My fingers tighten around the phone 36

Aria’s POV
My heart raced as I hurried through the facility’s corridors, following the trainee’s directions.
I rounded the corner and stopped short at the sight before me. Lucas stood in the hallway with Ethan, my son’s small
head tilted back to look up at the towering alpha as they exchanged words.
“Mom!” Lucas spotted me and waved, his face lighting up. “I going to find you!”
“I got a bit turned around looking for the bathroom,” Lucas explained cheerfully, seeming completely at ease beside the
powerful alpha. Something about their easy rapport made my chest tight with emotions I couldn’t quite name.
I forced my breathing to remain steady as I approached. “Baby, I need to get back to the emergency meeting. We should
go—”
“I can watch him,” Ethan’s deep voice sent an involuntary shiver down my spine. “The administrative wing is secure, and I
have reports to review here anyway.” His eyes met mine, carrying a weight I couldn’t quite interpret. “You focus on the
wild wolf situation.”
Lucas’s whole face lit up at the suggestion, his forest-green eyes sparkling with sudden excitement. “Can I stay, Mom?
Please?” He bounced on his toes, all thoughts of leaving forgotten. “I like him!” He whispered to my ears with the
innocent tone of a kid.
I hesitated, torn between practicality and protective instinct. The emergency meeting would likely run for hours, and I had
no other childcare options available. Plus, seeing how naturally Lucas gravitated toward Ethan made my chest ache with a
mixture of guilt and longing.
“He’ll be safe with me, Aria,” Ethan said quietly, his voice carrying that subtle alpha authority that made the air vibrate. “I
give you my word.”
“He smells like the forest and moonlight,” Lucas added innocently, “just like in your stories about proper alphas!”
Heat flooded my cheeks at my son’s words.
“Alright,” I finally conceded, kneeling to Lucas’s level. “But behave yourself, okay? No wandering off, and listen to Ethan.”
Ethan’s POV
In the training facility’s break room, I watched Lucas tackle the traditional wolf puzzle box – a test that had challenged
young wolves for generations. Most cubs took months to understand its intricate mechanisms, yet his small fingers moved with surprising confidence.
“These marks look like the ones in Mom’s books,” Lucas observed, tracing the ancient symbols carved into the wood. I
found myself leaning closer, fascinated by his methodical approach. The way his brow furrowed in concentration, the
slight tilt of his head as he studied the patterns – something about his mannerisms felt hauntingly familiar.
“There’s a pattern,” Lucas murmured, more to himself than to me. His forest-green eyes – so eerily similar to my own –
narrowed as his fingers found a hidden catch. “Like Mom says about fighting – you have to see all the pieces before you
can put them together.”
The box clicked, its final panel sliding open to reveal the ceremonial silver coin hidden inside. Lucas held it up
triumphantly, and Felix whined with unmistakable pride. “Got it!”
“Impressive,” I said softly, meaning it. “That’s the fastest I’ve ever seen anyone solve it.”
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David appeared in the doorway before Lucas could respond. “The wild wolf crisis meeting will run long,” he reported.
“Should I arrange dinner to be brought in?”
Looking at Lucas’s bright expression, I made a quick decision. “No need. We’ll go to Pack & Provisions.” I sent David to
inform Aria of our plans.
The familiar restaurant was busy with the dinner crowd, but we found a quiet corner booth. Lucas chatted happily about
school and his friends while we waited for our food, his natural enthusiasm drawing me in completely. Every gesture,
every expression seemed to echo something deep within me that I couldn’t quite place.
Once the emergency response to the wild wolf attack had been coordinated, Aria made her way to join us at the
restaurant. Our eyes met across the crowded restaurant, and for a moment, everything else seemed to fade away. The
flush from her hurried arrival colored her cheeks, her chest rising and falling with quickened breaths. The memory of how
she’d felt in my arms that night in the hospital crashed over me with sudden intensity.
“Mom!” Lucas’s excited greeting broke the spell between us. “You finally made it!”
She approached our table with that fluid grace I’d come to associate with her – every movement precise and controlled,
yet somehow natural as flowing water. The familiar ache of wanting her settled in my chest as she slid into the booth
across from us.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said softly, her amber eyes meeting mine briefly before darting away. The nervous gesture stirred
something protective in me, making Felix whine with need.
Lucas immediately brightened, pushing his chocolate milkshake toward her. “Try it, Mom! Ethan says it’s the best in
town!”
A gentle smile curved her lips as she accepted the offered spoon. When Lucas turned to offer me the same spoon, her
quick “No, baby!” came out slightly breathless. The blush that crept up her neck matched my own heated memories of
that night – of shared breaths and desperate touches, of boundaries forgotten in darkness.
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“Baby, we don’t share used utensils,” she chided gently, though the pink staining her cheeks suggested she too
remembered how little such concerns had mattered between us that night.
The dinner continued, filled with a peculiar tension I couldn’t quite explain. Every time our eyes met across the table,
electricity crackled in the air between us. Lucas chatted happily between us, seemingly oblivious to the charged
atmosphere. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something profound was happening here – something that went far
beyond a simple dinner. And Aria seemed to have similar feelings.
“Tell me about that puzzle box you solved earlier,” I suggested, watching relief flood Aria’s features. “That was quite
impressive.”
“Mom taught me to look for patterns,” Lucas beamed, launching into an enthusiastic explanation of his problem-solving
process. The analytical gleam in his forest-green eyes.
“He’s definitely inherited your intelligence,” I said softly to Aria.
“Mom’s the smartest person ever!” Lucas declared proudly. “She knows everything about fighting and strategies and…”
he lowered his voice to a whisper, “all wolf stuff too!”
“Lucas,” Aria’s voice carried a warning note, though her smile remained gentle. “Remember what we discussed about
indoor voices?”
I watched their interaction, fascinated by the easy rhythm between them. Despite everything she’d been through, Aria
had managed to raise a remarkable child – confident, intelligent, and surprisingly well-adjusted to straddling both human
and wolf worlds.
The waiter arrived with their desserts – chocolate cake for Lucas and berry tart for Aria. When Lucas’s spoon
“accidentally” found its way to his mother’s dessert, she pretended not to notice, her indulgent smile making something
in my chest tighten inexplicably.
“You’ve done an amazing job with him,” I found myself saying, the words escaping before I could stop them. “Most born wolves struggle to adapt to the human world, but he seems completely at ease in both.”