(POV - Marcus)

Watching Jaden drive away with Aria in the passenger seat rooted Marcus to the gravel of the driveway. For too long, his body refused to move, almost as if it was forcing him to face the consequences of his poor decisions.

He was so torn, he had no idea where to even begin to sort through the messy brambles of conflicting emotions. On one hand, he yearned to go after her, to hold her against him and breathe her in until he knew nothing else but her.

One the other hand, the part of his soul that clung to Helena urged him to let Aria go, and be rid of her so he could continue living his life of self-imposed solitude. It was what he deserved for losing his mate, for not being there when she needed him most, when their son needed him most.

He had spent the last five years enduring the crippling guilt and grief, and for a brief, shining moment, when Aria had stepped into his life, the guilt and the grief retreated. And he saw what his life might be with Aria at his side instead of the baggage he insisted on carrying with him everywhere he went.

But he didn't know if he was allowed to chase that small kernel of hope, that tiny glimmer of happiness that Aria had gifted him in their short time together

He didn't want to think about what Helena might have said, because he would only fall further into the pit of all-consuming guilt that would steer him towards another stupid decision like the one that led him to living with a wild wolf pack for over a year.

He couldn't abandon his pack again, and he couldn't hurt his friends that way again, either. He frowned, the frustration building the longer he was at war with himself.

What was the right decision? Should he stay true to his dead mate and honor her memory by serving his time in isolation? Or was he stupid for letting go for the first person who had made him laugh in years all because he was afraid of the brand new feelings burgeoning in his chest?

He couldn't even compare how either of them had made him feel.

Helena had been his true mate, the one wolf created to live alongside his own, their existence blessed by the moon. He'd been drawn to her from a deep, primal place that he had no control over. Even the things she did that drove him insane, like the way she squeezed toothpaste from the middle of the tube instead of the end, couldn't get in the way of the soul-deep bond they shared. Helena had been reserved, proper compared to her wilder peers, who had spent their childhoods tormenting the local fae people and conspiring to prank the nearest coven of vampires

Helena had removed herself from their games, seeing herself above that behavior. Anyone else would have thought she was pretentious, but Marcus knew it was because she was shy and gentle. And she hated causing trouble for others.

Aria wasn't much different, but she stood up for herself and made sure she took care of the people she loved no matter what might happen to her. She'd told him countless stories about the books she'd read and the places they'd taken her, and he'd been mesmerized by every single word she spoke. She strung words together like pearls on a necklace, delicate and precise, but with such passion that he found himself falling into the worlds she described to him.

And she constantly surprised him with her little quirks. Like the way she spouted little facts that no one else could possibly know, and the way she'd dance in her seat while she ate, a clear sign she was happy. He'd found himself paying more attention to the little scrunch of her nose when she told a joke, or the soft hums against his neck while she slept beside him.

And he couldn't stop thinking about how easy it was to be around her, no matter what was going on, his wolf felt at ease as long as she was there.

He'd noticed that night at the banquet when Aiden had hurt her and Marcus had somehow refrained from tearing his insides out and putting them on display for the rest of the pack. He realized later that he'd been able to stay so calm because he was focused on Aria and her wellbeing. It had happened again after that night, when he'd returned from patrol, the muscles in his shoulders and neck knotted with tension. His tension had ebbed the minute he'd slipped into his room and smelled her scent on almost everything. He'd climbed into bed and pulled her to his chest, feeling the rest of his stress dissolve when she hummed happily and snuggled closer in her sleep.

Was that why it pained him so much to see another wolf taking her away? Worse yet, taking her back to the true mate who had hurt her and sent her running into Marcus' arms in the first place.

His blood bolled at the mere thought of Aiden being within sniffing distance of Aria, and had to breathe through the rage so that he didn't accidentally shift.

He heard the gravel shift behind him under a new set of approaching feet and didn't need to turn to know who joined him.

"Alpha," Mercucio said, keeping his gaze on the road that disappeared around the edge of the forest. "It's getting late. You've been out here for quite a while."

Marcus didn't answer him. Mercucio kicked at the stones at his feet.

"Are you going to come inside for dinner?" Mercucio asked.

Marcus shook his head absently, his mind on the scent that was slowly beginning to fade. He could sense that Mercucio had more to say, but his Delta remained quiet for a moment, the both of them staring off into the distance, their minds on different things.

"Would it be okay if I voiced an opinion?" he asked with uncertainty, but Marcus nodded anyway. "In the last few weeks, since you first brought Aria back here, I've seen the Alpha I know you to be after all these years. And I get the sense that you're struggling with your feelings for Helena."

Mercucio was always the most intuitive of their friend group, possessing the uncanny ability to understand what each of them were feeling without being told. In most situations, it was a welcome reprieve for those times when speaking was difficult. Mostly when they had shifted into their wolf forms and couldn't physically speak to one another.

Just then, however, Marcus felt the stirrings of annoyance that coat tailed his own anger at himself. "You haven't asked a question," he grunted, folding his arms across his chest. Mercucio sighed and slid his hands into his pockets.

"I don't really have a question, Marc," he said. "But I just wonder if maybe Aria isn't exactly what you need to help you fight those demons of yours."

He might have replied sarcastically but was left speechless because, for the first time in too long, he and his wolf agreed.

Maybe Aria was exactly what he needed.

The disgust he'd felt for himself for the developing feelings he had for Aria had disappeared, and he knew. then, that Mercucio was right.

"You enjoy being the one who's never wrong, don't you?"

Mercucio chuckled softly, sounding amused and rueful at the same time.

"Sometimes it kind of sucks," he admitted with a lazy shrug. "But someone has to do it."

Marcus snorted, his thoughts distracted for a moment by the memory of Jaden's unusual protectiveness of Marcus' Delta. With everything that had happened since that conversation, the little reminder he'd given himself had fallen to the wayside and he hadn't had a good chance to dissect that particular gem of information.

"You and Jaden," he said, noticing the way Mercucio tensed up at the mention of Jaden's name. "Are you guys okay?"

"Why do you ask?" he said evasively.

Marcus narrowed his eyes, sensing he wouldn't get much information out of Mercucio.

"You're both dancing around each other while staying impossibly close," Marcus pointed out. "Jaden was more worried about you than he was about me when my rut started."

"Shouldn't you be running after your female instead of playing detective?"

The mention of Aria's name had his instincts kicking into overdrive, his wolf suddenly clawing to break free and chase after her.

"We're talking this out when I get back," Marcus said, already heading into a jog and pulling his T-shirt off. "No evasions."

"Yes, Alpha," Mercucio called, raising a hand in farewell just as Marcus hit the treeline, shifting while he ran. The trees turned to masses of brown and green around him, the air whistling in his ears as he raced after Aria's dwindling scent.

They'd likely be more than halfway to her pack's territory, but he'd push his body to cover as much distance as he could. They had a solid hour's head start, maybe more, he'd lost track of how long he had stood outside in the driveway after they'd left. He made up the distance easily. hearing the roar of Jaden's engine up ahead.

He dodged a few of the wider trunks and broke through the treeline, his paws leaving the soil and hitting tar, ripping up chunks of road but he didn't care.

Aria was so close, his wolf could sense her, somehow feel her presence and he needed to be closer, needed her to come back with him to his territory where they could lose themselves to one another again.

He leapt in front of the car without a single thought, Jaden managing to slam on brakes just inches from Marcus' face.