Arabella's POVI woke up feeling more than a little parched but better. My nausea and headache had dissipated. I opened my eyes in increments. The room was too bright. Come to think of it. I was no longer in the dungeon. I inhaled deeply. It was Luciano's scent. I was in his bed. What was I doing here? I moved only to wince at the pain of pulling on the IV I was connected to. I remembered him telling me he was going to kill me, I remembered the sensation of the world fading around me, my building nausea, and my total and complete loss of strength. "Oh, you are awake." Margaret exclaimed. "Water." I whispered. I heard her pour me a glass and I took it still feeling disoriented. I sipped then gulped down the water."You should be more careful about skipping meals. Alpha Luciano told me about how you collapsed because you wouldn't eat anything. You need to take better care of yourself."What? He didn't tell her that I had stolen his drugs and bugged his office? When Emery had come to
Alpha Luciano's POVI found myself shaken after that moment with Arabella. I wanted to be a better person, I realized. I wanted to be a person my child could look up to. But first, I had to ensure that all my enemies were handled. "Vitalio's next shipment of people comes in tomorrow. The bidding has already begun on the dark web." Mikah said, showing me secure footage for the auction gotten from one of the sights by my hackers. The man was despicable. I could see some underage girls being paraded about naked like they were livestock. I comforted myself with the fact that even if I hadn't been after Vitalio before, I would have tried my best to stop this trade. It was disgusting."And the men are in place?" I wanted to go myself, it had been a while since I had gone on a run with my men but I didn't like the idea of leaving Arabella all alone without sufficient security personnel. Once her pregnancy was officially announced, I could put as much as a company of soldiers outside her ro
Arabella's POVI choked on my sobs as I walked, and ran towards my room. I didn't even know why I was even crying. I didn't care about him. He could fuck his entire harem if he wanted. "Arabella!" I almost stopped. Was he really coming after me? But my anger was still raging hot so I didn't stop. I entered my room."Arabella, what's wrong–""Margaret, leave us." Luciano's voice came from right behind me and I would have jumped but I was tired. So tired. Margaret hesitated looking over at me for confirmation. I would have registered shock at the gesture if I weren't stuck in my own head replaying what I had seen over and over again. I nodded to Margaret and she left the room.I ignored Luciano and walked towards my bed. His hand caught my arm, his strong grip stopping me."Arabella."His voice still sent chills down my spine, the good type. I hated my body for craving his touch. I turned to look at him. He was as devastatingly handsome as always. His dark hair fell over his face
Luciano's POVI was going over my pack's security detail with Cross yet for some reason, all I could think about was Arabella. Last night felt different. Different from any other thing we had done together. I wanted to get it off my mind but the more I tried to dismiss it, the more firmly entrenched it became. "Alpha, what about the borders?"Cross's voice brought me back to reality. I had drifted off mid-speech. Perfect. As though I was still a hormonal teenager who'd just discovered sex for the first time only this was way different from that. Save from the fact that I was no longer a teenager, it wasn't just the sex because when I woke up this morning and saw, and held her in my arms, I had felt something strange that I still couldn't quantify. "The Creoles will want to start off skirmishes with us here, here and here." I pointed to the locations on the map I held. "We do not know their plans so try to capture at least one of their commanding attacking officers, maybe he'll be ab
Alpha Luciano's POVWhen I woke up, Arabella was sleeping next to me. Her black hair was mussed from sleep and she pouted as though she was arguing about something in her sleep. Knowing her, the probability wasn't so far-fetched.We spent a lot of time around each other recently. It wasn't just sex although the sex was phenomenal and spontaneous. I recalled how Arabella had jumped me the moment I had walked through the door last night. Having a hormonal pregnant mate definitely had its perks. It was also about the strange conversations and arguments we got into.I shook myself awake. Was I simping for Arabella? No way.I went to take a shower. The strike on the Creoles was tonight. I would crush them like the insignificant bugs that they were. When I came out, Arabella was already awake and yawning."Where are you going to?" She asked and I began to answer her then hesitated. Since when did I explain my whereabouts to anyone?Arabella seemed oblivious to my mood and beckoned to me. "C
Emery's POVGetting rid of Arabella's child was easier said than done. If Margaret had been strict about her diet before, it was nothing on what she did now. Every food was prepared in front of her or by her. Everything was carefully supervised because of Arabella's so-called pregnancy sensitivities. And I had to be careful about what I did. I was trying to assassinate the heir to the Lupo-Mortale pack. It was one thing to make sure none of the women in the harem conceived, it was another to murder an unborn but already-formed child. I could trust no one, not even my mother who supplied me with the drug. Any lapse on my side would terminate my life untimely.I was trying to improve the quality of my life and not get myself killed. I paced the length of my room in the harem. A tiny space compared to the expanse that Arabella now occupied. I swallowed the bitter thought and let it harden inside me. An idea occurred to me as if born of my envy. I just had to kill the child in any way p
Alpha Luciano's POVI was disturbed. It wasn't because of the mindless conversations I had undergone while following Uncle Tommaso around. Could it be because I had left Arabella behind? Was I so caught up in her that I couldn't think clearly when she wasn't around me? No, it was all in my head. I was not falling for her nor was I worried about her. She had her guards with her. They would keep her safe for the next hour. Besides, my pack lands were impenetrable. If I was still bothered about her now it meant that I… no, I would never accept that. I wasn't. That was final.Arabella was fine. ********Arabella's POVMy vision blurred with tears. Margaret was… I refused to think about it. I blotted it out of my mind. I would soon reach the main entrance of the pack and every step I took felt like a betrayal. That was what I was doing, wasn't it? Betrayal? I was betraying Margaret to save my life and my child's. Even if she had demanded it of me it felt unbelievably cruel.I heard some
Alpha Luciano's POVThe thing about life is that when bad things happen you think 'sorry for the person but it can never happen to me'. Things like these didn't happen to people like me. I shouldn't have had to wait on a verdict from a doctor with so much trepidation.It was my fault. All of it. If I had just taken her with me like she'd asked me to then none of this would have happened. If I had stationed a company of guards to protect her instead of giving her so few because I thought it would keep people less suspicious and keep her safe. If I had simply left the fucking party from the start the moment I felt strange. If only, if only, if fucking only. I was filled with regret. I was angry and pained, I wanted to rip someone, anyone apart. There was something fundamentally flawed with me. I had strangled Emery instead of checking in on Arabella's condition first. If I closed my eyes, I could still hear Arabella's voice.Luciano, look at us. We'll be terrible parents...You are one