EZRAFor the next week and a half, Annabelle and I settled into a comfortable routine. Our mornings began with breakfast alongside the twins, followed by riding my car to work together, where we'd slip into our professional roles as boss and employee. After a day of work, we'd ride home together, share dinner with the twins before retiring to my office. There, I'd work late into the night — or pretend to— while waiting for Annabelle to come with freshly brewed coffee. And we would talk, our conversations flowing effortlessly until the early hours of the morning.At first, I was reluctant to admit it, but as time passed, I began to look forward to those late night hours in my office. I liked talking to Annabelle, too much, and getting her inputs on some business matters even if she gave it after a lot of gentle prodding from me. I liked the way her eyes sparkled when she talked about the latest novels she was reading. Just because she was so interested in my life and getting to know me
EZRAJust as I was about to either ignore her or play dumb, Annabelle rose from her seat and letting the blanket that was wrapped around her shoulders drop to reveal her pink pajamas, she circled my desk and came to me. I gently pushed my swivel chair from my desk to create room for her to stand in front of me.She was saying as she sat on my desk directly in front of me. Her green eyes were sparkling brightly, “Everyday you keep staring at my lips when I speak,” I hadn’t thought she noticed. After all, I thought I was being subtle. Still, I arched one bushy brow, not willing to give in to temptation. I liked the way our relationship was at the moment. Adding kissing would lead to sex and sex would lead to complications.“Who said me looking at your lips means I want to kiss you?”She raised her brow too, copying my action, “Who said looking at my lips means you do not want to kiss me?” After her question, she swept her tongue over her bottom lip, the action slow and deliberate, ca
ANNABELLE “What do you think of this design, Ma chérie?” The woman in front of her asked, her voice thick with a heavy French accent as her workers held out a bright red gown for me to see. My breath caught as I walked closer to the gown and grabbed hold of one end. The gown was a ravishing red. It was silky with a strapless design that showcased a fitted boned bodice that crunched at the waist. It also had a subtle sheen that caught the light as it was held out. The material was soft and silky, I could almost envision how it would feel against my skin as I walked through the halls of the ceremony. “I like it.” I said as my lips stretched into a wide smile, “No, allow me to rephrase that. I love it. It’s so beautiful,” “Good. Good. I made it specially for you. I was ecstatic when Alpha Ezra reached out to me that he needed me to sew a gown for his fiancé,” Colette waved her workers off and they moved away with the gown. “When did he contact you? How did you sew the gown quickly?
“When is the perfect date to announce my engagement?” I yelled as I walked into my father's house to meet my parents who were sitting in the living room. They both had their backs to me, their arms wrapped around each other as they watched the movie playing on the big screen television.Both of them jumped at the sound of my voice before turning their body to look at me. Surprised showed on their faces but it quickly morphed into delight as they both got up and held their arms open.I rushed forward, circled around the sofa and threw my arms around them, hugging the both of them together.“We did not expect you to come home tonight,” my mom said when we finally separated after a few minutes of holding each other.“I wanted to surprise you both,” And it was true. I did not tell them that I would be coming home and attending the mating ceremony tomorrow with them.“Eh? We are really surprised,” I saw worry in my father’s eyes that he was trying to cover. I knew there were a lot of quest
ANNABELLE I hate this ceremony and everybody in attendance. I folded my hands across my chest but when my mother shot me a scathing glare, I quickly dropped it with a huff. Since we arrived a few hours earlier, I’ve not been able to sit still — mother has had to tap me a couple of times — and I never knew that forcing a smile could be so hard until I had to do so today as I walk around, greeting and getting introduced by father to other alphas and their children.“Annabelle has grown into a very beautiful woman,” One alpha Isaiah told my father with a patronizing smile, “My son is yet to meet his mate. I’ll be handing over the pack to him on his birthday in two months. I’m sure he and Annabelle would make a nice couple. What do you say, Alpha Knight?”“That’s left for Annabelle.” My father responded, returning alpha Isaiah’s smile, “This one is stubborn. I cannot force her to anything she does not want,”“Ahh that means she’s just like you when you were younger. You were so stubborn
ANNABELLE One, two, three… dances in a row, I remained on the dance floor, lost to the sound of music and reluctant to leave. After my dance with Joshua, another alpha son approached me for a second dance and then another young alpha came to me for the third one and by then, I was enjoying myself and had forgotten all my sorrows and the fact that Ezra was ignoring me.“May I have this dance, ma’am,” another man, whom I don’t even know appeared once I was done with the young alpha. He bowed like a gentleman and held out an open palm to me.With a small laugh, I said, “Yes,” and allowed him to wrap an arm around my waist.“You’re so beautiful. This red dress really suits you and compliments your skin tone,” he said once we began to move to the flow of the song.My eyes stung with tears at the compliment. Even if it was not him I wanted to hear it from, it would do. But why couldn’t it have been Ezra who complimented me? After all, he got me the dress.I felt him before I saw him. The h
ANNABELLE “The fuck is wrong with you?” I growled at Ezra as he grabbed my waist in a firm hold and refused to let go as I struggled. My body was stiff in his embrace as I fought hard to ignore his mouth watering scent and how right it felt to be in his arms, and even if I did not want to move, I had no choice. “Keep quiet and dance. People are watching,” he said, looking over my shoulders as we slowly dance. I knew that anybody looking at us right now could see the tension.Through gritted teeth, I snapped at him, “If you care so much about not making a scene then you shouldn’t be forcing me to dance!” “I wouldn’t have had to force you to dance if you came willingly,”“And why should I do that? You spent so much time ignoring me tonight, I wonder what Jennifer would say if you saw us dancing together,” I cursed in my mind as I said it. He finally stopped looking over my shoulder and his eyes that held understanding met with mine.“You’re jealous,” he said.I snarled at him, “I’m
