Chapter Two
CONNOR
Staring out at the ink-black night sky, freckled with stars that shimmered like scattered diamonds, the weight of my choices stood out in its stark enormity now.
"Connor"
Each choice was a piece of the life I'd tried so hard to build away from Aria but here I was, holed up in a Pack of rogue hunters, weaving up lies just to get close enough to gather information. The plan was simple enough, until she showed up. I still remembered the night we met. The way the firelight danced on her face. She was beautiful, sure, but it was more than that. The quiet resilience in her had me wondering what it would be like to stay here, just for a while. To pretend.
"Connor?"
And yet, pretending had turned into something far more dangerous.
"Connor?!"
I was snapped out of my reverie when the heavy knock came through, followed by a blade-sharp, familiar voice. Quickly swinging my legs over the large oak desk, I sent a few papers and my silver pendant hurtling over to the wooden floor.
"I'm coming." I growled, clumsily knocking over the single desk lamp. "Perfect! Fucking perfect!"
I cursed as the darkness closed in on me. In a matter of seconds, all I had was the faint scent of leather and cedar, mingling with a trace of spice and total blackout. I unlocked the bolts and turned on the light back before strutting back to my chair.
"Why is the door locked? Rubbing one off, in your office?" He asked, pushing his way into my office with his boots clunking on the wooden floor.
"What have you got?" He wiggled off his dark jacket before placing it over his shoulder. Jake didn't belong here any more than I did, and for the first time, I was struck by a pang of regret at seeing him.
"You're in deep," he crossed his arms and shook his head as his eyes searched mine. "You're getting too close."
"Aria’s different. She's not like the others here."
His face hardened, and so did his jaw. "You don't get it, do you? I warned you."
My pulse stirred when he said that. The urge to sit suddenly vanished. "What do you mean, Jake? What did you find?"
"She's Aria Delvin, Connor. Daughter of the rogue hunter who killed your parents." His words landed with a force that punched the air from my lungs.
I froze, and for a moment it felt as though the ground was being slipped out from under me. The memory of my parents' last moments flashed in my mind- the night I lost everything because of that crazed hunter. And here I was, tangled up with his daughter.
"No..." I sharply turned to him. "There has to be some sort of explanation, a... a mistake."
"Yeah?" He asked before slapping down a file on the table. "Check that out?"
The words still barely registered as I glanced at the heavy, brown file.
"What's in there?"
"Medical reports, family history. Everything you wanted."
"She's my mate. I love her, Jake, I-" The rest of the words stuck as I battled the frog in my throat.
"Connor," his voice was softer now, as if he understood the war raging inside me. "She's the reason, remember? You came here to end this."
I looked away, staring out the window, still finding it hard to read meaning into the fearful possibilities that prospect would paint. I wanted to shut him out, tell him to leave, because he was right. I'd sworn revenge, and now... now, all I could think about was her.
"I'll handle it," My voice was barely a whisper but he must have picked that. He didn't argue, just nodded and gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze before he left. No way this was happening. The thought of leaving her made my chest twist with pain, but I knew what I had to do.
"I am not letting you through the boundary until you identify yourself and prove you're not a rogue. No rogues past this point. Turn around, or you'll regret it."
I almost cackled. His fear was like a sour note in the air, it was sharp and pungent. He was trying to act tough but I could hear his heart pounding.
"Regret it?" I said, taking a step closer. "Is that so?"
"Y-you heard me," he stammered, taking out his dagger. The sharp glint and putrid scent that came from it told me It was laced with wolfsbane. "This is your last warning.
Poor kid. He didn't stand a chance.
I tilted my head, releasing my aura on him. It pressed down on him, just enough to make his knees wobble. His grip on the blade flattered, and his knuckles turned white as the blade clattered to the ground.
Suddenly, in a last ditch effort to protect himself, he lunged towards me, defying the aura before grabbing my throat. I knocked him instantly with a blow that must have broken a rib or two, growling.
I surged forward and landed a brute punch to his jaw before he lifelessly crumpled into a heap.
"Next time, don't bluff."
It was already a few minutes late when I finally arrived, because I couldn't stop thinking about what I was going to do. Trudging along the rocky plain through the woods, I caught sight of her waiting in front of her house. She must have caught my scent from there because she looked up, and a smile slowly creased up her lower lip. Her bright eyes caught the silver glow of the moon overhead, making them seem even more striking. She was beautiful in a way that wasn't perfect- there was a faint scar on her brow, something I'd always wanted to ask about.
"Hey, you're here!" She galloped, wrapping arms around me and kissing me deeply.
"Hey, Aria," I said, hoping she wouldn't notice the turbulence I was going through.
"You should move in, until you find a Pack. I don't mind. I want us to be close to each other." She nagged in that sing-song voice.
I said nothing, and that's when she noticed something was amiss. "Connor? What's wrong?"
I took a deep breath, feeling the blood beat in my brain. "Aria... we need to talk."
A flicker of fear crossed her face, and I almost lost my resolve right there and then. But I steeled myself and battled my emotions. This had to happen, for her sake and mine. Her brows furrowed as she took my hands and stared up at me.
"What is it?" I forced myself to look at her, to meet those trusting eyes one last time.
"Aria...I."
"Connor?"
"I- I can't do this anymore. I can't be with you. Whatever... this is between us, its not real. I don't feel what you feel."
A bitter taste seized my tongue, twisting in my chest like poison. Her face crumpled and her lips parted slightly as if she was struggling to breathe. The hurt, the confusion in her eyes, it took everything in me not to reach out and pull her close.
"W-what are you talking about." Her voice was breaking, and so was my heart.
I looked away again, unable to stand her gaze. "I... I thought I could make this work. But its not right. You and I.. we don't belong together."
Her eyes were filled with tears now and I could feel how cold she'd become. To make matters worse, my wolf was howling inside my head.
She looked so lost, so broken, and it was all because of me. Every instinct in me screamed to hold her, to tell her I didn't mean a word of it, but that would only make things worse.
"Please, don't do this." Her voice was raw with pain as she pleaded. "Connor, we've... we've been through so much together. I thought..." She choked on her words, and I clenched my fists.
I wanted to tell her the truth, to explain why I had had to do this. But how could I tell her I was the one who had taken her father from her. Yes, I'd tracked him down and killed him. How could I tell her I was here under false pretences, planning a betrayal so deep it would shatter everything she held dear?
"I'm sorry," I forced the words out. "This was a mistake."
She shook her head before holding my cheeks, forcing me to look at her but I kept my eyes down and clenched my jaw. "You don't mean that. You can't. I know you. I know you're not like this."
I swallowed hard, choking with self-loathing. "You don't know me, Aria. You never did."
Her shoulders slumped and her face crumbled as she fought back a sob. She let go of my face and staggered back, crashing on the floor. She looked so small and so vulnerable. My heart was shattered with every word I said. But I couldn’t let her see that.
"I... I loved you, Connor. I loved you!" Her voice was thick with pain and it shattered something inside me, a part of me I didn't know existed.
I felt like an empty, hollow shell of a being, like I'd lost the one thing that had given my life meaning, and essence. But I kept my face blank, even though I was being torn apart from the inside. I was giving up on the person who made me feel alive, all because of a past I couldn't escape.
"You shouldn't have. This was never going to work. Goodbye, Aria."
