My fingers tighten around the phone 72

Ethan’s POV
I stood in the side hall of my family’s ancestral home, anger burning in my chest like live coals. The morning had started
with promise—finally bringing Aria to meet my grandmother and mother after so many delays. Everything had been
proceeding according to plan until Emma’s unexpected appearance threw everything into chaos.
Shafts of morning light filtered through the tall windows, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air between us.
“Why are you here?” I demanded, keeping my voice low to prevent it from carrying to the main sitting room. The last
thing I needed was my mother or grandmother walking in on this confrontation.
Emma moved closer, her perfume—too sweet, too artificial—invading my space. Felix, my wolf, recoiled internally, a low
growl rumbling through my consciousness. Something about her scent had always felt wrong to Felix, lacking the
essential quality that should have called to us if she truly was our destined mate.
“Ethan, I only wanted to meet your grandmother,” Emma replied, her eyes glistening with tears that appeared on
command. “I didn’t expect you’d bring her here…”
The contempt in her voice when referring to Aria ignited a fresh surge of anger within me. I’d spent years honoring what I
believed was my responsibility to Emma after that rainy night, but my patience was wearing dangerously thin.
“She has a name, Emma. It’s Aria.” I cut her off sharply, drawing myself to my full height. The alpha energy radiating from
me caused her to take an instinctive half-step back.
“She hates me, you know that.” Emma’s voice quavered as tears began tracking down her cheeks, leaving shimmering
trails against her perfectly made-up face. “You were my first man, Ethan.” Her tone shifted to something I’d never heard
from her before—raw and desperate. “I fell in love with you. I can’t live without you. Remember that night? You above me, inside me… we were so happy…”
“Emma—” I attempted to interrupt this inappropriate reminiscence, uncomfortable with the direction of her words. We were in my family home, for goddess‘ sake. But before I could continue, she lunged forward, throwing herself against my
chest.
“Please don’t leave me,” she sobbed, her body trembling with such perfectly timed fragility that it felt rehearsed. “You’re
all I have.”
I stood frozen, my arms awkwardly suspended in the air, not touching her. Felix thrashed beneath my skin, my wolf’s
agitation growing with each passing second of contact with Emma. His discomfort echoed my own in a way I couldn’t
fully articulate. Despite years of believing I owed Emma my protection after what had happened between us, something
had always felt… off.
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“Enough, Emma.” I carefully disengaged her hands from my shirt and stepped back, creating necessary distance between
us. The wolf within me settled slightly once her touch was gone. I’d never been comfortable with women’s tears—they
always left me feeling powerless and confused. Alpha wolves were meant to solve problems, to protect, to lead—not to
navigate the treacherous waters of female emotions. “Tell me what you want. Money? Bags? Jewelry? I can give you
anything.”
Emma looked up at me through tear-spiked lashes, her blue eyes suddenly sharp with an emotion I couldn’t quite
identify. “You’ve fallen for her, haven’t you? For Aria.”
I maintained my silence, but something in my expression must have betrayed me. The sudden stillness of my body,
perhaps, or the slight dilation of my pupils at the mention of Aria’s name.
“You know why she hates me so much?” Emma continued, her voice taking on a malicious edge beneath the pretense of
hurt. “Because she knows about us. And she was raped by a stranger six years ago. That’s why she doesn’t trust any man.”
The words struck me like a physical blow. Felix erupted within me, a savage growl rising from deep in my chest.
“Enough!” I snarled, my canines lengthening slightly with my fury. “I don’t want to hear another word about Aria and
other men.”
Emma’s tears flowed more freely now.
In that moment, my heightened senses detected a subtle shift in the air currents from the doorway. A familiar scent—
faint but unmistakable—wafted toward me. Silver moonflowers and something uniquely, intoxicatingly Aria. Felix
stiffened within me, suddenly alert and focused.
“Who’s there?” I whirled toward the door, my voice sharp with command. “Show yourself!”
A moment of tense silence followed before Aria emerged from the hallway shadows. Her face was a careful mask of
composure, but I could read the emotions warring beneath her calm exterior. Pain and anger flashed in the depths of her
amber eyes like distant lightning, and my heart contracted painfully at the realization of what she must have overheard.
“Aria…” Her name escaped my lips before I could stop it, my voice rougher and more vulnerable than I’d intended. My
throat constricted, a physical reaction to seeing her standing there, having overheard everything. Felix, usually so
controlled within me, whined with uncharacteristic distress.