Aria has faced numerous challenges in her life. She became an orphan at the age of three and was raised in an orphanage with hundreds of other children. She started work when she was 16 so she could pursue her dream to be a musician.

She met her mate when she was 22, got married, and mated in the same year. She got pregnant and was divorced by the time she was 23 and now here she was staring at the ceiling of the penthouse where she will be staying temporarily.

Her life was never easy and yet she never thought of giving up on it. 

There were times she thought she had no reason to live and yet she always found something to remind her that as long as she lived, she would have a chance in life. 

Despite all the hardships and painful past things that happened to her, she still chooses to give herself a chance to be happy.

Aria does not know how she still manages to live life knowing that she has lost her heart already.

 She slowly lifted her hand to touch the side of her neck where Cyrus’s mark was still very visible.

She may never say it out loud but she knows deep inside her that the mark was a symbol of hope for her. 

As long as the mark is still there, she knows she will always find a reason to survive.

That evening, Aria let the thoughts of Cyrus flow in her mind again. This was one of the rare nights she would allow herself to go back on memory lane just to relive the beautiful moments with her mate.

Flashback

22-year-old Aria was very busy with her schoolwork when the head nun from the orphanage called her to inform her about the Thanksgiving celebration they were planning to do in the orphanage. 

At first, she thought she wouldn’t be able to attend the event because of her busy schedule but thanks to one of her best friends, Alex helped her finish her work so she could go.

She was busy feeding one of the little ones in the orphanage when she heard the commotion outside. 

She could hear the excitement of everyone while welcoming their guests but since she was too busy with the children in front of her, she just shrugged her shoulders and continued to feed the little girl beside her.

She was singing a song while cleaning up the table of the children when she first took a whiff of the most wonderful scent she had ever smelled in her entire life. 

Her head automatically snapped towards the direction of the door to see where the scent was coming from only to meet the most beautiful pure-blood alpha she had ever seen.

Soulmates among wolves are rare. Alphas, Betas, and Omegas can mate and marry each other even when they're not each other's soulmates. 

But in a rare case of two wolves destined and chosen by the moon to be together, then their bond would be so much stronger.

 They would automatically imprint on each other and would want to mark and mate each other on the spot and that was what she and Cyrus experienced right at that moment they laid their eyes on each other.

"A-alpha," Aria uttered the moment he saw the wolf form of the man standing in front of her.

This was one of the magical things that happens after finding a soulmate among wolves since wolves rarely shift.

 The alpha and the omega will both see each other's wolf form towering their human form the moment they see each other for the first time.

Aria had never seen a perfect pitch-black wolf with diamond-shaped white fur on its forehead it was as if the pure blood alpha was wearing a crown on his wolf form because of it.

Cyrus on the other hand felt like all the oxygen in his body had left him because damn, the white wolf towering over the human in front of him is divine. 

The Omega, his omega is flawlessly beautiful with her blue eyes.

At that very moment, Cyrus and Aria knew that they had found their soulmates. At first, the alpha was too shy to approach the omega until his cousin appeared behind him.

"Your omega would think that you don't like her if you wait another minute before you introduce yourself Cy." the older alpha whispered in his ear.

Cyrus’s eyes widened at the thought of hurting his mate like that so he gathered all his courage and introduced himself to the omega who was also staring at him.

"Hello, my name is Cyrus. Uhmm, your wolf is so w-white, so pretty." The alpha hated himself for stammering because he feels like an idiot in front of his mate but when Aria giggled, being an idiot forever is what he would do  if that's what it takes to hear the musical sound of his mate’s laugh.

"Yeah, my wolf's fur is white but I'm tan so... I hope you still find me pretty," Aria replied with a tiny smile on her lips and a pretty shade of pink blooming on her cheeks.

"Oh, of course! You're the prettiest, so beautiful. You even have long lashes and a perfectly chiseled nose. I mean, yeah.. The mole on your lips makes you cuter too." Cyrus keeps blabbering while Aria keeps blushing and giggling.

"I have never seen such cute pure blood. My name is Aria." Aria finally lifted her hand to accept Cyrus' hand too.

The two shook each other's hands all the while their eyes were focused on each other's faces.

 Cyrus is positive, he is the luckiest wolf in the whole universe not only because he has found his mate but because he has the perfect mate. She is perfect.

