Three years ago, Cyrus promised his daughter he would find her mother. 

He made that promise even before he signed the divorce papers that ended his legal connection with Aria.

At first, he was so hesitant to sign them. Hell, his mind, body, soul and wolf didn’t even want him near the goddamn paper, but he knows it has to be done.

It took him a lot of time to do it, but he still ended up doing it. 

He signed the paper after he asked Dylan to verify if it was really Aria’s signature. 

With the help of professionals, they verified that it was indeed Aria’s signature.

Dylan tried to stop him from signing because he still wanted to save his marriage to his mate, but Cyrus insisted on signing the paper.

"Dylan, she signed them. I don't know if she was forced or if she really wanted it. Her signature being there tells me that I should too." Cyrus reasoned.

The pure-blooded alpha never stopped looking for his mate because, deep inside, he hoped that the mark on his neck was not lying to him.

So now that Cyrus has finally laid his eyes on Aria, he suddenly feels like the world has stopped moving.

He feels like Aria is the only person inside the bar. 

His eyes landed on the familiar face he had been longing to see for years.

The high nose, clear eyebrows, perfect features that harmonized with each other, Aria still looks effortlessly and breathtakingly beautiful.

She absolutely looks exactly as ethereal as she was before she left. 

She still never fails to leave him in complete awe, she is truly the epitome of beauty.

 And, at that very moment that Cyrus laid his eyes on his omega, he knows....he is still very much undeniably irrevocably in love with her.

"Cy!" Dylan suddenly pulled his cousin closer to distract him.

The alpha's eyes do not leave Aria’s.

 He didn’t even know he was releasing pheromones that were making everyone in the bar look at him, including Knight, who caught his strong scent too.

Aria, on the other hand, feels like she's about to explode. 

Her fingers suddenly forgot what key to press next, and she couldn't find her voice anymore because there at the entrance of the restaurant was her ex-husband, the person she'd been longing to see.

Knight doesn't know what's going on between Aria and the Senator, who looks very familiar to him, but the distress scents the omega is producing really bothers him.

 He quickly stood up from his seat and went over to Aria to check if she was alright.

"Aria, what's going on? Are you okay?" Knight asked, his voice laced with concern. The omega lifted her eyes and met Knight’s questioning gaze.

"He's here…h-he's here." Aria stuttered as she lifted her hand to touch the part of her neck where Cyrus’s mark was hiding.

Knight didn't need to ask what the Omega was talking about because he could put two and two together. 

He also smelled the newcomer's scent a while ago, so he already had an idea why Aria suddenly froze in front of the piano.

Lucas came to the rescue the moment he saw Aria’s state. 

He ordered his soloist for that evening to continue with the performance as Knight guides Aria back to their table.

The two are about to sit when Cyrus and Dylan block their way. 

Aria froze while Knight automatically wrapped his arm around the distressed omega.

"Cyrus Carter, fancy seeing you here. Knight is the first one to break the silence. 

The good thing was that they were in a private part of the restaurant where not many people could see or hear them.

Cyrus’s wolf is about to go berserk and Dylan knows his cousin is trying his best to calm down.

The pure blood alpha didn't even hide how he glared at Knight’s arm around Aria’s waist, but the son of the Prime Minister remained unfazed.

"I didn't expect to see you here as well, Knight Ashbourne. You must be superb at hiding from the Prime Minister, since no one would expect you to visit a place like...this." Cyrus says with a smirk on his face, but the truth is he's barely holding back now.

There are many thoughts that are running through his head, and they are all not good at the moment. 

The hand of another alpha on his mate's body is making him want to rip Knight’s heart out on the spot.

 But then he remembers his father and Alex’s words again.

‘She left with someone.'

Cyrus’s mind is painting ugly pictures he is not ready to accept. 

He was about to snap when Dylan suddenly spoke beside him.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Aria. It's been a while. How have you been?" The oldest among them all greeted his cousin's ex-wife.

Aria’s eyes widened when Dylan called out her name. 

Her hands were still shaking due to anxiety, but she felt like her heart suddenly stopped beating when she lifted her eyes and met Cyrus’s eyes on her too.

