ATLASI shouldn’t have asked. I knew I shouldn’t have asked. I didn’t want to know the answer to that.For the life of me, I couldn’t tell why that bothered me. My recent obsession with everything that has to do with her was surprising.I’d known her for years before we got married. I never really paid much attention to her except on the training ground. And that too, because she was one of the best fighters I’ve ever seen.It was one of the reasons I was taken aback when I found out she was my mate. It just didn’t make much sense.She wasn’t exactly my type. And I was in love with Annie.Was? I shook my head. Not even wanting to think of that question.After I left Ford standing there with amusement dancing in his eyes. I attempted to follow the uber but it was already too late.“Give her space, son. This isn’t going to work out.” I glared at the man.He was on my shit list. Forget that we were business partners. I didn’t care and I would cut any ties with him if I found out he so mu
JADEThe feel of his lips on mine lingered. Long after he was gone. I still felt his hands on my body.Atlas kissed me. Atlas kissed me.Atlas kissed me!It didn’t matter how many times I said it or how I said it. It didn't feel real. It wasn’t real.I told myself it was all just a crazy dream and I just needed to wake up. So after he left, leaving me with shaky legs. I crawled back into my bed and willed myself to sleep the rest of the day.I was glad my boss was on a trip, and Mr. Harrison said I should take the day off. He probably didn’t want Atlas to show up again.Ironic, seeing as he was here.Instead of the nothingness I craved. I ended up having an explicit dream about Atlas.I woke up drenched in sweat with a pulse beating between my thighs. I took a cold shower because my skin felt too hot and got dressed in my coziest outfit. Then I sat and obsessed over what happened. Still not wanting to believe it had actually happened.Atlas has never kissed me. Since the peck he gave
JADEI haven’t seen Atlas since he came here drunk. And while Andrew has been visiting consistently since the day we went out to dinner. I haven’t grown the balls to ask about him. Although the curiosity was eating at me.I’m back at work, although my boss is still not back. Mr. Harrison asked if I could work for him as his assistant before he settled in and hired his own staff. He only had his secretary for one. I didn’t want to say yes but after recalling what Atlas had done, I couldn’t refuse so I just agreed.My other boss was amazing and he was really nice and unproblematic. But working with Mr. Harrison was much better. I saw the way he treated his secretary, who was about my age, like his daughter. He treated me the same way too. I had to say it is one of the best things that have happened to me all year.I was sorting through his emails when I heard a knock on the door. Did I mention I also have my own office. Since they worked on a bigger scale than my former boss. There were
JADEI’m hit by a sense of deja vu when the uber stopped outside the gated mansion. Somehow it seemed even colder now that I wasn’t living there. I’d worn a hoodie and pulled it over my head. I decided that would look more suspicious and it would be better if I wear it after I’m inside the house.Hopefully, Atlas hasn’t told them we have gotten divorced.Not technically but you get what I mean.Just as I passed through the gate, trying to look as normal and as casual as possible. I heard my name being called and I froze in my tracks.“I thought I was hallucinating. Luna, it’s so good to have you back.” I turned around hearing the familiar voice and a smile broke out across my lips when I saw our delta.We always work together on the trading grounds and he is one of the people I would consider my friends.“Hi, Jake.” He bowed a bit in respect.I wanted to stop him. I’m no longer his luna. He didn’t need to treat me like that.“Training has been weird without you. Please tell me you’re
JADEMaking it to the alpha’s room, which was a floor above where my old room used to be, was the hardest of them all. Not because anyone was there but I kept feeling like someone would see me. Atlas’s mother specifically. And she is the last person I want to see. Besides, the man himself.When I got to the door, I breathed out a sigh of relief and pushed it open. Only to come to a sudden stop when my eyes landed on familiar ones.Annie was sitting up on the bed, her back pressed against the headboard. A sheen of sweat covered her forehead and she held the sheets to her chest. From her exposed bare shoulders, I didn’t need magnifying glasses to know she is naked underneath. And the sound of the shower running was kind of a dead giveaway for what happened.I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat.So, this is where he has been. I wish I could say I was glad he didn’t come back after our kiss. But I would be lying.“What are you doing here?” She looked at me almost bored.Swallowin
JADEI had to pause and ask myself if I was dreaming. There was no way this was happening.I mean, Atlas was holding me against him. His grip was so tight you would think he was at the edge of a cliff and I was the only one that could pull him up.Another shiver skated down my spine. Making a soft sound leave my throat.His lips traced a path down the side of my neck and goosebumps erupted all over my skin.There was a voice in my head, screaming at me to move. But alas, the feel of his soft lips on my skin made all thoughts of self preservation fly out the window. It helped that this felt really good.I totally understood why women stayed in marriages. I would stay too. If he kept touching me like this. I won’t ever leave.“You smell so good,”There was something raw and unfamiliar about his voice. I couldn’t place my finger on it. All I knew was, it made me clench my things and hope for things I know only he could give me.When his hand slipped under my hoodie and squeezed my breast
