Choosing Aaron: A Black Paranormal Romance (Wintermoon Academy)

She waited fifteen years. He didn't even know her name.

Mara's lion scented her fated mate the day she set foot on Wintermoon Academy. Coffee and sandalwood. She followed it straight to Aaron Blackwood — a warlock who couldn't feel the pull and couldn't stop staring at someone else.

When she finally stood in front of him, he looked right through her.

That rejection sent her lion dormant. Mara went home to Solaris Pride and spent fifteen years building a life without him.

Now she's back at the academy for a teaching position, not for Aaron. She isn't chasing him, and she isn't waiting for him to catch up.

But Aaron isn't the boy who didn't see her. He's a warlock and a man grown, and when he sees her at the Pridebound Games, something in him won't let go. The mate he never knew he had is standing right in front of him, and she wants nothing to do with him.

Winning her back means more than apologies. It means facing her father — an alpha who'd rather crush his ribs than let a warlock near his daughter. It means earning trust he shattered before he knew he was holding it. And it means choosing her, not because fate demands it, but because nothing else has ever been real.

A NOTE FOR READERS:

This is a slow-burn, rejected-mates romance. Mara and Aaron's road back to each other is long, messy, and earned — the emotional and physical payoff comes at the very end. If you love watching two people fight their way to forever, this one rewards your patience.

Choosing Aaron takes place within the same timeline as Freeing Nala. For the best reading experience, it's recommended you read Freeing Nala first — events and characters overlap, and some moments hit harder with that context.

This is Book One of a two-book duology. Choosing Aaron is Mara and Aaron's love story. Book Two, Crowning Aaron, follows Aaron's journey to become King of the Witching Glen.