Chapter 138

Aria

The forest was alive with the sounds of spring. Birds chirped in the trees, their songs blending with the rustle of leaves in the gentle breeze. The air was crisp and clean, carrying the faint scent of blooming flowers and fresh earth. My wolf was at ease, rather than bristling in the back of my mind like she so often did in the city.

It was the kind of morning that made it easy to forget, even for a moment, all the chaos we had left behind in the city. At least we were able to find some small measure of comfort in that fact.

Lucas ran ahead of us, stopping periodically to check out an insect or an interesting stick on the ground. He had been pouting when Darren and I found him in the kitchen earlier, refusing to eat the breakfast Wendy had made for him.

But now, as he darted between the trees, it seemed he was feeling a bit better. And the sight of his smile made my own worries wash away for a little while.

“Look at this rock!” he called, holding up a jagged stone he had picked up from the ground. “It’s shaped like a heart!”

I smiled, watching as he turned it over in his hands. “It’s beautiful,” I called back. “Maybe you can start a collection.”

Lucas grinned and tucked the rock into the pocket of his jacket before taking off again, this time chasing after a rabbit that had darted into the underbrush up ahead.

“Don’t encourage him,” Darren teased, glancing at me as we followed Lucas at a leisurely pace. “The apartment will be full of rocks before we know it.”

My chest tightened at the mention of that word—apartment. We still didn’t even know if we’d be allowed back there. Darren noticed it, too, and quickly cleared his throat and looked away.

We fell into a tense silence after that but continued walking hand in hand nonetheless, taking it slow and easy. After a few minutes, I risked a glance over at Darren once more.

He looked… a little bit better. The tension in his shoulders had eased ever so slightly since we left the pack house, although the shadows under his eyes were still dark. Which was understandable, considering the fact that he hadn’t properly slept all night. I hadn’t, either, and I felt like death despite the pleasant forest air.

“Thank you for suggesting this,” Darren suddenly said without looking up from the ground. “I needed it.”

“I figured we all did,” I replied with a shrug. “Lucas especially. He cried himself to sleep last night, you know. This is really affecting him.”

Darren’s jaw feathered, his gaze following Lucas as he disappeared behind a cluster of trees up ahead. “I know. Trust me, this is the last thing I’d ever want for him. The last thing Emilia would ever want for him.”

I could have said the same. Lucas wasn’t my biological son, but it didn’t matter. I still viewed him as my little boy at this point, and the thought of him being ostracized in the human world broke my heart. He’d practically been ripped from his home, just because he was different.

I bit the inside of my cheek. “It just makes me so angry,” I said after a moment. “I’m sure he’s already confused enough, being half werewolf and half human. Feeling like he doesn’t belong in one world or the other. And now this…”

My voice trailed off. I couldn’t bring myself to say more, because the very thought of that damned agent standing there with that deportation notice was enough to make my blood pressure spike.

Darren didn’t respond right away, although I could tell the thought bothered him just as much as it bothered me. Finally, he said, “Well, he’s lucky. Because he has you.” He glanced at me, and his eyes were a little softer than before.

I felt a lump rise in my throat. “I didn’t do anything, though. I certainly didn’t keep us from getting kicked out.”

He stopped walking then and turned to face me. His expression was serious, his eyes searching mine as he firmly said, “Stop selling yourself short, Aria. You’re Lucas’s rock. My rock. Sometimes, you have this way of looking on the bright side just when things look so dark.” He gestured around us, at the pink and white blossoms in the trees overhead. “You always manage to remind us what’s important, even when things seem hopeless.”

“All I did was suggest a walk,” I chuckled.

But Darren’s face was still stern. “It’s not about the walk. Without you, I wouldn’t even be here. And I’m not just talking about when I was a pup or when you saved me on that train.”

I blinked, caught off guard. “I don’t understand…”

Darren sighed. “I’m just saying you’re a great Luna,” Darren said. “Even when we walked out of the pack house this morning, despite everything, you were smiling and holding my hand. That means a lot to Lucas and myself, but also to the pack. You might not realize this, but they do look to you for guidance. You’re their leader, too. Not just me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Me, a leader they look to for guidance? I can barely speak my mind half the time. And I’m a self conscious wreck whenever I do try to speak my mind.”

Darren frowned. “Being a leader isn’t about being the loudest or the most outgoing,” he asserted firmly. “It’s about being genuine. About caring for the people around you and making the tough decisions when it matters most. And you do that better than anyone I know.”

His words washed over me, but it was still hard to believe. I still felt so out of place, still settling into a world that I knew next to nothing about. But I let Darren pull me in nonetheless, his lips brushing my forehead as his arms encircled my waist.

We stood there for a few moments longer, the forest quiet around us except for the distant sound of Lucas’s laughter. The sunlight filtered through the trees, casting dappled shadows on the ground, and the air was filled with the sweet scent of cherry blossoms.

I leaned up on my tiptoes then, pressing my lips to Darren’s in a soft kiss. When I pulled back, he was smiling for the first time in days, and he brushed his thumb across my cheekbone to push a strand of hair out of my eyes.

But the moment was shattered by Lucas’s voice calling from afar. “Mommy! Daddy! Look what I found!”

We turned to see him standing a few yards away, pointing at something in the bushes. As we made our way over to him, I saw what had caught his attention: something glinting in the sunlight, partially hidden beneath the underbrush.

“Whatcha got there, buddy?” Darren asked.

Lucas shrugged and took a step back. “I don’t know.”

Frowning slightly, Darren crouched down, pushing aside the branches to get a better look. My breath caught in my throat as I realized what it was.

A camera.

And not just any camera—Alfira’s personal camera, the very same one she had been using to film the documentary. The strap was torn and the lens was cracked as if it had been ripped from her neck and thrown to the ground, but I would recognize it anywhere.

Darren picked it up and stood, his eyes wide. I swallowed, just staring at the camera in silent shock.

Glancing up at me for a moment, Darren then pressed the button to open the SD card slot.

Lo and behold, the card was still safely tucked inside.