Her phone rang, and Belinda dropped her fork and knife to check who was calling. She was at the restaurant at the Lycan's building, enjoying a meal alone because she needed the peace and quiet. Unfortunately, it was being disturbed. Her eyes on the screen, she lifted an eyebrow at the caller ID. "Hello, Derek." Belinda put the device to her ear. After their less-than-amicable parting at the gala, she'd half expected to not get a call from her ex-mate for a while. Turned out she'd underestimated his maturity. But then again, they had important business together, business more important than any petty quarrel they had. "Belinda." Derek's collected voice came from the other end of the line. "What are you doing right now?" He seemed to ask casually. "Nothing." She briefly glanced down at her almost empty plate. "Just having lunch." "With who?" The reason behind his query wasn't missed, and it made Belinda stiffen, her fingers clutching her phone tighter. Derek must hav
"Maddox Hawkmore. Who is he?" Georgina felt the color drain from her cheeks, her complexion dropping several shades. Every muscle in her body went taut, straining as her pupils dilated and her parted lips trembled. Belinda's eyebrows shot up at the intense response her mother had to the mention of a mere name. She looked terrified, and that brought to question why. A second later though, Georgina Knight had re-coordinated herself, but it was too late. Belinda had clearly caught her reaction. "You do know him," Belinda stated what she already knew was true. "Who is he?"Georgina had clearly heard Belinda, but she had questions of her own. Her lips thinning, she stared attentively at her daughter. "How do you know that name?" Belinda crossed her arms over her chest. "I asked first. Shouldn't you answer before interrogating me?"Leaning from her seat, Georgina clamped a fist around Belinda's wrist. "Answer me!" Her loud voice was earnest. "How do you know that name?" The tigh
The news of the arrest of Paul Knight took Chicago by storm. Apparently, their youngest, richest, and most handsome billionaire wasn't a saint. Some didn't mind his crimes. So he hid his money away from the government, who didn't? Then there were those who criticized him mercilessly for it. They were mostly those who were spiteful towards the rich, who felt it was unfair a select few lived in such luxury and extravagance, while they couldn't afford rent. He already had so much, they said, would it kill him to pay his dues to the government? It all should have ended with this simple argument, but then one random reporter from an unknown news outlet published an article reminding people of the Knight Tower scandal. The piece was derogatory, highlighting the rich's habit of trampling on the more unfortunate populace. However, the fire that had lighted the torch was the part where he'd speculated that something terrible had happened to the righteous Fleming couple, especially as they'd m
Lila Salvador sat in her fiancé's study, her naked right foot insolently propped on his desk, and her fingers painting her pretty toenails red. Her silky black hair had been left to flow down her back, and a corner of her gown had slid down one shoulder. She was on the phone, and held the device to her ear with her shoulder. If Paul had been there, he would have killed her for getting so comfortable in his space, but that was the thing... He wasn't there. "I still can't believe it, Erika!" Lila whined into the phone. "They came to the house as late as evening. I'm sure they could have waited till morning, I mean he wasn't going anywhere. Yet, they disrupted my dinner. Couldn't find the appetite to eat again." "The arrest is trending everywhere. Making quite a buzz too." The female voice at the opposite end of the line said. "How are you faring?" "How else? Terribly." Lila was quick to reply. She slabbed a dash of red on her big toe, then leaned back to examine it. Once
Gazing at the racks in front of him, Derek buried his nose in the crook of his arm, to protect himself from the stench of silver. Just as he'd suspected, the number of boxes had reduced by approximately half, but that still left many. Being surrounded by the one element that could permanently harm him rattled his nerves, but he'd come here on important business. As the charity gala had been a dead end, he now needed to find new clues. Regrettably, that meant coming back here. With a disgruntled sigh, Derek lowered his hand from his face and reached into his pockets. He brought out a pair of leather gloves, which he wore over each hand. Protected and equipped, he began searching through the boxes. If there was one thing that was certain, it was that the weapons weren't made in the Knight family villa. That meant the Knights were only middlemen. If he could find who the producers were, then maybe he could find the final consumers. That was easier said than done, though. In the boxes w
