LOGINThank you all for staying with me this far. This is my first book, and my writing is still far from perfect, but I am trying to grow with every chapter. Your thoughts about the story, the characters, and the moments that stayed with you would mean a lot to me. So please, if you enjoy the book, leave a comment and vote☺️
🍃 Arria POV I knew my mate pretty well by now. He was a man surrounded by rules, control, and walls. So when I said I loved him, I hadn’t expected “I love you too” in return. I didn’t need the words back. I needed them out of my chest. I needed him to know he had something solid, something permanent with me. I expected a hug, maybe. Or a kiss. I would have been fine with “good” said in his usual level tone, or even just a nod. I wouldn’t have seen a problem in a silent transition into setting the table for an early dinner. What I hadn’t expected was for him to stay so utterly frozen for what felt like two full minutes. And I definitely hadn’t expected the word that eventually left him. “Impossible.” Stated as an undeniable fact. I lowered my gaze, unsure how to deal with an answer like that. What was that even supposed to mean? Did he think I was incapable of love? Or too naive to understand the weight of the words and the extent of the feeling itself? Stone had voi
🍃 Arria POVI opened the office door without hesitation.“I am back,” I announced with a smile and went directly to him to give him a kiss.Fenrir pushed his chair back and pulled me into his lap.The kiss was small and perfect, and then he lifted his hand and started pulling leaves and small sticks out of my hair.My eyes widened.“Oh, Goddess, I must look like a witch,” I said, shifting to slip out of his hold.“You look like a nymph,” he answered, unbothered, tightening his hold on me.I was staying where I was. Obviously.He took a moment to finish, and when he spoke again, his words came tender.“You had fun.”I just nodded.I was still too ashamed of my appearance. And the fact, that he was intentionally showing me how he felt about it by letting his usual even tone soften, did not help at all.“Good.”I was rewarded with another kiss. This time on my forehead.“Are there more tasks on your list for today?”“Yes,” I confirmed softly, glancing at him.“I just came to say hello o
🍃 Arria POV By the time I reached the school, Stone’s words were still walking beside me. I took a breath. Then another. I had something to do, and I intended to do it right. “Arria!” Milena’s voice cut through my thoughts a second before she ran straight into me. I wrapped her in a warm hug. “You have the thinking face,” Milena said the moment she pulled back from my arms. “Did Stone give you bad news?” “No, sweetie. He told me something important, and I was analyzing it on the way here,” I explained. “But time is up, so no more adult problems. We are going to play.” She nodded enthusiastically. I smiled at her, took her hand, and we walked around the school to the nearby playground. It was already full when we arrived—children were running between the wooden houses and the slide, laughing loudly, arguing over turns, falling in the grass, and jumping back up. It was chaos. Bright and absolutely perfect chaos. Milena’s hand tightened around mine as she pulled me toward
🍃 Arria POV After we had both showered, eaten, and pretended the office had not just become something entirely different, Fenrir returned to work while I headed to school to pick up Milena for some quality bonding time at the playground.“Arria.” I was so lost in my thoughts that I almost ran into Stone. “Sorry,” I said, already sidestepping him. But his serious voice came again. “May I have a moment?” I stopped mid-step, not entirely sure if I really wanted to speak with him or Greg at the moment. I hadn't lied when I told Fenrir I was not angry with him. But when it came to them… that was a different story. Stone caught my hesitation but didn't retreat. “I could walk with you wherever you are going.” “School. Twenty minutes,” I stated and resumed walking. “Thank you.” The way he said it stirred something in me. There was nothing different in his tone, and still, I would swear it sounded resigned. And of course, I felt guilty for making him feel bad. He had always fol
🍃 Arria POV I was still half-lying against his chest, my body soft and useless. Fenrir’s arms were wrapped around me—the left one resting on my thigh and the other making slow, steady, reassuring circles over my back. He was waiting for my reaction, worried about how I felt. He shouldn’t. Yes, embarrassment tried to slip in, but I pushed it away because he did not deserve that, and because I did not regret a single thing that had happened between us. “It was…” I wanted to break the silence, to let him know I felt content, but I hadn’t prepared the words. “Something,” I finished, for lack of another, more precise word. It sounded stupid. I knew that. But my mind was still mushy and lazy, and apparently that was the best it could offer. “Something?” he repeated, tasting the word, his tone carefully neutral. It did not sound enough to me either. “A very good something,” I added softly. His hand stilled on my back for a second, then continued. Okay. That hadn’t gone as I had
🌘 Fenrir POV Control was meant as protection. It was the wall between me and the world that kept others safe. That was the universal truth I had grown up with. But Arria had proved herself the exception. From the day I first met her until now, neither Alaric nor I had ever felt anger toward her. We did not feel threatened. Or challenged. Not in the way that triggered the curse. Every time she said no, Alaric purred ‘Cute’. If she provoked me, he heard it as an invitation to play. His destructive nature went quiet when it was just me and her in the room. So keeping my control intact when we were alone with her was more habit than objective need. And now… Now she was angry and had emptied the room just to take on the role of seductress. Her anger fueled her boldness. And that boldness made her willing to explore. I thought she was pushing for a reaction from me. I knew she was. ‘Let’s play.’ Right. Her physical proximity was waking another kind of beast in me. Not
🍃 Arria POV I woke abruptly. The place beside me was empty and the room was too bright. I exhaled. I was late for training—two hours, maybe more. There was no point rushing now, so I relaxed back against the pillow. Memories from yesterday invaded my mind. I let them. Aron was still s
🌘 Fenrir POV She had not screamed or stomped after we left the vampire den. She had not said a word at all. She had not even shifted. Not once during the run back home. When we reached the clearing, she climbed down on her own. Moved ahead. Stopped. She waited. I almost exhaled. Back in
🍃 Arria POV
🍃 Arria POV “May I look now?” a child’s voice broke through the moment. I pulled away from Alaric immediately and turned in his lap to see who was behind me. Martha stood still, holding Milena close, the girl’s face pressed against her stomach. My eyes widened. “You…” I looked back at Alaric,







