XADENI had her right where I wanted her. But damn it all, why did she have to look so good? Standing there all disheveled and soft and so early in the morning at that. I knew she'd just woken up since I’d made sure to show up early. I needed the upper hand for what I’d decided to do and I knew catching her off guard was the best place to start.My eyes lingered as they traveled over her frame— the way her tousled hair cupped her face and her lips parted in surprise at the sight of me. I could relate, but I doubt my surprise was unpleasant— unlike hers.Still, I hated the way my breath caught in my throat at the sight of her.It grated at me that Jeremy— that bastard— had gotten to see her look this way every morning for the past few years. My blood boiled at the thought, but I kept my expression neutral. It took everything I had to school my features into a blank mask when all I wanted was to pummel that son-of-a-bitch into the ground. But I reigned it in because soon enough, she’d b
XADENI couldn't let it happen. This was my mate. How could I let her be with another man when she was supposed to be mine. I knew this was hurting her. But it had to happen. The thought of Jeremy married to her… She'd be his in name and he'd have rights to her body. She’d spend her nights in his bed, his ring on her delicate finger, his hands on her porcelain skin…“Fine,” I snapped, harsher than intended. She flinched but I couldn't hold back anymore— it was hard to stop a rushing dam once it's been broken. “If that's how you want to play it, Soraya, then you've forced my hand.” I bit out the remaining words, my voice ice-cold and detached— the calm facade I'd carefully built had begun to crack. “I'll have my people draw up a petition for the council. I will ensure your so-called wedding is postponed, and eventually canceled. And Jeremy can definitely expect a summons from the council soon enough.” I wasn’t going to let that marriage happen. No matter how much she thought it was so
SORAYAI’d forgotten how just easily my life could get turned upside down in the span of a few days—two, in this case. Who would've thought?How could Xaden be here? After all these years? And not only was he ready to take Kaylee, but he wanted me too. What kind of sick joke was this?And how the bloody hell could he even bring up such a thing after two years? Two whole years.Where was his conscience?— Okay, I was sure he didn't have one.But what made him think he could just show up out of the blue, intent on ripping me away from the stable life I had finally managed to build? What gave him the right?And Jeremy… how could I face him after this? What words could I possibly even say? The thought of abandoning Jeremy after everything he'd done to help me made my heart ache. He'd been an anchor in the storm that was my life, offering me the security and love I craved just when I needed it the most. Could I really leave? Could I give up everything we have together to remain with Kayle
SORAYAI stared at the words, the ink smudged by my tears. It was far from enough. It didn't say how much he meant to me or explain how grateful I was to him for… well, everything. But what more could I say? Nothing. Nothing could make this right or possibly soften the blow of what I was about to do. My heart was heavy as I slipped off the cold metal of my engagement ring, leaving it next to the note— a final heartbreaking gesture of the life I was giving up. With a wracking sob I went back upstairs. I grabbed my single bag and took a deep breath, ensuring all of the tears on my face were gone before I stepped outside, holding Kaylee close to me. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the yard.And there he was. Xaden. Leaning against the car in— the smug smile plastered on his face only deepened my resentment. How could he stand there so calmly after everything he had done?“Is that all?” he asked casually, his eyes flicking to the small bag in my hand.I bit back the urge
XADENShe hated me, that much was obvious. The anger radiating off her in waves was unmistakable. But despite the chaos surrounding us, they were here with me— my daughter and my mate. For the moment, that was all I could ask for. I’d brought them to one of my properties. It was a secluded place I’d kept so I could come to unwind, away from any madness,– which had basically become the constant in my life– not as grand as my primary home, but it was comfortable, quiet, and… mine.Funnily enough, Celeste had never set foot in this place but I’d still kept our picture up. For appearance's sake, especially with my status as Alpha. Just in case an ally or someone important came by. I needed to maintain the illusion that I was happily married. But the truth was, I’d been living here alone for the past two years, ever since Soraya left. Two long years of trying to piece together why she'd vanished without a trace. Afterward, I simply couldn’t stomach being in the same house with Celeste any
