[Layla’s POV]The sound of the knock came again and again as I slowly opened my eyes to a new day.My body ached and I felt sore all over as I yawned and rubbed my eyes tiredly. I had cried myself to sleep last night, and not once had the Alpha come to check up on me. He was tired of my tantrums, I got it.Gazing at my sad reflection in the small mirror next to my bed, I heaved a sigh. Perhaps, it was time I came to terms with the fact that happiness wasn’t in the list of ingredients I had been created with, and just stop focusing so greatly on having a child and being a burden to everyone around me who I could tell were already tired of my whining.Knock! Knock!“Who is there?” I asked in a faint voice.“It’s me, your highness,” Michaela responded.I was so torn apart that I couldn’t even figure out that she had been the one there.“Go away,” I said, closing my eyes as though I would rather fall into another deep slumber yet again.After the cleansing ceremony yesterday, I had just r
[Layla’s POV]For some reason, the Alpha had been super nice and caring towards me ever since that incident, not that he hadn’t always been caring, but there was just something different in the way he showed his care these days, but that wasn’t even what bothered me.What bothered me the most was the fact that he kept on apologising, and it had almost been three weeks since the incident occurred. I kept telling him it was okay, but he was sorry that he hadn’t come home that day. He kept saying he had made a grave mistake and that he was sorry, but I didn’t understand what he was so sorry for and I didn’t ask him about it.Things were going really great these days, and he was taking the childbirth thing really seriously and made sure I took all the drugs given to me by Jeffrey’s father. I didn’t want to say something or do anything that would ruin it. When he was ready, he would tell me what was eating him up so badly.“Greetings, love of my life,” I greeted him as I made my way to sit
[Xavier’s POV]“What have you done?” I yelled angrily at Veronica.“What do you mean?” she asked, a smirk playing around her lips.“I should have killed you there and then,” I fumed, regretting my decision.“Then, you’d have lost the chance to become a father,” she said.I scoffed. “I don’t want to become a father with you, and I know that you’re lying... whether it is about the pregnancy or me being the father, I don’t know, but I know for a fact that you won’t succeed in whatever your plan is,” I stated.She guffawed, then smacked the gum she was chewing. “Oh, darling. I have already succeeded,” she said.“Get her out of here, and make sure she doesn’t step her foot in this Palace again. If she dares to even come close to the gate of the Palace, kill her on the spot. You have my permission,” I said, looking at Kyle and the rest of the guards who had gathered as a result of the commotion.“But you said you wanted a child,” Veronica screamed as the guards grabbed her arms and legs and
[Layla’s POV] I sat down in the shade of the compound I had grown up in, thinking about whether I had made the right choice or not. Leaving Xavier had been the hardest thing I had done in so long, and I was missing him terribly already. “Stay put. If you move, I’ll get even more angry with you,” my father’s voice echoed after my stepmother lied against me to him. As each sound of the whip landed on my back, the tears that fell from my eyes multiplied. “That’s enough. Someone needs to go get me mushrooms, how will she see her way to the farm if her eyes are blinded by tears?” my stepmother asked, and my father stopped beating me terribly. He panted heavily. “You should thank the Moon Goddess. If you ever refuse to do anything in this house ever again, I will send you to the very place your mother is,” he threatened. Usually, he would watch my brothers and stepmother beat me, but not involve himself, but that day, he seemed to be in a bad mood and was only taking his frustration ou
[Xavier’s POV]I was thinking of different ways by which I could go to see Layla without offending her. I just couldn’t let her go, and although it had only been hours, I missed her greatly... I missed literally everything about her and I missed having her around.What had I gotten myself into? Why had I made such a mess? Everything was going good and great for us, but as always, I just had to go and spoil things and I knew deep down that my excuse of being drunk didn’t and couldn't change a thing.As a married man, I should never have gone to visit a single woman all alone, so everything that had happened was my fault and my fault alone.Perhaps, it was because our first meeting had been chaotic... that was why we could never seem to get any moment of peace in our lives. I had promised never to hurt her, but even from the beginning, I had never kept my word. Why then should she keep on believing me when all I did was break her heart every single time?“I don’t even know who you are.
