Rose gave Ashly a gentle smile and followed her brother, and when she entered Alex's room, she could see how frustrated Alex looked. "Ale-" "No, I need to do this. I was stressed, and there were so many things going on in my head. Jasmine was not talking to me, and my Alpha didn't let me sleep peacefully. I can sense Ashly's sadness, and I don't know why, but I despise myself for all of this, Rose. Why did I do this to her, to Jasmine? Rose I can't love anyone except Jasmine. She is my life, and Ashly, I really don't know what to do or say to her. I thought I could fix this, but how can I play with Ashly with our bond? Even I don't like her, and I don't want her." "You slept with Jasmine on your wedding night," Rose asked with a stern voice. She and Alex both had tears pouring down their faces, and if Rose thought she felt sorry for Ashly when Alex walked out on the very next day after marriage, it was nothing compared to how she was feeling now. "Yes, and I did. I am sorry, Rose. B
It was a typical work day at the pack house for Ashly. On the right of her desk sat a mug (lacking tea) and a frame with her family picture in it. To the left were some reports that needed her signature and review. She usually checks on food, children, and women. It's her duty as Luna to take care of everyone in the Moonlight Pack. Everyone really loves her and accepts her as her mate, but Ashly already knows it will never happen. For her heat, she is already taking pills; she really doesn't want to disturb Alex. She grabs the first draft and flips it open. "Trading yesterday,", it read. She was reading about an Omega woman who was a bit of a pessimist, but that was only because she had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Her Alpha had left her several months before, and now she spends most of her time in the hospital. Life could be rather horrible, Ashly thinks. She is on the fourth page when she places a check near the title, marking that this really needed to go to her mother-in-l
On Monday, when Rose and Ashly went back to pack house, Ashly went directly to her office, and Rose saw when Alex came home late as always. It's been about a week, and Rose didn't say one thing to her brother. On Thursday, he ate on his own and watched TV. Traning himself and taking an extra class of pack pups, Rose knew how much stress it put Alex under. He needed to get done what he needed to get done, or else he'd be a grouch. Rose wasn't sure when Alex arrived home because he had dozed off on the sofa with the television on, and the sound of the microwave woke him up. Alex didn't say anything. Ashly also didn't discuss much more than packing business and went back to sleep in her room. It's like a routine for both of them, Monday to Friday. "I brought you some coffee," Rose says, setting the Starbucks cup on Alex's desk. "Everything alright? You've seen a bit off all week." She sits in one of the comfortable chairs on the other side of Alex's desk and sits crisscrossed. "Thanks
It had been 45 minutes, and Jasmine still hadn't replied to Alex's text. So instead of resting in his room, Alex came to Jasmine's place, in her room. Her room is warm and welcoming when he walks in and kicks off the uncomfortable shoes that make his feet smell weird. He sighs loudly and does exactly what Seth said to do, changing into some sweats. When he enters the bedroom, the bed is still unmade, and sitting on the dresser is Jasmine's cellphone. That would explain why she never answered, Alex thinks. The phone buzzes, and Alex wonders who could be texting her while she is at work. Curiosity gets the best of him, and he glances at the lock screen. Are we still up for tonight? I miss your face, and lunch isn't enough time to spend with you. Everything in Alex sinks to the floor, and his stomach feels like it has been punched repeatedly and multiple times. He recognized the name, Jace, and knew it was another one of the Alphas of the neighbor pack. Jasmine told him about her and J
Although he doesn't want to, Alex remembers their first meeting. He remembers Jasmine piling up money in a jar labeled "For Children's" that he didn't even want. He remembers being forced to go attend some meetings near Starlight Pack, although he had no prior clue to what the place looked like other than a crappy screenshot his mother had gotten off of G****e. He remembers walking down the beautiful forest in his wolf form, seeing the woman's face, and having his heart beat faster than ever before. The beautiful, scruffier-looking woman, with stubble coating the lower half of her face and her hair style up into a slick, had taken her hands in something and given him a polite smile; he remembers that smile. It sickeningly resembled something along the lines of "I don't want to-be-here or "Put me o-of-my-misery. The first meeting was the worst part. No one was leading up to it other than the words hello, as he e rememberedTheir packs had a bad history, but for Alex, it doesn't matter;
Once everyone's seated again, Ashly wipes her nose with the back of her hand and then takes a deep breath. "My heat is coming," she blurts. Alex whips his head up to look at her, eyes wide. Ashly looks right back with an apologetic look on her face, wishing she hadn't said that without telling her mate first. Jenny gasps, holding her hand to her heart. She gets up again so she can scurry to the other side of the table and hug her daughter, kissing her cheek. "Oh, Ashly, baby, it's ok, we are not pressuring you for pups; you guys can take your time," she exclaims, becoming the clearest voice among all of the others. "Did you still take your pills, love?" Brandon asks; he understands that maybe both Alex and Ashly need some time. Well, they married each other out of peace, not because of love. Ashly has lost count of the days already; she doesn't even know when she takes her pills. She's been too busy worrying about what Alex and Pack are doing; it's hard to keep track. "No, I think,