ATLASI was gritting my teeth so hard. It was a surprise they didn’t break.Annie’s hand tightened around mine. Her red rimmed and tear filled eyes pleading with me to stay here with her.Her fear was so evident and the worry too.It made my chest tight. I couldn’t believe Jade actually tried to hurt her. I thought she was bigger than this.‘You can’t seriously believe Jade would try to hurt anyone. A pregnant woman, at that?’ I ignored Kian who scoffed in my head.I couldn’t trust his judgment when it came to Jade. He liked her as his mate so of course he would defend her, even if she was wrong.My mother’s chilling voice came from the door and I huffed out. I didn’t want her to come here until everything was already settled.She didn’t like Jade. And if there was a chance of me getting her back. She would ruin it simply by talking.I leaned down and pressed a kiss to Annie’s forehead, then I assured her I would be back just then. I headed toward my mother and Jade.The former was tr
JADE“I’ll drive you home,” Andrew spoke, not turning to face me and I nodded robotically.I reached down and quickly picked up the papers Atlas made me throw again. I didn’t know what to feel after everything that happened. So I just decided to shut off all emotions and thoughts in my head.Before we turned and left, I looked into the room and found Annie staring right back at me, with a slight curve of her lips. She was pleased. Her plan had worked.I shook my head and followed Andrew.The car was heavy with silence as he drove me back home. He didn’t say anything and I didn't have anything to fill the silence with. I thought of turning the radio on a few times but I never did and just settled for looking out the window. Watching as we passed by endless trees and a few cars on the highway.“Jade. Jade.” My eyes snapped open and I jerked, trying to pull away from something that was holding me down. “Careful, you still have your seatbelt on.”Seatbelt? What was I doing in the car? I h
JADE“i needed to come see him.”“Why?” He collected the baby from me “I told you that there's no need to. Why do you feel the need to come here even after I told you not to?!”“Because it's not just your victory! It's not just your life that he was after! It's mine too! And it's Ray's too! So yes, I needed to come down here to get closure.”He needed to understand that this meant something to me too, just as it did him.“Closure? Is that why you put the baby at risk? How much more closure do you need?”What on earth was he talking about?“Risk? Incase you didn't notice, I was there with him! I was at risk too! I needed him to look me in the eye and tell me why he did what he did to my family.”“Or maybe it's because you're too hung up on the past and you just can't let go. Incase you havent noticed, you're so stuck in the past and you are obsessing over it. Move on!”Well, I'm glad he finally got to say what he wanted to. Now I know how he feels about me trying to find answers. I w
JADEI didn't think it was worth it at first. Going to see the man that had made me grow up without parents and without the concept of what a true family felt like.But after much thought, he needed to know that all his plans failed and I was going to rub it in his face..I'd gotten all three pieces of the stone together and wore it around my locket.It would hurt him so bad to see that in the end, I won.Iniko decided that that was the right moment to start crying and everytime I dropped him back in his cot, he cried even louder.“Young man, what is it that you want? You've been fed and burped and I just changed your diaper so there's no way you could have soiled it again -”I stopped and remembered what happened yesterday so I took a peak for myself. There was nothing im his diaper.“So what exactly do you want?”I wish babies could talk.I guess I didn't have any other choice than to take him with me then. Atlas would blow a fuse if he found out that I took his son to see Ford.Whe
ATLAS“By wasting any more time, we are not doing ourselves any good! Sixth Circle pack is vacant. We have their leader in our custody and I've taken down every opposition in our way, do you think it would be long before we get more interests?”Sometimes, having a cabinet infuriates me so much. It was like I was speaking to brick walls. I didn't see any reason why they couldn't just agree to me taking over the Sixth Circle.It would even be better for us because it would improve our army base, it would make our pack bigger and in general, it would be a plus for us.But they weren't seeing it that way. All they were seeing was the fact that Ford had committed something against the pack and they weren't going to take it.I mean, what better way to teach him a lesson by taking over his pack?“Alpha, we're not disputing the fact that you've gone a long way-”“But you're diminishing my efforts. What's the whole point of defeating him and taking him into custody when I can't even go ahead a
