Chapter 118

Cathy’s POV

Cathy shouldn’t have let Lucian into the house. Even as Alpha King, he wouldn’t have been able to enter without her invitation.

But he had looked so lost standing at her door, just as he had the last time he arrived, holding all of those flowers. It was difficult to have sympathy for him, when he so thoroughly botched his relationship all on his own, upsetting Cathy’s best friend, causing her to move away.

Cathy thought perhaps if he entered her room and saw all of her things were gone, that he would accept Aria had moved on and he would move on as well.

She regretted it now, especially when he flung that question at me like it was some kind of accusation. She supposed it was, wasn’t it? Lucian had his suspicions about Dr. A and Aria and had come to her for clarification.

As Cathy internally debated whether or not to tell the truth, she was glad Aria was far beyond his reach now. It wouldn’t matter if he knew the truth, he would have to go through hell to actually find her.

Aria had called Cathy late after her plane landed safely in the Moonglow pack, but the conversation had been short. They’d only spoken a couple of times since then.

“The lands here are beautiful,” Aria had said. “But the technology is a bit behind. The place we are staying doesn’t even have its own phone.”

She’d had to call Cathy from the hospital where she was working. Not wanting to charge a long distance phone call to the hospital’s bill, they’d kept all of their conversations short.

Cathy really missed her friend, so in a way she understood Lucian’s heartache.

But, knowing Aria and what she would want, Cathy decided she couldn’t tell Lucian the truth. With a child involved, Lucian might move heaven and earth to find Aria.

Aria wanted freedom to raise her child in peace. Even if Cathy sympathized with Lucian in part, she couldn’t let him get in the way of Aria’s plans.

“I’m friends with both Aria and Dr. A,” Cathy said. “Aria, I’ve known for years. Dr. A, I met more recently, at the hospital.” Cathy wasn’t a great liar, so she tried to stick as close to the truth as physically possible.

Lucian accepted her response but she didn’t know if he believed it. He seemed conflicted, frowning deeply while his brow furrowed.

“Are they friends with each other?” Lucian asked.

“I would say so, yes.” As much as someone could be friends with themselves.

“Does Aria know Dr. A is pregnant?” Lucian narrowed his gaze, studying Cathy.

“Yes,” Cathy replied.

Lucian went quiet a moment. Then he asked, “Is Aria pregnant?”

Cathy froze in shock, her eyes going wide. She tried to school her features, but she suspected it might have been too late with how closely Lucian was observing her.

He might have been a fool with love, but he was still the Alpha King and for a reason. He must have been lied to all the time, but he could perceive the truth within them. Years of diplomacy must have given him those skills.

Right now, he was looking at Cathy like he did not believe her, and she hadn’t even thought of a lie yet.

Maybe it would be safer not to. Perhaps she should just avoid the entire line of conversation.

“You have both made your choices,” Cathy said to him. “For better or worse, you are apart now. For Aria’s sake, and for your own, I think it would be better if you forget about her and anything you suspect. It’s time for both of you to move on with your lives.”

“That’s no answer,” Lucian said.

Cathy held her ground. Lifting her chin, she said, “I’ve said all that I’m going to say, and I think you should go now.”

Lucian’s POV

I could give Cathy credit for her courage. She must have been a very good friend to Aria indeed if she was willing to defy answering her own king.

Part of me wanted to continue pressing, to use my authority for new purpose to get the information I needed, the truth I suspected.

Cathy was not a good liar, but her avoidance of my questions was no answer.

To find the full truth, I needed her to actually articulate things for me. Anything less would only be more speculation, and I was tired of speculating. I wanted the truth.

However, Cathy was Aria’s friend. If I pressed her on this, using my authority, word would eventually return back to Aria. Whatever goodwill I hoped to gain would be entirely tarnished by my potential mistreatment of her best friend.

I had to be careful here. For now, I had to leave this house at Cathy’s request.

If she wasn’t going to answer my questions, there wasn’t much left for me here anyway.

I followed Cathy back to the front door, then stepped around her to go outside.

“If you speak to her…” I started.

“Let her go,” Cathy said, cutting me off, and closed the door.

Back at the office, I combed through all of the departure reports. Legally leaving the pack too time and permission, but with Aria, it was like she had just disappeared into thin air.

How had she even gotten through the border patrol?

Unless she already had permission… Permission that had been given to Dr. A.

Placing my elbows on the desktop, I combed my fingers through my hair, tugging at the strands. I was beyond frustrated; I felt helpless.

Ben entered the room. “There’s no record of her departing by train. The car checkpoint is reviewing some of their photographs, but so far, they can’t report that anyone matching Aria’s description made it through there.”

Aria was a public figure. People would have noticed her if she was leaving through any of these channels. Word would have gotten back to me.

“Keep on them,” I said. “We have to be thorough. She didn’t just disappear. I want to know where she went and how.”

“Sir…” Ben started, but I waved him off, already knowing what he was going to say.

If Aria was indeed Dr. A, she didn’t just disappear. She boarded a plane at the airport and flew off into the distance, with all of Nightfall watching.

If Aria was Dr. A…

That wasn’t good enough for me. Not yet.

“Keep searching,” I said. After a moment, I added, “Get as much information as you can about Dr. A’s flight as well. Where she was going. Who she was with. If they spoke of any plans about what to do when they landed.”

I wasn’t ready to fully make the connection between Dr. A and Aria. Not yet.

But if they were the same person, with Dr. A being pregnant – that meant Aria was.

Could that baby be mine?

I shook my head. It didn’t matter. Even if it wasn’t. Even if Aria wasn’t Dr. A, I would still search for her.

We had too many things to talk about.

Cathy told me to let things go, but I didn’t know if I was capable of that.

To Ben, I said, “I will never give up my search until I discover the truth.”