Free Web NovelChapter 296: Chapter 296
Aria’s POV
When I stepped out, Nathan turned. Goddess, he looked like a ghost wearing skin. There were dark circles like bruises around his eyes and a stubble shadowing his jaw.
"Aria..." he breathed, his voice raw.
I looked past him.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice cold enough for frost to form.
My wolf stalked forward in my chest, ready to lunge, ready to protect me from the man who we had once loved but suffered the greatest betrayal from.
Chloe huffed. "Move man. If you slow us down, I will run you over."
Amelia practically tackled her, one hand clamped over her mouth. Chloe made muffled threats. They were both in the car, I was the one who had stepped down to find out why Nathan had come.
For a moment, I almost laughed. But the sound died in my throat. I couldnt do that not when Nathan’s gaze was fixed on me, full of things I couldn’t afford to feel.
Nathan’s POV
My gaze flicked briefly to the lady who had spoken from the car, barely sparing her a thought. I returned my gaze to Aria, drinking her in like a dying wolf who’d finally found water.
My chest tightened, my claws pressing painfully against the insides of my fingertips. If I didn’t focus, my wolf would claw his way up and howl her name to the damn heavens.
I cleared my throat, trying to cage my wolf and my heart in the same breath. My voice came out lower than intended, gravelly, like I’d swallowed the storm building inside.
"Patrick is selling off Darvin Group shares... at a low price. To anyone but you."
Aria’s lips pressed into a thin line, disbelief shimmering in her eyes. Her scent spiked with coldness, it must be a shield meant to keep me out.
"Is that why you’re here?" she asked.
Before she could tell me to leave, before she could slice me open with her words, I thrust the document toward her. "Share Transfer Agreement" was stamped across it. Every letter burned. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
She paused, her eyes narrowing as the realization hit. And then her gaze lift and met mine. I felt my wolf bow under it, tail tucked, begging without pride.
"I bought them all," I said, my voice steady only by sheer force of will. "I’m here to give them to you."
And Goddess help me, I meant every word.
She didn’t move. Not at first. She just stared at it. Then she stepped back, like my presence itself was toxic. My hand hung there, itching for the warmth of her skin. My wolf whimpered.
Amelia must’ve sensed the tension; she rolled the window up, blocking Chloe’s annoyed glare from view.
"You’ve been buying up shares of Darvin Group?" Aria’s voice sliced through me. Her eyes were sharp as a dagger forged for my throat.
I swallowed, the metallic taste of regret thick on my tongue. "We’re divorced, Alpha Nathan, our bond has been severed" she continued, her voice cool and distant. "What do you mean by this?"
Alpha Nathan...
I deserved that. I deserved worse.
My fingers tightened around the papers. I didn’t pull them back. I couldn’t.
"Consider it compensation," I forced out. "I wronged you and Lana before."
I lowered my gaze, my lashes casting shadows over truths I couldn’t voice. The shares... the money... the power I’d spent, it was all just an excuse. A leash to drag me to her door. I lied to myself and everyone else, but never to my wolf.
He knew.
I came to see her. Just to see her.
"Fine," Aria said after a heartbeat that felt like a lifetime. "Then I must thank you on Lana’s behalf."
She took the document. Her cool fingers brushing the edge of the page. Not my skin, not me. But it was enough. My wolf’s ears perked up, his tail thumping once, hope flaring like dawn in a dark forest.
If she accepted this... maybe... maybe not everything was lost.
"Aria, are you ready yet?" Amelia called, tapping the car window.
The moment shattered.
I stepped back, giving her space like she asked for nothing but distance from me.
"You have things to do," I said, my voice a rasp. "I’ll let you go."
She didn’t look back at me when she got into the car. I didn’t blame her. I’d burned that right the moment I chose to betray her. The engine purred, and the luxury car rolled away into Shevron Estate.
I stood rooted to the asphalt, the night breeze cutting through my clothes, ruffling the fur just beneath my skin.
When the taillights disappeared, I finally looked down. My fingers trembled.
Just moments ago, our hands hadn’t even touched, yet I swore I could feel her. Like a phantom warmth, a memory my wolf refused to let die.
She hates me and I deserve it.
But Moon Goddess help me...I love her deeply.
My shoulders sagged, as though the weight of the world was pressing down on me. I was the Alpha of the Ironclaw Pack, the richest man in Asterfell.
But none of it meant a damn thing when the one person who mattered most to me looked at me like I was a stranger... or worse...like I was nothing.
I let out a breath that felt like it tore pieces of my lungs on the way out.