Belinda sat on the Lycan's desk in his home office, her legs spread wide and her chest pushed forward. She was panting, her fingers digging into the wood of the desk, and her body quivered. Color stained the pale skin of both her cheeks, and her lower lip was an even deeper red, thanks to the teeth that were biting down hard on it. She wanted to moan out loudly, but the Lycan had ordered her not to make a sound. He was on a call, and he would absolutely not tolerate any disturbances. "Yes... Get it done immediately... That won't do." Draven expertly held a completely coherent conversation while pounding three of his large fingers in and out of Belinda. Her body writhed, and her hips grinding maniacally against the wood of the desk. She felt as though she was in another world, a paradise where desire, seduction, and wicked pleasure ruled. Just when she was certain she couldn't take anymore, her eyes flew open. Sparks torched her nerves, threatening to explode into what she suspec
Belinda didn't wear back her panties. In truth, she had no idea where they were. Deciding she could search for them later, she left for her bedroom, where she removed whatever piece of clothing she still had on and entered the shower. It wasn't that she had a problem with the scent of sex on her—she liked it even—but it wasn't something she wanted people to smell just by being near her. After the quick bath, she went ahead to get decent, putting on a chic pink button gown. She decided she would forgo makeup, but she did give herself a final check-up in front of the mirror. The Lycan was waiting for her in the living room, his posture relaxed as he went through his phone. He looked up from the device as she walked in, his gaze then running down her slender form. The appreciative look he gave her proved he liked what he saw. "Are you wearing underwear?" Draven asked, his deep baritone voice husky. Belinda realized that, once again, she was not wearing panties. She'd forgotten to
Belinda gaped as several attendants rolled racks and racks of dresses into the room, each one more glamorous than the last. The manager apparently took his job seriously, for his devotion was evident as he barked orders at the much younger and jumpier employees. When Belinda had said she wanted to go shopping, she hadn't meant like this. While she enjoyed buying fashion items, she was still sane about it. These people were not. In a space of minutes, the large room exclusive to the most VIP of clients, was filled. Every form of clothes, shoes, and accessories littered every possible surface, so much that she wondered if the entire store had been emptied for her. Her mad stylist had other concerns, however. Haughtily snapping his fingers, the manager summoned two of his attendants. "Sisi! Lulu! Bring the Versace numbers 28 and 43 over here." Nearly, Belinda laughed at all the sass the man was displaying, her hand covering her smiling lips. She failed to hold in a chuckle at the emp
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,
Belinda watched Derek through the large screen of the television. He looked handsome, in his pressed black suit and meticulously combed hair. He was standing on a podium with a microphone bent towards his mouth. Below the steady timbre of his voice, cameras clicked and voices murmured. Occasionally, when a reporter asked a question, the screen switched to their faces, their viciousness masked in polite curiosity. They were baiting him... waiting for him to say the wrong thing. "You say the former CEO of Knights & Co. retired due to personal grievances. Do these grievances have anything to do with his recent multiple scandals? Or does he consider himself no longer fit to lead?" Derek waited a while before replying, clearly measuring the answer he was to give. "The former CEO is a competent leader who has dedicated himself to Knights & Co. for years. The decision to step down was a difficult one, but he believes it is time to usher the company into a new age." More reporters made
They sat across each other at a table in a pub a few buildings from the bank. As it was only afternoon, the place was almost empty, but the two women didn't concern themselves with the scantiness. They were too busy staring at each other. Belinda felt extremely uneasy in Lexie's. She hadn't seen the other since that fateful day she'd walked out of the Lycan's residence. Despite being convinced she'd done the right thing, she couldn't help feeling guilty about the horrid things she'd said to Lexie. Belinda warily studied the woman in front of her. Usually, Lexie was skittish when placed in an awkward situation. There was no trace of that jumpiness in the hard features of her face, however. She sat with her arms folded across her chest, her eyes narrowed in a condemning glare. "Well?" Lexie bit out bitterly. "Aren't you going to say something?" Belinda gingerly raised an eyebrow, her expression blank and her tone flat as she said, "Long time no see?" Her humorless quip made Lexi
Belinda walked through the double glass doors of the building, dressed in a corporate wear of white pantsuit. Heads turned as she walked past, staring at her ethereal beauty. Despite being aware of the eyes on her, however, she kept her gaze straight ahead, her steps purposeful in her pearl white pumps. This was the second time she'd come in two weeks. She was back here to follow up on a matter she'd brought to the management of the bank on her first visit. Briefly, Belinda glanced around at the simple yet majestic interior. The institution was one of the oldest of its kind in the city. And regardless of its reduced clientele, it still held plenty of respect. Without bothering to meet a cashier, although one was unoccupied, she proceeded to a narrow entrance at a corner of the hall. The lonely hallway led to even lonelier stairs, and she climbed up it to step onto an eerily quiet floor. Belinda pushed open a wooden door to enter a small room, with a single desk and a woman typing be