"I'm f-fine Dylan. H-how are you?" Aria tried to speak but the proximity between her and her ex-husband was making her feel dizzy. 

She knew that without Knight’s hand on her, she would probably fall on the floor.

"We actually came here to visit Aria’s friend. We didn't expect to bump into you. Anyway, have a lovely evening gentlemen. Excuse us." Knight tried to cut the conversation short because he could feel Aria’s body trembling beside him.

He guides the Omega away from the two, but Cyrus suddenly grabs Aria’s wrist as they walk past them.

"Where the hell do you think you're going again?" Cyrus gritted his teeth before he pulled the Omega's wrist, so she could face him, but Knight was quick enough to grab Aria’s free hand.

The two pure blood alpha growled at the same time when Aria let out a shriek at the sudden action.

"Cyrus Carter!" Knight’s voice was full of authority and Aria was surprised to see this side of the older person because, to her, he had always been so sweet and soft-spoken.

"Knight Ashbourne! I'm not speaking with you." Cyrus replied with the same rage in his voice.

The two pure blood alpha glared at each other, their eyes red while still holding Aria to each hand.

Dylan groans by the side because he knows he couldn't interfere with this one.

"Senators shouldn't be grabbing people in public. That would spoil your good image." Knight said before pulling Aria to his side, but Knight didn't let go as he pulled her hand to his side.

 "Well, I don't think it would be a problem if I just wanted to talk to my ma....old friend." Cyrus enunciated as his eyes landed on Aria’s face.

"I don't think that's the proper way of asking someone to talk to you, Mr. Carter . Let go of her hand now." Knight warned, but Cyrus just glared back at him.

"Make me." Cyrus' short reply almost made Knight jump him if Aria didn't block him with her body.

"Knight!” Aria screamed “Please. Don't"

That put a stop to the two pure-blooded alphas fighting.

"Aria?" Knight asked, but the omega had already turned to Cyrus. 

Aria’s wolf is almost bouncing when Cyrus’s hand touches hers. 

But when Cyrus called her an old friend, she suddenly remembered her conversation with Rina about Cyrus and Alex, so she used her strength to free her wrist from her ex-husband.

"I don't know why you suddenly want to talk to me when we clearly don't have anything to talk about Cyrus. Please, go ahead and enjoy your dinner. I hope we don't bump into each other again." Aria said with a straight face.

When, in truth, all she wants to do is to run into Cyrus’s arms and hug him tight.

Cyrus and Dylan’s eyes widened upon hearing the omega's words.

 They couldn't believe that they have been searching for her for years and now that they had finally found her, they learned that Aria just doesn't want to have anything to do with them?

Knight uses the opportunity to grab Aria’s hand and guide her out of the restaurant.

 He wasn't sure if that is what she really wanted to do at that time.

But the Omega just let him guide her out. He knows he did the right thing.

Cyrus followed the two with his eyes.

 He couldn't believe what she just said, and he refused to let it end like this. 

He is about to take another step to follow them to ask more questions, but Dylan stops him.

"Dylan, get out of my way! She is here. We have already found her! I am not letting her go without an explanation about what the fuck happened 3 years ago, because I am not buying the story that she really left us because of another man!" 

Cyrus feels like someone is squeezing his heart. 

He said that to his cousin not because he wanted to convince him that Aria didn't do that to him.

 He said that out loud because he wanted to remind himself that Aria would never do that to him and to their daughter.

"Cy listen, you are right. We have already found her, and now we know she's not locked up somewhere because she's with Ashbourne. But if you saw her Cyrus, you would not be able to get answers from her if she couldn't even say a word without looking like she's gonna fall at any given time. I'm sure we can easily find her now. She seems a little close to the Prime Minister's son and...”

"Dylan one more word and I'm flipping this bar!" 

Cyrus cuts his cousin off because he can't help but think of the possibility that Aria and Knight are really close to each other.

Dylan bites his tongue to stop himself from saying anything that might trigger his cousin again, because he knows Cyrus is very capable of doing what he just said. 

He just keeps quiet when he guides the alpha to one of the nearest vacant tables, so he can at least order something to drink.

