Chapter 22
ARIA
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
Celeste’s question hangs in the air, sweet and poisonous.
“Celeste—” Declan’s head snaps toward her. “Stop. That’s none of your business.”
But Celeste doesn’t even look at him. She just keeps smiling at me, her hand drifting down to rest on her flat stomach. Her fingers spread across the fabric of her dress, and she rubs slow, deliberate circles.
“Oh, I didn’t mean anything by it!” she says brightly. “I’m just so excited—Dr. W is going to help me finally have Declan’s child. I can barely contain myself! I thought maybe you’d want to celebrate with me, find someone special too...”
The words hit like carefully aimed daggers.
Kelly snarls in my mind, but I shove her down. Keep my face blank behind the mask.
“Enough!” Declan moves to stand beside Celeste, his jaw so tight I can see the muscle jumping. When he looks at me, there’s apology in his eyes.
But there’s also distance.
Like he’s looking at a stranger. Like he’s sorry for the inconvenience but not sorry enough to actually do anything about it.
Boyfriend?
The word echoes in my mind, and suddenly I’m not standing in this clinic anymore.
***
I’m sitting in the garden near the training grounds, a medical textbook open in my lap. The afternoon sun is warm on my shoulders, and I’m trying to memorize the properties of wolfsbane antidotes.
But I keep looking up.
Declan is sparring with one of the senior warriors—a massive wolf named Silas who’s been training fighters for twenty years. Declan moves with fluid grace, dodging and striking, sweat gleaming on his bare chest.
Our eyes meet across the distance.
Everything else disappears. The sounds of the training ground fade. The book in my lap becomes meaningless. There’s just him and me and this invisible thread pulling tight between us.
He’s staring at me like I’m the only thing in the world that matters.
I can’t breathe. Can’t look away.
Neither can he.
CRACK.
Silas’s fist connects with Declan’s jaw, and he goes down hard, hitting the ground flat on his back.
I’m on my feet before I realize I’ve moved, my book tumbling into the grass.
Silas is standing over Declan, looking equal parts concerned and exasperated. “Where the hell is your head today?”
Declan groans and sits up slowly, rubbing his jaw. Even from here, I can see the red mark blooming across his cheekbone where Silas’s fist connected.
“Sorry,” Declan mutters. “I got distracted.”
“Distracted?” Silas’s voice carries across the training grounds. “You’ve been distracted all afternoon! You keep looking at—” He follows Declan’s gaze.
Directly to me.
Heat floods my face. I duck my head, pretending to be absorbed in retrieving my book.
“Oh for the love of—” Silas lets out a bark of laughter. “You got knocked on your ass because you were staring at a girl?”
“I wasn’t—”
“You absolutely were.” Silas hauls Declan to his feet. “Get yourself to the clinic. That’s going to swell.”
Declan touches his face and winces. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. You’re done for today. Go.”
I watch through my lashes as Declan trudges off the training grounds, still rubbing his jaw. The other warriors are laughing, and I hear someone call out, “Nice reflexes, lover boy!”
My chest feels tight and warm and terrified all at once.
He was looking at me. He got hurt because he was looking at me.
***
The pack clinic is quiet when I slip inside after dark. I’m not supposed to be here—not at this hour, not without permission. But I couldn’t stop thinking about him lying in one of those beds with a swollen face because of me.
The hallway is dimly lit, and I move carefully, my footsteps silent on the tile floor. I peek through the small window of each room until I find him.
Declan is sitting up in bed, an ice pack pressed to his cheek. He’s alone, wearing a simple gray shirt, and he looks... embarrassed.
I knock softly before I can lose my nerve.
His head whips toward the door. “Come in.”
I push the door open and step inside, my heart hammering.
His eyes widen. “Aria? What are you—you’re not supposed to be here.”
“I know.” I close the door behind me and move closer to the bed. “I just... I wanted to check on you. I heard what happened.”
“You heard.” He lets out a short, pained laugh. “I bet the whole pack heard. Declan Cross, future Alpha, knocked flat because he couldn’t keep his eyes on his opponent.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“Why are you sorry?” He lowers the ice pack, revealing a darkening bruise along his jaw. “I’m the idiot who got distracted.”
“You got distracted because of me.”
“Yeah.” He meets my eyes, and there’s something raw in his expression. “I did.”
The admission hangs between us.
I move to sit in the chair beside his bed, my hands twisted in my lap. “Does it hurt?”
“My pride more than my face.” He sets the ice pack aside and runs a hand through his hair. “Silas’s never going to let me live this down.”
“Probably not.”
We fall into awkward silence. I can hear the clock ticking on the wall, the distant sound of footsteps in another part of the clinic.
“Why were you watching me?” I finally ask.
Declan goes very still. “What?”
“During training. You were watching me.” I force myself to look at him. “Why?”
He doesn’t answer right away. Just stares at me like he’s trying to figure out what to say. Or maybe trying to decide if he should say it at all.
“Because I can’t help it,” he finally says, his voice quiet. “I try not to. I tell myself to focus on literally anything else. But then I see you sitting there with your books, and I just...” He shakes his head. “I can’t look away.”
