Annabelle The presentation was a success. I already expected Dani to perform well since he was sharp tongued but what I did not expect was that Alex would also do well. He was very introverted and hardly spoke but if there was one thing he was not then, it’s shy. I was like a proud mama cheering them up and I could not stop the bright smile on my face as I took some photos with them for memory and finally led them to the car so that we could go home. It wasn’t until we got back to our pack house did I remember that I offended Ezra before leaving. I felt a groan trying to slip out but I swallowed it. I had brought the problem to myself, I’ll solve it but first, I needed to get the kids to change out of their school clothes, eat and then take a little nap. Once the kids were out like light, I sighed in relief and tiptoed out of the room, closing the door softly behind me. I was scared that there would be a little noise and they would be up again. It had not been easy getting them t
AnnabelleAnybody in their right sense would cover their eyes or spun around and give their back to him. I did neither of the two. I stood there dumbfounded and stared at him with a slack jaw. At more than six feet, he towered over my little five-six and tiny figure. As he stalked out of the pool towards me in all his naked glory, I took in his appearance, drinking him in.He was tall and exuded a dark masculine energy. His face was pinched with his usual brooding expression. My eyes roamed over his facial features. Dark hair that was scattered all over his face but not wet. Made me wonder if he was really coming out of the pool. Piercing dark eyes, pointed nose and strong jawline.My eyes moved down to his broad shoulders and then chest that was wet and dripping with water. I swallowed thickly as my gaze lingered on his well defined chest and washboard abs. My eyes did not stay there on his chest for long because they trailed downward and this time, I did choke. A mass of dark curl
Ezra“Fuck,” I cursed with one of my hands braced against the wall of my bathroom as I fucked my fist hard and fast, pumping my length quickly so that I could come. I’ve been like this for a while now but my cock seems not to understand that we could not have Annabelle and had refused to come down. Shit! Why the fuck did I kiss her? One minute I wanted her gone because her presence was toying with my meditation and the next I was hurling her into my arms and kissing her like my life depended on it. It was the mating bond that was toying with me. Nothing more. I’ve been fighting my attraction since I found out that she was my mate and I’ve been avoiding anything that would make us be in the same room for long as it would do nothing but cause the mate bond to deepen. A bond that I was so sure she could not feel.How Annabelle got to this part of the house was baffling. It was far from every other room and no one came to this side of the house except for me as it was my spot and I didn
ANNABELLEWhy had I thought that following the kids to see Ezra was a good idea? Even with the distance between us from where I was standing at the door of his office, his displeasure was so potent it seeped through the air and landed on me like a deadly poison.“Dad, how is work?” Dani asked, causing Ezra to look away from me. I was only able to breathe when the weight of his gaze lifted from me.When Dani asked me to follow them, I was so doubtful that I could drive. Dani stole a car key and gave it to me and when their driver came to pick them up, I entered the other car to follow. I’d been nervous at first that I won’t be able to drive and would crash the car and increase Ezra’s ire for me but I was wrong. Sitting behind the steering felt natural so I let go of all my inhibitions and let my instinct guard me. I knew damn well that Ezra’s driver had been aware of my presence behind them throughout the journey and I expected him to stop and ask that I not follow him but he didn’t.
EZRACruel satisfaction settled over me as Annabelle’s face turned red with anger. Yes. That was it. Feed me with your fire. Go crazy and return home to gather your things and go far from me. She did the exact opposite like she’s always done since she woke up from that coma with her memory missing, she stepped further into the room until she was in the middle.“If you expect that I will sit and idle about all in the name of taking care of your kids then you must be a joker,”“Am I, really? Why don’t you run along and ask your sweet father what the contract we signed entails.” I cocked my head to the side, my voice taking a mocking undertone when I saw the dark look on her face, “You didn’t ask him, huh? You just up and brought your things over to make peace because sweet daddy asked you to. You never struck me as an obedient daughter. I guess knocking your head on the hard floor was the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”Annabelle looked like she was on the verge of taking a sw
EZRAI hated this. I hated having to be reminded of my past and the feeling that comes with the remembrance of it and that’s all Annabelle had done since she woke up: remind me of Melucia. It was strange because the two women were the direct opposite of each other. Where Melucia had dark hair and dark eyes, Annabelle was sandy blonde with forest green eyes. Melucia had been at least six feet and she had an air of authority around her that even her captivity had not been able to squash. Annabelle was five-six and she carried herself well and walked like she own the fucking world. She was all roses and fucking sunshine.I took two steps back from Annabelle. “We don’t need to get to know each other. You’ll appear with me anywhere I’m supposed to show up with my Luna but otherwise, you’ll stay home.”Annabelle's face became closed up, “I know why you are doing this.”“Huh,” I raised a brow, “Care to share?”“You want me to get angry and leave. You said you were going to give me a second
