The next day was the weekend, and thankfully so.After a long blessed week, all Anna wanted to do was sleep in and bury her head in the sand throughout the morning.Alas, she reminded herself of the shopping trip to get the twins new clothes for fall and winter - they were quickly outgrowing their clothes. Especially Andrew. That boy was growing like a weed.Anna headed out the door and to the mall, her twins in tow.As she began shopping for the twins, she expected the trip to go smoothly but somehow, she was to be proven wrong again.“Mommy, what about seeing daddy? You didn’t tell us,” Andrew demanded, his brows furrowed.Anna felt the heat of frustration come over her and she let out a sigh.“Andrew, please. We can talk about it later,” she replied to her son.“I want to talk about it now! Can we see him? I want him,” her son insisted, to her growing displeasure.Make them understand, Ethan had implied the last time they spoke. She didn’t want him to leave her; that would mean the
Vance’s eyes were widened as he saw the two walk away from his mark and her twins.Fuck, fuck, fuck!He quickly shifted so as to not be seen, his heart pounding.Hunter.A fucking Hunter.He felt a laugh of nervousness bubble up in his chest, as he fought the urge to growl.Did Lily know about this? Was this part of ber plan? The rogue didn’t know or care; he knew he needed to get the fuck out of dodge now before he would get caught up in it. If there was one thing that made Vance different from most other rogues, it was that he knew when to run away.He quickly whipped out his phone and dialed Lily as he walked toward the car park of the mall. Lights flickered above his head as he entered the darkened areas of the park, where no one was.The phone rang a little before her voice was heard.“Have you gotten anything for me?” Lily sounded extremely blasé, but he knew that she wasn’t.But he wasn’t in the mood to play a fucking game with her right then and there.“What the fuck have you
“How could this happen?! Why would the Hunters be here? And from those families as well?”The entire hall full of pack elders and councilmen and women were in an uproar. William’s jaw was clenched as he looked around at the members of his pack that made up their high-ranking officials and could only think of how quickly they managed to lose their heads.Of course, the Alpha was also not pleased. In fact, he was pretty pissed.However, he had a job to do and that was to find solutions. Sitting around sniveling was a sign of weakness, and William hated to show it.“Everyone.” He spoke after many rounds of listening to the Pack Council of his pack speak, one after the other sounding panicked and passing on the blame to everyone else. The entire hall fell silent at his voice, which rose above the sun and had the aura of the Alpha.As all eyes turned toward him, he kept his cool.“This isn’t a time for us to panic.” He addressed the council. “That would mean that we would forget exactly wh
Anna felt like she had been bamboozled, and watched in horror as William picked up Andrea into his arms gently, letting their daughter wrap her arms around him.“William.” She said his name in a hard tone that made all three of them turn to look at her.The twins looked wide eyed at their mother and she felt bad for making them alarmed like this. In a much softer tone, she murmured, “Andrew, Andrea, you both should go play, okay? I need to speak with your father for a moment.”“But, mommy…” Andrew tried to protest but William himself could see the dark clouds over Anna’s face. He didn’t come here to make trouble.Dropping Andrea back to the ground, he said, “Listen to your mother. I’m not going anywhere.”He tried to put on a reassuring smile which did wonders because his son didn’t say anything more in protest and nodded.Anna watched with a heavy feeling in her heart as Andrew took his sister’s hands and tugged her away from there, back into
“That… that might be urgent,” Anna swallowed and dropped her hand, her heart pounding through her rib cage. Somehow, she felt regret over being interrupted by the knock on the door. But at the same time, she felt relief. She didn’t want to end up doing something she would regret.William felt frustrated as she stepped back from him. Who could it be at the door?He watched as Anna went to open the door, and his senses caught the familiar scent.A snarl slipped from his lips as Anna opened the door and gasped in shock.“Ethan.” She said his younger brother's name, and William clenched his hands into fists, trying to stop his claws from extending.Ethan smiled at Anna in a fixed manner as he stepped in through the door, taking advantage of her shock. Of course, he had seen his older brother’s car when he reached her place so he knew that William would be there. What he didn’t expect was to find his brother looking positively murderous, and brimming wi
Ethan had always kept a barely manageable grip on his bloodlust. Now his senses were singing out to him and his eyes focused on just one thing - Anna.Hearing his brother’s words made him aware that it wasn’t just the two of them there, and he raised his eyes to meet William’s. A smile was fixed on Ethan’s lips, but his eyes looked dead inside.“Don’t you dare,” William repeated, growling at his younger brother. “Stand down, Ethan. Or I will be forced to deal with you as I should have a long time ago.”Anna shivered from the feeling of William’s rumbling chest pressed against her back. Fear and excitement were mixed within her mind as her heart pounded. Everything felt so surreal.Ethan knew he wouldn’t be able to beat his brother, and that was what stayed his hand. He smiled to himself. Anna would be alone later on and he would make his move. Just because his true intentions had been revealed didn’t mean that he couldn’t still win this game. As l
