Chapter 10

The Coastal Territory.

Seven days since she arrived, and Aria still couldn't get used to this place. She couldn't get used to the name on her new identity documents either.

Aria Fairfax. That was the name Eleanor had arranged for her.

When people asked what her name was, she'd start to say "Aria Co —" and then catch herself and say, slowly and deliberately: "Aria Fairfax."

She hadn't left her bond empty-handed. Her accounts held fifty million dollars. Enough to start over somewhere she was unknown.

She found a job. She settled into a routine — in early, home late. On the surface, it was quiet.

But every night, the nightmares woke her.

Every time she thought about Ethan's betrayal, about Vivienne's whip, about her son dying in a place she couldn't reach — she couldn't sleep.

Aria started taking sleeping herbs from the local Pack healer. Without them, she couldn't rest at all.

Then she started spending her nights thinking in circles. Her mental state got worse.

She went to the Mercer Pack's healing center. A healer told her she had moderate emotional bond trauma — a condition that struck she-wolves who had survived severe Mate Bond fractures. Left untreated, it would affect her daily life.

"I'm Caius Mercer," said the man in the white coat. He had a calm, handsome face. He looked at her with real concern. "If you trust me, I can be your healer."

"Thank you."

Aria stood up and left. She gave him no answer.

Outside, the sun was warm and the light should have been pleasant.

It fell on her like cold water.

She stood on the street and looked at the crowd moving around her, the cars passing, and everything seemed like it was behind frosted glass. She couldn't make it sharp.

She drifted forward, hollow, until she realized she was standing in the middle of the road.

A car was coming straight at her. She saw it. She didn't move.

The next second, someone grabbed her and pulled her back hard.

"Miss — careful. You were in real danger just now."

A familiar voice. Aria looked up. "Dr. Mercer?"

"Are you okay?"

He was worried. He could see she wasn't steady, and he wasn't comfortable letting her go home alone.

"Where do you live? I'll drive you back. Or I can call someone for you."

"Family?" Aria's eyes burned. "I don't have any family."

She said it again, quieter. "The only family I had just died."

Caius looked at her for a moment. He didn't ask for details.

"Let me take you home."

He didn't give her the chance to refuse. He walked her to his car.

On the drive, Aria watched the streets go by and said nothing.

Caius wanted to ask. He didn't.

He pulled up outside her apartment building and walked her to the door.

"You're home."

"Thank you."

She turned to go in.

He called after her. "Next Tuesday, come in for a follow-up. I'll come get you."

Aria turned. "I never agreed to be your patient."

"Is it money?"

"No." She shook her head. She just didn't see the point. There was no one left in this world she cared about. And in the other world, there was someone she wanted to see.

"I'll be there next Tuesday," Caius said. "I know you're not the kind of person who breaks a commitment. See you then."

He got back in his car and drove away.

Aria stood at the door for a long time. Something very small and warm moved through her chest.

This feeling — of someone caring about her — she hadn't had it in a long time.

Tuesday. Three days away.

Back in the Northern Territory.

A month had passed. Ethan had nothing.

In his office, he hurled a stack of files at his guard. "What am I paying you for? You can't find one person? Are you useless?"

The files hit and hurt. The guard kept his head down and didn't say a word.

"I'm sorry, Alpha. We've done everything we can."

"We think someone is helping her. That's why we can't find anything. You may need to speak to your mother, Mrs. Eleanor."

"You think I haven't?" Ethan said. "I've gone to her a dozen times this month. Every time I mention Aria, she goes silent. She's not going to tell me anything."

Unless he was willing to bet his life on it.

So that's what he did.

He stopped eating. He locked himself in his room. He would not come out.

Three days later, Eleanor found her son barely holding on. She finally broke.

"Ethan. You really do love Aria this much?"

He was in the bed, Aria's photograph still in his hand.

He nodded. Slow. Certain. "I love Aria."

"You love her — and you still cheated." Eleanor shook her head. "How are you exactly like your father? I thought when you fought so hard to claim Aria, it meant you were different. But you're not."

"I was wrong before. I know that." He pushed himself up and knelt on the floor in front of her. "Please, Mother. Tell me where she is. Without her, I'd rather be dead. I mean it."

"Ugh."

Eleanor looked at him — really looked at him — and knew she was out of options.

"Send someone to the Coastal Territory. Look for a woman named Aria Fairfax."

She stood and walked out without another word.

Ethan called his assistant immediately. "Book the next flight to the Coastal Territory. I'm going to find Aria."

The flight was booked in minutes. Ethan forced himself to eat a few bites and headed to the airport.

As weak as he was, he made himself sit through fifteen hours of travel. He arrived in the Coastal Territory.

He knew Aria had chosen this place deliberately. She wanted to be as far from him as possible.

He wasn't going to give up. He had to make her forgive him.