"Aria, even your name is beautiful. It suits you perfectly." Cyrus replied with a smile.

Dylan who was watching the two could not help but smile. He is beyond happy knowing that his cousin found his destiny.

He is so happy that his cousin's destiny is not just pretty but is someone simple and warm.

He always wished for Cyrus to find someone who would  make him happy and at the same time someone that could make sure he would never become like his father. 

Seeing Aria with her oversized shirt and pretty little earrings, Dylan knows that the omega would be the best addition to his cousin's life.

"Cyrus, why don't you take your mate for a ride? I'll take care of the ceremony." Dylan even tossed the key of his BMW to his cousin knowing that the two wolves were dying to mate and claim each other.

Cyrus grinned at his cousin and mouthed a little ‘thank you’ before he grabbed Aria’s hand and dragged her out.

The two young wolves end up at Dylan's vacation house. 

Cyrus took his mate to his cousin's favorite spot so they could have some privacy too.

There, Cyrus Carter claimed and marked his omega.

END OF FLASHBACK

Aria wipes away the tears in her eyes while trying to bring up the wall in her heart again. 

She didn’t want to think about how Cyrus claimed her in the past because that would just remind her of their past again.

It's been 3 years since Cyrus forcefully kicked her out of his life. She needed to move on already. She needed to start building her own life back up again and that is what she is going to do.

That night, Aria fell asleep with tears in her eyes again but this time, with a determination to change her ugly fate. 

She wants to live, she wants her Kiana, her baby  to be proud of her even wherever she is in the afterlife.

The next morning, Aria  woke up early because she had an appointment with Travis Cromwell, the producer she met. He had sent her the address to his workplace. 

She had also informed Knight about her appointment. The pure-blood alpha even volunteered to take her there but Aria firmly refused since she could not imagine arriving in a limousine when she was just going to apply for a job.

Aria and Knight had breakfast together before she left the penthouse.

It took Aria half an hour before she finally arrived at the address Travis gave. 

She was even more surprised to see that it is  a 30-storey building instead of just a simple office. 

She smiled to herself thinking that Travis Cromwell’s label was renting one of the  offices inside the building but to her utter shock again, she learned that the whole building is owned by Gems-Harmony Label and well...Travis Cromwell is the CEO of the said company.

"I'm sorry Miss but you are not on Mr.Cromwell’s appointment today. Please make an appointment next time." the beta secretary said in a mocking tone.

"But Miss I already told you, Travis called me last night and---" Aria stopped talking when she realized that no one would believe her since she was  talking about the company's CEO

She was about to leave and just decided to call Travis again when she almost bumped into someone.

"Aria? Aria, is that really you?" Alyssa Cromwell blurted out the moment she recognized the omega.

"Alyssa? Oh my goodness! I'm so happy to see you!" Aria excitedly hugs the older omega who immediately hugged her back too.

Everyone in the lobby of the building is so surprised to see the strict and snobbish mate of their boss to be that warm and friendly to another person. 

Even the one in the reception area who dismissed Aria a while ago suddenly got nervous when she realized her mistake.

"What are you still doing standing there in that position? Leave you are fired! We don't need disrespectful staff in this company. My sweet RiRi traveled all the way here to see Travis and not only did you disrespect her you didn’t bother to check in first!" Alyssa yelled at the beta who was mocking Aria a while ago.

"Ali,please calm down, don't fire here. She was just doing her job. It's my fault for not setting an appointment with Travis." Aria tries calm the down and save the beta but Alyssa  just shakes her head.

"No RiRi. I saw the whole thing. I didn't even know it was you she was talking to until I saw you properly. I was going to give her a talk after you left anyway, she should have confirmed with Travis’s secretary before she dismisses you like that. We don’t tolerate people with that kind of ugly behavior here” the older omega replied before she dragged the younger towards the elevator to meet her mate.

Aria looked at the beta with pity but she knows that Alyssa had a point too. They're already inside the elevator when he remembers something.

"Oh right! Alice! I didn't know Travis was the CEO of this company oh Luna, you two were just so simple when you were in Wellington! I couldn’t believe I befriended real big shot people there" Aria said while playfully hitting the older's arms.

Alyssa laughs at her reaction.

