Caspian:“Where are you going, Caspian?” Eva said, entering the room. Even her tone was getting annoying to me, and right now I wanted nothing more than for her to stay quiet and for her to just step away from it and leave.I didn't respond as I watched the maid for my things inside my bag. I did not want Eva to be the one to take care of my things. A maid, at least, would know what to do.The woman looked at me for a moment, wondering whether or not to proceed as she saw that the pack Luna was annoyed. I nodded at her to proceed. I did not want to stay here, nor did I want to respond to Eva in the first place.“Caspian, I’m talking to you. Where the hell are you going?” Eva repeated, noticing that I had ignored her. I looked at her for a moment, debating, wondering whether or not it was going to be worth it to respond.“I heard you the first time,” I said coldly as I looked sideways at her. “And if I chose not to answer, it means I don’t want to. Don’t push me, Eva.”“I’m your wife,”
Valerie:“It seems fate has plans for us tonight, doesn’t it?” Caspian's voice felt like it cut through me like a knife. It was low and deliberate, and I could tell that he was waiting for me to say anything otherwise. His hand rested firmly on my brother's shoulder, but his gaze was pinned on me.It was as if he was trying to read me, trying to study my expression, trying to understand what I was hiding. Little did he know I had a lot in mind, but little did he know I was not going to let him in my mind.My heart raced as his words hung in the air. The man who had been my world once before he tore everything down stood in front of me after so many years. I thought that I would have forgotten him. I thought that my feelings for him had gone, had left. It seemed to me that I was wrong. It seemed to me that things were different now. We were older, more mature, but I still had a weakness towards him. However, his presence itself was impossibly suffocating. And despite the pain, it was s
Caspian:I watched as the elevator doors closed with soft chime. It sealed me away from Valerie and Elias, but her son lingered. It was warm, familiar, and maddeningly distracting. And the fact that I found her, that she was so close and yet so far, was something that I could not just easily allow myself to process.I cashed my first trying to calm myself down. She was here standing in front of me after all these years with my son. A song that I did not even know about. She had violated something that he shouldn't have crossed. She played a game that she shouldn't have played.Adrian, my son.His name echoed in my mind, fueling my anger even more. How could she keep something like this? How could she even look me in the eye? She held the boy that she prevented me from getting a chance to know, and yet she still acted like she had the right to decide what I should and shouldn't be told, what I should be doing, how I should be reacting.Who the hell did she think she was?My phone rang
Valerie:The tension in the café was suffocating, the air thick with unspoken accusations and barely contained anger. Knowing him, I knew that he was just threatening to explode. I knew that he was waiting for the right moment for me to tell him everything that I had in mind, but I did not believe that I owed him any explanations.After everything that he has done to me and after all the pain that I have been forced to live through, I did not believe or think that I owed him more than he got.He as a person proves to me that he was not worth me fighting for because even after all the fights that I fought for him, he still chose the woman that he played me with. He still chose to let me go for her. What was I supposed to do? At that point, what was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to fight for the man that did not want me around? Or was I supposed to protect my son? In my opinion, I was supposed to protect my son.Casting side in front of me, his eyes darkening as he reflected his ange
Caspian:The entire hotel felt colder now as the morning sun doing little to thaw the icy determination coursing through my veins.80s stood in front of me, stiff and unyielding, but I could see his conflicts in his eyes, and I could see that he did not like where things were going. However, he understood this more than anyone else. He was an alpha too, and he knew what it was to actually be crossing in a limit like this one.“You have lost your mind, Caspian, if you think that she is going to actually be willing to give up her son to you.” He said, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked me in the eye.Valerie had already gone to her room after our conversation and since then I had not seen her. I doubted that she was going to go out until she was sure that I was away from the hotel in the first place, but I was also going to make sure that she did not leave at all. At least, not with my son. With her.“This isn’t up for debate, Elias,” I said firmly, knowing that arguing with
Valerie:I was surprised when the knock on my door came earlier than I expected it to.Thankfully, Adrian was still asleep, curled up in the blankets on the couch in front of the TV, his small chest rising and falling with each breath that he took, making me smile as I realized how comfortable he felt.I opened the door to find Elias standing there, his face hard and unreadable.“Elias,” I said, stepping into the hallway and pulling the door halfway closed behind me to keep Adrian undisturbed. “What’s going on? You look more disturbed than I would have expected you to be.”He didn’t answer right away, his eyes searching mine as if he were weighing his words. That alone was enough to set me on edge. I crossed my arms over my chest as I looked at him, studying his expression for a moment too long. I opened the door, widening it. Allowing him inside, the two of us were going to have to settle things in my bedroom, considering that Adrian was asleep in the living room.“Caspian spoke to m
Caspian:I said in one of the arm treads in the hotel lobby, watching as the morning sunlight streamed through the large windows of the hotel's lounge.My fingers drummed against the armrest as I watched Elias approach me with a measured pace. I knew that he was not happy. I could tell that something happened.His expression was tight, the lines around his eyes deeper than they’d been the night before. He dropped into the chair opposite mine, rubbing a hand over his face before fixing me with a hard stare. And though he did not say a word, I could tell what he was going to talk about. It was going to be his sister. And the fact that she did not approve of what I said.Then again, knowing Valerie, I did not expect her to be as easily convinced about anything that I told her right now. I expected her to give me a hard time. However, what I did not expect was for her to give a harder time than necessary.She was normally a lightweight. She normally chose to listen to what I said. She nor
Valerie:My son's laughter echoed through the hotel's courtyard as he kicked the ball back and forth with the babysitter. His carefree joy was a sharp contrast to the storm that was boiling inside of me. I stood near the edge of the patio. My arms were crossed over my chest as I stared at him, watching with a tight chest and a clenched jaw, thinking about how I was going to end up dealing with the situation that I was in.Caspian’s words from earlier replayed in my mind, each one laced with entitlement and control. The man just wanted to get what he wanted. He did not care about anything else except whatever duty he had to carry. He spoke about Adrian as if he were some artifact to claim, some duty to fulfill, instead of the sweet, sensitive boy who giggled when his favorite cartoons played and cried when he scraped his knee. He did not know him. He did not care about him as a son. He did not care about him as a person either.But this was not something that I was going to allow him t
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