Pride swelled within Lucien’s chest as he leaned back in his seat and watched his mate dismantle Elder Faen with nothing else but her words,

He smiled, impressed at how well Aria was able to respond to any of his statements. She was handling him better than he ever could. Where his instincts might have been to dominate the conversation by raw force alone, Aria’s was to make sure her logic was sharper than steel.

And with each word that left her lips, she cut deeper into the elder.

Lucien’s smile betrayed his emotions. He loved Aria and even with that, he had seen how nervous she initially was about...