Biting her nails and tapping her feet, Cecily waited for Paul to return at the front door, because it was unbearable to do so in her room. She checked the window every five minutes for his car, pacing when she saw there was nothing in sight. When she finally heard the pleasant hum of the Maybach truck's engine, she frantically pulled open the door and ran outside.
The car came to a halt, and the driver hurriedly got down to open the door to the passenger seats. Paul exited the vehicle, a hand in a pocket of his suit's trousers. Cecily studied his face, attempting to read his thoughts from the look on it. She failed. "Well... How did it go?" Following her brother at his side, she struggled to keep up with his quick steps. "What did the Lycan say? Why aren't you saying anything?"Paul ignored her, focusing more on entering his home. His mother was waiting for him inside, her hands clasped in front of her thighs. Unlike Cecily, she noticed immediatelyAs Lexie approached the Knight family villa, she wondered why she had been called there this time, and in freaking 3 in the morning. It was a shame she couldn't just ignore the summons, because she was an omega being called by an alpha daughter. Stopping her car a block from the house, like she'd been instructed by Patricia, Lexie completed the remaining distance on foot. Rather than knock on the front door, she rounded the building, heading for the small iron gate that led into the garden. No bulbs were on, but the full moon high in the sky shone enough lights on the grass and trees. In the middle of the garden stood Cecily, in between a row of daises and poppies. She paced back and forth, her arms folded across her chest. When she picked up the distant sound of footsteps, she swerved to the direction it was coming from. Lexie walked through the iron gates, and immediately spotted Cecily. "Good evening, Miss Knight." On reaching her, Lexie respectfully greeted. "—evening—mornin
“After much consideration and plenty of regret, I, Cecily Knight, have decided to step down from the alpha family of the Chicago Pack. While I remain a member of my beloved pack, I am no longer one of its leaders. I relinquish all of my powers, and will no longer participate in any political events or civic duties regarding my pack. This is coming after much meditation and self-examination. I've made a lot of mistakes I'm not proud of, and I've hurt too many people I never intended to. My actions were thoughtless and reckless, but that does not excuse my behavior. I apologize to Mary Vaughn, and anyone else I've ever wronged. From now onwards, I promise to do better, serving my pack and the werewolf community as a whole.”It was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly in the sky, but the cool breeze helped reduce the effect of the scorching heat. It was the ideal weather for a sunbath, and Belinda did not let such a rare opportunity pass her by. She could
Belinda could remember the night in the picture. It was the night she'd met the blond bombshell named Chloe, and had gotten incredibly jealous of her. Despite taking place months ago, Belinda could still recall the boiling sensation of envy, which had pushed her to take adventures she never thought she would. However, as she'd walked out the club beside Chloe and Draven, she'd felt at peace, because Draven's arm had not been wrapped around the blonde's waist, but hers. The photo on Belinda's phone screen depicted her in a sexy outfit, her body pressed to the Lycan's side. Their body language, their ease in each other's presence—no one who saw it would mistake what it was. It was a very rare photo of the Lycan and his mistress. The caption above the post made by an anonymous account only poured fuel to the flames. “Guess who it is? That's Belinda Knight of the Chicago Pack. Wanna know who she's with? It's the Lycan of the American Wolves. Yes, you read it righ
Belinda watched Cantor leave, closing the door behind him. The creak of the swinging metal echoed through the hall, reminding her who she was being left alone with. Turning back to the room, she took a look around. The space appeared to be some sort of warehouse, with its large size and simple structure. Nothing was in it, except the huge parcels wrapped in cartons and transparent nylons. There were a lot of them, and Belinda found herself wondering what they were. So, she asked. Producing a pack of cigarettes, Draven lit a stick and placed it between his lips. "Cocaine." He answered blandly, leaving Belinda to deal with her surprise alone. Taking a draw from his cigar, he puffed out the smoke. "What is it you needed to talk about?"Immediately, the fact that countless kilograms of the most illegal narcotics in the world were in the Lycan's basement became insignificant to Belinda. This was it. She could no longer chicken out of this one, and neither did she want to. It was necessary
"I know I've already raved about this dress, but I have to do it again. This is amazing!" Running her fingers over the red evening dress, Lexie admired its beauty. Belinda understood how she felt. She too had fallen in love with the gown at first sight. There wasn't much to the dress, really—it was plain with a simple design—but it somehow mixed sexiness and sophistication to appear completely breathtaking. And it had been damn expensive. Never in her wildest dreams could Belinda have afforded the gown, had Draven not handed her his black card. All she'd had to do to get it was ask, and he'd given it to her without a second thought. After buying her dress, she'd maximized the opportunity to get herself various luxury items. The feeling had been intoxicating, casually strolling through stores, gleefully adding accessories to her purchase list. The icing on the cake had been when she'd tried to return the card to Draven. He'd nonchalantly glanced at her, and to
