Her dad looked to be in all sorts of distress, and Aria was practically certain that she would need buy hair dye with all the gray hairs she accumulated that day. It took an hour before he actually told her anything.
First, it was his friendship with Adrian’s dad which came as a surprise. Apparently, they were the best of friends. They practically spent their entire four years of high school together. From summer school to group dates to winning nationals in volleyball, it all sounded like they had the type of relationship anyone would dream about.
Then he spoke about her mom and how they met while in university. It was rough for him because he was so used to having James, Adrian’s dad, around him that being alone most of the week was foreign. Nevertheless, Aria listened to her dad’s rom-com meetup with her mom which led to the topic of her mom’s friend, Ashlyn.
“She was different.”
That was all he elaborated about Ashlyn, but Aria could assume that this was the person that her mom knew a lot about in regards to that world. Her dad never knew about ‘their’ existence until Ashlyn told him right after her mom died.
He took a moment to collect his thoughts but then mentioned Ashlyn’s reaction,
“She was so surprised that I never knew.” Her dad laughed without any humor.
“My best friend, my brother, lied to me.”
Aria could understand that feeling.
“But that doesn’t bring them back. It doesn’t.”
She felt those words as well, and nothing could ever change that.
“I can’t lose you too.”
Her heart was breaking. Here he was, ripping off old scabs just so she could get answers. At this point, Aria was starting to really understand the phrase that ‘ignorance is bliss’.
She waited for him to collect his thoughts before she started asking her own questions. Hopefully, she’ll be able to ask them without getting too emotional, because she already had enough of those moments.
Once her dad seemed to be in a better state of mind, he spoke before she could.
“You’re going to ask more questions, aren’t you?”
She slowly nodded.
“Talk to Joel. He’ll know more about this.”
“How . . . you knew?”
He sighed and reached to hold her hand. “I have. For a while now.”
“But I thought you hated them?”
“I can’t hate them for a choice they didn’t have.”
Aria understood that too.
“See if you can organize a meeting on Friday. I’ll try to take the day off.” He was a lot less hostile to the idea than she originally thought.
“Are you sure?”
“About what?”
“All of this?”
He shook his head. “No, in fact I hate how we’ve all been dragged into this farce. I hate what it took away from me and I loathe that it’s still a threat, but you are just like your mom. She couldn’t let her friend face all of this alone, and this time I won’t let you face it alone either.”
Chapter 21
Adrian
It was one of the most intense meetings that Adrian had ever been in. He wasn’t sure how to describe the atmosphere because it was difficult to even breathe. He also wasn’t exactly sure how Aria pulled it off, which was a total lie because he helped her, but she did.
His dad, their beta, Ben, Alpha Joel, Beta Thea, and Aria with her dad, were all in one room. Adrian wasn’t sure why Carmen wasn’t let in on this, but he wished she was. Everyone was so tense that it was insufferable.
“Since everyone is here, let’s be clear that we are all giving our consent to allow Aria Kham and Ivan Kham into our lives,” Beta Thea spoke ever so gravely. She was definitely serious about the entire situation, as they all should be. After all, these secrets could ruin lives.
“We, Alpha James and Beta Ben of Lunaris Pack give our consent,” his dad then stated the date and time for the records.
“We, Alpha Joel and Beta Thea of Chandra Pack give our consent,” the other pack leaders repeated again for the recordings.
“Adrian.” His dad handed him a slip of paper and Adrian recited what was on it, “I, Adrian Stone of Lunaris Pack, with the permission of Alpha James and Beta Ben of Lunaris Pack, give my consent.”
“Alright, now if you two can please read these.” Ben handed a slip of paper to Aria and her dad.
“We, Ivan Kham and Aria Kham, agree to keep the confidentiality of the communities. Failure to abide will result in consequences dealt by the North American High Council,” they read out loud in unison.
“Now that we have that out of the way.” Beta Thea finished the documentation. “I think it would be most effective if we put out general statements so that everyone is on the same page.”
Adrian could only agree. At this point, he was more than ready to delve into the new information they have, but first they needed to get Aria and Ivan on the same page.
Alpha Joel was the first to explain the origin story to which Ivan seemed to be slightly skeptical towards, but that was fair. Even Aria almost didn’t believe him. It was even a surprise to himself that she did. After he finished the origin story, Alpha Joel then explained the concept of hierarchy between everyone and why Mira was considered a target.
Aria seemed slightly surprised but not overwhelmed. Adrian supposed that the reaction might have had something to do with their conversation earlier that week.
They didn’t cover everything, only the important key details that would help push for answers. After Alpha Joel was
