secret, but, strangely, Lucas was fully aware of what had happened, and he took care of me all the same. I was in awe of him, even as we left the house and visited the nearby tailor’s shop, as he pulled clothes off the rack for me to try on, as he smiled at me and laughed with a lightness I would never have imagined in him.

When I walked out of the changing room wearing a sunshine yellow blouse, Lucas’ eyes widened. “I really like that.”

“You do?”

He stepped closer, smoothing out a crease in the fabric on my shoulder, brushing my red hair behind my ear. “It suits your body perfectly.” His gaze passed over mine. “You look stunning in yellow.”

The impact of his words stopped my heart. I grappled for something, anything to say, and couldn’t find my voice. Lucas looked back at me before seeming to realize exactly what he had said. He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck and stepping away. “Sorry, that was… a little much.”

“It’s okay.” I couldn’t believe he said I looked stunning. Yellow was my favorite colour, but I’d been self-conscious of wearing it ever since…

Never mind. I didn’t even want to think about Oswald right now.

“Come on,” Lucas said, quickly changing the subject. “I have more to show you.”

“More? Like what?”

He led me to the door. “Whatever it takes to get a smile out of you.”

The heat in my skin was almost enough to quirk my lips. I had to look away again, my heart aching, because as much as I wanted to smile for Lucas, I knew all of this was only temporary. Even my new outfit probably wouldn’t last long.

But Lucas really meant it when he said he wanted to show me everything. The day was filled with visits to shops and offices, brief greetings, and introductions to his packmates, all of whom smiled and shook my hand and sang praises of my efforts to help Lucas in his fight against the rogues. They were all aware of what had happened—they all knew that I was the one who helped him fend off his attackers, and now the evidence of my physical altercations was here before their very eyes, in bandages and bruises.

“You’re so terribly brave,” said someone.

“We might have lost our Alpha if it wasn’t for your quick thinking and selflessness,” said someone else.

“The village feels a little brighter, seeing you walking around,” commented an older man, as if I was the first ray of sunshine he’d seen in a long time.

When we stopped to sit down in the park in the center of the village, I clasped my hands together and looked anywhere but at Lucas. “I had no idea the shifters of the Silent Shadows Pack were such lovely people,” I said. “I’d met a couple of people during my training, but that was in a professional setting.”

“Yes. They all seem to like you,” Lucas murmured.

“That’s surprising.”

“It shouldn’t be.”

“Tell that to my pack,” I laughed dully.

But this time, Lucas didn’t laugh. He held my eyes with a seriousness that seemed out of place for the otherwise light-hearted mood of our day together. “Do they know you’re gone?”

I slowly shook my head. “I’m not sure they even care.”

Hearing that, Lucas’ face flashed with annoyance. It wasn’t directed at me. “What kind of pack doesn’t even care if one of their own is missing? It’s terrible they’re treating you this way, Aria. They’re taking you for granted. You have so much promise, so much to offer. You shouldn’t be wasting your time with them. Hell, maybe I should just keep you here.”

“Wh-What?”

“Obviously, they’re just going to mistreat you. You’ll never reach your full potential in the Grey Creek Pack. It’s disappointing—I have high expectations of my allies, and they’re not meeting them. But that’s not your fault,” Lucas went on. “Stay here. Let me deal with Oswald and his pack appropriately.”

I was lost for words. Lucas didn’t seriously want me here, did he? Didn’t he realize how much trouble I was prone to causing? “I… I don’t know. They’re my family.”

“Family is who you choose to love,” said Lucas. “You don’t owe them anything. Especially not if they treat you this way.”

I’d never thought about it like that before. I never realized I had an option.

Yet here was Alpha Lucas Black, telling me that family was whoever I wanted it to be.

Was it possible that I could find a new family here?

In the dark void of doubt that had settled in my chest, at long last, there was a small shimmering light of hope. Even though I knew his offer was too good to be true—that I would be betraying myself, my family, and my pack by leaving them—a part of me wanted desperately to accept his advice and make my own family.

He reached out and clasped my hand with reassurance.

Inside I crumbled, knowing I couldn’t stay as much as I wanted to.