"It is my dad's company RiRi  Travis and I were on our second honeymoon when you met us in Wellington. You were so nice to us even when you didn’t know us so we really didn't think it would matter for you to know that he is now the CEO of Gems-Harmony." Alyssa said, looking at her with fondness in her eyes.

"You were both so kind to me too. Now I can't believe I am about to submit my portfolio to the CEO himself!" Aria grins when she realizes that there's a huge possibility that she would really get her dream job now.

The two entered the office of the CEO without knocking since Travis’s secretary already informed them that no one was inside.

"Honey look who's here!" Alyssa excitedly greeted her mate as he led her inside. 

The two gave each other a soft kiss on the lips before they turned to welcome Aria again.

"Finally, Aria has decided to join our company!" Travis opened his arms and gave the younger omega a hug too.

"It's nice to see you again Travis." She mumbled as she returned  the hug.

"I am glad that you contacted me, Aria. My Alyssa here would not stop listening to the demo disc you gave her ever since we left New Zealand. She loves not only your voice but your lyrics too. You have no idea how I'm so happy that you chose to trust us with your songs." Travis said when they're already sitting on the leather couch in his office.

"Thank you so much for the opportunity too. I promise to work hard." Aria feels like her heart was about to explode when she realized that yes, her dream to be a musician will finally come true.

"You have nothing to thank me yet Aria. Also, since it was already late when we talked last night, I only managed to ask my legal team to draft up your contract this morning. Would it be okay if I'll send it to you in email maybe later this afternoon? We would really love to have you in our team." Travis said with a smile.

Alyssa and Aria beams upon hearing the official offer but the younger is more delighted of course.

"Of course it's more than okay. I would love to work under your care too. I can't believe that I get to see you both more often now." Aria said with a wide smile because to be honest, she is also longing to have friends.

"You will definitely see us more often now RiRi because our music producers have their own studio in the building. I will show you yours tomorrow, they're still preparing it for you today." Travis informed her.

"How am I so lucky to have met you both?" Aria didn’t know what to say anymore because everything just feels so surreal.

"It's because you have a beautiful heart too, RiRi. You deserve every wonderful thing in life too” Travis said with a genuine smile.

The three continued to catch up over tea and they ordered from a cafe in front of the building.

Aria loved the time she spent with the mated pair but she also knew they had work to do so she bid them farewell with a promise to see them again the next day since she was going to start her job soon.

Travis and Alyssa hugged her before she finally left.

Because she really loved the pie she ate, she decided to drop by the cafe to order more pie so she could share it with Knight as a simple thank you for accommodating her in his home.

After buying the pie, Aria saw a flower shop across the street too. She stared at the roses inside one of the steel buckets and immediately remembered her Kiana again.

Without thinking much about it, she walked towards the flower shop and bought a dozen of the pretty red roses that reminded her of her daughter.

Aria was holding the bouquet of roses in her hand when she got a taxi she informed the driver to take her to the bridge that overlays the Hudson since she knew she couldn't go to Carter’s private cemetery.

The omega immediately felt a sudden rush of emotion the moment she got out of the taxi. Her grip tightened on the flowers as he stepped towards the river.

Aria Put the box of pie on the bench before she walked towards the river.

It was a blessing there was no one around her during that time she decided to go there because she could at least pour her heart out as she slowly threw away the bouquet of red roses into the river.

"I miss you so much, my Angel. I hope that wherever you are now, you are happier. Please watch over your mama, my baby. I promise to visit you soon. Just wait for me a little longer. I love you so much, baby." She whispered as she wiped the tears falling from her eyes.

It's been 3 years since she lost her and yet her heart was still bleeding as if she just lost her again.

The longing she feels always reminds her that she is incomplete and that no one can fill that hole in her heart anymore.

Aria Smiled bitterly to herself. She knows she will never feel complete again, not when her Kiana will never come back again.

The omega stayed a little longer on the bridge before she finally decided to go back to Knight's place again.

Knight was already waiting for her when she arrived at his house

"Knight hey."

"Hey Aria, how did it go?" He asked about the result of her 'job interview'?” The alpha didn’t know that she was actually friends with the CEO of the company.

"Hmmmm, wait. I bought a pie to thank you. We can share it with Justin too." Aria said trying to tease the old who seemed to be more excited than she was.

The omega walked towards the kitchen to get a plate for the pie so Knight followed her too.

