MANUEL'S POVHours earlier...As I drove back from Micheal's house,my mind reeled with different scenarios that should have been able to explain Rdyer's discovery but none wa able to do justice to the confusion and mind boggling images that had popped through my head.Yes,Jonathan was burned at the stake but I was indeed present during his trial and his execution sanction by the elders.But how had he escaped?Was it when he was being transported or was he swapped during the execution.But I had watched burn severely. It had hurt me that he had been one of my friends from childhood. The four of us had grown up together,had trained together and we h aga d known he was going to be the black sheep amongst us but we never imagined he would betray us that way."What the heck is going on?"I asked as I slammed the steering wheel.I pulled the car onto the Micheal's driveway. I had to get at least some what closer to solving this case.I was sick and tired of all the uncertainty surround
SAMANTHA'S POV "Please don't leave me Manuel.Please don't leave me,I'll do better.I promise that I won't Maeve get inbetween us anymore.I won't let her lies cause me to stop believing in you.Am so sorry,please don't leave me.Please don't.Am really sorry,please don't do this to me."he said."I have to Samantha you're never going to believe me anyway so I have to do this.Its for the best.My children can see me anytime they choose to but you and I,we're over.Am sorry I ever dragged you into my mess.Am sorry I didn't let you decide but I knew I had to make the choice to let you go.Maybe out there you can find a much better man that truly deserves you "He said as he wheeled his bag out into the living room heading straight for the door."Please Manuel.Please!Don't do this me!Don't!"I cried.My heart broke at the thought of him leaving me.I couldnt bear it.My memory drifted to the the night we had fought profusely.I had declared that I was going to sleep with another man and have a bab
SAMANTHA'S POV Slowly I pulled open my eyes,I was back in my room.I turned to the dip in the bed.It was Manuel who was sleeping so soundly beside me.I let out a sigh of relief."Thank Goodness it was just a dream."I whispered as I planted a soft kiss on his forehead.My hands came up to my belly and it was flat.A smile crept up on my face. How was I going to tell him?I didn't know but I knee that I was excited and I couldn't wait to see my beautiful child.I sultan a hand along my flat belly.I didn't think I was pregnant yet but it I wasn't deterred.I knew I was gh going to meet my baby.Someday.I pulled the covers over me ,slowly getting out of bed I headed for the kitchen to get myself a glass of water being careful not to wake Manuel who had turned to the other side.I tiptoed out of the room,closing the door quietly.i trudged down the stairs as quietly as I could.I didnt want to wake the kids who must have been sleeping so soundly.It would be a shame to wake them up.As I
MANUEL'S POVWhen I woke up to find the other side of the bed empty I had sensed instantly that something was wrong.I jumped out of bed as soon as I heard Samantha voice. I could hear her frantic heart beating.I ran downstairs to find a man swinging her across the room."Samantha!"I shouted. The man ran as I ran towards him.Damien was out and ready to kill.I sped across the room intercepting the masked man's escape.He swung a fist pathetically towards me but I dodged it way before he directed it to my face.I wing a punch to his belly sending him bending ove in pain.I saw the claw Mark's ans imprint on his back.I smiled as I realised wilho could have caused such a damage.Judging by the depth and freshness of the scars. It was going to take an excruciating long time for it to heal.Trust me I knew.When I was so deep in the throes of passion with Samantha I don't feel the depth of her scratches until uts time to heal.My speed healing was one good thing but it wasnt painless.I d
SAMANTHA'S POV"Mummy?"I turned away fearfully in the direction that Nova was going from.I ran to lift her lift her up into my arms,shielding her eyes from the scene as I took her back into the room exchanging galances with Manuel.Using the distraction as a opportunity,he barreled through Manuel who fell backwards on his back as ran for the window this time.He ran through the window flying into the air as the window shattered into his body.He fell with a massive hit from the window.It was two stored high and there was no way he was going to get through this fall unscathed. he heard his bone crack as he collided with the ground.Manuel ran towards the window chastising himself for losing focus.Menawhile I put Nove back to slept as she dozed off as soon as she was in my arms."Is she alright?"he asked as I locked the bedroom door quietly behind me."She's alright,thankfully she didn't get to see or hear any of the rukus that had gone in here.Otherwise she would have been penalised for
SAMANTHA'S POV I felt the sweat trickle down the side of my face slowly as I gugaued the entire room.When Manuel had told me we had to be at the pack house that day,I never expected that I would be required to do something.The elders had sent for me officially and as I dreaded every moment ot took me to appear in front of them,Inwas also nervous.I didn't know what to do or how to act.I didn't even know when I would say the wrong thing.And I didn't want to say the wrong thing.First impressions matter and since some pack members were also going to be present,I didn't want to be a source of embarrassment for Manuel.I found myself wanting to be accepted like I did when I lived with my foster parents who showered all their love and attention towards their daughter while I constantly had to prove myself over and over that I was worthy of their love.At the time,I didn't know any better but now I do.Hut the jitters just won't leave. "I don't know what to do Manuel"I whispered to him
