Chapter 191: ~From the Sidelines~

Dominic's POV

I didn't think I'd ever see them like this… all cozied up to each other. Darius was slumped in the chair beside Aria's bed, his head tipped back at an angle that would definitely leave his neck aching for hours, one hand still loosely wrapped around Aria's wrist, but he looked more peaceful than I'd seen him in a very long while.

It pulled at my heartstrings.

Aria, on the other head, lay still beside him, her color had finally improved to something resembling normal. She seemed very calm, her chest rising and falling at an even pace.

I stood in the doorway for a moment longer than I needed to, just watching them. It struck me, but not for the first time this week, how different they both seemed from the people I originally knew, especially Darius.

The Alpha I grew up beside carried himself like nothing could touch him and after Elena's death, he'd isolated himself further, treating people with no regard. But this man looked like the high pedestal that he'd set himself on had crashed and burned. It made me worry about his mental state because guilt and self-recrimination were always openly displayed on his face nowadays.

I couldn't deny that he had a very valid reason to look that way as my thoughts went back unwillingly to the days I'd spent with Aria before all this. The negligence, disrespect and outright torture he'd put the woman through. I remembered him questioning her pregnancy, getting with Camille, the divorce and the pain in her eyes the night he threw her behind bars after she lost her baby. It had all chipped away at the person we all knew until she became a shell.

Looking at him now, folded into a chair too small for him, refusing to let go of her hand even in sleep had me feeling conflicted. Back then, there was nothing I wanted more than to beat the crap out of Darius for bothering Aria, now I was finding it hard to reconcile the two men as the same person. He'd been so arrogant before but he had softened up and seemed more like a human being with emotions now.

His eyes literally trailed behind Aria wherever she went. However, I wasn't sure yet whether the new version of him was worth trusting. He could be doing all this because of the bond or to just get a peace of mind due to remorse.

But all the pushing he was doing, would only lead to her making a very rash or hasty decision and if he was looking to fix their relationship, which I hoped was his goal, that wasn't the way to go about it. It could result in eventual resentment and a lifetime full of misery.

At least, that's what I thought.

But the distance seemed to be doing both of them no good. Aria was retreating daily into a shell and I was sure Darius's performance level, as the Alpha, wasn't as top notch as it used to be.

Hannah found me still standing there when she came to check the charts. She glanced between the two of them and then at me, a small smile tugging at her lips. "What do you think?" She asked softly, keeping her voice low enough to avoid waking either of them up. "They look cute, don't they?"

I considered the question with a slightly raised brow. 'Cute' wouldn't be the word I would have gone with as 'Tragic' was better suited, but everyone was entitled to their opinion. It wasn't like Hannah knew much about it… or did she?

I turned to face her fully. "This might come off as weird, but if you were in Aria's shoes, would you let the Alpha off the hook and forgive him for everything?"

The smile on her face fell and Hannah's mouth pressed into a thin line. That alone seemed like a suitable response but I gave her time to gather her thoughts and conjure a response. I knew for certain that if I had been in Aria's shoes, I'd have left Darius to his fate when he was on the verge of death, but my opinion didn't matter because I was biased.

Hannah took her time answering, her eyes drifting back toward the bed for a moment before she spoke. "I don't know," she admitted quietly with a little frown. “I can't give my opinion because sometimes, forgiveness has nothing to do with how badly someone hurt you and everything to do with how you feel about said person."

My brows knotted as I stared at her, not really satisfied with the answer I was getting but unable to argue with it either.

"I'm not Aria. I don't know the kind of relationship she'd formed with the Alpha or her perspective on things." She continued, folding her arms loosely across her chest. "It is clear that Aria was badly hurt. Only the goddess knows how she felt spending time among the rogues, wondering if she'd ever make it out alive, having to mourn a child she never got to hold while the one person who should have been beside her wasn't. But none of us know what that did to her, not fully. We can guess, we can worry, but we weren't the ones experiencing it.” she paused for a few seconds. “I'd not forgive the Alpha but imposing that on Aria could be keeping her from the person meant to make her feel better."

Hannah didn't stop there though, her gaze intently fixed on Darius. "He has become that person for her since the bond is now fully sealed. We can only wait and see how things play out because this could either break or make her."

I nodded slowly, pressing my lips together as her words settled in. She was right and I'd never considered it this deeply before. Hannah cleared her throat uncomfortably and quickly excused herself.

I cast one last look at the sleeping pair before turning away with light steps. Originally, I'd have marched straight over and shaken Darius awake so Aria wouldn't have to see him once she woke up but with this new perspective I couldn't bring myself to.

This was between both of them. I wasn't Aria and shouldn't speak for her even though I had her best intentions at heart. They had had enough third party interference to last a lifetime and it had only forced them further apart. If anything was going to change they had to be left to their own devices.

I pulled the door shut quietly behind me, leaving them exactly as I'd found them and made my way to my office. I'd just observe from the sidelines and hope for the best.