Caspian:The warm glow gave the dining area a serene atmosphere over the bustling hotel.I entered the room, my steps calm as my gaze scanned the table. It did not take me long to find him, Adrian, who was sitting with Elias near the window.For a moment I found myself staring at him. He was laughing at his small hands, gestured animatedly as he spoke to his uncle. The site made my trust tighten. It was a mixture of emotions that swirled in me.Pride, longing, and regret, they were emotions that I felt towards the boy. For a moment, I wondered whether or not she was right, whether or not Valerie knew what she was talking about when it came to the child. However, this was still far beyond her, far beyond whatever it is that she wanted to say.Right now, I did not care about what she felt about this. I knew that my son needed me around him. I knew that I had to be in his life. It was not something that he could just choose. Why? Because he was my son. She chose to prevent him from growin
Elias:I found myself staring into space as the morning sunlight poured through the hotel’s grand windows. It illuminated the lounge of the golden warmth, one that should have been soothing, but all it did was highlight the way that I carried.Today not only went against everything that I wanted, but it was not going the way that I needed it to go at all. And no matter how hard I tried to think about it, no matter how hard I tried to find the solution to what I was dealing with, I couldn't.I sat in one of the oversized chairs, staring blankly on my coffee cup. It had gone cold long ago, but I couldn’t bring myself to drink it or ask for a fresh one. All I did was sulk as I stared at it, getting lost in my thoughts, not knowing how I was going to deal with things, not knowing how I was supposed to be enduring all of this by myself.From one side, I knew that I should be doing the right thing, but from the other I knew that doing the right thing was going to end up harming my sister.
Valerie:The room was quiet, the kind of stillness that felt suffocating rather than peace. This was something that I would have normally admired. I would have normally loved my piece, but right now I just found myself feeling like I was completely alone, feeling like I was in complete conflict.Adrian's laughter from earlier still echoed in my ear, but now it just felt like a distant memory, like a fleeting moment that I could not hold on to. The way that he spoke about Caspian after he left and the way he felt like he had admired the man was one that I could not just ignore.He was his father, and yet he did not know the damage that that man, his own father, could inflict on him, could inflict on everyone who was around him. I was the one person who saw that, and it killed me because I knew that no matter how hard I tried, no one was going to listen, especially not now.I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the door, waiting. I knew Elias was coming. The tension between us earlie
Caspian:I barely made it to my office before I heard the door slam open behind me. I figured that leaving the hotel for the day would be the best option. I figured that heading to the office to finish the work that I needed to take care of was going to be a little better for me.However, it seemed to me that fate had another plan, especially considering the fact that I knew that it left behind a raging woman, a wolf, a mother who I knew would come, not only to fight me, but also to give me a hard time.Her sent her my nostrils before she entered my office. I put the pen down, waiting for her to storm in. And just like that, Valerie stormed inside, her eyes blazing with fury, her chest rising and falling as she fought to control her breathing. If she was aiming for an intimidating entrance, she succeeded. The moment I laid eyes on her, I could tell, she was beyond angry.She wasn’t just annoyed. She was livid.If anyone knew her and if anyone understood everything that she had when it
Valerie:I stepped into the hotel lobby, my breath still slightly uneven from my escape, but my expression? Calm. Collected. Controlled.I knew that I could have left and I knew that I could have taken my son away. However, I also knew this if I chose to play this game then I could just end up endangering him. And as his mother, as the woman who has fought to protect him throughout all this time, I did not aim to do that, Not after all these years.The moment I stepped inside, I spotted Elias sitting in one of the lounge chairs, his hand wrapped around a glass of what I could only assume was whiskey. He looked up, his gaze locking onto mine the instant I entered.He did not expect me to leave as easily as I did, however, what he did not know was the fact that I was not a game in his own plan, whatever that was. He was going to need to understand that I was stronger than he was going to acknowledge. Maybe he did, however he did not want to admit that much.For a brief moment, I saw som
Caspian:The tension in the air thickened the moment Eva walked into the hotel lounge.I did not expect her to be coming here, nor did I expect the fact that she would be willing to leave the house to come to the hotel, especially since she knew that I did not want her to be here.Her heels clicked against the marble floor as she strode toward me, her expression dark with irritation. I could already tell that she was not in the mood for pleasantries, not that she ever truly was, but today, there was something sharper in her gaze. And I knew that she was upset with the fact that I was here. I knew that the idea of Valerie and I being in the same place was not one that settled her. However, no matter what was going to happen, she did not have the right to defy me the way that she did.She was well aware about the fact that I did not want her to be here. She was aware about the fact that I wanted her to be at home with Daniel. However, she chose to call and now she was going to have to de