Every head turned as one of the two doors to the room slowly swung open, and two men walked in. Less than a quarter of the people present had never seen the Lycan before, but they'd gotten a description from their family members who had. Tall and broad, the description went, olive skin with long dark hair, eternal youth with extremely good looks. It was easy to pick who that was between the two men. The picture of him that had been immediately taken down from the community forum didn't even begin to compare to the Lycan in real life. He was simply something out of the imagination. The men immediately fell in awe of him, his aura enough to shake them to their bones. The women gaped at him, because they'd never seen anyone more beautiful. It took a while for attention to shift to the woman by his side. Their first thought was that she matched him perfectly. She was easily the most attractive at the event, with her striking silver eyes and pretty face. She looked good there, standing by
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Belinda highly doubted that. The Chicago Pack was still under fire for the scandal they'd endured, and they were passing through what had to be the most embarrassing moment in the pack's history. If Paul could, he would have preferred to wait it out away from the public's eye, but that would be as good as admitting defeat. His pride was far greater than any fire he could face. Smiling, Belinda turned to the woman holding onto the crook of Paul's arm. She was gorgeous, with beautiful exotic brown skin and striking eyes. Her silky black hair was sleeked back in a tight bun, revealing perfectly defined facial features and a slender neck. Belinda smiled at her, and she smiled back. "And who is this?" Belinda turned back to her brother. Paul's head slightly raised, as he smugly looked down at her. "Meet my chosen mate, Lila Salvador, daughter to the alpha of the São Paulo Pack of Brazil." Unable to hide her surprise, Belinda faced the attrac
With every second that passed, the hand Paul offered became more repulsive to Belinda. She took it because she had no choice, smiling as her stepbrother led her to the dancefloor. The orchestra had begun playing another song, and they joined the other couples in the steps of the dance. Belinda tried to make it through the session by blocking out everything but the music, but Paul made that impossible. "So," The sound of his voice ticked a nerve in her temple. "this is where you went after you left." Despite not being in any mood for a conversation, Belinda kept a straight face as she replied him. "What did you expect?" She asked. "You used violence on me after I refused to throw my life away. I was hardly safe back home." "And you feel safe here?" The question held no emotion, so that the reason behind it couldn't be guessed. Belinda wondered what Paul was driving at, but she quickly decided it couldn't hurt to rub the truth in his face. "I'm under the Lycan's protection,
Draven sat in the back of his SUV, the aura around him likable to a stormy night in the middle of an ocean. He was waiting, and he hated it. The longer his subordinates took to report back to him, the more restless he grew. His body vibrated with barely contained power, his gaze darker than the moonless sky. A moment later, his phone vibrated in his pocket and his expression never changing, he pulled it out. He swiped the screen, picking the call, and put the phone to his ear. "We've located Miss Knight, my lord." A deep voice droned into his ear an instant later. Draven listened to the address that came next, one he wasn't familiar with, then tilting his head towards his driver, repeated it. "How long is it from here?" The man behind the wheel hastily imputed the location into the car's GPS, and was provided with an answer soon after. "30 minutes, my lord. It's just on the outskirts of the city." Armed with information, Draven resumed the conversation with the one on the ph
Belinda's blacked-out mind gave way to consciousness, and the first thing she became aware of was the merciless throbbing In her forehead. Her entire body ached, as though her nerves were fighting a battle against her—and winning. Instinctively, she tried to find a position that was not so uncomfortable, but she felt like a log—too heavy and stiff to move. She realized then that despite her eyes being open, all she could see was pitch black. Her guess was that she was blindfolded, judging by the slight pressure around the diameter of her head, but she couldn't be sure. When she attempted to lower her hands to check, however, she met resistance. Without sight or mobility, Belinda had only intuition to use to assess her situation. She deduced that she was being pinned to a wall, both her hands held high above her head with handcuffs. Her bottom sat on a cold concrete floor, the dew on the surface seeping into her shorts and soaking it. She was alone, as far as she could tell, and in a
Draven never locked his doors, because every living being in the building knew to never disturb him without being summoned first. The only exclusion was his Beta, who he'd grown quite fond of over the decades. That privilege did not yet extend to his Beta's son and successor. The boy knew that, yet he walked through the front doors of the penthouse uninvited. And what was worse, he'd brought company. Dropping all he was doing, Draven leaned back into his chair, waiting for the trio to arrive. They found him soon enough, halting in front of his office's door. A soft knock sounded a second later, but the show of courtesy did little to lighten his mood. "May we come in, my lord?" Marcus' clear voice rang from behind the door. "You seem to have already come to a conclusion on that." The annoyance wasn't lost in Draven's reply. It should have been to scare them off, to give them the hint that he was not in the mood to entertain any guests. Yet, the wood swung open, ushering thr
