The atmosphere in the Crimsonveil Pack's headquarters was heavy with tension, punctuated by the smell of freshly ground coffee and stale paper. Aria entered, her heart pounding steadily, not from nervousness, but from resignation.

She was accustomed to the stifling environment, accustomed to the manner in which people's eyes followed her with barely veiled disdain or pity. She was, after all, the Alpha's mate, a man who had never loved her. A man who had made it agonizingly obvious that she meant nothing to him.

"Aria," the receptionist, Madeline, said with a forced smile, pushing the papers on her desk. "Someone is here to see you."

Aria raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

Before Madeline could answer, a sickly sweet voice she knew too well filled the room.

"Oh, don't play so dumb, Aria. Did you really think you could hide from me?"

Aria clenched her jaw as she spun around to see Sophia Vincenzo, Luca's younger sister, standing in the doorway with a smile on her face. Dressed in an expensive silk blouse and slacks, Sophia possessed the same carefree arrogance as her brother.

Naturally, it had to be her.

What do you want, Sophia?" Aria said, her voice even. She was not going to let Sophia see her weakness, no matter how much Sophia enjoyed attempting to get under her skin.

Sophia moved closer, her heels snapping against the wood floor as she looked down on Aria with a patronizing smile. "I just dropped by to see how you're doing. You know, make sure you haven't done something. irresponsible.

Aria folded her arms. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sophia let out a dramatic sigh, as if she were truly concerned. "Oh, Aria. You're still pretending, aren't you? Acting like you belong here, like my brother could ever want you. It's pathetic."

Aria didn't budge. She'd learned a long time ago not to let Sophia's bait sink its hooks into her. Instead, she drew herself up, meeting the other woman's glare with unflinching equanimity.

"I'm not pretending anything, Sophia," she replied. "I know precisely where I stand.

Sophia chuckled, nodding her head. "Do you? Because the last time I looked, my brother was showing off Emily while you spent your time moping in the background. You were a mistake, a sympathy case."

Aria breathed heavily, shoving away the keen bite of the words. Her thoughts instead slipped into the past,the moment all the changes took place.

Luca had been in an accident. There had been a rogue attack that had left him covered in blood and half-conscious. Aria had been the one to treat his wounds, sitting beside him when no one else would. She had nursed him, guarded him, praying that in his most vulnerable moments, he would see her.

And for a moment, he didn't have an excuse not to.

He had stretched for her, his fingers stroking the delicate curve of her wrist in a move that was almost vulnerable. "Aria..." he had whispered, a hint of something almost like fondness coloring his voice.

She had let it mean something. She had thought that maybe, just possibly, he felt it too, the bond, the pull, the inevitable connection that had rooted itself so deeply within her.

***

Aria had spent the whole morning trying to talk herself out of caring. Out of allowing Sophia's words to seep into her pores like poison she couldn't shake. But the instant she walked out of the office, her feet led her in the one direction they shouldn't-toward Luca's study.

She didn't knock. She never needed to before. But everything was different now, wasn't it?

But still, she opened the door. Luca stood against the window, his back to her, one hand on the desk and a glass of something in his other, dark. Whiskey, perhaps. The smell of oak and smoke hung around.

He did not turn when she came in, but she knew he heard her. He always did.

"You've been avoiding me." Her voice was steady, but only because she forced it to be.

Luca finally moved, setting the glass down with a soft clink. "And?"

Aria clenched her hands at her sides. "And I want to know why."

Now he turned. His expression was unreadable, his dark eyes cold. "I didn't realize I owed you an explanation."

She swallowed over the knot in her throat. "Emily's family is visiting today, Sophia told me."

A flash crossed his eyes-before she could identify it. "And?"

And? That was it?

Aria breathed in, calming herself. "Are you going to marry her?"

Silence. Thick. Crushing.

Luca's jaw clenched. "That's none of your business."

It shouldn't be. It really, really shouldn't be. But it was.

"Then what am I to you, Luca?" The words escaped her mouth before she could catch them.

