Chapter 54

**ADAM**

It's been two days since Austin and Aria left and I'm already starting to lose it. My wolf and I need to be with her and the little one she's carrying. Even if it's the spitting image of Austin when it's born, I'll love this baby as if it were my own. Hell, it'll be mine no matter what.

I'm finding it harder and harder to concentrate on my work, especially as I don't know if they're really safe there, and that's what's most frustrating. Since Austin revealed part of the truth to David, we haven't heard any suspicious conversations. All this makes me think that he certainly had nothing to do with this frame-up.

Fares opens my office door without knocking. "Alex has something. Come."

I follow him hurriedly into his office.

"It may be nothing, but I'd rather you heard it because I've got a bad feeling about it." Alex tells me before pressing a button on his keyboard.

"What are you doing?" We hear David's voice asked.

"I'm making Aria some juice. It's her favorite. I always made it for her when we lived together." Riley replies.

"Is everything okay between you two?"

"Yes." She replies curtly. "Everything's back to the way it was." She adds a little more gently.

"Are you sure everything's okay?" He asks again.

She sighs loudly and we hear a sound of glass or something in glass tapping loudly on a surface. "Yes. I already told you."

"I know what you told me, but allow me to doubt it." There's a short pause. "You've been weird lately. I feel you're blocking me. Fuck I'm your mate and you're blocking your feelings from me."

"Just because we're mates doesn't mean we have to share everything all the time." She answers through gritted teeth.

"Well, it didn't bother you at first."

"Well, I'm allowed to change my mind. I'm leaving." She tells him and we hear the sound of the door opening and closing.

A few moments later we hear the door again, then nothing but the silence.

I exchange a glance with Fares and Alex is the first to speak.

"I think David is completely out of it, but it's possible his mate is hiding something."

"He's right. You should warn Aria to be careful... if she was able to send someone to hurt or kill her father... she's capable of hurting her." Fares adds.

"The conversation has a 6-minute lag so you should call her now. They may already be together." Alex tells me.

I nod and pull out my phone to call Aria, but it goes straight to voicemail. I try Leila, hoping they're together.

"Leila, is Aria with you?" I ask her.

"Hi I'm fine thanks and you dear brother?" She replies dryly before sighing. "No, I'm with Rosalie. Aria was at the pack house, she had to see Riley. I was about to join them."

"Okay, she's not answering her phone. I want you to make sure she's okay and tell her to watch out for Riley. We don't know what she's capable of."

**ARIA**

This fucking juice is as good as I remember. Honestly, the first one she offered me when I arrived, I hesitated to accept it, but I think there's still a part of me that hopes it's all a mistake and we realize it's coming from someone else. But Rosalie smelled it discreetly beforehand to make sure it wasn't poisoned. Just in case.

"And how is Adam coping with you being away from him right now?" Riley asks me suddenly as we walk through the garden.

"It's not easy for him, but we're in a relationship that requires compromise. So we're all in it together to make it work." I reply.

"Mhmm." She answers absently.

My wolf starts to squeak a little. *"Are you okay?"* I ask her.

*"I've been better... I don't know if it's carrying a child but I feel tired, very very tired. I'm going to take a nap."* she replies and her voice gradually fades.

Honestly, I don't know if this is normal or even if I should be worried.

"I'm going to go inside, it's getting hot outside and I'm dying of thirst." I say to Riley.

"No worries. I'll come with you."

**LEILA**

After hanging up with my dear brother, I join Cassius to find Aria. I thought I'd find her in the gardens, but she's not there. I try to concentrate as hard as I can to talk to her through the mindlink, but I can't reach her. Okay, I'm starting to worry. Cass, who's watching me intently, sees through my eyes.

"We should warn Austin. Just in case."

He's so protective of his sister, but at the same time, I can't blame him, I'm protective of my brothers too, and they're the only blood family they've got left. He texts him to ask if he knows where his little sister is and a priori she told him she was going to rest for a while in their room. My dear mate will only be completely reassured if he sees with his own eyes that his little sister is all right, so we go up to Austin's apartment and knock on the door. After several unanswered knocks, we enter. There is no noise at all.

"Aria!" We call to her, but she doesn't answer. "Aria! We just wanted to make sure you were okay." I add.

As this is the first time I've been here, I don't know where their room is. I open a door but it's a pantry. I open a second door and Aria is lying on the bed, a bloodstain covering her crotch and the white sheets. The smell of blood is unbearable and my fangs come out.

An animal roar resounds behind me and I don't need to turn around to see that Cassius has seen the state his little sister is in. He pushes past me to take her in his arms and shouts her name desperately.