Lily was alarmed to find this side of Ethan that she hadn’t seen before. And, to her utmost relief, none of the maids were around. She guessed it was likely because Ethan’s presence had chased them away.“So what if someone sees? What if my brother sees?” He leaned in and whispered to her, “Don’t tell me you’re scared my brother will find out what you’re really about.”His cold, high chuckled served to make her feel all the more on edge.Alarm bells rang in her head like a sore and she knew she had to do whatever it took to push Ethan away.Her uncle would kill her if the plan fell through due to more of her actions.Therefore she lowered her voice to a more seductive, husky tone, and said, “We can talk about this later, okay? I’m here regarding our packs’ alliance.”Ethan smirked to himself; he could tell by the way her pulse sped up that she was scared. However, none of this was really soothing for his bloodlust and he hated it. Oh
Anna covered her mouth to stifle a yawn coming up from her throat. Her eyes felt bleary even after a cup of coffee. She rarely likes to operate with little sleep, even as a mother of two young children. Therefore, she established a routine that enabled her to get at least five hours of sleep every night.Of course, last night had been a huge exception, and not even melatonin supplements had been able to stop her from having a less than restful night.The effects of tossing and turning, waking up in the middle of the night to constantly check the doors and windows under the guise of getting water to drink or checking up on the twins sleeping, were what she was facing now.The intercom phone at her desk began to blare and her heart jumped.It took a solid ten seconds before she shakily picked it up, feeling like she was halfway in a dream of sorts.“Anna, come to my office,” Damon’s voice was languid and slow.The call swiftly ended and Anna
Lily couldn’t contain her smirk as she saw Anna’s wide-eyed stare aimed at her. It had taken the work of a couple of her connections for her to figure out William’s whereabouts.It had just been her luck that she had a standing reservation here.The Alpha growled lowly under his breath as she turned to look at him. “What a surprise,” Lily remarked with sarcasm dripping from her voice. Then she turned to Anna, the redhead whom she glared venomously at. She blamed the formerly human woman for ruining her life, and her future with William. “Don’t tell me you two are on a little date.“What are you doing here, Lily?” The emerald eyed Alpha demanded.“What? You didn’t think you’re the only one that can step out on a nice night like this?” She scoffed and folded her arms across her chest. “You know, I was just wondering how you two could be here having a good time when you both have caused so much chaos. You, especially, Anna.” She spat out the redhead’s name with such venom that Anna coul
It was an hour later when Anna arrived at her parent’s place.She knocked meekly on the door, and was startled when the door was flung open.“Anna?” Her father was the one who answered it and she could have nearly cried at the relief in his eyes. He pulled her close into a hug and she closed her eyes briefly from the warmth.“Where have you been?” He asked her, curiosity in his voice. “And how are the twins?”“I had to travel for a bit. For work,” she clarified, the lie that she had come up with left her lips so easily. “The kids are okay as well.”She stepped into the house that she had lived in all her childhood.…Anna woke up from the bed of her childhood room early the next morning. Sleep hadn’t come easily but she eventually drifted off. After an hour of tossing and turning, she got up for a jog and had breakfast.“Good morning mum, dad,” she greeted her parents as she returned for breakfast.Her mother eyed her in silence, and Anna could sense questions on her mind. Having lied
“Of course,” William said in an imperious voice. “My brother saw fit to take his anger out on human girls and murdered ten of them in one night. There is even news to prove that, and he has confessed it to me.”Gasps left the lips of all who had no idea, and Camille’s face turned pale as she processed that.“T-this cant be true-““It is the truth,” William turned to say to his mother unabashedly. His eyes pierced hers with a look of certainty on his face. “And it will always be the truth. That is why,” he continued, turning to his brother. “From now henceforth, I cut all our ties to him.”There was a wave of confusion in the air and Alpha Drake seethed silently.“You are banishing him from your pack?” The Alpha of the Eclipse pack asked and William nodded in the affirmative.“Now that you have seen the truth of what caused the Hunters to come into the city, you have no right to hold these charges over my mate’s head. And you will release her at once. Council, your decision?”The Elder