"Thank you for the pie Aria, but seriously what happened to the interview?" the pure blood asked again before accepting the pie given to him.

"I got in! I will finally start my job in two days!" Ariabeams excitedly as she informs the older about her new job.

"Wow! That's great Ria! I'm gonna call Justin and ask him to make a reservation. This calls for a celebration! We are going to have dinner outside tonight." Knight said as he fished out his phone from his pocket.

The pure-blood alpha was too excited to notice how Aria froze upon hearing her call her name the way Cyrus used to call her.

"K-Knight we don't need to go outside and spend another……"

"Come on Ria, you just came back. I'm sure you would love the place! Justin and I love to eat there. Besides, please Aria don’t mention the money. If you're thinking that I got my money from my dad, you're wrong. I have my own source of funds." Knight says and winks at her.

"But I thought you're not a businessman?" Aria asked, now a little confused.

"Well, sort of since I really don't work as a businessman. Desmond, another friend of mine, is handling it for me. So please don't think of it anymore." Knight said with an encouraging smile.

"Okay, I just can't help it sometimes. I don't want to be a bother." Aria Says her voice a little softer than usual.

Knight almost forgot how to breathe when he stared at the omega in front of him.

"You will never be a bother to me Aria," he uttered after pulling himself together.

The two finished their pie before they went to their bedroom to prepare for their dinner.

Aria Is a little nervous but when she learns that Justin would be joining them, she relaxes a little.

Knight on the other hand is beyond excited. The alpha was still smiling to himself when he enters his bathroom to take a quick shower for their dinner.

"She is so beautiful," he mumbles to himself again. He was about to open the shower when he heard his phone ring again.

"Yes Justin?"

"Just wanna confirm your reservation tonight it’s by 7. Table for 2 at Pierre. Please tell me you told Aria I can't make it. I really have to attend Aster’s dance recital." Justin said with an apologetic voice.

"I haven't told her yet but I'm sure she would understand. Please extend my regards to Aster and tell him that I already ordered the player I promised him the last time." Knight smiled even though he knew his best friend wouldn't see him.

"You are spoiling my brother too much. But thanks. And enjoy the night! Who knows, Aria might…..”

"Shut up Justin! We saw her mark, I'm not going to pressure her to date me. And I don’t want to add more problems to her life " Knight’s voice suddenly became so serious when he said that.

Justin nods even when his best friend couldn't see him.

"You are really a good man Knight. I really wish you would meet someone who will also give you what you deserve." Justin said with a fond smile.

"Stop being sap, got to go now. I have dinner to prepare for." Knight said before he ended the call.

******+++++++**+**+*+************

Alex arrived as early as 6pm knowing that her date with Cyrus Carter wasn't just like a normal dinner between two adults because they would bring Kiana with them.

She hated the fact that Cyrus only agreed to have dinner with her whenever they brought Kiana. It's as if the pure-blood alpha just wanted to take her out to dinner so she could babysit the little girl.

"Kiana, come here angel Let's tie your shoelaces. Your Daddy is on his way to pick us up now." Alex called the little girl but Kiana just gave her a straight face.

The little girl's nanny can't help but giggle upon seeing the exchange of the two.

"With all due respect Miss, when will you stop pretending that you care for her? Even the child knows you're faking it." Felicia the nanny gritted her teeth as she finally voiced out her dislike with the pretentious bitch.

Alex’s eyes turned red the moment she heard the nanny speak to her like that.

"How dare you speak to me that way? I could just snap your head right at this moment?" Alex threatened the older woman but the omega smirked at her.

"Do it and let's see what will happen to you. The whole house is full of CCTV and you know that. Cyrus might not hear our conversation in the video but he will see everything." Felicia said with confidence.

Alex was just about to reply when the door burst open.

"Are you ready for dinner? Where's my angel?" Cyrus asked the two adults since Kiana was still lying on the carpeted floor.

"Here. Daddy! Kiki is here!" the little girl exclaims standing up to show herself to her father.

"Oh my! There you are, my beautiful sunflower. Come here and Daddy kisses.”

“We're going to Pierre for your favorite pumpkin soup!" Cyrus says as he scoops his daughter from the floor and peppers her with tiny kisses.

"Yay! Daddy and Kiki will have pumpkin soup!" the little girl cheered ignoring the alpha female watching them in the living room.