Ashly and Alex walk for five minutes in complete silence. Ashly doesn't even realize it when she walks them around the same area twice. "I have to rest already," Ashly sighs. The Alpha looks over at his unoccupied hand and notices that it's slipped underneath his jacket, pressed against his arm. Maybe he shouldn't be making Ashly walk this much. But he also wants Ashly to have some fun; maybe next time he will insist she change her wolf form so they can go into the forest. Speaking about wolves, Alex never saw his mate wolf. Only five minutes later, Ashly spots the Shadow Pack house and begins walking toward the driveway, dragging Alex behind her. Before they go in, Alex stops her and reaches up to wipe the tears off her rosy cheeks, warming her up in the process. Alex can see how Ashly is shivering because of the cold; he feels bad making her come out here with him when it's so cold. When they open the door and walk in together, the family is eating again. The married couple doesn
The two end up looking each other in the eye again. Alex now holds his mate's face with both his hands, and he leans in and kisses her again and again, making Ashly feel like she is in heaven. It gets even better when they separate and their faces are still only a few centimeters away, and Alex's gaze switches repeatedly from his mate's eyes to her lips and backs up again. "Let's take this slow, okay? We need to know each other better for now, as Ashly and Alex, not as Alpha and Omega," he admits. Ashly didn't say anything; she was not in the right state of mind to say anything. She still smiles until her dimples show, which makes her even more beautiful. - The next day, Alex holds Ashly's hand at the hospital. Or just say Ashly grabs her partner's hand in the middle of a checkup and digs her nails into his palm so hard that they bleed, but Alex doesn't care because he can heal in just a second. When they go back to the pack house, both Rose and Seth welcome them and ask them about
By the time Ray arrived at the Downtown, the tavern owned by his 22-year-old childhood friend, Alvin, it was only a quarter to seven. It was still so early; there were only two patrons there, sitting at the bar. Henna was their bartender. RK, another friend of theirs who also worked with RK, was setting up the stage. It was jazz night. Alvin was at the bar, cleaning some of the glassware. Ray went to the bar and sat in front of Alvin. The older man took one look at him, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Well, you look like shit." "I feel like shit too." "What happened?" "Milly pregnant." "Ah," Alvin said, now understanding Ray's troubles. "You knew she was pregnant, didn't you?" There was no accusation in his voice, just resignation. Alvin nodded. "Of course I did. I think everyone who knew Milly knew. This town is not really a big town. People gossip." He took a bottle of beer from the shelf behind him and pushed it in front of Magnus. "Here, have some. It's on the house." "Thanks
In his room, Ray changed and sat on his bed. His phone lay in front of him, and he stared at it. He didn't want to admit it earlier, but he knew Jane was right. But it had only been a few months, and everything was still raw. He loved Milly, and he still does. He had been in a few relationships before Milly, but he never loved someone like he loves the omega. It wasn't just some Alpha lust. And he knew Milly hadn't moved on either. After Milly broke up with him, Ray spent weeks stalking Milly through F******k and I*******m since the latter wouldn't answer his calls, not that Milly updated much. In fact, Milly's F******k relationship status was still "in a relationship". That gave Ray hope, and he continued to stalk Milly's social media updates until Jane, Jack, and Tommy held an intervention. He wasn't allowed to obsessively refresh Milly's I*******m account or F******k page in the hopes that Milly would post something regarding the two of them. Once he stopped stalking Milly on soci
Both of them got up on their feet, and Milly threw away the pregnancy test and cup in the rubbish bin under the sink before washing her hands. She followed Mai to the kitchen, and Mai told her to help herself with any drinks she wanted. She took a soda for the Mai and was about to look for something for herself when the smell of cheese hit her nose. She was hit by a bout of nausea and quickly excused herself and made her way to the bathroom in the hallway between the dining room/family living room and the second living room, where they entertain guests. By the time Milly returned, Mai had set everything up in the family room. On the coffee table, there was a bowl of popcorn, a plate of crackers, and a pot of tea. The cheesy nachos Mai made earlier were nowhere in sight. "How do you feel about the Marvel movie marathon?" Mai asked as she held out three DVDs. "I just bought a collection of Marvel movies." "Sure." Milly wasn't that interested in Marvel, but she knew quite a bit because
