JADEI think I’m starting to understand why people act crazy in the honeymoon phase of their relationship. The thrilling feeling. Heightened emotions. It is incomparable and just so full. But it isn’t too much. I don’t know if that makes sense. It is just crazy how you find yourself always thinking of the same person. Even if you spend the whole day with them, it does’t seem like enough and want more. More of them. More of everything.I’m starting to think I’ve lost my mind. When I told Jaiya, she only laughed and told me it is because I’m in love. I don’t actually think I’m in love. I do know I like Antonio a lot. More than I ahem ever liked anyone.Don’t get me wrong. I said like. It sounds horrible but I don’t think I’ve ever liked Atlas. Or maybe, I used to like him when I was younger. When I admired everything he did. It makes me wonder if things would have been different if we never got married.But that is not the point I’m trying to make. Atlas is more like a fleeting thought
ATLASI had a meeting with what you would call the ambassadors or the sixth circle. Six of them dealt with the issues of people from the sixth circle who were living here. We had our own ambassadors there, but as of now, they weren’t my problem. I’ll have to meet with them too, but not yet.Am I postponing it until it reaches the four weeks timeline in which I gave myself to get Jade back? There was no use denying it when the snare was already so obvious.Using the meeting as a guise, I’ll have a whole week of convincing her before we come back home together. And yes, I am confident because I don’t plan on giving up or leaving without her giving me the answer I wanted. Which was a yes.Andrew is here with me, a few minute stop the meriting which he personally organised.“We need everything to be perfect.” He was been sweating this, being nervous for some reason. You would think he was meeting his father in law for the first time.“It will be perfect. You handled it yourself.” I said,
JADEToday was my first meeting as the official mediator for the council and the sixth circle. Dad asked more than five times if I was sure I was ready. I could sit out of the meeting the ambassadors were having with the elders for now. But I didn’t want to start my new job by missing a meeting. So I insisted on going.It was a whole two hours drive from Palm Springs. Antonio suggested we go with the helicopter as it would be faster but I said there was no need to pollute the air when we could just drive. It would be like a road trip.He insisted he follow me in that case.“You don’t want to be bored in the car all alone.” He had said and I laughed.“I’ll be busy with work, and checking what I will say but your company will me much appreciated.”And the trip was worthwhile, definitely more enjoyable than it would have been if I was alone. And since Antonio knew about all of things and the people I would be working with, better than I did, his presence turned out to be much better.I
ATLAS Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me. I glared at the glass as the two figures walked past my office and towards the hall where the meeting was going to take place. Because she didn’t just come in with that fucking guy. How am I supposed to focus on work and slap the fuck out of him the moment I meet him face to face. After watching him kiss her earlier, you can tell how riled up I am and how much I’m looking for a fight right now. Both my wolf and I are on edge. No one in the better frame of mind to calm the other. The door opened and Andrew walked in, a worried expression making crates form on his forehead. He sees me standing, my burning gaze still watching where they just passed. He comes to stay in front of me, backing my view where I was glaring at. “What’s up?” He toes to act casual but I know why he is here. His office is next to mine so he saw the same thing I did. “What?” I couldn’t even try to be curious. I’m pissed and it is showing. “You know what.
JADEAntonio’s hand was on my thigh throughout the meeting. I didn’t even tell him how I was feeling, but he somehow knew ad immediately went it and tried to comfort me. My heart did that weird flip thing it does when I’m thinking of him.I reached for his hand and intertwined our fingers. There was no way anyone would see because of the table, but I could almost feel Atlas’s disapproval from where he was sitting. The only reason I don’t pull my hand away is because of my stubbornness. Somehow trying to convince myself he wasn’t the boss of me. He doesn’t dictate what I do anymore.Not that he ever has before. He just silently expects me to do anything that would please him. Like, there is even no way I’ll think of doing anything he wouldn’t like. And I tried my best, for four whole years I did everything I could to gain his approval. Which he never gave might I add. He barely noticed me or my efforts.And now, that I’m finally happy and moving on, he wants to fight for me? Well, he s
ATLASPerfect doesn’t cut how Jade looks right now. Even if she is glowering at me, I couldn’t ignore how captivated I am by her. And her lips are moving, but all I focus on is their lusciousness, the light sheen of her lipgloss. That light pink that makes her looks sinful.My feet started carrying me to her but I stop before I do something stupid. It helped that the image of that wrapping his arms around her and kissing her flickered in my mind at that time.Did I want to pull her to me and kiss her until she forgot al about him? Until the memory of his hand son her body was nothing? Just that. I wanted it to be nothing.The thought of another man touching her. Having her. Everything that is mine, wrapped in the perfection that is her. It made my blood boil. And that must be the reason why I say the next thing I do.“Is he your boyfriend now?”The way Jade purses her lips in surprise only push me to want to ask her more questions. But she is staring at me in disbelief, like she could
JADEI expected Antonio to ask hat Atlas and I spoke about after I came out. But he didn’t. He just looked at me and asked if I was okay, which I think I nodded too, but I couldn’t be sure. My mind was still whirling from all that happened. The weird three sixty that Atlas did in one second. Him going back to his old self and acting like he could and then being surprisingly understanding and gentle. I was confused and worried something happened to him.Maybe aliens took over his over and are forcing him to act nice. Because the man I just spoke with, especially towards the end, was not the Atlas that I knew. And it was so damn confusing.The trip back wasn’t as enjoyable as it had been when we were coming. Even with the anticipation of what was going to happen and how nervous I was. I was more relaxed then than I am now. And I didn’t know what to blame it on.Antonio had wrapped his arm around my waist and I rested my head on his shoulder, falling asleep somewhere along the lines. I w
JADEI haven’t been fair to Antonio. I know that, and yes, I also know that I have been trying to elude myself into believing it isn’t actually that bad. But it is. And I know, if I keep doing that, I’ll end up pushing him away and hurting his feelings. That is the last thing I wanted to do to him.He is amazing and he makes me feel loved and appreciated. The leats I could do was return the sentiment.So, after we unloaded all of that. I promised myself to make it up to him, and I asked Jaiya what she thought I would do. At this point, Ray has joined us and they both went off mentioning different ways I could make it up to him.“Send him flowers.” Ray had said excitedly, fist pumping the air and almost punching me in the process.I dropped hr first and gently put it down, both Jaiya and I given her confused looks.“Men love flowers too. And they don’t get them nearly enough.” I added because that is actually right.But flowers seems mundane for the message I’m trying to send. Jaiya sa
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,