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Aria’s Pov

The side effect of things that was happening, maybe I was overthinking. I thought I was… I really thought I was crazy! 

“Come closer, Aria. Don't look so surprised.” He uttered and I was so sure of what I was looking at. I was shivering on my stand there, everything was still inside my mind. 

It took time to speak, the seconds counted with the both of us staring at each other. 

He smirked and repeated the words; “Come now, don't feel shy” 

“Noah? Noah? What the hell is this?” I yelled, turning out my disbelief into anger that I couldn't subdue. I didn't imagine Noah would be the one to make things so awfully disbursed that way. 

“What are you doing?” I snapped, jerking away as Noah’s hand brushed my shoulder.  

He didn’t answer. Instead, he stepped closer, his eyes dark and filled with something I couldn’t place. When his hand reached for me again, I shoved it away, anger boiling in my chest.  He sure wasn't insane, I knew it when he looked at me with lust in his eyes. 

“Stop it!” I yelled, my voice trembling with rage. “Why are you doing this?”  

Noah’s lips twisted into a smirk, one that sent chills down my spine. “Don’t ask questions, Aria,” he said, his tone was as cold as ice. His moves, I calculated well but I couldn't get them well as his eyes were fixed on me. 

Before I could react, he leaned in, his hand gripping my arm tightly as he tried to kiss me. My hand moved on instinct, slapping him hard across the face.  

“Don’t you dare!” I spat on him, my heart beating fast. 

The slap seemed to snap something in him. His face twisted in fury, and he grabbed me by the arm, yanking me closer. “How dare you!” he barked at me then turned to the men standing behind him; “Take her back now!”

“No! Please!” I begged, struggling against his grip. “Don’t do this, Noah. Please, just save Valerian. He’s just a child! And you know it, you shouldn't hurt him, he did nothing wrong”  

Valerian, standing nearby, was crying, his small voice trembling as he pleaded, “Don’t hurt me, please! Don’t hurt my mommy! Uncle Noah, don't do this”  His voice faded and I couldn't watch my son plead for my life and his. 

Tiara, who had been watching silently, stepped forward, her voice cutting through the situation. It was so immensely attended to and I didn't want to wire much about it. “You’re letting him manipulate you, Aria,” she said. “Stop begging. He doesn’t care about you. He won't listen to you at all too.”  

Noah’s grip on my arm tightened as he sneered at Tiara. “Of course I don’t care,” he said bitterly. “Everything I did, I did because I loved her. But she chose Connor. Always Connor. She didn't even look at my face twice before she rejected me and then made Connor the Alpha of the pack. Do you know how it feels to be left out? Tiara you shouldn't be a stranger to that.”  

One of Noah’s men whispered something to him, and his eyes lit up with a sinister idea. 

He turned back to me, his expression cruel. “If you want to live, Aria,” he said, his voice dripping with malice and evil, “kill Valerian.” 

“What!?” I asked in disbelief. 

“It wouldn't hurt, I know that. It would make you forget about Connor and we can be together without any interference of evil”  

My heart stopped. “What? Noah, are you drunk? Are you really this heartless? 

“You heard me,” he said, a twisted grin spreading across his face. “Kill him, or you die.”  

Tears streamed down my face as I clutched Valerian protectively. “What’s the point of living if my son is dead?” I cried.  

Noah chuckled darkly. “I’ve never seen you so desperate. So miserable. It’s pathetic.”  

“What did you just say, Noah? Fo I hear you right?” 

Something inside me snapped. A raw, untamed power surged through my veins, igniting every nerve in my body. 

I raised my head, meeting Noah’s gaze with eyes that burned with fury.  

“You’ll regret this,” I said, my voice low and menacing.  

The air around us shifted, growing heavy and electric. The ground trembled, and a deafening crack of thunder echoed through the sky.  

Before anyone could react, the building began to collapse around us. Walls crumbled, and debris rained down as the storm outside intensified. Lightning struck repeatedly, each bolt shaking the earth.  

“Noah!” one of his men screamed, his voice barely audible over the chaos.  

But Noah was frozen in fear, his face pale as the storm raged around him.  

I stumbled forward, my legs weak but determined. Grabbing Valerian’s hand, I pulled him close, shielding him from the falling debris. “We’re leaving,” I whispered to him. “We’re going to be okay.”  

The storm raged on as we made our way out of the wreckage. Each step was a struggle, the ground beneath us slick with mud and water. Trees swayed violently in the wind, their branches breaking and falling all around us.  

“Mommy, I’m scared,” Valerian said, his voice small and shaky.  

“I know, baby,” I said, my voice breaking. “But we’re going to get through this. Just stay close to me. You know what? We only have few minutes left and then we can have so much to do with Dad and ourselves”  

As we moved through the forest, the sound of rain pounding against the leaves was deafening.

I heard a faint whistling sound, and before I could react, a voice shouted, “Get down!”  

I dropped to the ground, pulling Valerian with me as an arrow zipped past, embedding itself in a nearby tree. My heart raced as I scanned the area, but I couldn’t see where the voice had come from.  

I stayed for a few more minutes, and I had to spend my time too.

“Who’s there? Show yourself, whoever you are, please? ” I shouted, my voice barely carrying over the storm.   

There was no answer, only the sound of the rain and the distant rumble of thunder.  

“Who are you?” I yelled again, desperation creeping into my voice.