ANNABELLE “Let’s discuss my salary then and other things that come with working for you,”“Get out,”***He agreed! I left Ezra’s room with a light foot and a giddy feeling as I went in search of the kids. Following Ezra’s clear direction of where Carden’s office was, I did not miss it.I lifted my hand to knock when the door was thrown open and a man with a mass of red curls and baby blues eyes was standing in front and staring down at me. A feeling of anger and bitterness hit me from nowhere, seeping into my bones. I reared back in shock at the harshness of this surprising feeling. Where had that come from? Why did I get angry from just laying my eyes on this man? Why does it also seem like this particular emotion was not mine?I shook off the feeling of anger and buried it deep, putting it at the back of my mind to analyze it later. For now, I needed to take the kids home.“Miss Annabelle. Is there anything you want?” His voice was clipped and there was hostility in his eyes or w
ANNABELLE “Dad, what’s with the contract you signed with alpha Ezra. I want to know all about it.” I went straight to the point after exchanging a little pleasantries with my father.We’ve spoken only on the day I got here. Mom had called to know how I had settled in and if I was having any problems and wanted to come back home. Today was Sunday and I was not going to start work until on Monday so I decided to take Ezra’s instruction to heart and call my father. I was almost like a blind fool just going on with the little information I’ve been able to hear and arrange in my head.The doctor might have told the me not to force me to remember things or fill my head with memory but it did not stop me from feeling like a stranger in my own body, like I was living another person’s life and I was forgetting something important. I hated feeling this way and I wanted it gone.“Annabelle, is there a problem?” Father sounded surprised at my question and he took a whole minute to respond to me
EZRA“Alpha, we need to do something about what’s happening in the pack.”I lifted my head slowly, my body heavy with exhaustion.“What am I supposed to do?” I asked, my voice coming out as weak as I felt, “I’ve tried to speak to the witch, all to an avail. She’s been playing with me, toying with us all,” The witch treated all of this like a game. The elders said they’d seen her watching my people suffer, laughing—no, cackling—as if their pain were entertainment. If only I could have strangled her when she came to me the other day then all of this would have been over but I couldn’t do it. Not when she had my kids with her. I shook my head, refusing to let the thoughts of my missing children cloud my mind. I needed to be level headed if I were to find a solution.“Then we find another way. Contact another witch and…” Elder Matthew stopped abruptly when elder Lazarus shot him a sharp, warning look. He looked away after that but what he said has gotten my attention already and elder L
QuinnEven after I’d emptied the contents of my stomach, again, I still felt nauseous. My body trembled, my skin clammy and cold, but it wasn’t the sickness that had me this way. It was fear. Dread.Everyone knew Alpha Ezra was ruthless. Cold. Capable of things most alphas wouldn’t even consider. But if someone had told me he’d been involved in the war between the werewolves and the witches, I wouldn’t have believed it. No way. Not him. Not back then.That war happened over ten years ago. If what Madonna had said was true, he would’ve been nothing more than a teenager when it all went down. Eighteen, maybe nineteen. Still practically a boy. What the hell was he doing in a war between witches and werewolves?I rubbed at my arms, trying to shake the chill that had settled deep in my bones.Yes, I knew the bloodline he came from. His ancestors loathed witches, and his father—gods, his father was a madman in every sense of the word. But Ezra wasn’t his father. At least… I thought he wasn’
QuinnThere was only one chair in my garden. One I use to sit when I needed to rest. I asked Madonna to sit in it but she refused and said if there was anyone who needed to bed seated, it was me. It made me suspect that whatever made her come to me after all these years apart, my mind would be blown.“I don’t know if you’ve heard anything. I cannot be too sure but BlackClaw pack has been taken under control by a vengeful witch,”“I’ve heard about it,” I released a deep sigh, “I was planning on contacting you because of it,”“You were?” She asked.“Yeah, I was going to do it yesterday but something came up. I was just thinking about it again when you appeared. It was almost as if thinking too much about you summoned you,”Madonna nodded as she began to pace in front of me. My sister was deeply troubled. Seems like what was going on in Ezra’s pack is more than what we’ve heard. My heart began to thud hard and fast against my rib cage as fear threatened to overwhelm me at the thought of