They're sitting opposite each other when Lucas approached them.

"I don’t know what happened between both of you and I know it’s not my place to say this, but Cyrus, Aria, seems to be finally picking her life back up. Don’t  ruin it for her." 

Lucas uttered, his eyes focused on the pure blood alpha.

He first met him when Arian introduced him as her mate.

Dylan raised his eyebrows at that.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" he asked, since Cyrus seemed to be out of it. 

The younger man is obviously still trying to calm his wolf or else, he would chase after Aria.

"Well, as you have seen... Knight seems to be taking care of her. I hope you won't ruin that for her." Lucas said with a small hopeful smile.

Dylan couldn't help but feel sorry for his cousin the moment they heard that.

 He already has an inkling who Knight is in Aria’s life at that moment, but Cyrus suddenly shakes his head.

"No, they're not together  if that's what you're talking about."

"Huh?"

 "What?"

The two older alphas blurted out at the same time.

"Aria isn't with him...at least not intimately." Cyrus says, his eyes focused on the direction where Ari and Knight exited just a while ago.

"How did you know that?" Dylan asked with furrowed brows.

"Because Arian doesn't have Knight’s scent on her and someone once told me...everyone could lie to me but not the mating mark she left on me!" Cyrus said before baring his neck with the mark Aria left on him.

 Dylan and Lucas gasped in surprise when they saw the mark on Cyrus.

Because unlike a week ago, the skin looks glowing on him.

"You fucking grabbed her hand not just to ask her to talk to you but to check if she still really loves you?" 

 Dylan blurted out when he realized why Cyrus looks calm for someone who thinks his mate is with someone else.

"The Moon never made a mistake when it decided for fated mates to meet. I am keeping my promise to our daughter... I'm getting my mate back!"

Aria and Knight are back in their car. 

The pure-blood alpha hates the fact that they haven’t even eaten their dinner yet but what matters to him most is Aria’s well-being.

"Hey, are you alright?" Knight asked as he took the younger's hand. 

In a normal scenario, Aria would normally flinch or pull back her hand immediately but at that moment she let the older hold her hand because she feels like she's breaking into pieces after seeing her ex-husband again.

"Would it believe me  if I told you that I'm fine?" Aria replied with a small nervous smile that made the pure blood shake his head.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Knight asked, he knows what happened at the restaurant isn’t something he could just shrug off seeing how shaken Aria was. 

He also knows Cyrus as an assemblyman and seeing the other pureblood lose his shit in front of them a while ago tells him that there was something between the two.

Aria swallowed the invisible lump in her throat before she turned to the side to face Knight.

 She knows this coincidental meeting with Cyrus that evening would not end there. 

Whether she likes it or not, she will be meeting people from her past sooner or later and she has decided that she doesn't want to drag Knight into any more drama from her past.

"You don't have to tell me now if you don't feel like telling me Aria. I just want you to know that you are not alone and that I am here for you whenever you need me. I am telling you this not because of Harris anymore but because you're dear to me. I don't care about what happened in your past but please know that I won't let anyone hurt you again." Knight uttered while holding the Omega's hand.

Knight knows that he's one step closer to confessing his budding feelings for the beautiful omega but at the same time he doesn't want to push Aria away so he is trying his best to hold back.

 He has seen how beautiful Aria is inside and out during the past months that they have been together in his penthouse and he would be a liar if he says he hadn’t fallen for the most beautiful omega he has laid his eyes upon. 

The moment he admitted to himself that he liked Aria more than he was supposed to, he promised himself to take care of her without expecting anything in return.

Aria suddenly felt the shift in Knight's emotion the moment the older said the last part of his sentence. 

They've been so close in the past weeks and she would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t notice how the pure-blood alpha looked at her. 

She knows Knight is really kind but the pure-blood alpha has a soft spot for her and she didn’t wanna take advantage of that.

"Knight ...that's Cyrus Carter."

"I know Aria, they're on the opposition side of Dad's party. I know him because…"

"He's the alpha father of my daughter. He was my husband, my mate." Aria said in a clear but very low voice as if she was so scared that others might hear her.

