It took three hours for Kelly to finish, and Monika came out to speak to the crowd of people waiting. She'd helped work on her sister, and her eyes were a little glazed over when she came out. Adom stood from his seat and took her hands. "Monika, how is she?" She looked up at him as Alex came close to hear what was said. "The Alpha tried to stab her with one of its claws, and it broke off in her side. There was poison on it, and she lost a lot of blood, so it was touch and go for a little while, but she's stable. She's going to be okay." Adom hugged her, the girl letting out small hiccupping sobs as she hugged him back. It was awful seeing her sister so hurt, but she was okay, and that's all that mattered. Adom kissed her forehead and released her. "Can I see her?" She nodded and wiped her eyes, watching Alex curiously as Adom raced off to see his best friend. The Alpha looked as if he wanted to follow Adom, but he was frozen to the spot, facing a mix of fear and longing. Monika's
Ashly takes the rose in her hand, gently touching the petals, and turns to walk away, but a gentle whisper stops her. "Ashly?" Adom? Why does he... This wasn't... Ashly has already made her decision. Alex pulled away from her. Why does he? Her throat feels tight with emotion when she turns to see Adom standing not two meters away, looking lost and embarrassed as if he misinterpreted the situation, one hand cradling his arm, the other barely extended to Ashly. He didn't do anything; it's ok, Adom; it's not your fault. He turned away to walk over to the chairs not to get away from Ashly and be with Ashly family in this moment. He turned away to walk over to the chairs to sit down, fully expecting Ashly to follow him. That was unexpected. Adom's face falls, cheeks burning red and hurt and shame filling his expression, the extended hand going away and reaching for himself, arms crossed, closed off, hugging himself, locked in. He turns away, like a kicked puppy, and Ashly can see he i
"Adom, hey. Why aren't you sleeping?" Monika said as she saw him walking towards her in the corridor. "I was going to check on Ashly; I know she is sad or crying for that Alpha." Adom said. Monika interrupted him by saying, "Will Ashly be okay in the future? She didn't say anything when I was in her room, just a second ago, and there was no" "Monika," Adom said, reaching out an arm to steady her. "It does not feel like a physical pain but more like a pain coming from deep within her; we never understand how she is feeling; her Alpha breaks their bond; we never understand her pain". Ashly heard them talking outside; she just hoped that they would leave her alone. "Ohhh, well, she didn't talk to us about all this; it's like she is thinking something," Monika said, while also telling him that she needs some time that didn't end very well. Adom was about to push past her to talk to Ashly, but she put a hand on his shoulder. "I think as much as you and I want to help Ashly right now,
There are many things Jasmine likes about Alex. For instance, she likes his beauty and the near-absolute power he can wield. She likes how he looks at her when he thinks she isn't paying attention—all adoration and raw hunger. She likes the idea of them passing through time ageless together, of being each other's safe guard against a descent into madness and loss—of caring too much for anyone. Most of all, she likes how well he knows her. How Alex can see through her deceptions and artfully toy with her Jasmine still likes to play coy, as if she hadn't already asked Alex a thousand times over for orgasms or offered herself up willingly. Jasmine never makes him beg—like he often did—but she respects Alex and even loves him in a way. Certainly not as much as he loves herself, and she revels in the disparity. She's always preferred to be loved over her lover. She has never been more beautiful than she is now—naked and standing before him. It didn't take long to learn that she could outw
Seth keeps looking towards his best friend; he really wants to punch him. "Why did you give into her then?" Alex inhaled silently, shaking. He knew he couldn't avoid that question. "I was always in love with Jasmine like crazy, but then Ashly and I. I had prayed that we would grow old with each other, and she gave me so many chances. and I always wasted all of them; I am so blind with my love for Jasmine." Alex paused. "When I met Ashly for the first time, I really thought... I hoped I had found the one who'd stay with me forever. That's why I try to stop this wedding. I tell her everything, but it doesn't work. After my breakup with Jasmine, I tried my way towards Ashly. But I am scared and think she will also leave me. So I play with her, and I always try to break her heart. I want to test her," Alex paused. "I," he continued. "I guess I screwed up. At the end, she leaves me, and I destroy all of my favorite people who love life." Seth thought the same, but all he could think of is
15 years later (after Ashly leaves everyone) Flashback:- Their soft giggles filled the night's calm, quiet air. "Alex!" Ashly reprimanded in a whisper, but it fell short due to the blissed-out smile on her lips: "Alex, stop it, you big goof." She swatted at Alex's hands, but those two colossals she loved so much just kept teasing her overly sensitive skin. The Omega always got ticklish after a particularly good orgasm, which Alex always loved to indulge in. And Alex had successfully drawn three out of her. Which was a new record for them. And the Alpha was damn proud of himself. "How are you feeling?" Alex finally stopped sickling and laid one of his hands flat on Ashly's side, stroking her still clammy skin. "Any regrets?" Ashly's smile softened as she recognized her Alpha shift in mood as self-doubt. She laid her own palm on Alex's cheek. "I feel fine, no regrets," she promised. "It was perfect; you were perfect." Up until that night, Ashly and Alex had yet to go all the way,
Then there were some letters. Ray notices that his mother wrote a lot of the letters but never actually sent them. Others were clearly still like newlyweds when his father sent them to his mother for something. There were a few knickknacks, which Ray assumes were gifts from his father. Then there were a few newspaper articles about his father. And the more he reads through those articles, the more he realizes just how much his mom has been hiding from him and lying to him. When he's halfway through the second article, his phone rings, and before he even fishes it out of his pocket, he knows who it is. "Where the hell are you?" Milly, his best friend, asks questions frantically as soon as he answers, before he can even say hi. Ray gulps and takes a deep breath, then blurts out, "I think I know who my father is." He's still staring at his father's picture in the newspaper article as he hears Milly gasp on the other end of the line. His father is standing with a beautiful blonde woma
All it took Ray was a quick G****e search on his phone, and a whole array of pages, all starring his Alpha father, appeared on his small screen. After scanning through them for just a few moments, he quickly found the address to his father's. It was well past 8 p.m. when he finally reached the train station, and it is luckily a fairly quiet evening, so it doesn't take too long before he arrives at the upper east side. The whole way there, his knee jumped, his heart pounded, and his mind raced. He had no idea what he would find, if at all. It was late. God only knows if his father's even going to be at the office. And if he wasn't, he had no idea what he would do because there was no way of finding his private home address. And he can't just enter the Moonlight Pack without permission. He could always just camp out and wait for him there all night. Yeah, that's what he can do. When he arrives, however, he discovers that his father is very much a workaholic because he's still there a
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