Valerie:I wasn’t in the mood for petty fights. Not today.After everything that had happened, all I wanted to do was get some fresh air, away from all the bullshit that I was dealing with for the day.After settling Adrian into the villa, making sure he was comfortable, I decided to take a walk around the estate. I wasn’t here to pretend I belonged, but I also wasn’t going to cower in my own home like a prisoner. And I wasn’t going to allow them to think that I was going to hide back as if I had done something wrong. I didn’t do anything that deserved me to hide, and I was going to be sure that they realized and saw that.However, I knew that this was something that I needed to play and thread very carefully.This wasn’t Caspian’s game to win.And I knew that one wrong move was going to end up affecting my son. And that wasn’t going to be something that I wanted to allow.I kept Adrian safe for years, from all this crap, I wasn’t going to drag him into it simply because I was forced t
Caspian:I stood on the balcony overlooking the estate grounds, my arms resting on the railing as I watched the scene unfolding below.Valerie was outside with Adrian, the boy laughing as she chased him around the garden. His laughter was light, full of innocence, a stark contrast to the war brewing between the adults around him.And for a moment, I found myself getting lost in the peace that the pack was living through, that I was seeing right in front of me. It was a certain peace that I knew hasn’t been around for a while.And then there was Daniel.He stood a few feet away, watching Adrian with curious eyes. My son, his brother, wanted to join in, but hesitation kept him rooted in place. And I could see the reason behind it.It was Eva.She placed a firm hand on Daniel’s shoulder, holding him back, her expression unreadable but her message clear. Their eyes met for a moment, and I could tell that despite knowing that this was something that her son wanted, this was something that
Valerie:The soft rustling of leaves carried through the estate as Adrian and Daniel ran side by side, their laughter filling the space between them. Watching them, I couldn’t help but smile. They were children, and they were acting like it.I knew that rage might have been a feeling that I had toward the child’s presence at first, but looking at him, he was a kid. He did not have anything to do with what his parents have done. It was not his fault that he was born into something like this, and I couldn’t just blame him for it.Daniel had been hesitant at first, standing on the sidelines and watching Adrian with wide, uncertain eyes. But now, he was playing freely, his initial reservations slipping away as he matched Adrian’s pace, their little feet kicking up the grass beneath them.It was a sight I never expected to see, but one I welcomed wholeheartedly. I wanted this to be their reality, both of them deserved to be living with and through something like this, and looking at Daniel,
Caspian:Dinner at the estate was usually a quiet affair, filled with polite conversation and the occasional murmurs of pack discussions. But tonight, the atmosphere was anything but calm.It wasn't because there was an argument, no, but I could feel the arguments stirring to happen.Eva did not say a word since she walked inside the house, not that she needed to. I could see her rage in her eyes and I was just wondering when she was going to end up reflecting on it, when she was going to end up throwing her tantrum and her anger on me and her son.Daniel sat across from me, his small face alight with excitement as he pushed his food around his plate, too eager to eat as he recounted his day. This was something that I was happy about. Daniel rarely ever expressed himself. He rarely ever spoke about his day, especially in the presence of his mother. Sometimes it was her who spoke. She would be telling me about how her day went and what she did, who she spoke to. Daniel would just stay q
Valerie:The morning was quiet, to my surprise, it was actually peaceful around the pack.The air still carried the lingering coolness of the night as I stepped outside the villa with Adrian beside me. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon, casting a golden glow over the estate.I smiled at the sight of it. It was something that I could not help but find myself wanting to be grateful for. At least it brought a sense of peace. To both me and my son, it showed us something that we were used to. A sense of calmness that we knew.Adrian was in a particularly good mood today, humming as he kicked a small rock along the path. It was nice to see him being carefree. I knew that he was young, that he deserved it. There was going to come a time when he grew up and he was going to have to hold more responsibilities than he can. And I knew that the older he grew, the stronger he would become, and the stronger he became, the more responsibilities he was going to need to carry. It was the way
Caspian:I barely stepped foot into my office when the door slammed shut behind me.I raised an eyebrow, knowing that it was Valerie. However, I did not expect her to be as aggressive. Never since I've known her did she enter my office this way.I turned to face her and frowned when I saw her standing there, her eyes burning with anger and her breathing harsh and uneven.I arched a brow, setting my whiskey glass down on the desk. So she’s finally snapped. I wonder how that happened…“This pack is no place for Adrian!” she spat, her voice cutting through the air like a blade. “How could you think that this is a place for him to be staying at, Caspian?”I exhaled through my nose, pinching the bridge of it. “And what has ignited this particular fire today, Valerie? Do you really want us to start having this conversation again? I do think that it is too early for us to be arguing about something that you just barely accepted yesterday.”She let out a humorless laugh, shaking her head. “D
Valerie:The moment I stepped out of Caspian’s office, the weight of my conversation with him still burned in my chest. My fingers curled into fists at my sides as I walked, my breaths measured, controlled, barely.This was not a side of me that I liked. This was a sign that reminded me that even I had darker moments in me, that I had darker thoughts that I did not want to allow to take control of my actions.Caspian thought he had control.The way he spoke, so nonchalant, so cruel and so angry. The man was far too confident for my own liking and I knew that it was because of those that surrounded him. They gave him that confidence, they gave him that strength, but that was something that I was going to need to stop.He thought that I was going to be forced to stay. And those seemed to have convinced him. Those whom he listened to, those that he followed, he allowed himself to believe.He failed to realize was that I wasn’t the same woman he once knew. He failed to realize that that w
Caspian:I had my arms crossed over my chest as I watched the pack members from the balcony of my office.Everyone was tending to their things, responsibilities, and whatever details they needed to be taking care of. The maids inside were already preparing lunch by this time. The smell of fresh vegetables being chopped filled my nostrils, but my mind was elsewhere when it came to all these details that surrounded me.My mind went to what Valerie had told me.Her anger.Her hate.I didn’t blame her for it, though. I tried to, but I couldn’t.I looked around for a moment, searching, for him…Adrian.He was playing near the fountain, his little legs carrying him across the trimmed grass as he chased after a butterfly. His laughter echoed in the air, pure and uninhibited. It was as if this was the most natural thing that could happen for a child. And I couldn’t help but find myself comparing him to Daniel. The son that I raised within my pack.He was a year older than Adrian when I found
Valerie:I had been doing my best to avoid Caspian since Eva left.This was the best option that I could actually think of.It wasn’t difficult.Not until he made it difficult.But still I managed to avoid him enough and not speak to him since she had left.The pack was large, and I knew its boundaries well enough to keep my distance. If I felt him coming, I walked the other way. If he entered a room, I left before he could say a word. And if he was speaking to Adrian, I made sure to keep one of the maids with him while I went to do something else.It wasn’t just avoidance.It was a refusal.A refusal to acknowledge him, to speak to him, to deal with him after everything.The man had accused me of something that he knew was far too vile.He had accused me of something I hadn’t done. He had thrown his weight around like always, forcing his decisions onto me. And now? Now that Eva was gone, he thought everything could go back to normal. He thought the things were going to just go forgot
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