ARIANA’S POV:Mommy’s crying again.I hate seeing her cry; it makes me want to cry, but I know that will not make her feel better if she sees me crying too. It will make her feel worse, and I do not want that. When she came back from her trip with her friends, I thought she would be happy. I thought we all would have been happy a long time ago. I mean, mommy and friends? When we were leaving with Aunty Gwen, Mommy was always busy with work; I do not think she even had friends. It was so sad. At times, I would try to introduce her to my friend's parents, but she was never in one place or focused enough to make them their friends. I thought when we came here to live with Daddy, things would be different. I thought she would be happier. I thought all we needed was a big house, a lot of food, and money to buy whatever we wanted, but Mommy was still not happy. I want her to be happy.“Ariana? What are you doing here?” Aunty Peace says this as she comes to stand beside me. I quickly wipe
ROSALINE'S POV:I cannot continue to live like this.No, I cannot. I am going to lose my mind. At this rate, I might end up being taken to an asylum before we even get to the person behind all of this. Oh, who am I kidding? It was Magnus; I did not need any proof to know that it was him. Was this his plan, though? To drive me insane? Was that his way of getting revenge?I have been hearing and seeing things when I am alone. I see things when there is nothing, and I hear things when there is no one. At first, I thought I was just being paranoid, but now I am certain that I was losing my mind. I could not even find peace in my sleep anymore. Every time I close my eyes, I have a nightmare that I am being hunted or that Ariana or Damien are being killed. Then I wake up screaming in the middle of the night.Was this going to be my normal life? Is this how I am going to spend the rest of my days, in fear? Because of some bastards that just want to break me?“Stop it.”My thoughts are inter
ROSALINE’S POV:“I have an idea,” Damien said, and I tore my gaze from the tray of food on my lap to meet his gaze.“What is it?” I asked, my mouth filled with food. He smirked and reached out to wipe the corner of my mouth with his thumb; he had a little sauce on it, and I watched him insert it into his mouth, not once breaking eye contact with me.Sexy.“Why don’t we go to a family dinner?” He asks, and I tilt my head to the side.“Family dinner?” I ask, and he nods enthusiastically, a dashing smile on his chiselled face.“Yeah, tonight. Just you, me, and our little angel.” He said, and I began to wonder if that was a good idea. I am sure he could see the uncertainty in my eyes because he added, “Come on, I think we need it. It could be fun.”“Could be,” I muttered, and I saw him pout. He drops his head down to my thighs, and my hands find their way to his hair. His hair was so dark and soft that he shut his eyes when my fingers tangled in his hair. My eyes took in his features, an
ROSALINE’S POV: Today I woke up feeling lighter than usual. Last night was probably the best night that I have had in a long time. Everything was perfect, from the food to the drinks to the conversation to the games to the people. Everything was glamorous. We spent the night talking and getting to know each other better. Ariana and Jake were busy playing in their little world, but I did have occasional heart attacks when they got closer to the edge.There were a few power clashes between the alphas; they had pride when it came to the littlest of things, even when it came to passing the salt. I do not even want to go into details about that, but it was quite entertaining for us ladies. We spent the rest of the night dancing, which, if I must say, was my favourite part, even though Damien had most of his attention on Ariana and Jake dancing. I do not know how it was possible, but I think I fell in love with Damien all over again. It was strange.Something about last night was differen
ROSALINE’S POV:Okay, this wasn’t as bad as I thought. I have been watching Jake and Ariana play for the past thirty minutes now. Other kids were playing with them as well; their laughter and playful squeals filled the warm air while their guardians sat together and interacted. It was late in the afternoon, and I sat alone by the bench, not once taking my eyes off them.Ariana looked so happy while playing with Jake; they all did. I had never seen so much happiness in her eyes; there was this unique light in them that made me a bit envious, something I never got to experience as a kid. That was when it all hit me like a nail on the head.Ariana needed this. She needed to be out in the open and have a normal life. By trapping her in that palace surrounded by guards, grownups, and death 24/7, her life was slowly starting to resemble mine.And I would rather die than let that happen.“Mommy, please come push us!” Ariana yelled. I made my way to them without another word and pushed them b
DAMIEN’S POV: Anger. That was all I felt. It was all I could feel. I hated seeing her like this; I hated seeing her speak with so much hurt laced in that sweet voice of hers; I hated seeing tears stain her gorgeous face; and I hated feeling her emotions, only that they were amplified in me.Who the hell did this bastard think he was? Who does he think he is to place all these mind games on my wife? I have had it.“It’s Magnus; it has to be him,” she sighed, shaking her head. I scooped her into my arms and took her up to our room. Once I placed her on the bed, I locked the door and came to sit beside her.“Alpha Magnus?” I asked, and she nodded. “Why would he do all of this? I thought it all pointed down to your father.”“It has to be one of them; they hate me for what I have done to them, for disgracing them by running away with an illegitimate child,” she said, wiping her eyes away, and I nodded.“And which one of them exactly brought up the idea of aborting your pregnancy?"She fr
DAMIEN’S POV:“Now I get it,” I said, staring at Rosaline, who looked at me with confusion. We sat on the bed opposite each other; a few minutes had passed, and neither of us had said a thing.“You get what?” She tilted her head to the side, her eyes searching mine for the answers my mouth was trying to give."You did what you did. You know, with Ariana. Taking her out there even though you knew it was dangerous, even though it was for just a few minutes, at least she had a good time, like a normal kid,” I said, and she smiled softly. Her little hands took my much larger ones, and she placed them on her lap. She traced the lines on my palm while she spoke.“I think you should go talk to her, and you know a bit gentler. She has always wanted to meet you; she always asked me questions about you and why you were not in our lives, and now that you are, you are making it hard for her to have a life.”“But I am just trying to protect her,” I said.“And I understand that, but she does not; s
ROSALINE’S POV:The air was warm. It was too warm. It was hot.Or maybe I was the hot one? Why? No one else seemed to be sweating, despite the sun’s gaze upon us. Or was it just me? Was I sick? No, I felt pretty fine. Okay, that was a lie. I felt like I would throw up any moment from now on. My head hurt, everything was spinning, my skin was crawling, and there was ringing in my ears."Rosaline, what’s wrong?”My eyelids snapped open to see Damien looking at me with eyes filled with worry and curiosity. I forgot he was sitting right next to me on the bench. It was beneath a tree and it gave a good view of the park, especially the playground. I stepped away from him, but he looked at me in a way that signified that I should not make a scene.“You are using your own family for bait,” I stated, and his eyebrows knitted together.“What are you talking about? I would never do that,” he said, and I blinked at him. No, he was lying.“You are lying,” I repeated my thoughts. “You are obviously