Eva:The moment we left the hotel, I barely managed to hold my composure. My fingers clenched into fists as I sat stiffly in the passenger seat, my jaw tight with irritation. Caspian had dismissed me. Dismissed me like I was nothing more than an annoyance in his way, all because of her.And if I was angry before, no, now, I was more than just a little furious. I wanted nothing more than to break everything that was in front of me. I wanted nothing more than to take my anger out.Valerie Belmont.The one woman who had always been on his mind despite everything. His comparison. The way he would look at me. The way that I knew he looked at her.‘Why don’t you be like her?’ He had once asked. He apologized for it. But I was no fool, I knew that I was never going to amount to whatever criteria she drew for him. The impossible criteria for me, or any other woman, to follow without playing the role of a perfectionist.I should have calculated this better. I should have known that she would ma
Valerie:The drive to Caspian’s pack was silent, the weight of everything settled deep in my chest. And I knew that no matter how hard I was going to try to make things work, I knew that I was going to be dealing with more consequences and more hardships than I would want to be dealing with.Even my presence here was one that I did not like. However, it was not like I had another choice. I needed to do this for my son. I was not going to put him through this, not when I knew how Caspian was going to end up dealing. And being on my own, I knew that I was not going to be able to hold things off myself. I would have expected my brother to help me out, however, even he had surprised me. I could feel Adrian’s tiny fingers curled into mine, his grip strong, but there was a hint of nervousness in the way he clung to me.I squeezed his hand gently, offering him the best smile I could muster. “Are you okay, baby? Do you want to tell Mama what's bothering you?”Adrian looked up at me with wide
Caspian:Eva stood at the entrance of the pack house, her suitcases packed and lined up neatly beside her. Daniel clung to her hand, his small face confused, unaware of the weight of the moment.The last thing that I would have wanted was for him to be dealing with something like this. However, I knew this. I could not cope with what his mother had done. If something had happened to him or Adrian, then me forgiving her was not going to be something that I did. I was going to have her head. And I knew that if she started this way, then things were going to go harder, she was going to go deeper into whatever mess she was trying to play.I stood a few feet away, arms crossed over my chest, my expression cold, unyielding.Eva’s eyes were red-rimmed, but I didn’t care.This was a consequence of her actions.This was a consequence to the line that you had crossed more times than one. After I gave her once, twice and a million times, but right now I couldn't forgive her. For this, I couldn't
Valerie:It has been a while since Caspian left the office, leaving me alone with my thoughts, leaving me to think about how things went the way that they did.I paced around the office, not knowing what else that I could do. Men guarded the door and the windows as if I would jump out the window or as if I would have run away from the office. If I want to turn away, then I would not need them to be guarding the door. They could be standing right in front of me and I would slip out without them noticing.Truth be told, the villa burning down was not something that I cared about. The whole pack had burned down and I wouldn't care less as long as no one was harmed. However, it was the fact that the villa was on fire and we could have been inside of it. Adrian could have been inside. That idea alone was one that I did not want to think about. Him getting harmed or something happening to him was something that I did not want to put in my mind.I didn't need to think twice to know who would
Eva:I heard him before he entered the room. I heard him before he approached. It was as if something was waiting for me, something that I was not going to like.I turned to the nurses who were inside the room before nodding at them to leave, leaving us alone. They looked at me, studying my expression for a moment, but I nodded at them. I did not want them being here when I was with my husband. I wanted my privacy with him.However, his footsteps got louder and when they did, I could tell that something was not going the way that I wanted it to. Each step carried a warning, a promise of the storm that was about to hit.“No one is to enter this room until I leave.” I heard him speaking to the nurses outside. My breath hitched, but I did not move.I remained seated beside Daniel’s bed, running my fingers lightly over his soft curls, pretending I hadn’t heard him approaching. But I had.And I knew he was coming for me. I was no fool. I knew when I was getting in more trouble than I could