He let out a harsh breath, running a hand over his face, as if weary from her very existence. "Why are we doing this?"

"Because I need to know!" The words burst from her in a rush of frustration. "You've been... different. Ever since that night."

Luca stiffened.

"You barely look at me. When you do, it's like I'm nothing. Like I never mattered at all." Her voice cracked at the end, and she hated herself for it.

Luca's gaze darkened. "You shouldn't have come here, Aria."

Her stomach clenched. "Why? Because I may finally get you to tell me the truth?"

He didn't respond.

So she continued. "Did you ever care about me? Even for an instant?"

A muscle flexed in his jaw. "No."

The breath was crushed from her body.

But she wasn't finished. She couldn't be.

Aria moved slowly, deliberately, forward. "Then explain why you held me that night."

Luca's eyes blazed. "Don't.

"Why did you let me take care of you. Why you looked at me like-"

"I said don't." His voice was sharp. A warning.

But she couldn't stop now.

"I thought we had something, Luca. That night-"

"You took advantage of me."

The words were a slap. Hard. Unforgiving.

Aria's breath caught. "What?"

Luca's expression was carved from stone, but his eyes-his damn eyes-were filled with something raw. Something close to anger.

"You touched me while I was vulnerable," he said, each word precise, cutting her down piece by piece. "You tried to force something that wasn't there."

Her heart shattered.

"Luca, I-"

"Don't." His voice was ice. His glare, a blade. "You and I were never meant to be anything. This bond? It's one-sided. Whatever you think you feel for me is your problem. Not mine."

Aria felt her breath hitch, her entire body stiffening. "What?" The single word barely escaped her lips.

Luca straightened, the vulnerable man she had cared for nowhere in sight. His usual cold demeanor settled back in place, like a shield snapping shut. "You touched me while I was vulnerable. You tried to force something that wasn't there."

The words struck like a physical blow. Aria could feel them tearing through her, sinking deep into the marrow of her bones. "Luca, I-that's not what happened. I never-"

"Don't." His voice was ice, cutting through her feeble protest. "You and I were never meant to be anything. This bond? It's one-sided. Whatever you think you feel for me is your problem. Not mine."

Aria opened her mouth, but nothing emerged. Not a word. There was nothing to say. The truth was standing right in front of her, in the unwavering steel of his gaze. He wasn't rejecting her- he never even thought of her.

That was the day she had realized the cruel truth. She was trapped in a one-way mate bond. While her soul called for him, his rejected her without a second thought.

Now, standing in front of Sophia, Aria swallowed back the lingering pain.

"If you're done, I'd like to get back to work," she said, keeping her voice neutral, unwilling to give Luca's sister the satisfaction of a reaction.

Sophia's eyes sparkled with amusement. "Still so stubborn, aren't you?" She moved closer, her voice dipping into a teasingly sweet register. "You know, Emily's family is coming today. It won't be long before my brother finally makes it official with her. What will you do then, Aria? Still stand around like a fool, waiting for him to change his mind?"

Aria returned her stare without wavering. "I won't be waiting around at all."

Sophia smiled, inclining her head slightly. "Oh? Are you actually going to leave? That would be the best you could do-for all of us."

Aria breathed out through her nose, a soft, controlled breath. "Would it?"

For an instant, something crossed Sophia's face. Doubt? No. Hesitation? Maybe. But she quickly covered it up with sneer. "Don't try to flatter yourself. You were never more than a pest to Luca."

Aria smiled faintly. "Then why do you continue to remind me of it every opportunity you get?"

Sophia's lips parted as if to retort, but before she could, the sound of the front doors opening echoed through the hallway. Several footsteps followed, their sharp clicks against the marble floor commanding attention. A voice rich with authority, sliced through the air.

"Sophia!"

Aria turned just as a tall, regal woman stepped inside, her every movement steeped in control. Flanked by two men who radiated power, she surveyed the room with piercing eyes that missed nothing.

Emily's family had arrived.