My fingers tighten around the phone 136

Aria’s POV
“Are you seriously trying to pressure her into accepting this half-assed apology?” Ethan’s voice was dangerous and soft,
like velvet covering steel.
My father turned to face him, his eyes flashing with the unmistakable authority of an Alpha. “This is an internal family matter, Alpha Ethan. Even if you once had an arrangement with my daughter, you have no right to interfere.”
I held my breath, my heart hammering against my ribs as I watched the two dominant wolves face each other. The air
between them practically crackled with tension. While my father puffed up with Alpha authority, Ethan did something
that made my pulse race—he simply leaned back in his chair, completely at ease yet somehow radiating more power
than if he’d stood up shouting. His quiet confidence wrapped around me like a protective shield.
When Ethan turned to me, the transformation in his eyes stole my breath. The hardness melted away, replaced by a warmth that reached into parts of my soul I’d long since walled off.
“Your choice,” he said simply, his voice a gentle rumble.
My throat tightened as the meaning behind those two words sank in. After years of having decisions made for me, of
being judged and discarded, Ethan was handing me back my power. The certainty that he would stand with me
regardless of what I decided made something bloom in my chest—something dangerously close to hope. I felt tears prick
behind my eyes, blinking them back as warmth spread through me like sunlight after an endless winter.
“This isn’t your decision,” my father roared, his face flushing darker with rage. The veins in his temples bulged as he
jabbed a finger in Ethan’s direction. “Aria belongs to my pack. I am her Alpha. We’re leaving.”
“No,” I said quietly, my eyes still locked with Ethan’s.
Father’s face turned an alarming shade of purple. “Aria,” he commanded, his voice dropping into that Alpha register that was meant to compel obedience, “you will comply.”
“I won’t,” I countered, my voice growing stronger with each word. “Six years ago, you cast me out. You called me a whore,
said I’d never be fit to lead, and you threw me away.” My hands trembled, but my voice remained steady. “I stopped
being part of your pack the day you chose to believe lies over your own daughter.”
“You remain a member of my pack, and I intend to formally announce Lucas as heir when he turns six,” my father
declared, as if this was some grand gesture I should be grateful for.
My blood turned to ice. “Don’t you dare. If you announce him as heir, you’ll paint a target on his back. Bella won’t stand
for it.” I gasped as the full implications hit me. “You already exiled me.”
“He never officially filed the paperwork or made a public declaration, Aria. Technically, you’re still the heir,” Ethan
interjected, his voice cutting through my father’s tirade like a blade.
“Yes, I couldn’t have you embarrassing the position of heir.” My father spat the words like they were poison on his tongue,
each syllable deliberately aimed to wound. “But with Lucas, we can start fresh. I’ll name him heir and send him north for
training.”
The mention of sending my son away ignited something primal inside me. My chair scraped violently against the floor as
I shot to my feet, nearly toppling it behind me.
“You will do no such thing,” I snarled. My chest heaved as maternal fury coursed through me like wildfire. “Official or not,
I am no longer part of your pack. Lucas is mine.” I jabbed my finger against my chest. “Forever mine. He will not be sent
away to be raised by strangers!”
Father’s face contorted with Alpha rage, his eyes flashing that telltale amber that signaled a wolf on the edge of control.
“Lucas is an Alpha heir, Aria. Nothing you do can change that!” he thundered, the force of his command reverberating
through the room. I felt the weight of his Alpha voice pressing down on me like a physical thing—demanding
submission, obedience, surrender.
“No,” I gritted out between clenched teeth, my entire body trembling with the effort. “I will not yield to you. Lucas is my
son. I decide what’s best for him.”
Father’s face purpled with rage. “Aria, you will—”
“No longer be Silver Moon,” Ethan cut in, his voice slicing through the tension like a cool breeze through suffocating
heat.
1/2
“What?” Father bellowed, so loudly that the glass in the windows seemed to vibrate. A low growl rumbled from his chest,
primitive and threatening.
Ethan remained unmoved, his expression placid as still water. “She’s chosen to join the Shadow Fang pack,” he stated with
such quiet certainty that it brooked no argument. “She and I had a betrothal arrangement, so Aria has the right to leave
your pack and join mine.” The simplicity of his statement made it all the more powerful—not a request, not a negotiation,
but a fact.
“Yes.” I replied. Something in my chest snapped—not with pain, but with the definitive cracking of chains that had bound
me for too long. The sensation that followed wasn’t emptiness, but a breathtaking freedom that made my head light.
Father staggered back as if physically struck, one hand clutching at his chest. His face drained of color, mouth working
soundlessly for several seconds before he found his voice. “You would betray your family like this?” he whispered, his
voice cracking on the final word.
I met his gaze steadily. “You betrayed me the day you chose to believe Bella’s lies and cast me out,” I have already calmed
down from the argument before, thanks to Ethan. I said quietly, each word deliberate and clear. “We stopped being
family that day.”
Something flickered in his eyes—pain, perhaps even regret—before hardening once more into fury. “You’ll regret this,” he
hissed through clenched teeth before storming toward the door.
He slammed it with such violence that the walls shook, picture frames rattling against the wall, one crashing to the floor
in a spray of glass and splintered wood.
The silence that followed was deafening.
For one suspended moment, I stood frozen, the finality of what I’d done washing over me in waves. Then my legs gave
out.
Before I could fall, Ethan was there, strong arms encircling me, pulling me against the solid warmth of his chest. The
gentleness of his touch shattered the last of my defenses. I buried my face against his shirt, my fingers clutching
desperately at the fabric as violent sobs tore through my body. Each ragged breath carried with it a piece of the hurt I’d
been carrying for so long. Ethan held me through it all, one hand cradling the back of my head while the other traced
soothing circles on my back.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured against my hair, his lips brushing my temple with such tenderness that it nearly broke me all
over again.