Knight didn’t know why he suddenly felt more relieved than stressed out knowing that he was right on his first assumption regarding Cyrus ' relationship with Aria. 

The alpha tightened his hold on Aria's hand. 

Maybe he was relieved knowing that Aria chose to open up to him and that just made him want to protect her more.

"I won't let him hurt you ever again," Knight said and he knew that he would put his life on the line to keep that promise this time. 

It's insane, his parents kept introducing him to alphas and omegas for years hoping that he would finally fall for one and settle down but he never did.

Now that he looks at Aria, he knows that he wasn't able to fall for anyone before because he was meant to fall for the omega beside him.

Aria smiled bitterly at the pure blood as she leaned his head on his shoulder. 

She was just so thankful to have this man beside her at that moment because, to be honest, she had been thinking of scenarios when she would meet Cyrus again and this wasn't one of them.

"You're so good to me. I don't deserve you." Aria said after a few minutes of silence between them.

"Hmm, I beg to differ. You deserve all the goodness in the world Ria. I don't know what happened between you and  Carter, but I am sure the universe cut all your ties with him because it knows that you deserve better. I don't understand why you need to hide but if you ever decide to come out in the open, Aria I want to be there with you. I may not be as powerful as my dad in this country but I promise to protect you."

 Knight said again and this time, he brought the hand of the younger to his lips and left a very light peck on the back of it.

Aria is not oblivious to not knowing that Knight just crossed a line between them that night.

 She doesn't want to assume that the alpha wants her more than a friend since he hasn’t explicitly told her so.

 Aria still pulled her hand away from the pure blood. She doesn't want to give him false hope without the older knowing of her past the full story.

 She is not ready for the possibility of opening up her heart to Knight.

She just decided to move on with her life and she doesn't want Knight to walk into her still chaotic life with blind eyes. 

So with still his shaky breath, Aria finally decided to tell Knight everything that happened to her and Cyrus Carter from the very first day that they met until the day that she left the country when she learned that her daughter was gone.

Knight's heart broke a hundred times just listening to Aria's story.

 If he was a little hesitant about wanting to court Aria a while ago, this time his mind, heart, and wolf all agreed that all he wants to do with his life is to make sure that Aria is happy and safe. 

He wanted her and he will do everything in his power to have her.

The omega cried a lot while retelling her story to the pure-blood alpha. 

The two are both quiet when he finally finishes telling him everything.

"I don't want you to be dragged into this mess Knight."

"You are not dragging me into anything Ria, I'll gladly jump in it. Also, uhmmm can we find another restaurant first? I know you haven't eaten anything all day and you must be starving. Knowing everything you've been through makes me so hungry, for real." Knight said trying to lighten up the mood between them.

Aria shifted in her seat to see the older's face and odd enough, she found herself smiling at the pure blood.

"You're unbelievable! But fine, let's go get some food!" Aria doesn’t understand how Knight can easily lighten her mood but at that moment, she's just so grateful to have him.

Aria knows it would take a long time to go for her to finally come out of hiding but knowing that there would be someone who still wants her despite the fucked up past she has is more than enough for her to take another step toward wanting to have a happier life.

Maybe, it's not too late for her and her dream after all.

It's been a week since Cyrus and Dylan found Aria in her hometown. 

It's been seven long tumultuous days. They have traced where the omega lives and what she is up to because Cyrus is determined to bring his mate back to him and his pup's life.

He still wants answers. He still wants to prove that everyone else is wrong assuming that Aria left them for another alpha.

 He's doing everything in his power to locate his ex-wife, discreetly. 

He does not want his father to know that he's been searching for Kiana’s mother because he doesn't want to put Aria in danger if he is right about one thing.

"Cyrus!" Dylan suddenly barged into his office with a Manila envelope in his hand. 

"Dylan?"

"We've finally found her and you wouldn't believe it," Dylan said while settling on the leather couch inside the Assemblyman's office.

The older alpha opens the envelope and slowly takes out the documents and photographs that are taken discreetly because most of them are zoomed in and at a bad angle.

"Gems-Harmony Inc. Why would Aria…oh! Fuck!" Cyrus suddenly cussed once he realized something.

Of course, the omega was working in that agency because it was her lifelong dream. 

