SAMANTHA'S POV"So how are the wedding plans going?"I asked as I dug into an apple sitting across from Rick on the couch in his house. I had gone over to visit him because it had been way too long.Miriam had gone out to her parents house in order to make wedding preparations with her mum.He would have to meet her there later during the week.He let out a defeated sigh,shrugging his shoulders."Its been going great.But it's just too exhausting".he responded."How have you been since..."He nudged his head knowingly. I let out a deep sigh."I've been okay."I told him."Have you told Manuel about it?"He asked.I shook my head vehemently."I haven't gotten around to it yet.We're still focused on Ryder's recovery and his safe return.I'll tell him later."I responded.I gave him a sad smile as he pierced me with a knowing glare,arching his eyebrow at me."Samantha,don't forget I've known you for years and you're one to not say anything at all because you just have this habit of gr
MANUEL'S POVI awoke to find myself cuddled in bed with a body that didn't feel as soft as Samantha felt. I sat up abruptly staring around my surroundings to make sense of where I was and why I was naked.Memories of last night came flooding back into my mind.***FLASHBACK***"Marcella, what happened here?"I asked as I stepped into the mess.Her living room was in shambles.I had run as fast as possible when I had received her distress message.I found her huddled in the far end of the corner in tears.As soon as I had gone to her ,she had wrapped her arms around my neck,trembling as she sobbed."Who did this?Tell me!"I growled.She said nothing.She just sobbed into my arms.I ran my hand down her back to comfort her.she pulled more into me."I'm sorry I just cried like that.It's just the first time I was experiencing all this "She apologized.We were seated on her couch as I brought water to her in a glass.Thank goodness they hadn't raided the kitchen.The bulk of the mess was
SAMANTHA'S POVWhen I came awake,I was in a well-furnished room.It had Victorian painting and artifacts that were laid at strategic places giving the room a more expensive outlook.I tried to sit up and found my hands were chained to the headboard at one side of the bed.I tugged at the chains to break free and found I couldn't break free. "I wouldn't do that if I were you"I jumped at the sound of the male voice as it came up behind me.I was staring back at the cold stern eyes of Aiden who had a wide grin playing on his lips."What am I doing here?Aiden!"I shouted I tugged at the chains to break free.He came up to me,placing a hand on either side of my head.He had me trapped .He brought his lips down to kiss me but I turned away just in time for him to kiss my cheek.He held my face in his palm forcefully putting me in a position as he placed a kiss on my lips.I tightly shut my lips to not give him access.He dug his fingers into my arm causing me to whimper in pain.He u
MANUEL'S POV "What do you mean she's missing "I said into the receiver as I called Rick."She didn't come back home last night.Martha just called and she isn't at work either"Rick said, with worry evident in his voice."Then where the hell would she be?"I said running a hand through my hair in frustration."Maybe we could track her cellphone"he suggested. "But wait, it says here that her location is jammed"He added."So it would not be possible to track her"I responded."But we have to..."I paused as a message popped up on my phone screen."Hold on"I said before tapping the message open .It was a picture of Samantha interlocked with an unknown man naked."That can't be"I muttered."Is something wrong?"Rick asked bringing me back."Yes,everything's fine.I will just have to pull all my resources together and ..."I tried to form coherent words but they were not forthcoming.My cellphone rang.It appeared to be from a landline."Hello?"I asked as I picked up the call.T
SAMANTHA'S POV As I watched Manuel walk away I broke down in tears."What's wrong?"Rick ran to my side at once."Did anything else happen to you?were you rap..?"I shook my head vehemently. He frowned."So what's the problem?"I just sobbed unable to speak."Manuel slept with ..."I hesitated. It was a tough pill to swallow."Are you sure?"he asked skeptically.I nodded."I saw it with my own eyes"I told him lowering my voice to a whisper.His brow knitted together in confusion."How?"I sighed."She called me"I replied dryly."What?!"he exclaimed.I nodded in assertion. "She called me last night...well she picked up Manuel's phone when I had called and she sent me the picture of the both of them.He was naked in her bed."I narrated.He scoffed in disbelief."Do you really believe that he could cheat on you with another woman?"He asked.I hesitated.My hand rose up to nurse my throbbing head."Samantha let's all just calm down.You.might be wrong. That woman cou
MANUEL'S POV "Shit!"I don't know why I had lost it in there.Probably because I let my pride and jealously get the beat of me even when Rdyer had advised me against me accusing her without confirming first.I didn't want to.I wasn't a saint either and I wasn't blaming her.I was blaming myself. All I did was a transfer of aggression and it hurt that my words had affected her so much.But I couldn't get past that fact.I couldn't envision someone's else being with my mate.Trying to covet what was mine.I had to find out the truth myself.So pulling out my phone,indicated the ine person that I knew would offer a solution to the dilemma that I was in right now."Hi Micheal,did you have a moment?"I asked. "Yeah,anything for you.what's up?is something wrong? What happened to Ryder?"she said."Woah,just slow down there tiger.Rdyer is fine.Its for me."I told him.I heard him breathe a sigh of relief."What's up?"He asked."I need you to do some facial recognition investigation on t
SAMANTHA'S POV "So you're saying you're pregnant and Manuel thinks you cheated on him?"I could the disbelief in Rick's voice as I told him.He was still away for his wedding preparations but he was very much interested in what had been happening ever since he left.It had been a week and Manuel had been absent.I hadn't been to work all week on the citation that I was sick and I truly was.The doctor had recommended a lot of bed rest for my pregnancy because I was at a risk of not carrying to term.I was devastated when I heard it but was happy all the same that I had a child made with love from the two of us inside of me.I loved him or her already.I was already 3months pregnant which meant that I had conceived on one of the nights that Manuel and I made love in the office ."Could you please not say it like that?"I said cringing at the absurdity of my situation."What?Am just trying to make sense of the whole situation and am clearly very disappointed in Manuel for what he
MANUEL'S POVI had been in meetings after meeting all day trying to keep my mind off my imploding relationship with Samantha. It's been over two weeks now and our relationship h aga d become strictly professional.We only talked when we were in the same space and stayed in silence when we were alone.The only other words I had spoken outside work was the occasional pleasantries when I came over to see my kids.On some days she avoided me.On other days she gave the excuse that she wasn't feeling too well and disappeared into her room tight after I arrive.It got on my nerves but I knew I needed to give her some space as advised from Rdyer and Micheal who had reprimanded me for my disgusting behaviour towards her.I had betrayed her trust and she would need a lot of time to at least give me the opportunity to regain her trust back .All day,thoughts of her had plagued my mind.I couldn't concentrate because of her.That's why I had to do this.I thought aloud as my hands gripped the steer
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