Derek returned home well into the night, way past the customary 5 pm. He was newly discovering that a CEO working hard to revive his company was no easy job, and it often left him drained after a long day. Tonight, he heaved a sigh as he removed his suit blazer and pulled off his tie. As he stepped deeper into his apartment, however, he realized that his housemate's scent was way too faint, meaning she wasn't home. That made Derek frown, especially as to how late the hour was. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, absentmindedly strolling into his kitchen as he prepared to call her. That was when his eyes caught a piece of paper pinned onto his counter by a pan. He instinctively picked it up and went through it. “... wish for my own privacy...would appreciate if you respect my wishes.”Anger coursed through Derek at the words in the note. Like hell Belinda had moved out because she wanted “privacy”! She was simply locking him out again. Damn it, she hadn't even had the guts to
After closing the door behind her, Belinda gazed ahead at the room she would now be staying in till further notice. It wasn't the most luxurious quarters, but that was the thing about second-rate hotels—they were just below perfect and affordable.Dragging her luggage along, she advanced deeper into the room. She randomly deposited her bags on the floor and moved onto the bed. The soft mattress jerked as she plopped her bottom onto it, her mind too far gone to notice the bounce. Absentmindedly, she picked up the remote and switched on a channel. Although she gazed at the screen, she was not watching the TV program playing. She was thinking about too many things at once. Slipping out of Derek's apartment had been easy. As the other went to work early in the morning and came back late in the evening, she'd been able to pack her bags and leave without him realizing. She wasn't exactly running away. She'd left a piece of paper on the counter with her new address, which also specified the
"I've got a solution for all our problems." The proud declaration did not have the effect thought it would. Paul simply stared dead on at her, his flat expression displaying anything but curiosity. Georgina was no better. She did not appear irritated like her son, but her look was anything but impressed. "And what is that, dear?" Her tone was patient and indulging, like she was talking to a child she did not expect to say anything meaningful, but let him speak nonetheless. It annoyed Cecily senseless, but she forced herself to get past her anger. Pushing her chin even hire, she said, with just enough confident arrogance. "We trace the problem back to the source, and that's Belinda." "Moon goddess help me." The groan came from Paul. He rolled his eyes upward, praying to the deity above to grant him patience, because he was on the verge of committing murder. "Can you—for once in your life—not make everything about yourself and your crazed beliefs?" He snapped once he jud
Cecily was frustrated. She screeched, stomping her foot repeatedly like a child going through a tantrum. Her plan to spy on her stepsister to prove that she was the source of all their family's problems had gone to shit. Actually, she hadn't been spying on Belinda at all. She'd struck gold the first day she'd followed that omega paparazzi. However, neither she nor Belinda had done anything suspicious throughout their meet-up. When they'd separated, Cecily had naturally switched to following Belinda, but she'd lost her. Cecily neither knew where Belinda was staying, nor where she frequented. So, she'd been forced to revert to her original plan, waiting outside the skyscraper for Lexie. She'd tailed the latter for ever since, but was yet to spot her best friend. As a last resort today, she'd returned to the bank, and had crossed her fingers, praying that her target would show. No such luck. Why was the entire universe against her? Cecily screamed again. Why did everything have to go w
He knew him very well? Derek found himself feeling confused for the first few seconds. Then it hit him—this was not the first time he was coming face to face with the King of Alphas. Indeed, he'd met the Lycan not once but twice. The first being that faithful day he'd followed Belinda to this very building, and confronted her after recently recovering from his rejection. The Lycan had caught them in a very compromising position, and there had been no mistaking the fury in his eyes and he warned Derek off his mistress. The latter had ignored the directive, and had gotten Belinda into an accident. Another dreaded meeting had occurred. Heat rose Derek's neck, but not as much as alarm bells rang in his head. Somewhere in between the crazy events of the past months, he'd forgotten these encounters. He might be very well standing in front of a man who was out for his blood—a very powerful man at that. That couldn't be helpful to his cause. "I apologize for that time—I didn't intend B
A knock resounded in the small but organized study and to it, Draven replied, "Come in." With the scent wafting into the room, he already knew who the visitor was, and he had only given one person permission to come up to the penthouse. A man entered the office a beat later, bowing low before closing the door behind him. "My lord." The man greeted with worshipful respect. He was tall and quite bulky, with gleaming brown skin ripped around bulging muscles. However, behind his gruff exterior was a highly intelligent man, who could be subtle when he wanted. And that was why Draven had assigned him to this particular task. Pausing what he had been doing, the Lycan propped his pen between the pages of his open book. He leaned back into his chair, his pose casual yet powerful, his focus zoning in on the man in front of him. "Well?" He probed flatly. With a solemn nod, Travis Jonahson went on to deliver his report, like he'd been doing for the past few weeks. "In the last week,