ANNABELLE “Drop me down you stupid caveman,” I yelled, thumping the hard muscle on his back with my closed fist, “Let me down,”I continued to scream and hit his back as he kept on walking to wherever it was that he was taking me to. There was a sting on butt, it shocked the hell out of me that for a second, I froze and then, I was consumed with anger.“You did not just hit me, you bastard,”“You can hit but I can’t?” He asked.“I would not have had to hit if you did not pick me up,”“Semantics,”I was just about to curse him when he rounded a corner and dropped me down. I immediately tried to walk around him to escape but it seemed like he already anticipated it because he grabbed my neck, his hold tight yet not tight enough to block my air flow. My mind quickly flashed to different dirty things that I had no business thinking about at the moment.“Let go of me,”“No,” he told me as he wrapped his free arm around my waist to drag me close to his body. Even with our clothes between
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
SAMANTHA For a moment, my world seemed to turn upside down. My calm demeanor and composed nature was shattered into a thousand agonizing pieces. My breath hitched in my throat, a strangled sob trying hard to escape. I couldn't believe my eyes. My fiance, the man I had come to love even though it started off as an arranged marriage, was in bed with my best friend. Zach had Clarence bent on all fours as he thrust hard into him and Clarence begged him to go harder. What was I witnessing? My legs went weak as tears streamed down my cheeks. How long have they been cheating behind my back? Their betrayal seared through me like a wildfire. “Zach…” I called out, my voice barely audible. My heart beat came faster and in pants and I could barely breathe but I couldn't break down completely in front of them. I won’t do it. Zachariah’s eyes, usually a warm shade of amber, were wide with shock as his face gradually turned pale. My teary eyes and his guilt-ridden eyes met.
“I would really love to get to know the people that took care of my daughter all the years that I couldn’t.” My heart dropped to my stomach. My mother could not be introduced to my pack because I’ve been banished. I was nothing but a traitor to them. Though I wanted her to meet Joel who was one of the reasons I survived but that too was impossible. I wanted her to meet our old alpha, Levi’s father who found me at the pack’s border but he was dead. Something just have shown on my face because my mother said, “Ahh, Sophia, it is okay if you don’t want us to meet them. I understand that they see you as their child and you would not want them to feel anxious or anything. We won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to.”I shook my head to stop her, “It is not like I do not want type to meet them,” hell I don’t, “It is just that you cannot meet them,”“What do you mean?” My father asked.“What I mean is even if I want to introduce you to the one who found me, I cannot do that because
I just knew that Simon felt awkward because of the way he stiffened when I hugged him and how long it took him to start patting my back and telling me that it was alright even if he did not what was making me weep.I cried for a long time until the stone in my chest melted away and I could breathe freely. I eased away from Simon and he let me go. Embarrassment flooded me when I sat back against the headboard and concentrated on his face.“I’m sorry about that,” I sniffed.“Oh, it is no trouble. It was just a little strange,”He looked like he was not going to ask why I suddenly began to cry while he was telling me our family history but I felt like telling him.“You know,” I started, “Like every other werewolf I was super excited and looking forward to my eighteenth birthday. My eighteenth birthday was last year, my wolf awakened but I could never transform. I was scared that I would be wolfless forever and it was something I wanted to tell father and mother but I was scared about how
I don’t know when I slept off but I woke up to the feeling of someone caressing my cheek and pushing my hair out of my face. The first person that came to mind was my mother but then my mother’s palms were softer while this one was tougher and this person did not in any way smell like my mother. I wanted to jump into a sitting position but my body felt too heavy. I could only open my eyes, blinking gently to adjust to the darkness as I slowly pushed myself into a sitting position.The stranger must have noticed that I was awake with all my movement because they took their hand back.“Hey, you are awake?” It was a deep voice and it belonged to a man. “You were having a nightmare when I came in, I was just trying to soothe you back to sleep. I didn't mean to wake you up.”I blinked as I tried to focus on him to see who he was. He did not sound scared that he had been caught. I wondered who he was that he could walk into my bedroom in the middle of the night without fear.“Who are you?”
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
ANNABELLEThe realization that I was hurting my kids because of my anger and hatred hit me hard, cutting deeper than any physical wound ever could. His words, laced with a heartbreaking mix of accusation and despair, stirred a remorse so intense that it left me momentarily breathless. I was consumed by regret for allowing my anger and hate to blind and cause me to put a spell on the woman I left them with so that she would treat them like her slaves.“Dad was right not to forgive you the first time. He should’ve listened to his heart when you abandoned us in the middle of that highway like we meant nothing to you. But he did forgive you, because we wanted him to. We liked you. We hoped, even then, that maybe you’d come back and actually stay. We wanted you to be a part of our lives… we wanted you to become our mother.”His voice cracked under the weight of the storm of emotions building up inside him.“But instead, you betrayed us again. You kidnapped us. You handed us over to that ev
ANNABELLEI released Dani’s collar at the same time I backhanded him causing him to cry out. The slap sent him flying to the door of the woman’s house at the same time that Axel was coming out. Dani’s body hit Axel with full force and they both tumbled to the floor in a heap of messy limbs. The scene was not enough to satisfy the anger brewing just underneath my skin but it would do for now. I might be blinded by hate and anger but I was still his mother. I could not kill my spawn, now, could I?”I turned to the woman’s whose cries I’ve been ignoring since. She was sitting on the floor now, the hand that she’d raised to hit Dani was still hanging in the air but it was not looking normal anymore. The hand was slowly withering and now, it looked like that of an old woman. I cracked a smile, the anger in my chest reducing just a tiny bit at her suffering.“Release me at once!” She napped through tears and snot. Looks like someone who was a slow learner. She needed more lessons to know th