The next morning, as sunlight streamed in through the windows and bathed the room with a warm glow, William stirred first.Anna slept soundly in his arms, both of them half-naked. The memories of the full moon the previous night made him smile. It had been better than he had expected. Luckily his Beta had fulfilled most of the duties William delegated to him, so the Aloha was free to enjoy the night with his family.“Hey,” Anna woke up with a small whisper leaving her lips. She felt his warmth all around her and she felt safe.It had been a long time coming, she thought, and she didn’t want to leave the bed anytime soon.“Sleep well?” He smirked down at her as she pressed her body against his.“Too well,” her voice was akin to a purr as she spoke. “Anyway, I think it’s nearly last breakfast. I’ll have to get ready to go into the city soon.”Ah yes, that.William’s mood soured and she noticed it quickly.“Will,” she sighed and leaned into him. “Please. You know this is necessary.”“I k
Anna was surprised to find Ethan approaching them.“Ethan?” Camille also sounded stunned to see her younger son there, and coming to Anna’s defense.“Mother, enough of this,” Ethan said in a calm tone, not showing any signs of anger.“B-but-“ Camille’s face reddened, out of anger or embarrassment or both… she didn’t know.“Focus on the festival. Stop with this,” he told her. “Focus on the festival.”“Focus on the festival? What about the Eclipse pack, and our relations with them? What about Alpha Drake?”“Everything is being taken care of,” Was all Ethan said before turning to glance at a stupefied Anna.She looked away, not wanting to show emotion to him of all people.She noticed the twins were staring at them from afar with curiosity in their faces.Camille was shocked at her younger son.“Ethan, I had never expected you of all people to defend her after all she has done,” she vehemently said.“And I am not,” Ethan sighed; his mother was hard to dissuade when she fixated on certain
“This is so cool!” Andrew jumped atop the picnic blanket in an excited manner that Anna couldn’t help but smile.There was a buzz of excitement in the air.As Anna played the snacks and fruits out for the twins to eat, there was the sound of a throat clearing that made her and William turn to see who it was.“Alpha,” it was a guard who bowed deeply. “There are some delegates from the Grey Hills Pack and the Moonlight Pack here. They wish to see you.”William refrained from giving into the urge to pinch his nose and only let oit a small sigh, and nodded.“Very well. I will be there in a bit. Have them wait for me in the study,” he ordered the guard and dismissed him with a wave. The guard bowed and left, before William turned to his mate, meeting her gaze.Before he could say anything, she spoke, “It’s alright, Will. I’ll handle things here for the time being.After William left - but not before giving her and the twins kisses each - she sat and enjoyed the snacks while they watched m
Ethan wasn’t surprised about his brother wanting to spend time with his family, and he kept his opinions on that to himself - being the one who never saw the point in all that, he wouldn’t even touch that topic with a fucking ten foot pole.However, he did have a point to make.“It’s easy to forget your duties if you focus too much on your family, brother,” he crossed his arms as William’s glare increased. “Alpha Drake will come for blood soon enough. I don’t think we’re ready for that in any way.”“Let me worry about that, Ethan. And focus on enjoying the rest of the day. The festival is just starting, you wouldn’t want to miss it. And afterward, Ethan, then we will have much to discuss.”William’s words made Ethan’s brows furrowed in confusion. Why did his brother have that tone, as if he had some plan he had kept under his sleeve? It couldn’t be could it? The Alpha had never shown any indication in the past day of strategizing.However he couldn’t outright question the Alpha now.“
Anna didn’t know what to say after William was done talking. She had not expected to hear that sort of thing coming from him. He used to be so stone cold towards her, at least on the surface… and now things had changed. For the better or for worse, she didn't know just yet, but she was pleased and warmed by it.“Will…” she began to say only for him to continue.“Anna, all you have to do is promise me that, and I won't have a problem with anything else. No matter what, don’t forget you're my mate and you are my top priority. You and our children, and our family. It matters more to me than anything.”The honesty wasn’t one thing he expected either to come from himself, especially with her. He had once prided himself on being unruffled by shows of love and affection that most other 5 men his age seemed to fall under the thrall of. William particularly recalled an occasion in which a VIP client spoke fondly of his wife and daughters and asked William if he had any himself to which the Alp
The sight of her two children writhing in pain on their beds made her heart beat faster and she rushed towards them, frantic.“Andrea? Andrew?” She pressed her hand atop their foreheads to check their temperatures and found, to her dismay, they were feverish.The sight of their pale, withdrawn faces even in their sleep was heart wrenching. Anna felt helpless. What could have been wrong with them? They were fine yesterday!As though some supreme power had read her mind, the door opened and William walked in, his lips moving.“Good morning-” his words were cut off as he took in the look on his mate’s face. She looked incredible, her hair down to the blue dress she wore, but it was the display of terror in her eyes that stopped him in his tracks.“What’s going on?” he asked, and she rushed to him, tugging him to their children’s beds.“They were like this when I found them. Will, what could have happened? Maybe they ate something or… or-”The emerald-eyed Alpha grabbed his mate’s hands a