Chapter 42

**ARIA**

After I bit him, I felt a multitude of feelings, his and I felt the unconditional love he has for me. It was so moving that I cried. He is so in love with me and to feel that raw love like that was intense. I feel confident that I will spend the rest of my life with them, however long that may be. But now that I've marked him I can't imagine my life without him. Is that how he and Austin felt when they saw me...that certainty?

"You'll start to feel my emotions, as I feel hers." Adam snaps me out of my thoughts. I'm on cloud nine, lying naked next to him. "The more time we spend together, the more it will intensify." He slides his index finger down my arm. "I'm yours, Aria. Just like you are mine." He sighs sharply and kisses my temple. "I have to go, I have something to deal with." He gets up from the bed, not trying to hide his nakedness, and heads to the bathroom. I follow him with my gaze, my eyes staring at his muscular ass.

How did I go from being a normal human student to a werewolf with two super sexy mates? It seems almost too good to be true, expecting to wake up suddenly in my room, realizing that it was really just a dream. A beep sounds from my phone and I grab it off the bedside table to see a message from Riley.

*Riley: I wish we could talk. Let me know when I can call you.*

*Riley: I miss you.*

Adam comes out of the bathroom, still naked and with his hair dripping. I put the phone back down and stare at him shamelessly as he puts on boxers. He turns and looks at me with a smirk.

"I'll never get tired of this view." I confess.

"And I'll never get tired of feeling what you feel when you admire this view." He responds by gesturing towards his body and laughing. "Austin should be here by late morning. I'll let you catch up while I take care of a couple of things." He pulls on a pair of jeans and then a t-shirt and comes over to kiss me before putting on his socks and shoes.

"I can't wait to meet my two wolves...don't make me wait too long please." My wolf is complaining.

Soon, I promise.

Adam kisses me again and walks out of the room. I run into the bathroom to get ready and once I'm back in the room, I call Riley.

"Hi Aria. I'm glad you called me." She says after the second ring.

"Hi." I simply answer her.

She sighs. "I don't even know where to start but I think telling you I'm sorry would be a good start."

"Indeed."

"Look, I know I shouldn't have spoken to you the way I did. I know you're not selfish and I know all too well how much the mate bond affects us. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you sooner. I should have made the first move long before but I was ashamed. Ashamed that I was such a bad friend."

She speaks words I wish I had heard the day after our fight.

"I forgive you." But I don't forget.

"I miss you so much and Clara misses you so much too. She asked me when you were coming back to the pack."

I gasp lightly. "I don't know. In light of the situation...I need to talk to Austin about it when he gets back."

"Yeah it's crazy that story. I never thought he would tell her to distance herself."

"Anyway, it benefits David."

"Not at all. He's meant to be beta not alpha. Austin is like his brother, he was so disappointed. He did everything he could to get his dad to convince the other voters. But it wasn't enough... I'm sorry. I hope that everything will go back to normal soon. That we can watch movies while stuffing our faces with popcorn and cookie dough ice cream."

I laugh softly. "I feel like watching the Goonies now."

"Or The Notebook." She sighs. "Have I told you how much I miss you?"

"I miss you too." I tell her.

It's hard not to see her anymore when I used to see her every day. I even miss the way she used to reseal the bottles in the fridge... that's how much.

"Maybe we can get together when I visit my parents. Adam's...community lives not too far away."

"Yeah that would be nice."

We both talk for a bit, then eventually we hang up. I didn't even know she knew where the palace was.
I think about little Clara and I'm almost ashamed to admit that I hadn't thought about it. I haven't known her very long, but I miss her too.

I wish I could turn, I wonder how to do it.

"You don't have to do anything. I do all the work, you just have to relax." My wolf answers me. "You wanna try it? Go outside, I don't want to ruin the furniture."

I go outside and stand aside, then I do what Austin did when I saw him transform and I undress. I find it rather difficult to relax when you are naked in the middle of the trees and anyone can surprise you.
I relax as much as I can and feel my wolf taking over more and more. The extremities of my body begin to tingle and I feel my bones and my whole body lengthen and morph. I was expecting pain but no, it was a little unpleasant but not unbearable. I am on all fours and I let my wolf guide our body. It was the strangest sensation I have ever felt. I feel the wind on my long hair, the earth and the grass under my paws as we run. I feel completely free and I understand why werewolves feel the need to run so much. My wolf suddenly stops and sniffs the air. I would know that smell anywhere, we turn around and a huge black wolf is standing in front of us.

"My mate."

They approach each other and sniff each other while circling. We lick his muzzle and he shakes his head. They look into each other's eyes for a moment and they both start running. we approach a watering hole and stop. I look at my reflection in the water, my wolf is black with a big white spot around the right eye. She has a bit of both of our mates.