Caspian:“Where is Adrian?” I asked, looking at Mateo who looked away from me.“He is safe. He's asking about his mother, but otherwise he's okay. The way that we brought her over is not one that he could just easily let go of or ignore.” Mateo said calmly. I knew that this was not something that he liked. “Are you sure that you would be doing this, Caspian of all people? Are you sure that Valerie is the person that would be doing this?”“The Valerie that I once knew in the past is not this one. The woman standing in front of me, the woman that is living in this villa, is not the woman that I knew.” I said, looking him in the eye, noticing that his expression had hardened. He did not say a word and the two of us just kept walking, heading towards the villa.The remnants of the fire still smoldered in the back of my mind as I walked through the charred remains of the villa. The air was thick with the acrid scent of burnt wood and ash, a grim reminder of how close this had come to being
Eva:The soft hum of the machines filled the quiet hospital room, broken only by the rhythmic beeping of the monitors beside Daniel’s bed. The sterile scent of antiseptic clung to the air, but none of it mattered to me.All I could see was my son, lying there, fragile and helpless.My hands trembled slightly as I reached out, brushing his soft, dark curls from his forehead. His skin was still slightly warm, a reminder of how close he had been to the flames.How close he had been to dying.And all because of her.She was the one who was supposed to be in that villa. She was the one who was supposed to burn inside. If she did, I would have been done with her, I would have finished off with her. It would have been a sleek death that no one would have suspected.The rage simmered beneath my skin, tightly controlled but still present. I clenched my fists against the armrest of the chair, forcing myself to breathe evenly. Caspian could investigate all he wanted. He could hesitate, doubt all
Valerie:“Mama, are we going back to the pack?” Adrian asked, making my eyes soften as the two of us got up from our table.It was precious moments like this that I found myself wondering why I chose to agree to go to the pack. Yes, I knew that I had no other option, but I wished that I did. I wouldn’t have been too busy arguing and fighting. Everything that I kept him and myself from was just colliding over and hitting me like a brick wall.“Yes, baby. We need to go back to the pack. You know that we can’t be late. Alpha Caspian would be wondering where you are too.” I said, making him smile.“Are all Alphas like Alpha Caspian?” He asked, looking up at me.His innocent eyes told me that he was unaware of the conflicts going on around him. He was happy to know that he had a place, a pack, and a family like Elias’s to play with and enjoy. He was going to grow older, and I knew that this, despite me not liking it now, was going to come in his benefit. It was going to be something that he
Caspian:The sun was beginning its descent, casting long shadows over the estate as I walked through the pack grounds. I had just finished a meeting with Mateo and a few other pack members about security measures when a sharp scent invaded my senses, smoke.Fire…The word alone was one that was enough to trigger me, to make me stand, to make me try and understand where that thing came from, where those flames were coming from. And even as I tried to think straight, I couldn't bring myself to do so.My wolf snapped to attention, a growl rumbling in my chest. I turned toward the direction of the scent, my instincts pulling me toward the villa where Valerie and Adrian stayed. Panic clamped down on my heart like a vice.No.A rush of footsteps came from behind me, and Mateo appeared, his eyes wide with alarm. “Alpha, there is fire and it is in the villa.”I closed my eyes for a moment today. I tried to think straight, calming myself down as I did my best not to think of the worst of outcom
Valerie:I wrapped my arm around myself as I stared into space in the kitchen, not knowing how I was going to be dealing with things.A small part of me wanted to agree to her deal. A small part of me wanted to say yes and to leave, but I knew better than to do so.This was Eva that I was talking about.The woman was not going to want to do anything that was good for me. If anything, she was going to put me through harm's way. Me and my son. That was not something that I was going to allow.“Mama, is everything alright?” Adrian asked, noticing that I was quiet.The maids who had entered the kitchen with him were frozen at the sight of me, and I noticed then that I was gripping the sink far too hard for it to be normal. My knuckles had already turned white. I unclenched my fist and turned to look at him as a small smile formed on my lips before getting down on my knees in front of him.My heart raced against my rib cage and I shook my head as I tried to calm myself down, taking a deep
Eva:Never in my life did I feel as blind as I felt today.Never was I as angry as I was today. I was not just angry, I was furious. And right now I wanted nothing more than to break the man who broke me so badly. But I knew this. It was not his fault. He was merely seduced. It was her fault for coming to the park. It was her fault for appearing in front of him.And I was going to make sure that she paid the price of it.“Luna, is everything alright?” One of the pack members asked as she looked at me. I looked at her for a moment before rolling my eyes as I took a step forward.They started this war and I was going to end it. Her coming here was a mistake. If she wanted to leave, then I was going to help her with that. If not, then I was going to make sure that she regretted that decision. I was going to make sure that she cried herself to sleep every single night, knowing that she could have left. That is, of course, if she survived.I knocked on the door, waiting for her to open it