(POV-Aria)

Aria had lost herself in her thoughts, staring out the window at the trees that zoomed past and blurred into a green smudge outside the warmth of the car.

It was dark already, the entire day turning into a blur that she wished she could remember only for the good in it. Her run with Marcus had started off great, it helped her get her mind off of whatever was going on back home and allowed her to breathe easy, if only for a few moments. His playful nips at her hind legs, the way he'd tackled her to the ground with a smug little tilt of his head, his eyes glinting in mischief, it had all been so wonderful. She'd never had that much fun on a run before.

But, of course, she had to go and ruin it.

Her curiosity got the better of her and she just had to investigate that weird scent that lingered beyond the trees in the clearing. She had to be stubborn about it, refusing to take his warning.

And Marcus had punished her for it.

As hard as she tried to only think of the positives, all her mind would fixate on was the deep, threatening growl followed by Marcus pinning her to the ground without a thought. In that moment, he could have killed her and she wouldn't have been able to defend herself, and Aria hated that she would have let it happen just because he caught her off guard.

Her father had taught her better than that. Never turn your back on another wolf, even if they're family.

Those words had been scored into her mind by years of repetition, her father drilling it into her because, unfortunately, wolves could turn on each far too easily. And Aria had proven to be a little naive and far too trusting at an early age.

It seemed she'd be in for another lecture from her father when she got back home, one she knew she deserved but was not looking forward to anyway.

She let her thoughts stray to her parents, remembering the phone call she'd had earlier that same day. She wondered how they were doing, really, with Aiden being so unpredictable. If he had people watching April, surely he also had people trailing her parents?

Her father wouldn't be happy about that at all, and maybe that was why they hadn't mentioned anything to her. There's no news where there's no news, and if her father had his way, there would be no one keeping tabs on her parents. She hoped that was the case, for all their sakes, because she was worried enough about April, and she'd already heard about Aiden's thankfully failed attempts to kill her parents to get to Aria during her heat.

The forest beyond the car window began to thin out, the thicket of trees turning sparse and bare.

They were leaving Marcus' territory, and even from inside the car, she could smell the shift in scent as they approached the border. It was still a long way out, give or take an hour, but her heart squeezed anxiously.

She hadn't wanted to leave this way. And a part of her was scared to go home and face Aiden after being away for a week.

Not only would she be returning after allowing Marcus to take her away from Aiden that night at the banquet, but his scent had mixed with hers enough to create somewhat of a hybrid scent, something that usually only happened to mated wolves. Aiden would be furious, and in his unpredictability, she had no idea how he would react.

He might kill her. Or he might go after Marcus and kill him.

He might even go entirely batshit crazy and wipe out his own pack.

Each possibility was worse than the last, and they chased one another around Aria's exhausted mind until she shut her eyes with a subdued whine.

Jaden must have heard her, or at least noticed the change in her scent, because he sighed and reached over to turn the volume on the radio down.

"They always play the most depressing shit after 9 pm," he commented, sounding genuinely upset by the radio hosts who decided Lana Del Ray would be the soundtrack of the evening. She had to agree though.

"People who drive around at this hour are usually not in the best places," she murmured, unconsciously speaking her thoughts.

"How do you mean?" Jaden asked. He kept his eyes on the dark road ahead, but Aria knew she had his attention.

"Well, think about it," she said, shifting in the passenger seat so that she sat up straight, her body turned towards him. "If people are going for late night drives and listening to the radio, it's probably because they're alone and need to feel some form of human connection, even if it's through the radio. If people are only on their way home from work at this time, they're tired as hell and probably hate their jobs, and if they're leaving for work, they're working graveyard shifts which are notoriously inhumane and should be illegal."

Jaden frowned in thought, nodding slowly as he processed what she said.

"I guess I can see where you're coming from," he said. "But I think that's a little too sad. I personally, love late night drives."

"You do?"

He hummed, an easy smile on his face.

"I love it when the roads are quiet, when it's just me. I don't have to worry about anyone else, and I can think without having to process a million different things at once," he explained. He turned to wink at her. "Besides, who wouldn't love a late night drive with a gorgeous female in the passenger seat?"

She ducked her head, a reluctant giggle on her lips. "I bet you get into all sorts of trouble with females."

He shrugged like he hadn't really thought about it. "Most of the time, I'm too busy keeping your Alpha out of prison to even think about females."

She tried not to think about it, but she hadn't gotten the chance to talk to anyone about Marcus, and she wanted to know more about him, even if she was running from him just then.

"I doubt he's that bad," she prompted, resting her cheek on her knee. She'd pulled her feet onto the seat, looking for a more comfortable position for the next two hours of driving.

"Only because you haven't seen him at his worst," Jaden chuckled. "I once had to drag him out of a bar by the teeth because some stupid, drunk wolf had insulted his sentries."

She hated to admit it, but hearing how Marcus defended his pack made Aria's chest warm.

"That doesn't sound so bad," she said.

"I I guess not," he agreed. "But only because he's a noble idiot. I say idiot because you're in the car with me right now instead of in his bed with him. Lucky me."

"You're so full of it," Aria giggled, her cheeks burning again. "I saw you at the sex club, you had, what? Two or three pretty females practically hanging off your arms all night!"

"True, but none of them were as feisty as you," he teased. "I like feisty."

Aria found that his teasing and flirting helped keep her mind preoccupied, and he had such an easy way of making her smile.

"Trouble," she corrected. "You like trouble."

"Eh, same thing," Jaden pointed out with a lazy half shrug. "Balance is the most important thing in relationships."

"Oh, please tell me what your idea of balance is?"

"Hey, I'm not a circus wolf," he warned teasingly. "But if you must know, a healthy balance of feisty, trouble, sex goddess and best friend material."

"That's," she paused, looking for the right words. "Surprisingly cute of you."

She was grateful for his easy-going nature, and the fact that he was obviously making conversation to get her out of her depressing thoughts. "I'm guessing you haven't found your mate yet?"

It seemed such a shame if he hadn't, because he deserved to have someone make him happy.

But he tensed up suddenly, his fingers squeezing the leather of the steering wheel. He cleared his throat and, for a moment, Aria thought he might ignore her.

"I, uh, I don't know," he mumbled, his voice almost too soft for Aria to hear. He didn't know? What did that mean? As far as she knew, finding a mate was a sure thing: as soon as a mated pair scented one another, they both knew. There wasn't room for the uncertainty clinging to Jaden's words.

Aria opened her mouth to ask what he meant but was interrupted by Jaden cursing and slamming on the brakes, jolting them both forward as the tyres screeched to a halt. She managed to catch sight of the obstacle in the road, a huge, dark figure that had darted out from the treeline, before Jaden had hit the brakes, but she'd shut her eyes and ducked down to brace for the inevitable impact.

Only, it never came.

The car stopped without hitting anything, and Aria slowly lifted her head, looking at Jaden first.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice shallow and her breathing heavy. "Jaden?"

Jaden didn't answer; he only stared straight ahead, his scent growing thick with anger.

Aria turned to see what had jumped into the road in front of them and gasped.

Marcus stood in front of the car, barely an inch between him and the bumper, his huge wolf form barely moving.