ARABELLA POV “Wait, wait, wait…” I said urgently. My brain needed to catch up with what he was saying. “Tell Alpha Rhys? Why do you have to tell him anything?” Simon’s breathing sounded harsh on the phone like he was running somewhere. It sounded like he called me while he was in the middle of an urgent task. “What are you doing, Simon?” I asked. “I’m halfway to the palace. I’m going to meet the Alpha—” “Are you crazy? Stop right there!” He stopped, stunned at the commanding sound of my voice. “It’s stupid to just barge in there with your claims,” I said to him, trying to control my rising heartbeat. “You only have the information, not the evidence. Besides, even if you only have the information, how sure are you that it’s true?” Simon kept quiet, his breathing reducing to a steady rhythm. I dropped the glass of water in my hand lest I broke it into shards. “Listen, Simon, I know you’re desperate and you want to clear your name—” “It’s more than that,” Simon interrupted. “He
ARABELLA POVWe looked at each other for long moments. Jack must have seen the disappointed look on my face because he immediately rushed to cover his sentences.“That’s not what I mean… I’m sorry, that just came out of my mouth. I shouldn’t have said that at all.”I shook my head and signaled that he stopped talking. It wasn’t his fault, nor was it Lily’s. Everyone who knew about my history with Rhys always threw the bomb of me loving him again, which truly hurts. But then again, they could have had little fate in me.“So how do you want to do this?’ Jack asked urgently. “You need my help, right? What do you need me to do?”I shook my head at him. “You don’t have to help if you’re not interested in it.”“Arabella, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m truly sorry, honestly. I’m just worried for you.”“That’s why I said you should not bother.”He came around the table and stood next to me. “There’s no way I won’t be worried or bothered when it comes to you, Arabella. Just tell me what the p
ARABELLA POV I gripped Jack’s shoulder, wanting to offer him comfort but not sure where his problem was coming from. He groaned as he pressed his knee to the ground, his hand tightening around his neck. I would have said he was the one choking himself if I didn’t see the tiny veins making its way to his chin from his neck.“How do you feel?” I asked in a full blown panic. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. Do something, please.”“My wolf… my wolf is caged and restless,” he managed to say.I peered at him carefully this time. his body twitched this way and that way occasionally, as if his wolf was struggling to get out but the witch’s power was holding him back.“Do something…” I muttered, tears clouding my eyes.“I can’t…” he whispered.Soon we heard chanting. I turned and saw the wolf approaching us, her hand filled with what looked like black sand as she chanted her incantations. Her whole focus was on Jack;’ I suppose as an Alpha he was more of a threat to her than I was.“Stop it!” I y
RHYS POVArabella looked shocked. I mean, I was shocked too, but the way she looked was abnormal. It was almost like she didn’t want any of us to be there. The doctor looked at me, and then to her, scared that we might be in shock.“We need a blood transfusion,” he repeated. “Dr. Emma, you can do a cross examination on the kid and make your own analysis, if you want?”Arabella nodded several times and patted the arms of the doctor. “Thank you, Daniel. Just give me your tab and let me take over. You probably have other patients to attend to.”The doctor smiled patronizingly. “I know this one might be family, so I would not recommend—”“You can clearly see that it’s the Alpha son and that I came here with him. Let me take over from where you stopped, Daniel.”The doctor looked at me and then handed his tab to her. I was left in a confused state, seeing the interactions before me but not completely understanding it. All I thought of was why my son would need a blood transfusion. Had Mia
ARABELLA POV What annoyed me wasn’t that Rhys discovered I was Arabella a long time ago and kept it a secret, but that he thought I was lying because I wanted him to get rid of Mia. Of all things, it was the wildest thing I’d heard—and the most annoying too.He thought I was a silly girl who’d come back to this pack just for him to abandon Mia and focus on me. I would have cried in frustration, but laughter erupted out of me, surprising the both of us. He was quite taken aback by the burst of laughter, and so were a few passersby. His anger had attracted them, but my laughter kept them.He moved back a little, twitching his lips as he continued to watch me. When my laughter reduced to a light chuckle, the people around decided it was nothing and decided to move on. I hummed when the last of my frustration was gone with the laughter.“Are you done now?” Rhys asked, a bit frustrated.“No, I’m just getting started,” I replied. “First of all, I don’t want you nor do I want you to leave
RHYS POVI’ve never been so disappointed and pained in my entire life. The pain I felt came with deep seated shame and embarrassment. I was embarrassed for a lot of things—firstly the fact that it was Arabella who helped me to uncover this secret. Now I don’t particularly feel grateful to her; she could have her own scheme after all. If she was able to come back to this pack and uncover this secret all alone, it really put me to shame for someone who’d been living with Mia for years.What was she thinking?No, what were they thinking? The both of them… Mia and Craig. My wife and my beta. No matter how I think about it, it made me wild and mad with fury. It wasn’t necessarily a matter of love, but betrayal. For someone who was so controlling about the kind of women that came around me, she really had the tenacity to cheat on me for years. Years, and no less with my Beta.I laughed. It was a slow, bitter laugh. I felt the tears gather around my eyes long after they were gone. I stood o
ARABELLA POV Rhys was gone by the time I came back to the ward. I felt pity for him; pain and pity. Somehow his agony echoed within me, stretching the thin walls of my sanity. It was almost as if I could feel exactly what he was feeling, only faint. I didn’t find him anywhere in the ward and Bruno was still sleeping. I checked around and even the windows (I know, absurd), but I still didn’t see him. The only logical thing that came to my mind was that he’d be at home.When I didn’t see him check in the next day, I became worried. It was unlike him to go so still, especially when a big event like this was happening.“Is Rhys here yet?” Mia asked.I shook my head no. Here she was, acting all sweet and innocent as if she just didn’t lie to him for years. She had been beside Bruno for hours, refusing to go home and telling anyone who was willing to here that he was her precious baby. She’d send Craig out several times so that Rhys won’t see him when he comes in yet Rhys never showed up.