Ray laughed before removing his robe and boxers. Then, he continued his meditation on Milly's jaw while his hands started playing with Milly's boobs. He trailed kisses down to Milly's neck, nibbling on it, biting it, and marking Milly while pinching and twisting the reddened verginia with his fingers until she became a complete mess. When he trailed kisses down to Milly's chest, he replaced his fingers with his tongue on one of Milly's boobs. His free hand, on the other hand, moved down to Milly Verginia. It was already wet once more. Milly whimpered when Ray gave his attention to her other boob, circling the hardened nub with his tongue. She whimpered, "Please, Ray. Enough foreplay. I want to feel you inside me." Ray straightened up and shook his head. "No, you deserve the best, love. And because it's your first time, I am going to make sure you feel thoroughly loved." He dove down again and trailed kisses down Milly's torso. His tongue dipped into Milly's belly button before he rea
On any other day, Milly would have been amused by the deer-in-the-headlights look on her boyfriend's face. However, today was not like any other day, so she walked into Ray's bedroom without a laugh, with a frown on her face instead of a smile. "Milly, hey," Ray greeted his girlfriend. He quickly sat up on his bed, his legs crossed. "Why are you here?" Milly had her hands crossed over her chest. "Shouldn't I be asking you that question, Ray? You said you had practice today. The funny thing is, Shine told me practice was cancelled." Shit, Ray thought. He forgot that Milly was friends with Shine too, and she always talked to him and Cecily on the phone. The excuse he gave Milly when the final class ended was the first thing that came into his mind before he all but ran out of the classroom. "Sorry?" he said, although it came out more like a question. Milly sighed and climbed onto the bed. "Why are you avoiding me?" Ray forced out a smile. "Who said I was?" "We've been together for
"There's no threat here. I'm just trying to show you that my brother and I are more useful to you alive than dead." Eliott seemed to take in his words for a moment before talking again. The more he considered Ray's proposal, the less focus he put on keeping hold of his brother. If he lost control and became totally distracted, maybe he wouldn't be able to keep Shine under control. Maybe he could free his brother and get Shine to fight alongside him. Apart, they were nothing more than trained wolves with no real fighting experience or skill, but at the bare edge of their full potential. Together, though, they might be enough. They might even be unstoppable. It was a long shot and probably a stupid idea. It was also the only idea he had, so Ray would make it work. "Even if I believed you, how can I know they won't kill me as soon as they find us?" "You must know a defense technique that is strong enough to prevent that." Ray shrugs, trying to appear casual. "Also, my parents value o
The first time Ray ever met Shine, he came back when he heard about his Omega brother. When Ray entered their home, he saw Shine, who was just a mess of pale skin and fancy pajamas on his dad's lap. At the time, of course, he didn't think about being an Omega big brother. Ray was just scared and confused about how he was going to take care of his omega brother. Everyone around him was talking and smiling, and he didn't understand. Nothing made much sense at all. Ray knows the meaning of Omega in this world, but society still doesn't accept it. His own mother is a big example. When Cecily was born, Ray was relieved; she was born as an Alpha, but now... His dad snapped him out of his daydreaming and smiled at him as he came to offer his hug, then offered him a look at the boy in his arms. Even though Shine was already 3 months old back then, he still loves Ray and Cecily's scent. Maybe it'll make him safe, and Ray will make sure to protect him all his life. Seven Years Later: Ray f
Alex and Ashly didn’t write their own vows this time. This time, they just repeated whatever the fake prince told them to, and they swapped the same rings they already had on. Alex even pressed the button on his bouquet to make it sing the wedding march. It was very tacky and nothing fancy. But their friends were there—their family. It was perfect. Monika was tearing up in the front row, with Rose soothing her from the side and smiling at Ashly like she was proud of her. Adom and Seth gave them a thumbs up, throwing confetti over them when they walked down the aisle afterwards. It was a spur-of-the-moment, I-dare-you-to-do-it decision on their part, but Ashly thinks that it doesn’t matter. Because if Alex is really happy with them, he wouldn’t say no to anything. “I thought it was lovely. Priest even sang a few lines from ‘Can’t help falling in love with you’.” Monika comments when they sit on a bridge, looking over the Vegas lights. Her legs dangle over the edge, and she’s hol
They sit in the huge living room, complete with a flat-screen TV that takes up a whole wall and a fountain in the middle of the room. Ashly just knows that Shine would've loved that fountain. "So, we need—Monika, where'd you get that?" Alex eyes Ashly's sister, who's sipping a new cocktail, this time a mai tai. "There was a bar downstairs, duh." She waves the yellow drink at them, lounging on the armchair. She looked stunning as ever in her black glittering dress and black stilettos. "Are you sure you don't want to slow down? What even is that?" Seth asks and comes closer to sniff at the cocktail. "Mai tai. I never mix alcohols, and today is a rum kind of day." Monika responds, ignoring the first part and giving Seth a sip. "That's actually good." "I thought men only drank brown liquids." Adom teases, and Seth flips him off. "People," Alex gets their attention effortlessly, his ringed fingers catching the light from the great chandelier on the ceiling, his voice commanding. "Th