[Layla’s POV]I could feel myself literally hyperventilating as the person covering my mouth with his cold strong hand revealed himself to be no one other than my eldest stepbrother, Brody.“If you promise to keep quiet, I’ll let you go,” he said, breathing heavily.It had been so long since I had felt his presence close to me. Ever since I was a little girl, I dreaded him and feared him the most out of all my siblings. I was afraid whenever he came close to me because he always did something to hurt me, whether or not I provoked him.I nodded my head, showing that I promised him that I wouldn’t make a noise.After much hesitation, he finally let me go, and pushed me onto the bed where I collapsed and began to pant heavily, not sure I was relieved even though he had just let me go. I could perceive danger, and I wondered what Kyle could possibly be doing at the moment that he hadn’t noticed Brody's presence in the house.“Listen, you absolutely can not tell anyone that you saw me, you
[Layla’s POV]I hadn’t slept a wink last night, as I nervously bit my fingernails waiting for it to be another day. Brody had asked that I waited till daybreak before checking out for the evidence at the place where he mentioned it will be to give him enough time to leave because he thought I’d come after him once I found out who was behind the whole thing and what the evidence was.Maybe I should have checked earlier on because for all I knew, he could be deceiving me, but I just decided to trust him because he did sound sincere.I had ended up falling asleep just before it was dawn, which was no surprise because one couldn’t really cheat nature. By the time I opened my eyes, the sun was already out in the sky and I could hear the birds chirping in the nearby trees.I yawned and stretched out my arms and legs, chewing the insides of my mouth in a somewhat still sleepy manner, then yawned again and rubbed my eyes. I was still trying to figure out when I had slept off, when I suddenly
[Xavier’s POV]I sat in the gazebo, drinking a bottle of alcohol directly from its bottle instead of pouring it into a cup. I was waiting for Jeffrey’s father to come and tell me the result of the test, while also waiting for Kyle to come back after doing the errand I had sent him on.Just then, I felt my heart flutter and the attraction began to surge really quickly as though Layla was close to me. I shook my head, wondering why my mind was choosing to play tricks on me and thought it must be the alcohol just setting in, but that didn’t stop me from raising the bottle to my lips again to take in a long sip.However, a hand held the bottle just as it touched my lips, and I turned my head to regard the intruder. To my surprise, it was Layla I saw standing right there with a smirk playing around her lips.I blinked my eyes rapidly, believing I was seeing things and lifted a finger to poke her a little in the arm. She was there, she was right there in the flesh and blood.“Layla!” I excl
[Author’s POV]After unlocking the door, Alpha Xavier stepped into the chamber. It was his father’s, and since he died, he had not for once entered inside for any reason whatsoever, mostly because he was ashamed to face him after being unable to find out the person who had caused his untimely death.Everything looked the same, except that dust now made it almost impossible to breathe while in there. He reminisced about a whole lot of things as he ran his eyes over all his possessions which still remained in the chamber. He should have moved in there, but he hadn’t had the heart to.Alpha Xavier took a long look at the picture frame hanging on the wall. It was of him and his father the very day he had transformed for the first time. His father looked so proud of him, and he had been extremely happy because he made his father proud.He drew out the seat next to the table, and sat there staring into the mirror and seeing his father’s reflection staring back at him. His bows and arrows hu
“Almost a year ago, I overheard a conversation between my late uncle and the former Beta here. My uncle had found out that he had been stealing and coveting the people’s wealth, precious stones and our natural resources. Before his trip to the Dark Moon Pack, he said that if the Beta doesn’t relinquish all that he had stolen and make a public apology, as well as step down from his position, he was going to expose him in the most disgraceful manner when he came back, unknown to me that the Beta was aware that I had been eavesdropping on their conversation.“He then called me privately and twisted my mind by telling me he would make me the next Alpha King if only I kept quiet. I was stupid and greedy, so I agreed, not knowing that the price for my silence was my uncle’s life. When he died, I confronted him but he manipulated me into keeping quiet and doing all other dirty jobs for him. I stand here today to apologise for all that I did, ranging from not exposing the truth earlier on, bu
[Xavier’s POV]“Your... your highness, it is not what you think,” Veronica said, falling on her knees as she shook her head in negativity.The whole world had seen her shame.“It is exactly what I think it is, you good-for-nothing deceiver. I should have known better than to trust you. You were never pregnant after all,” I roared at her angrily.“I’m sorry. I never meant to do something like this. It was my father that...”“May the goddess strike you down if my name comes out of your miserable mouth again,” her father said, as he stood up and marched to where we were, which brought about more surprised looks from the audience.“Dad!” she exclaimed, as though she had been betrayed.“Veronica!” he yelled back. “All this is your fault, and you know it. If only you had slept with him like I commanded you to, you would have truly gotten pregnant for him since you were in your fertility period, but instead, you chickened out and I had to come up with another solution,” he revealed.“Wait. H
