~ ARIA
My blood boiled within , my chest tightening with growing frustration.
Neither Rowan nor Nyssa could see just how terribly this was going, and just how badly it was going to end.
I stomped towards the front doors with a purpose. If they wouldn’t protect the pack then I would. I’d be damned if I allowed one person bring about the death of thousands.
I drove ho, trying hard not to think about the conversation I had with Nyssa only to glance up and see a car in my driveway. I recognized it instantly and slowed, blinking a few tis to make sure I was not imagining things.
Rowan leaned against his car, his hands crossed over his chest. His head rested back against the tal, his eyes closed shut. He was completely exposed, but not entirely unaware. I noted the way his shoulders tensed when my car approached and the deep sigh he exhaled as I stepped out.
"What are you doing here?" I asked with a frown, watching him skeptically.
"Can we talk?"
I hesitated for only a second before nodding.
He followed quietly into the house, his hands shoved into his pockets as he took a seat on my couch. Exhaustion lined the corner of his eyes, and there was a hardness to them that was not there the last ti we spoke.
"The vampires are coming," he said simply.
"I know that—"
"No, you don’t. they are coming, They sent a ssage to us today. They sent Evelyn’s real mother. That was deliberate."
I stared at him blankly, unsure of how to react. "I thought she was dead."
He shrugged. "Apparently not."
"Did you capture her? Maybe she can answer questions."
He shook his head. "She was compelled to kill herself after. The last thing she said was that we shouldn’t let him take them. I’m assuming she ans Nyssa too. He wants them for whatever reason and I don’t think it’s good."
For the first ti in a long ti, I saw worry in my brother’s eyes. I’d seen him best the biggest challenges and the worst foes, but I had never seen him fret this much, and I knew it had little to do with the vampires and more to do with the curly brown haired mate he had.
"What do you want to do?" I asked softly. "Did you co here for advice?"
"I ca here to talk to my sister because I don’t know what the fuck to do next. No one knows shit about this king, and he seems to be eluding us. I can’t fight soone I don’t know."
"You don’t have to fight him at all," I argued. "There has to be a middle ground you can et on. There has to be sothing you can see eye-to-eye on."
Rowan shot a bored look. "He wants my mate, Aria. I am not giving him my mate or any mber of my pack for his sick fantasies."
"So you would rather the rest of the pack dies to save the life of one person? You’re a fucking King, Rowan, so act like it. You can’t keep making the emotional choice."
He pressed his lips into a firm line, his hands crossing over his chest as his eyes grew harder.
I knew my words hurt, but if he needed to hurt to make the right choice then so be it. It was incredibly frustrating that no one seed willing to do the right thing.
"I’ll think about it," he said finally, rising to his feet. "I have paperwork to do."
His hand touched the doorknob when I spoke again. "Are you going to tell the pack about the threat? They deserve to know?"
He stood there for a long minute, staring at over his shoulder, then without a word, he walked out, shutting the door behind him.
I heard his car drive away until it disappeared down the street.
He had not spoken, but I knew that his silence ant no. He’d keep it away from the pack as long as possible.
I flopped back onto the couch with a scoff, my hands running through my hair in frustration. Getting a mate had changed Rowan, and I wasn’t sure if it was for the best or not.
My phone buzzed next to and I pulled it out, my lips thinning when I saw that it was an unknown number.
With shaky hands, I swiped right. "Hello?"
"Have you convinced him yet?"
My stomach churned. "No, he isn’t budging, and neither is she. He won’t budge, I told you as much, but if you can just take the other girl, I can convince him of that."
A low, cold laugh echoed through the speakers. "I did not ask for you to give advice or opinions. I gave you a job."
I exhaled deeply. We’d done this dance one too many tis already. It was a lost cause. I knew Rowan better than anyone, and I knew that he would rather die than let go of Nyssa.
"I’ve done what I can. Save for kidnapping her, there is nothing I can do. He is protecting her, and the pack is as well. They will die for her."
"Would they still if they knew she was a vampire?"
I didn’t answer, not because I couldn’t, but because I didn’t know.
He must have sensed my hesitation because he chuckled darkly. "I suppose we can find out."
"Rowan will never let them find out," I said simply. "And Nyssa has better control than you think. She will not snap just because you shed blood in the middle of the streets. Rowan keeps her fed with a glass a day last ti I checked."
"You just leave the hard work to . Seeing as you can’t do the simple job I asked you to, I’ll have to get involved, and you know that things will get ssy once I’m involved."
I swallowed tightly, my chest constricting violently. "No innocents need to die."
"We will talk again soon."
Without waiting for a response from , he hung up.
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