MANUEL'S POV After the break-in last night,everything had been stilled and the three of us,Micheal,Rdyer and I had decided to pull our resources together to find a Jonathan."Are you sure the scar is on the right side?"Micheal asked as he dragged the pencil across the sheet of paper laying in his lap."That's what Samantha told us"Rdyer replied as he pulled a bottle of water foam the fridge.He retrieved two more bottles and handed them out when he arrived at the living room wherebinwas sittedndeep in thought and Micheal who was focused on his laptop screen."Its only been a couple of hours,we could still find him from the security footage"Rdyer suggested.We turned our attention to him,eyes wide.His darted darted from me to Micheal and back to me confused."What?"He asked shrugged his shoulders."Youre a genius Rdyer!"Micheal said as he typed away on the keypad of the laptop as fast as his fingers could move."Here"he declared some minutes later.He punched some keys on
MANUEL'S POV Samantha had been away for a day now and the house felt empty.I found my mind occasionally wondering about how she was doing and what she was doing?Were they treating her badly?Was she resting well enough for her challenge?I knowing wasnt easy to train the cubs.They were unruly,out of control and destructive. Eveey instructor that had been assigned to them had quit or ended up dying somehow.If there was anyone that could handle them I knew it was going to be her.Her warmth,charm and motherly instincts would surely take them by storm.My lips widened in a wistful smile as I thought of her.The knock of the door alarmed me beinging me our of my reverie."Who could that be?"I thought aloud as I trudged barefoot to the door.It was Maeve leaning kn the door frame with a beaming smile on her face.I let out a resigned sigh."What are you doing here Maeve?""Is that any way to treat the mother of your child?"she sais as she breezed past me walking into the room wit
EPILOGUEOn the 24th of August,my beautiful daughter Ava was born.At the right time too."she's so lovely"Martha,my new mother said as tears welled up in her eyes."Isn't she?"Manuel said softly as he stretched out his hands to envelope the beautiful tiny creature in his hands."Daddy let me see,let me see!"Nova chirped jumping up and down just to get a good look of her baby sister."Yes!I finally have a sister.Thank you mummy!"she said excitedly.I laughed.Manuel planted a soft kiss on my forehead."You did great Samantha thank you for eveything.Thank you for coming into my life."He said softly settling in the chair beside my bed with the baby in his arms."She's so tiny dad"Dax said in disbelief.I laughed. "Yes she is darling."He responded."Its amazing. Were we really this tiny too when we were little?"Finn added. My heart filled with joy looking at my family. Martha stood at Manuel's side with the baby in her arms and a warm smile on her face.While my kids surro
SAMANTHA POVMy mind trailed back to all the seasons in our lives that seemed difficult that we never imagined we would scale through but we did.And I was eternally grateful to having the fate to meet Manuel in my life.He was indeed a blessing in my life.We had fought multiple times.***FLASHBACK***"There is no way that I will have a relationship in secret and I will never stand here and watch as other men sniff after what's mine"He told me grimly ."I'm not an object!"I shouted.He arched a brow at me."No matter what you do now,you can't take it back.You're mine"he stated matter of factly."You're not saying that you love me but that I need to stay with you forever "I said."You're mated to me now.No man would be foolish enough to come close to you not when you belong to me now."he said,pulling on his pants.I opened my mouth to speak but we were interrupted by the soft knock on the door."Mommy!"Nova's voice called out.I wrapped my robe tighter around my body.Walking
MANUEL'S POV We had come a long way.There was a lot of past behind us.I recalled all the moments I feared we wouldn't make it last. ***FLASHBACK*** How long will you keep up this act?"I asked. "Am sorry,what act?"She asked feigning innocence. I groaned in frustration. "You do not know what I went through there.They helped me and I couldn't just let your jealously get the best of you and have you laying baseless accusations against someone that had done absolutely nothing to you"I spoke. I watched as her expression changed with each word I spoke. "Jealousy? Baseless accusations?"she repeated. I groaned out. "You know that's not what I meant by that.I just..." She turned to walk away.My hand snaked out to grip her arm. "Manuel,let me go."She told me trying to struggle out of my grasp. "Don't walk away from me when am talking to you."I warned holding her tighter. "Manuel,let me go!"She cried. I saw tears pooled around her eyes as she struggled to break free. I dragged her