Quinn With Nepthar back, there was a little delay in my plans to contact my sister and bring Annabelle back. It’s been a whole day since Nepthar returned and we’ve been dodging the question of where Annabelle was. Knight and I did not know how we were supposed to explain that we forced Annabelle to replace her to become Ezra’s wife because of our pack issues after her sudden disappearance but Annabelle tried to run away and had an accident that caused her to lose her memory. Nepthar would surely blame herself. She would think it was her fault but it wasn’t. If our pack was not in such a grave situation, we wouldn't have asked either of them to suddenly get married. I wanted them to find their fated mate like Knight and I did. I wanted them to have the freedom to pick who they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with. How was I supposed to explain to Nepthar that after her sister woke up from a coma and with a vacant memory, she suddenly wants to right all the wrongs and help t
Quinn “Nepthar is back.” The words kept echoing in my mind like a drumbeat, relentless and surreal. Knight and I had barely registered what our Beta had said before we were flying out of our room, down the hallway, our feet barely touching the ground. My heart pounded in my chest, part hope, part disbelief. And there she was. Our daughter. Standing in the center of the living room, flesh, blood, and everything in between. Her presence was radiant, her aura undeniable. She looked older than the last time I saw her. She looked stronger, changed, but unmistakably her. Nepthar. “Mom. Dad.” She beamed, her smile wide, eyes sparkling with something between excitement and nervous anticipation. Knight and I froze at the foot of the stairs, speechless. We couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. She looked like a ghost, too good, too whole to be true. Maybe she was. Maybe we were dreaming. The smile on Nepthar’s face faltered and her chin wobbled, “Aren’t you happy to see me?” Her voice,
Quinn I could no longer sit back. Knight was scared that something has happened to Annabelle, but he was also scared that something would happen to me if I were to go after her because there was no way I would let him come with me. I would be going alone. It was a good thing that Mimi returned with us after the mating ball at Alpha Ezra’s pack, so I did not have to worry about two people. Knight and I have been trying to reach our daughter since news got to our pack about the evil that has befallen Ezra’s house pack, but we’ve not received any response from her. From phone calls to messages, all have been ignored. With how the news described it, I knew this had to be the work of a witch—not just any witch, but a powerful priestess. Only someone like her could bring a pack as large as Ezra’s to its knees and unleash a plague that left no one untouched. Annabelle was part witch. She got it from me but still, I was scared that something would happen to her because her power was locke
ANNABELLE He was nowhere to be found. I stopped dead in my tracks, looking around the room I was so sure I saw elder Lazarus enter but he was not here and there was no door inside this room that he could have passed through to go out. There was no window either. Was there a secret door or what? The room was empty and dusty. There was no furniture or any property. I walked back slowly and shut the door behind me and rested my back against it, my mind running a mile per minute as I tried to get an understanding of what was happening. I slowly began to move around the room, feeling the wall to see if I could find any secret door but after going around the room I saw nothing. There was no visible latch to open any hidden door either. I left the room and went to sit among the people, waiting to see if elder Lazarus would return but he didn’t and while I was among them, I listened to what they were talking about. Elder Lazarus and three other elders and their families were hale and hea
ANNABELLE It took a whole lot of time but in the end, I was able to locate a hospital and get a doctor who was down with a powerful migraine. The hospital was crowded with people who had rushed there to seek medical attention but since everyone was inflicted with one disease or the other, there was no doctor to help. I casted a spell the doctor and the migraine left him but only long enough for him to treat Dani. When the doctor recognized the kids and me, he tried to reach for his phone, to call who, I was unsure but I stopped him and threatened to kill him off if he tried any more stupid tricks. He finally settled down and treated Dani’s broken hand and wrapped it in a sling. I sat on a chair in the hospital room and tried my best to ignore the twins who were giving me death stares. I don’t know if we would ever be able to go back to how things used to be before I got my memories back but I’ll try my best. Even with the pain of his twisted hand, Dani refused to let me help him. A
ANNABELLEThe anger that’s gone down immediately sprang back up and I was tempted to lash out at them for picking their father over me once again but this time, I was levelheaded and was able to control myself better. I shut my eyes tight, willing myself to calm down so I don’t do anything I’d regret. I’ve done things I’m regretting already, it would be foolish to add more.“Your father is not coming to save you,”“Liar!” The both of them screamed at the same time.I inhaled a deep breath and released it after some time.“Okay, let me rephrase that. Your father don’t know where you are so he cannot save you,”“And how did that happen? Is it not because of you he does not know where we are?”“Yes and now, he’s preoccupied with other things, he does not have free time to look for the both of you so you have to let me take care of you,” Shit, that was a bad way to put it. Talking about their father like that won’t earn me any points. In fact, it would make me lose points if I still had