RHYS POVA loud scream pierced the air. I turned around immediately, pushing the man before me to the side, my hand still around me. The first thought that came to my mind was that a pack member had seen me with a Rogue and was now ready to spread the news. Imagine my surprise when I turned, ready to explain, only to see that it was Arabella. She somehow fell to the ground as she screamed, looking at me with such hate, such wild look. I instinctively stepped towards her, then stopped. I looked back at the Rogue; leaving him here to attend to her would set him off and make him run. While my body and soul ached to meet Arabella, beachside her screams and increasing tears were piercing my heart and soul, I still could not leave. This was the one prisoner that I needed to integrate into the pack once more. He was the person I’d already decided that he would help me and find the actual person who killed my dad, so I couldn’t let him go.A rant memory suddenly enveloped me then. It was yea
ARABELLA POV“I can’t believe you’re getting married,” Lily said.I turned away from the mirror to face her. “Do you think I could be potentially making a mistake?”Lily laughed and playfully slapped my arm. “Don’t be silly, Arabella. You thought about this for months. You even went through the painful process of telling everyone your identity.”I smiled at the memory of that. “Yeah, it went surprisingly well. People took it in pretty well.”“You know the one they took in the most? The arrest and public death of Mia.”My mood dampened just a bit. My half sister was killed two weeks ago and here I was, getting married to the man she was previously married to. Rhys asked me not to overthink it as he wasn’t even hers to begin with, and I was working towards that step. I turned to Lily again.“Do you think James and Jenny would make it? They promised that they would show up today and they’re not here yet.”Lily slapped her forehead in embarrassment. She’s been slapping a lot of things lat
RHYS POVI stood outside the boys’ quarters, thinking of how best to go over this. If Jack wanted us to talk about whatever he wanted to talk about, then this was a big secret opener. I was dying to see just how much secret he was willing to uncover, and that included Mia.She was dancing when I stepped into her room. As always, it was open and inviting, as if she was waiting for the day when I would finally accept her. Was she expecting that day to be today? Had she done all this just because she wanted me?Yes, dumb ass. Yes.I ignored my wolf voice and cleared my throat. She stopped dancing and smiled brightly at me, as if I was the sunshine at the end of her tunnel.“You’re here,” she said, wiping her brows with a face towel.“And you’re dancing,” I commented. “What’s the occasion?”“You’ve confined me to this mean, smelly place and I have to get used to it, Rhys.” She gulped down a glass of water. “The fact still remains that I’m your wife and I will be until I sign the divorce p
ARABELLA POVI’ve never had so many things happen to me in the space or hours or minutes but it was definitely happening now. First my children gets kidnapped, then after 24 long, excruciating hours, I go to get them and discover they had somehow managed to free themselves. Then I stupidly went into to the cabin instead of running away with them only to get kidnapped again and have a gun pointed at me.“Your children was a handful,” the first man said. “That is not surprising. I see now where they got it from. You do know we can’t leave you alive after this?”I immediately clasped my hands together in prayer. “Please, I’m begging you with the almighty name of the moon goddess, please let us go. I swear I’ve packed all my things! I’m ready to leave now.”He shook his head. “You’ve seen our face, lady. I wish there was some other way to not kill you—”The door burst open, forcing a startled scream out of me. The kidnapper in front of me trembled. I angled my body to the side and shifted
ARABELLA POV“What are you going to do now?” Lily asked me. “Do you have any plans on how to tackle this?”I paused my restless pacing and turned to her. “I’m burnt out, Lily. I don’t know what to do! I’ve tried to think of every possible thing but nothing. Rhys isn’t even helping matters. He thinks Mia is innocent simply because she hasn’t left the house in days!”“And the kidnappers want you to leave?”“Yes! They clearly said no money, that I should just leave. Who else would not want money and ask me to leave?”She cocked her head at me as both of our mind went to Mia. She was the only sworn enemy that I had that would dare though my children and go Scot free. Thinking about it made by blood boil. I wanted to grab her hair and force her head into a hot oven…“Okay, you’re making that face again, “ Lily said. “We just need to think about what to do next, Arabella. I know this must come as a shock…”“It’s quite the shock, Lily.”“But we have better things to do like waiting for the k