Gems-Harmony was easily one of the Biggest Entertainment agencies in the country and now that he's thinking about it,

"Travis Cromwell was Knight Ashbourne's classmate at University back in the day. We also found out that Ashbourne’s assistant Justin  Steele is the cousin of Cromwell’s mate. I guess it's not a coincidence that Aria is working for the company that is very capable of hiding her for years Cy. I'm sorry." Dylan says he’s disappointed with all the information they gathered because it only led them to one thing.

It looks like Aria really ran off with Knight to pursue her dream, of being a musician. 

But still, the alpha is doubtful about the whole thing because there's one thing that's not adding up.

"She left us to pursue music? But Dylan, why would she keep hiding if this was all she wanted? She doesn't even have her own name as a producer! I don't understand." 

Cyrus feels a little lost about everything.

Dylan might be right that  Aria, his ex-wife, might have left them because of this.

Now that Cyrus is trying to decipher the big picture, the possibility that Aria really chose to break their family to be with Knight so she could continue to pursue her dreams.

"But what about the mark?" Cyrus didn't realize that he said that out loud.

 Dylan turned to his cousin and saw how stressed Cyrus was about the whole thing.

"Cy, I'm sure we're missing something here. Just give me more time and we'll figure this out. Remember, you have a gala to attend tonight and you promised Kiana you'll take her with you this time." Dylan said, trying to divert Cyrus's attention from Aria at least for a while.

Cyrus sighed. 

He hates it whenever he feels like he can’t do anything about something he really wants but he knows his cousin is right.

 He needs to pull himself together more than ever if he wants to keep his family safe.

"Thank you, Dylan, I don't know what I'll do without you." The pure-blood alpha forces himself to smile at his cousin to convince him that he still has his shit together even when the truth is, he's already breaking apart piece by piece every new information they obtain about his mate.

The truth is, he is very eager to get Aria back, and he's willing to offer everything that he has just to have her back in his and Kiana’s life but at the same time, he's also so scared because he feels like the closer he gets to the omega, the closer he'll know the truth about what actually happened three years ago. 

And he might not admit it out loud, but Cyrus is so scared to know the truth.  He knows it will change everything in his life again whether Aria was really forced to leave or if his mate just wanted to get rid of him.

"Just go home, Cy. Please don't let Alex dress my little princess again." Dylan scoffs while putting back the pictures inside the envelope.

"Come on Dylan, what did Alex ever do to you? Let her be. You are constantly throwing snarky comments  when all she has ever done is to be with me and Kiana all these years." Cyrus said it because he felt bad for his friend.

 Dylan just rolls his eyes as if he's boring him.

"The girl is too sweet for her own good Cy. Also, you're right..she's been by your side all those years even after you refused to fuck her, it smells fishy to me."

Cyrus's hand froze mid-air upon hearing his cousin. 

He knows Dylan didn’t mean to offend him but he doesn't like the way he uses his words when it comes to Alex who's always available for Kiana and himself.

"Dylan, please just leave Alex alone. You don't have to like her but please at least treat her with civility for Kiana’s sake ?" Cyrus pleads because he doesn't want any drama between his cousin and close friend.

"I'm not saying I hate her Cy, just be careful around that girl, yeah?" Dylan insisted before he left the younger's office.

Cyrus just clicks his tongue in disappointment because he knows Dylan would never like Alex.

 He sighs as he reaches for the envelope again.

Dylan left it in his office because he knew his cousin would check them again and he was right because the moment Cyrus was finally alone in his office again, he took out one of Aria's pictures.

He knows it's illegal to stalk someone but who cares if that someone is the other mother of his child?

The pure-blood alpha sighed as he grazed his finger over the photo of the beautiful omega. It was taken inside a cafe and Aria might be alone in the photo but Cyrus knows she was with Knight during that time because he read the note at the back of the picture.

[8.30 PM, Sweets Cafe with Ashbourne]

"Do you drink coffee now? Why are you inside a cafe Ria? Do you still love those strawberry souffles?" Cyrus almost teared up while asking those questions when he knew that the photograph in his hand would never give the answers even to the most basic questions