JADERay and I weren't speaking for now.How could she hide something like that from me?“Where is she?”“I have no idea. All I know is that she ran away when we were little. She knew that he would come after her and she didn't want to put you in danger. So she ran away and left your nanny to take care of you. I don't know where she is.”How could she do this?“Before I lost my memory, did I know?”“No, you never knew.”I couldn't believe this. I lost my appetite for the rest of that day and I just stayed in Iniko's room because I couldn't even speak to anyone right now.I'd spent my life thinking my mother was dead only to hear that she was alive and she ran away because of that beast.“It’s not her fault, you know. Your mother ran away to protect you and Ray didn't tell you because she wanted to keep you safe. You have to forgive her.”I didn't blame her. It wasn't her fault things turned out like this. I was just hurt that I didn't know.Later that day, I took Iniko on a walk so h
JADEI was just realizing that this baby has Atlas's eyes and hair and everything!“This baby is rigged.”He turned around in shock.“What are you talking about?”“You did something to make the baby look like you.”He laughed and shook his head.“No, I didn't. It's just a coincidence.”“Coincidence? Look at this baby and look at you. It seems like I didn't even have anything to do with his birth.”“Don’t worry, you can have the second baby.”I scoffed.“You think I'm going to let you have another chance to have photocopies? Big joke.”Iniko was so small and he seemed so fragile.Ray brought my food and she took him while I ate.“I wish my grandmother was here to see him.”She gave me a sad smile.“Me too. She would be so proud of you.I'm proud of you.”I'm so happy my sister was here with me. She was the one who had been by my side throughout and if the child had been a girl, I would have named her after Raya.“Thank you for everything you did. If not for you, I don't know how I would
JADE“I'm going to need your blood as well. Atlas, I promise it won't hurt her. Just a little nick.”He nodded and she dragged the knife across my finger.“Place your finger over the stone and let the blood cover it entirely. Do not take your hand away from the fire.”It was a simple instruction but it seemed so intense.It was almost over. My legs were beginning to feel well and it was getting harder to quiet my screams.“What do we have here?”That voice. He was here.“What are you doing here?”All I had to do was keep my hand over the fire until the stone bled.Ray helped me stand up straight while Atlas and Andrew faced my uncle.“So this was why I came here. How did you do that? How did you call the other stones?”I eventually removed my hand from the fire since we had found them.“I always knew it was with one of you. That stupid old hag told me she couldn't find the other piece but I guess she gave it to you. “Why were all the worst things happening tonight?I was in labor and
JADEAtlas returned later that evening.I was right with what I'd thought.“What have you been up to?”I knew he knew I'd been eating because of the smirk on his face.“You know you don't have to hide from me when you eat right?”Oh, I did.“If you see how much I eat and the way I eat, I don't think you'd want to be married to me anymore.”He burst out laughing.“What makes you think I care about the way you eat? As long as you're healthy and our baby is fine, I don't care.”“But then, what if I get fat? I'll be so big that I won't be able to eat. I don't know why I eat so much.”This was actually a worry of mine. Normally, I ate but my appetite was not this big.“Blame it on the baby. I figure when you give birth, the cravings will stop and even though you do get fat, you're still my wife. It doesn't change anything.”I was really married to the best man ever, wasn't I?“You’re the best.”“I know. Ray says that we have to get there before midnight so that she can prepare everything.
JADEAt this point, I was realizing that the earlier we did things, the better.“I’ll arrange for the sacrifice to happen tomorrow. We need to move as fast as we can before he gets Intel that were here.”I didn't want to have to run with this big belly of mine.“What are you going to need?”“Don’t worry, I'll take care of it. Just bring the stone.”We went to bed that night because we were all completely exhausted.“Hey, are you okay?” Atlas asked when we were in bed.“Yes, I am. Why do you ask?”“You didn't cry when you found out that he killed your father. You didn't cry when you found out that she was not your grandmother. I'm worried.”Now that I think about it, it's true. But it was because I didn't feel like crying.“I don't know. Maybe my body just hasn't proceses it yet. Maybe its because I hate him so I'm not bothered that he's not my father and I never really knew my father so i can't cry for him. I've already mourned for my grandmother.”I just didn't feel the need to cry b
JADE“Jade, step away from that.”I walked back towards them and stared at the pile.“What kind of animal would do this?”I had no idea but I think I was beginning to understand why she wanted us to find this place.This place held secrets.I went back to the wall to look at the drawings and try to understand them.I used my fingers to trace them again and this time around, I heard the voice clearer.“Look at the bigger picture.”I stepped away from the wall so I could see the entire thing. There were more drawings to the side and when I walked up, I noticed that there was a sign at the bottom of it.That sign…looked all too familiar but I couldn't just place my finger.“Ray, come see this. I've seen this before but I don't know where it's from.”She crouched beside me and stared at it for a moment.“I know it's familiar but I don't know where it's from, either.”Andrew and Atlas joined us and just within seconds, they knew.“We know.”They shared a look and it made me scared.“Jade,