My breath catches.
“I know we’re different,” he continues, the words coming faster now. “I know people would talk. I know my father would lose his mind. But I don’t care, Aria. I like you. A lot. And I’m tired of pretending I don’t.”
Tears prick at my eyes. “Declan—”
“You don’t have to say anything,” he says quickly. “I know I’m putting you in an impossible position. The Alpha’s son and a rankless orphan—it’s not exactly a fairy tale. But I had to tell you. I couldn’t keep it in anymore.”
I stand up from the chair and move closer to the bed. Close enough that I can see the flecks of silver in his gray eyes.
“I like you too,” I whisper.
His entire expression transforms. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
His smile is bright and unguarded and completely devastating.
***
The memory shatters.
I’m back in the clinic, staring at the man Declan has become.
He’s taller now. Broader. His shoulders have filled out, and there’s a commanding presence to him that wasn’t there before. He wears his authority like a second skin—effortless and absolute.
His clothes are expensive. A perfectly tailored black shirt that probably costs more than I used to make in a month. Dark jeans that fit like they were made for him. A watch on his wrist that gleams silver and costs more than my entire medical kit.
Even the way he stands is different. Confident. Powerful. Every inch the Alpha.
And I’m still here.
Still the orphan who fled with nothing. Still swallowing my pride and coming back to this place because I need the money. Still trying to claw my way out from under a debt that’s followed me for six years.
The chasm between us feels insurmountable.
Celeste’s voice cuts through my thoughts.
“You know, Dr. W, since I’m so happy about finally being able to give Declan a child, I want to spread this joy.”
She tilts her head, her smile widening. “You’re so excellent at what you do. I’d be delighted to introduce you to some wonderful wolves. Perhaps the pack’s finest warrior? Or even Declan’s Beta—Antony is quite accomplished.”
She starts listing names, her tone light and conversational.
I recognize most of them. Warriors who used to corner me in the training grounds. Wolves who’d trip me in the dining hall and laugh when I fell. Pack members who made it very clear that a rankless orphan had no business existing in their space.
“Oh, and there’s Soren, absolutely charming—” Celeste stops suddenly, her hand flying to her mouth. “Oh! I’m so sorry. I forgot.”
Her eyes widen with exaggerated surprise.
“Soren used to bully someone terribly back then. What was her name? Aria, I think. Yes, Aria Sinclair. She was Declan’s ex-girlfriend.” Celeste glances at me, her smile turning coy. “You wouldn’t know about her, Dr. W. It was all so long ago.”
My hands are trembling. I press them flat against the examination table to hide it.
“But I should mention,” Celeste continues, her voice turning sweeter, “Declan and I are fated mates. The bond appeared, and even though he had a girlfriend at the time, he broke up with her immediately. For me.”
She pauses, letting that sink in. “He even marked me in public, right in front of everyone. It was so romantic.”
She touches the mark on her neck—the one I watched him give her six years ago.
“Compared to that,” she says softly, “he never really loved that ex-girlfriend. How could he? We’re fated mates. Destined by the Moon Goddess herself.”
Declan shifts beside her. “Celeste—”
But she keeps going.
“That poor girl, though. Aria. She was just a rankless orphan who got confused, I think. She probably thought Declan’s kindness meant something more. It must have been so embarrassing for her when she realized the truth.”
Celeste shakes her head with mock sympathy.
“And then she attacked me at the mating ceremony. In front of everyone! Can you imagine? So unstable. So desperate.”
Kelly is howling now, a sound of pure rage that reverberates through my entire body.
“She was always such a freak,” Celeste continues, her voice light and casual like she’s discussing the weather. “Obsessed with healing and herbs, always reading those medical books like she thought she was special. But she was nothing. Just a pathetic little—”
“That’s enough!”
Declan’s voice cracks through the room like a whip.
His fists are clenched at his sides, his jaw locked so tight it must hurt. There’s frustration written across every line of his face.
“I said that’s enough!” he repeats, his Alpha command bleeding into his voice. “Dr. W has a boyfriend!”
Celeste blinks at him, clearly surprised by the force of his anger.
“I was just—”
“Out.” He points toward the door. “Get out. Now.”
For a moment, I think she might argue. But something in his expression makes her think better of it.
She stands slowly, smoothing her dress. “Of course, Alpha. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She walks to the door, her heels clicking against the floor. But she pauses in the doorway, glancing back at me one last time.
“I do hope you find happiness, Dr. W,” she says sweetly. “Just like I have.”
Then she’s gone.
The silence that follows is deafening.
Declan stands there, his shoulders still tense, his breathing slightly uneven. He looks at me, and I see him struggling for words.
“Dr. W, I—” He stops. Starts again. “I want to explain. About what she said. About Aria.”
My chest tightens.
“The truth is, Aria and I, we actually hadn’t—”
“So?” I cut him off, my voice sharp and cold. “Do you think so too?”
He freezes. “What?”
I step closer, keeping my tone perfectly level. Professional. Empty.
“Do you also think your ex-girlfriend was a freak?”