Arabella PovI realized I was vibrating with fear and doom. I needed to calm down, but the thought of my children going through the most traumatic experience of their life was chilling to the bone. Why was it only them that was kidnapped out of all the children coming to school? The kidnappers had technically been aiming for me and my children. I glanced at Mia. It was her. It had to be her. There were no other logic asides the fact that Mia has a vindictive aura towards me and she was not afraid to use them.I turned my back to them and spoke into the phone. “What do you want, please? Can you just let my children go, please? I’ll do anything.”‘Of course you’ll do as you’re told, Dr. Emma, or you’ll never see your children again.”I shivered once more, bracing myself as I asked the most important question. “What do you want then? Is it money? How much would you need to let my kids go?”“You insult us, Dr. Emma. We don’t need your money. We only need you to do one thing and we’ll retu
ARABELLA POVI was very upset, and rightfully so too. I thought about Rhys every day for five days, mostly wondering if he didn’t want to let Mia go. Did he trust her enough to be sure that she hadn’t killed his father? If only I had enough time then to pressure the guy more so he would tell me the truth about Mia. She certainly had more wicked things up her sleeve and I was very desperate to reveal them to the world.“Dr. Emma, you’ve wiped that post four times in a row now,” a nurse said.I jerked back into consciousness and realized that I was in the hospital, wiping a patient’s wrist over and over so I coke inject their antibiotic for them. Murmuring my apologies, I quickly gave them their dose and stood up.“You look tired,” the nurse who had called my attention said. “You can go home; I’ll cover your shift for you. I’m not sure I want to see you dozing off the rest of your days here.”“I’m fine,” I saidSpacing out. I was constantly spacing out because I was concerned for Rhys an
ARABELLA POVI was really bumped and hyped with energy when I took Bruno back to the car. He asked load of questions about why he wasn’t allowed to see the prisoner and I said something in the lines of how his ears were too little to hear all the important details. It would really sick if he had to hear from a strange prisoner that his mother was involved in a crime.Once I left him in the car and locked it, I ran back to the cell. My heart was drumming with excitement. I imagined that prisoner holding Mia’s picture and announcing that she was the one who had made the order. Oh, that would make so much sense! However, when I joined Rhys minutes later, I noticed that he was silent and now holding the picture, having collected it back from the Rogul. The Rogul was snacking heavily on the food I brought, which I now every much regret since the mood wasn’t what I expected it to be.“What did he say?” I asked Rhys, a note of desperation in my voice. “He was holding Mia’s picture, right?”
ARABELLA POVI had a plan. A grand, beautiful plan. Rhys was going to be here anytime soon and he would be solely against it, which means I have to be wise towards it. I knocked once on the children’s door before opening it. They were laughing and walking about, looking for the perfect fit.“Mom!” Delinda cried when she saw me. “Do you think I should wear a dress to the park? I can’t seem to find the perfect fit.”I smiled reassuringly as I remained at the door. “You don’t need to stress to much, my darling. You guys should all wear shorts and shirt—you can wear a skirt, Delinda—and carry a backpack too.”Damon frowned. “A back pack?”“Yeah. It’ll make you looo smart, like a professor.”I knew they would accept readily to what I said, yet I waited on high tension. When they finally agreed to dress like professors and carry their backpack, I grinned. Earlier today in the morning, I came across Bruno’s backpack and I slipped in Mia’s picture in it. At first when I saw her picture lying
MIA POVI paced around my room, completely restless. He hasn’t been sleeping at home lately and now Bruno was gone. When he was brought back from rhe hospital, Rhys took him away and said he wanted to take him to a recovery center. How long do recovery centers usually take? Did Arabella put this idea into his head?Oh, Arabella, that wench!I laughed wildly as I continued to pace around. She thought she won this time, didn’t see? She was the lowly, stupid omega in the past, and now she’s come back a bit chic doctor who’s trying to steal my man? How are people not violent towards this act?! Do I need to start an uproar? She’s not going to win against me. The deadly wench is not going to win me.“You do not get to have the last laugh!” I roared loudly, and then fell to my bedroom floor in a beep.My hair was a mess. With everything going awry, I haven’t give my much thought to how untidy I’d been. That was fine; it didn’t matter what I looked like. I would have every single thing I’d ev