[Layla’s POV]I clipped the diamond earrings to my ears and stared at my reflection in the mirror. I looked really elegant, dressed in a long white dress which shone with precious stones that had been affixed onto it, with silver heels embracing my feet.I rubbed my wedding band with a smile on my face as I stood up, then began to walk out of the bedroom. Michaela, who had been trying to finish up her fries looked up, and her mouth was instantly agape as soon as she saw me.“You look so beautiful, your highness,” she said, not hiding the admiration she had for me.“Thank you, Michaela. I should look beautiful, don’t you think? Today is the day that all my enemies will be brought to their knees,” I said, then gave a small chuckle.“Yes, your highness. I am so glad this is finally drawing to an end, and you and the Alpha can be happy forever without anyone ruining your joy,” she stated.I gave a small smile. “You’re right. Peace and happiness are the two things I have always desired in
[Layla’s POV]I stepped into the room where Jeffrey was being treated as that was where the guard I had seen positioned at Xavier’s bedroom door said he was.He was sitting on a stool next to Jeffrey’s bed. Jeffrey still hadn’t opened his eyes, and he hadn’t even moved a single finger. Xavier looked deep in thoughts and he hadn’t even noticed my presence yet.“Hey, baby,” I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek, to notify him of my presence.He jolted from his thoughts and looked surprised on seeing me. He yawned tiredly and rubbed his eyes with his fingers.“My love, I didn’t realise you came in,” he said.“I noticed. Tell me, what’s on your mind?” I asked, drawing a seat to sit beside him.“I’m just lost in thoughts. I can’t help but wonder why someone like him would do such a thing,” he said.“Who are you talking about?” I inquired.“It’s not something you should be worried about, my love,” he said, forcing a smile on.“Well, I want to know what it is that has kept you away from me
“What’s that supposed to mean? Answer me, come on, answer me!” I yelled at him.“Easy, dear cousin. Shouting isn’t going to change the fact that what’s done is done. In fact, if you yell at me one more time, I may choose to withhold all the information I have to give,” Roman said, sitting up on the ground which he had just been sprawled on a few minutes ago.“Leave us alone,” I said to the onlookers which consisted of the guards and the other prisoners in Roman’s cell.They all began to leave, including Kyle. “Not you, Kyle,” I said, and he stayed back while the rest left. Apparently, the prison guards were going to keep the inmates in another cell.“Want a little private chitchat with your cousin?” Roman asked, with a wink.I crouched, then taking him by surprise, grabbed him by the neck and began to strangle him while he tried to resist as he almost choked to death.“Listen to me, and listen real good. It will cost me nothing to end your life right here and now. The only one who is
[Xavier’s POV]I placed the box which Layla had given me carefully in the safe which always stayed hidden in my closet and looked like just a mere suitcase. No one would guess that some of my important stuff were actually there, and once I closed the door to my closet, I took out the button which had been in my pocket all day and examined it carefully once again.“Kyle. Kyle is back,” I said to myself, hearing the “welcome” greetings which they were saying to him as he hadn’t been in the Palace for a few weeks due to the special mission I had sent him on.I hurried out of my bedroom immediately and slammed the door behind me. The two guards positioned at the door started to follow me, but I told them to stop immediately.“I have a private matter to attend to. Wait for me here,” I said, and hastily left where they were.I was still walking with long strides when I bumped into Lady Millicent who was coming from the opposite direction.“Greetings, Alpha King Xavier. I’m sorry for bumping
[Layla’s POV]I kissed him back.It was the first time since we had fought, and kissing him now made me realise how much I missed him, how much I loved him... how much I craved his touch.The kiss deepened as his tongue slipped into my mouth, hands gripping me like I was the last piece of oxygen in the world... My body reacted to it before my mind did. His grip tightened on me as I pulled him closer, feeling him grind against me from behind.Our kiss continued until we were both out of breath, panting for more. My hand roamed over his chest, slowly working its way lower. He groaned, leaning down so our foreheads met. He stared into my eyes, his own full of want and need. I moved forward again, my lips brushing against his once, twice, three times before he leaned his head down so our lips met once more, his hand still on my back.This time, it was different. It was soft at first, but quickly turned hard as a moan left his lips when I pressed down further. My lips moved against his, an
[Xavier’s POV]I had been humiliated before everyone, and although I knew I could never feel the pain Layla had felt while losing our child, this was way out of bounds. I was angry, furious and never in my life had I felt so insulted.What exactly had I said that was wrong for her to hit me in the presence of my own people? That had automatically reduced the respect they possibly had for me.“She believes she has you wrapped around her fingers, that’s why she does whatever she likes these days. She knows you love her and you don’t see her wrongs,” Veronica said, while the women and servants present still looked shocked with their eyes and mouths wide open.“Everyone, calm down. Things like this happen. You can all go back to your respective homes and businesses,” I told them, brushing off what Veronica had said.“Yes, your highness,” they chorused.I turned my back around and began to leave hastily to avoid facing further embarrassment, while Veronica hurried after me, trying to pick