~ NYSSA

Aria turned to me. "Do you want to do this with me? Like before?"

The thought was exciting. Not because there was someone hurt, but because it felt like a step in the right direction for Aria and I. It felt like it did in the beginning, before the strain of politics and the vampires settled over us.

"I’ll just text Rowan—"

She grinned wide. "No need." She removed the call from mute. "Bring the girl to the hospital. I’m there right now. The Luna and I will meet you."

My skin was thrumming with energy and anticipation, not because someone was hurt though, but because it felt like old times and I had missed doing things with Aria.

"So how has it been with you?" she asked, turning her entire body to face me after hanging up the call. "It feels like I haven’t spoken to you in months."

"Well, it’s been mostly trying to learn what I can about the vampires." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Any luck?"

I shook my head. "There isn’t much on them in the history books. They’ve been... notoriously quiet. There are only a few instances of them mingling with the rest of the population and even then, it was a few rogue vampires."

"You met the king, right?" she asked and I nodded. "What was he like? Was he hot?"

"Aria!"

"What?" she exclaimed, holding up her hands in surrender. "He’s a vampire, and they don’t age. Surely, he has to be hot, right?"

I thought back to the king and to his terrifying eyes.

If I pushed away the fact that his aura alone was enough to have a grown man pissing their pants, then yeah, he was attractive, in a sharp, brutal kind of way.

I nodded slowly and she squealed. "If he wasn’t trying to wipe out the pack, I’d actually consider boning one of them. He might be a bit too old for me but if he has kids then..."

My cheeks flushed a bright shade of red. "Aria, please, you’re actually..."

The loud blaring of a car horn cut me off. I glanced up to find one of the large SUVs that the guards typically used. Nurses were already rushing to the side with a stretcher.

"That’s our cue," Aria murmured, stepping out of the car.

I followed close behind her and only managed to see a flash of dark hair before the body was wheeled away. I thought we’d go after it but to my surprise, Aria walked over to the guards instead.

"Give me the rundown," she said, voice firm.

All traces of humor and amusement that she held with me had now disappeared.

"We were on the lookout for vampires when she stumbled through the trees. She was holding onto her side and screaming for help. There was so much blood. She passed out halfway into the border," one of the guards explained. "At first, we thought she was a rogue, but we saw the pack insignia."

He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. I barely got a glimpse of it before I was already snatching it out of his hands and turning it over.

Aria turned to me and I vaguely heard her ask something but the words didn’t settle in my mind because I knew that pack insignia, hell, I wore it for years with pride.

"This is... was my pack."

The guard nodded slowly. "Yes, it is. That’s why we brought her here. We assumed maybe she was someone you knew."

I glanced over my shoulder at the hospital doors the nurses had disappeared through with the woman. "Only one way to find out. Thank you."

He managed a nod but Aria and I were already heading for the hospital doors.

"What is someone from your pack doing here right now?" Aria asked but all I could manage was a shrug. "This feels awfully convenient."

"I thought we’d put all that shit behind us actually," I murmured under my breath, staring down at the insignia once more. "There’s a new Alpha. Things there are fine, aren’t they?"

She shrugged. "We don’t really pay attention to the other packs unless there’s a crisis. The Alphas are within their rights to rule the packs however they see fit. So far though, we haven’t heard a peep from there."

"Maybe it’s worth looking into?"

"Maybe," she agreed with a sigh. "But we have bigger fish to fry and I don’t have men I can spare to look into that. Maybe once all of this is over."

Unease twisted inside of me but I knew she was right.

My focus now had to be this pack. It was my responsibility. I had no ties to my old pack.

"Where’s the girl that was just rolled in here?" I asked at the nurse’s desk. "I need to see her."

The nurse barely looked up at me. "She is with the doctors, and you can’t see her until she is—"

Aria’s hand slammed down hard on the table. "You may not realize who you’re talking to so I’m going to ask again, where the hell is she?"

The nurse looked up, her eyes wide with fear and her hands shaking as she pointed down the hallway. "Room 38."

Aria grinned. "Thank you."

She tugged me down the hall and despite my aversion to violence and threats, I was a bit relieved that she’d done that. Arguing with the nurse would have been a waste of time.

Aria pushed the door open and the doctors turned to us with wide eyes. They froze for only a moment before resuming their work. They scurried around the room carrying wires and saline bags but my eyes were focused on the person on the table.

"Do you recognize her?" Aria asked.

"I’d have to get closer."

"Luna, I’m sorry but we have to take her to surgery right now," the doctor cut in. "If you could just excuse us. Jane Doe needs surgery fast."

I stepped aside so they could pull the hospital bed out.

As they walked past me. I caught a glimpse of the woman’s face. It was covered in cuts and bruises, but I recognized it immediately.

"Her name isn’t Jane Doe," I whispered.