“The Chicago Pack has to be the most disgraceful pack out there. Their alpha daughter is a lying whore and idiotic bully, while their alpha is a common criminal. I'd literally die of embarrassment if I were them."Cecily's vision spotted red as she read the post made in the werewolf community forum. Anger gripped her chest, making her feel as though she was a boiling kettle about to explode. The imbeciles! Out of habit, she made to fling her phone on the wall, but her mind recalled that she couldn't afford to do so just in time. After her last scandal, Paul had made sure to remind her she was no longer an alpha daughter of the Chicago Pack at every turn. He'd cut down her allowance to almost nothing, had put her in one of his filthy apartments for low-ranking werewolves, and had taken away all her Knight privileges. She got that he was angry, but it'd been months now of living this way. As she couldn't cook, she had to rely on McDonalds and Red Lobster for her meals. She told her
"And that is why, the council has reached the decision that it is in all our best interest for you to step down from the chairman seat of Knights & Co." In one of the many hallways of the Knight mansion, Lila halted in her tracks. Her gaze dropping, she focused on picking up the conversation in the study up ahead. The voices she heard she didn't recognize, but they all held this polished timbre and belonged to men. "So it is." Paul's low voice was calm and steady, his emotions impossible to read from his tone. "The Beta will take your place as the CEO. He will work endlessly, in your name, to renew the spotless image of our esteemed company, and report back to you." Lila waited—with her breath held—for all hell to break loose. If there was one thing she'd learned about her husband-to-be, it was his pride was his most beloved treasure. And that pride had just been threatened. She expected him to fly into a rage, to hold whoever had spoken by the neck and strangle him to
Lila's back straightened in her chair the instant she saw Belinda approaching. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the sight of the pale woman with an unearthly beauty, but she remained where she sat. She was curious, that was why. The summons she'd received on her phone only that morning had neither been detailed nor polite. Regardless, Lila had wondered why Belinda Knight—someone she'd clearly made enemies with—had asked to meet. "I apologize for the tardiness. I had other important business to attend to." Belinda took the empty seat at the table outside the suburban city cafe, absentmindedly tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Lila hated to admit it, but she looked absolutely stunning in her all-black outfit and simple chignon hairdo. "I'm glad you feel remorseful for wasting my time." Lila's lips spread into a smile that had been absolutely intended to be vicious. "I, too, have more important matters to attend to." Though Belinda returned her smile, her expre
Men and women poured into the theater, some young, so advanced in age, and some very elderly. They murmured to each other as they took the front seats of the space, as they weren't aware of why they'd been called here today. All the text message they'd received had said was that the matter was very important. They would be discussing their future in Knight & Co., and they had to be present at 3 o'clock sharp. Derek sat at the stage, alone, and not nearly as calm as he appeared. He kept expecting the alpha to rush through the doors any minute, raging at him for calling this meeting without his permission. That didn't happen, up till the moment the clock struck three, and the first three rows of the small theater were filled. Sucking in a deep breath, Derek stood. He'd called all these people here, he might as well go ahead with this insane plan. Stepping onto the podium on the stage, he leaned forward, his mouth to the mic. "Good afternoon, esteemed members of the Chicago Chicago
They sat together in his living room, both sipping a hot cup of tea. Belinda's suitcases lay at her feet, as she relaxed on the comfy couch opposite Derek. He watched as she casually blew steam from her cup, unable to wipe the frown from his features. In many ways, she appeared calmer than he felt. "Let me get this straight..." Derek began. "The Lycan discovered you're an offspring of the Sorcerer Clan?" "That's correct." Belinda unceremoniously brought her cup to her lips. "And he let you go?" He was more flustered by how unbothered she seemed more than anything else. "I suppose it was his form of mercy." Determining her drink was still too hot for her tongue, Belinda lowered it and blew at the steam once more. "He can't punish my mother and everybody involved without coming after me first." Seriously, was there something he was missing?As far as Derek could understand, the woman in front of him—and basically everyone in the Chicago Pack—were in deep shit. It was