SAMANTHA'S POV Five months later..."Why would you say that?"I heard his voice say in a hushed whisper."Is mummy sleeping?"Nova said. "Look..Look..."Finn cried."Samantha?"Manuel spoke up "Doctor!she's awake!she's awake!"I heard him calling out.The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the intense glare of the overhead lightning.I raised my hand to cover my eyes until my eyes adjusted to the light.When the doctor were done with their tests and my vitals were checked,I watched the relief on all their faces.From Micheal and a beautiful female who was glued to his side.I couldn't hide the smile that crept up on my face which he returned with a boyish grin.My kids ran up to me.And with Manuel's help I was able to get them all on my bed.I was seated with my unbelievably huge belly inbetween my thighs.I had been told that I was asleep for over five months and that there had been any sort of hope of me recovering. And that it was a Miracle that I had survived even
MANUEL'S POV One second.Two seconds passed but still nothing.My heart oundedbin my chest as I waited for the people to speak. The council looked smug on their table as they watched the tumult of emotions that passed through my face as I watched the crowd."Alpha Manuel!"Someone shouted from the crowd."Long live Alpha Manuel!"Another rose to cheer.And the rest stood chanting.Soon the room is filled with eruptions of cheers and claps as they chorused their answer. "Long live Alpha Manuel!"They chanted in harmony."Order!order this minute!"The speaker rose shouting at the top of his lungs until the rook went silent again."You have all made your choice and we have all taken it into consideration. But until we have reached a final consensus,Alpha Manuel will be stripped of the Alpha Position and his Beta Rdyer will resume duties in his place until the trial is finalised."the man declared.The room erupted in an uproar of angry emotions."How dare you!"I shouted stilling the
MANUEL'S POV "What is this Manuel?"I cried."Where have you been?!"He said through gritted teeth."What is that supposed to mean?Are you monitoring my whereabouts now?"I asked in disbelief."Just tell me where you were Dammit!"He said.I jerked backwards at his raised voiceHe took steps backwards pacing away from me,running a hand through his hair. "Why are you getting angry at me for?"She cried. "You ...you've been having an affair all this while and I didnt know.How couldn't I have known."I told her. Her mouth grew agape in feigned shock.I felt my blood boil mat the thought that she thought she could deceive me ."Where is all this coming from Manuel?"HShe asked.I couldn't let her know that it was Maeve because it wasn't. All Maeve did was comform a suspicion that I've had for the longest time."That's not important. What's important is the fact that you've been secretive,absent and distant for a while now"I told her.She raised her hand up in exasperation."Th
SAMANTHA'S POV "I don't think it would be easy to be able to find out the culprits"Steve said as he sat across from her sipping his coffee.We were seated in a coffee shop at the far end of town for a stakeout.We had found a recurring name in my mom's journal,Zain.My mom had described him as a nut-head that had wanted her mated to him.He had gone as far as going to her parents to get them arranged to be wed but she had blatantly turned him down stating that she loved my father who had appeared strategically in her life at the time.And after much difficulty they were wedded .On their wedding day he had barged into her dressing room and threatened her to leave with him but she had refused.He had vowed that day that their marriage wouldn't last and that if It wasn't him that no-one would have her and that she should bid her time well and that the click had already began ticking.He had been dragged out because he had refused their offer of being escorted out.It did sound like the
MANUEL'S POV "Why the hell did you not take care of this Manuel?You didn't even tell me?!"Rdyer scolded.I walked past him,pushing the door open to walk into my office as he trailed behind me."Everything that I did,I did for all of us."I responded settling back in my cushioned chair."But still...Manuel what the hell were you thinking?Did you really think that you were going to keep this a secret forever?"He chastised leaning closer."I was hoping that nobody found out about it.Thats why I dont understand how it was revealed and..."I explained. "...And you know that no matter what truce you may have called with the council,they were going to flick around this piece of information like vultures prey looking for their next dead meat"Rdyer finished.He slammed his fist on the desk with a bang.Unfazed I stared at the dent that he had made on my furniture."Manuel it's not about you killing him.Everyone knew he deserved it but you had to know that eventually the truth would be rev
SAMANTHA'S POV"Manuel Wait!Stop!"I said moving my lips away from his,moving my head to the side.His hand gripped my jaw stilling my movement. "Samantha please let me.I love you.And I want to show you"he pleaded.I stared into his eyes watching his dark beautiful orbs glistening with desire. Desire for me.I nodded.He let out a sigh of relief,bringing his lips down towards my lips.Bringing his lips dangerously close to my lips,he nibbled on my lower lips waiting.The pain in my arm was forgotten as he pinned me closer to his body,bringing my belly closer to fill his need for me.I tried to side step him but wasn't successful, instead he lifted me up unto the desk, prying my thighs apart he slipped in between them wrapping my legs around his waist to cage me in.he growled impatiently slamming his lips unto mine.He rode my skirt higher up to reveal my red lace panties.His eyes lingered for a while before ripping them off."Manuel!"I exclaimed."I love the way you say my na