“I was a child the last time I saw you, Aria. So were you, for that matter, but that is far from the case now.” He settled in the seat beside me as I went back to crowd-gazing with an idiotic smile on my face as he watched me.
“You’ve been here this entire time and didn’t say hello?” I asked, pretending to pout as he shook his head.
“No, I just got back not too long ago, a couple of months now, maybe four. My father called the pack home. He didn’t give me much of an option on whether I had a choice in the matter.”
“You’re away from home and still an alpha? I’m impressed.” I studied his face as he smirked broadly and took in the dancing couples. “If I remember correctly, you used to chase me, and you also pulled my hair once or twice on the monkey bars.”
“You never saw me, Aria. You were oblivious to the boys who fawned over you and your pretty wide eyes at school. Poor bastards anyway,” he finished speaking and lifted his drink in the air. “To being stupid kids and thinking we ruled the playground.”
“Oh, Dimitri, I did rule that playground. If I remember correctly, you followed right behind me with your wide, puppy eyes, and I did notice you. You annoyed the hell out of me.”
“I may have annoyed you, but someone had to have your back. You didn’t care to make friends, nor did you care if anyone liked you. I liked you well enough,” he announced, noting I hadn’t looked away from him. “You’re much more beautiful than the awkward little girl you were back then. Not that I ever thought you were awkward, as much as I thought you were the most beautiful girl in the entire Nine Realms.”
“I was an awkward kid. You had a crush on me back then?”
“No, you weren’t that awkward, I was fucking awkward. Do you remember my feet? And Aria, the entire male population of that school thought you were cute, but for me, you hung the fucking stars and created the moon.”
“I do remember your feet. I swore one day you’d become a giant, and your dad would be so angry at your mother for sleeping with one.” I ignored the last part of his words as a pink hue tinged my cheeks.
He choked on his drink, looking at me as he grabbed a napkin, covering his mouth before he spoke. “You thought that?”
“Well, Dimitri, did you see the size of your feet?” I asked, holding my hands out as I embellished the size.
“You’re incorrigible, woman. You were always so vivacious until the accident. Then you just vanished, and I thought you died. No one would speak about it. I came to your house, you know? I came every day, and they wouldn’t let me in to see you. I remember your mother cuffing me on the back of my head, telling me you weren’t good enough for me.”
“I guess it changed me, my own mother trying to murder me. No one else spoke about it either, since no one else even cared that she had tried to kill her own daughter. I’m pretty sure after all that happened, no one wanted to speak about the incident—or me. It was easier to hide from the pitying stares or the whispers of the people in this town.”
I turned away from Dimitri’s stare to find Knox watching me from across the room. Sadness wrapped around my heart, clenching it tightly as my mother’s hate-filled eyes entered my mind before I shook it off. That was one of the memories that still haunted me, knowing that everyone had been aware of what she’d done to me, yet not one single person had tried to protect me as a child. It had left me colder than I’d been, reserved about who I allowed into my life from that point forward.
“I’m sorry if I brought up old wounds.”
“It happened a long time ago, wolf. I’m not that scared little girl anymore, nor do I give a shit what others think of me. Life is a bitch, and you can let it destroy you, or you can face it head-on and show that it doesn’t define who you choose to become in life.”
“You were twelve years old, Aria. You were a fucking child, who should have been protected, but everyone ignored what was happening, and that bothered me the most.”
“I remember it very clearly.” I tore my eyes from Knox to studying Dimitri.
Dimitri hailed from Wintermane, one of the larger realms of our homeland. His hair was the darkest black I’d ever seen that caught and held the light as if it was absorbing it. He wore a midnight-colored tux that hugged his muscular form seductively. Beneath the crisp white undershirt, I could see tattoos that he’d gotten since the last time I’d seen him peeking from his wrists and forearms. He was striking and definitely fit the alpha mode. He bespoke power, but unlike Knox’s, Dimitri’s was silent and lethal and didn’t explode into a room, announcing his presence. His electric-blue eyes studied me back, and I frowned, finding him lacking compared to Knox, which pissed me off.
“Your parents must be proud of you. Few dare to set out into the States to find a pack and become their alpha.”
“I’m a second-born son, and with the covenant in place, I have more room to move out there. They sent my brother back to be molded into a king for our tribe. As much as I wanted to sit around and do nothing, I wanted to get out and take control of my future more.”
“Makes sense, those of us with several siblings understand that all too well.” I nodded, exhaling as I drank the rest of the scotch in my glass, catching the eye of the bartender for a refill.
“Scotch, huh? A woman after my own heart,” he smiled tightly with a wink before turning to watch the crowd dancing to the fast-moving beat of the song.
I followed his stare, watching the people who moved on the floor, and spotted my sisters all dancing together. My gaze turned, finding Lore speaking to Knox as Dimitri’s lips touched my ear.
“You should be out there dancing. A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be sitting here drinking with some asshole like me.” His words caused my lips to curve into a smile. Knox glared murderously at us, and I shivered as Dimitri’s lips touched the shell of my ear.
“I’m waiting for you to ask me.” I brushed my lips against his cheek as he started to pull away, letting his hand settle against my side when he stood.
“You’re trying to get me killed, aren’t you?”
“Why would you think that?” I asked as my nose scrunched up.
“You have every alpha in this room watching to see if you make a move on one of them, and deciding if you could be easily subdued. You are something strong; even I can smell it on your flesh. You are the talk of the town. Apparently, the male they sent to save us is smitten with you. His scent clings to you in warning, sweet girl. You’ve been with him, and he wants everyone to know it.”
“Smitten? No. Knox is anything but smitten with me. It’s more like I made a mistake and let him have something he didn’t deserve. He’s an asshole, one who likes to puff his chest and pound it for any bitch in need to hear his masculine war cry. His? Absolutely not,” I snorted as I finished my drink, holding it up for the bartender to see that I needed another refill. “Knox is here to investigate Amara, but the investigation doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. I agree that she looks guilty, but she isn’t stupid.”
“Unless she never intended to be here when it was discovered what she had done,” he pointed out.
“Amara needs the coven to use magic. She isn’t like me at all. I pull from our homeland, she pulls from us. She is helpless without us, so why would she leave? A witch without magic becomes mortal, and she knows that. Every day she is without magic rushing through her veins, she becomes more mortal. Witches need magic to remain immortal. Our line is no different, we need it.”