Chapter 246 That might actually break me
Aria’s POV
"I know how it sounds," I said quickly. "The mate bond is supposed to be this absolute thing, right? Once you find your True Mate, that’s it—no one else exists."
"But?" Emily prompted.
"But he said her name." The admission came out barely above a whisper. "In his sleep. He was having some kind of dream, and he called out for... for her."
"Who’s ’her’?"
"An Alpha’s daughter. She’s been... involved in some of the recent pack politics." I didn’t mention the confrontation at the gala, or the way Vanessa had looked at Damian like he was supposed to belong to her. "I don’t think they were ever actually together, but..."
"But you’re wondering if he wanted them to be," Emily finished.
I nodded miserably.
"Have you asked him about it?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because..." I pressed my palms against my eyes. "Because what if he confirms it? What if there’s some part of him that does wish things had been different? What am I supposed to do with that information?"
Emily was quiet for a moment.
"You’re human," she said finally. "Right?"
I nodded.
"So you don’t have the same... instinctive understanding of the mate bond that wolves do." She leaned forward.
"Aria, I’ve seen the way that man looks at you. I was there when he showed up at the Sylvia’s estate, remember? He looked at you like you were the only thing in the entire world that mattered."
"People can look at you a certain way and still have doubts," I said. "Still wonder about roads not taken."
"Maybe." Emily’s voice was gentle. "Or maybe you’re overthinking a random sleep-talking incident because you’re scared."
The observation hit too close to home.
"Scared of what?"
"Of believing you deserve this," Emily said simply. "Of accepting that maybe, just maybe, you found something real. Something that doesn’t come with conditions or hidden agendas."
My throat felt tight.
"You barely know me," I managed. "How can you—"
"Because I recognize it," Emily interrupted. "That fear. I see it every time I look in the mirror."
There was something broken in her expression—something that made me realize we were both carrying wounds we couldn’t quite name.
"What happened to you?" I asked softly.
Emily shook her head. "Nothing. Everything. Does it matter?"
"Yes."
She was quiet for a long moment, staring into her drink. When she finally spoke, her voice was different—softer, stripped of the deflection from before.
"Okay," she said. "You were honest with me. About Damian. About being scared. So it’s only fair I return the favor."
She took a breath. "I decided something a few days ago. Something I’d been avoiding for weeks."
"What do you mean?"
"Lucas." She said the name carefully, like it still cost her something. "I decided I’m not going to run from this anymore. From him. From whatever this is between us."
My eyebrows rose. "Lucas? What—"
Emily let out a short, humorless laugh. "He left, Aria. He gave up his rank, his pack, everything he’d built there—because of me. Because he said he couldn’t stand watching me hurt myself trying to be someone I wasn’t."
"I didn’t know that," I said quietly.
"Nobody does. We haven’t exactly announced it." She wrapped both hands around her glass like she needed something to hold onto.
"For weeks I kept telling myself it wasn’t real, that he’d regret it, that I wasn’t worth that kind of sacrifice. I kept pushing him away because it was easier than believing someone could actually choose me. Choose this."
"And now?"
"And now I’m done being a coward about it." Her voice wavered, but there was steel underneath it. "He gave up everything for me.
The least I owe him is the truth—that I love him too, and I’m not going to spend the rest of my life too scared to say it out loud. I won’t let him regret what he did. I can’t."
Something in my chest twisted at the raw honesty in her words.
"Emily, that’s... that’s huge."
"It’s terrifying," she admitted. "But it’s real. And I’d rather have something real and terrifying than something safe and hollow."
She looked up at me, and for the first time all night, her eyes were clear.
"That’s why I’m telling you not to let fear win, Aria. I know what it looks like from the inside. I nearly threw away the one good thing in my life because I was too afraid to believe I deserved it."
"You didn’t, though. Throw it away."
"Not yet. But I almost did." She reached across the table and squeezed my hand. "Don’t do what I almost did. Go home. Talk to Damian. Tell him what’s actually in your head instead of guessing at what might be in his. You might be surprised."
I swallowed hard, throat tight. "What if the truth is worse than what I’m imagining?"
"Then at least you’ll know," Emily said gently. "And you can grieve it and move forward instead of living in this... limbo. But Aria—I don’t think that’s what you’ll find. I think you’re scared of something good, the same way I was."
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed.
I glanced down to see another message from Damian.
[Hope you’re having a good time. Miss you.]
Three simple words that made my chest ache.
*Miss you.*
Did he? Really?
Or was I just convenient? Just the mate the Moon Goddess had assigned him, the human girl who’d stumbled into his world and complicated everything?
"You should go to him," Emily said, reading my face.
"It’s late. And I said I’d stay out with you—"
"I’ll be fine." She waved me off. "Go home, Aria. Talk to your mate. Figure this out before it eats you alive."
She was right. I knew she was right.
But as I gathered my things and said goodbye, I couldn’t shake the cold knot of anxiety in my stomach.
What if talking about it made everything worse?
What if I asked the wrong questions and got answers I couldn’t live with?I made my way to the restroom before leaving, needing a moment to compose myself.
The face that stared back at me from the mirror looked tired. Uncertain.
*You can do this,* I told my reflection. *You’ve survived worse than a difficult conversation.*
But even as I thought it, I wasn’t sure I believed it.
Because losing Ethan had hurt—but losing Damian?
That might actually break me.