SORAYAHaving to settle into a new and foreign home had me feeling out of place. It was undeniably spacious, much more so than Jeremy's smaller place. But I preferred to think of Jeremy's place as cozy, and I’d come to love it over the past two years. No matter how nice Xaden's place was, I wasn't used to it. It wasn't home.And Xaden… being in his space again after all this time brought a wave of emotions I wasn't prepared for. I didn't know what to expect from him. My mind raced, tangling in a web of conflicting thoughts: Did he really not know I’d been in his office that day? The surrogacy contract… the threat of taking my child away… Had he really not planned to force me into any of that? My chest tightened, a hard knot forming beneath my ribs. Had I been wrong about everything all along? It all began to seem so clear, and more doubt crept in— pressing itself painfully against my chest. What if I’d been wrong about him? That would mean…No.I refused to think down that path. E
SORAYA“I… I’m sorry, Soraya. For everything.” The words hung in the air between us, but I didn’t reply, refusing to engage with him. After all there was nothing to say. It wasn't like he would let Kaylee and I go because he was ‘sorry’.I stood up, gathered the plates– still refusing to look at him–, and finally managed to put them in the stupid high tech dishwasher. It was to his credit he didn't try to undermine me by ‘helping’.I snatched Kaylee up and retired to the bedroom I’d chosen for us. I couldn’t deal with him right now— I was done dealing with him for the day. My emotions were raw and my head was a mess.I occupied my raging mind by bathing Kaylee and getting her ready for bed. It was still early— just after 4pm, but our day had been so tumultuous, I wanted us to go to bed early. If only for the reason that I wanted to slip into a dreamless sleep where I wouldn't remember how terribly upside down my life now was.Just as I set her down for her nap, my phone buzzed from t
XADENMy gaze fixed on the divorce papers spread out on the table before me, the words blurring— after two years of staring at the same lines for what felt like the millionth time.I probably had it memorized by now— every sentence a reminder of the nightmare I had been trapped in— a marriage without any semblance of love or happiness; formed out of convenience and solely held together by Celeste’s desperation. And Celeste had never signed them. Every time, she’d waved them off, her excuse being the same: "You haven’t found your mate yet, you're going to be an Alpha without a wife?" And she always seemed to take delight in pointing out that it was the only prerequisite for a divorce, in the marriage contract we'd signed.But now, the relief I had been chasing for so long was within reach. I had found my mate— two years ago, in fact— and it was time for this charade to end. I couldn't hold back anymore. I needed to be with Soraya. I needed to be with my daughter.When I got to the ho
SORAYA ONE YEAR LATERSo this was what bliss felt like. It was everything I had heard it would. A mate whom I had gone through hell and back with, a daughter we both would give our lives for without hesitation and a happiness that knew no bounds.Xaden was the mate he had promised me he was going to be. “Earth to Soraya…” I heard him whisper in my ear. His hands held firmly against my waist. I didn’t realize when he got so close to me. “What’s wrong, love?”Nothing is.I turned around to face him and met his gaze. “Sometimes, I still feel like she's going to show up.” I answered. I knew she was gone, there was no way she could have survived the poison but still, at the back of my mind, there was once in a while this nagging feeling. Xaden sighed and shook his head, cupping my face as he did so. “Have I given you any reason to feel so?” I shook my head. “Nothing, and absolutely no one is going to come between us again. I love you, Kaylee and our little boy…” he said as he dropped on
XADEN“Of course not. I loved you Evan and I really wanted to be with you. Killing you was completely Malcolm’s idea. He wanted the connections that came with being married to Xaden so he forced me to go along with all of it. I felt like I had no choice, you really have to be believe me Evan.”I couldn’t help but chuckle at the load of bullshit she was spewing all in a bid to save her worthless life. Hopefully this Evan guy saw right through it.“You loved me?” He asked and I felt my blood boil at what a stupid question it was.“What the hell are you doing Evan? You can’t possibly believe that Celeste ever loved you!”“Let her speak!” He bellowed. “Come here Celeste. You really wanted to spend your life with me?”I could only watch in anger as Celeste made her way to him, holding him in a warm embrace as she spewed more lies.“I’ve spent every minute of everyday thinking about you since Malcolm had forced me into that heinous act. I’m really sorry I wasn’t bold enough back then to spe
XADEN I thought to myself as I tiptoed slowly to get a good idea of whom it was, she was fighting with. The fella seemed to really be in quite the sour mood but I was still unable to make out the voice clearly. I decided that there was no point sneaking around, I hastened my steps and headed straight for the living room.Upon opening the door, I was greeted with the sight of the kind of vermin I never thought I’d ever have the displeasure of seeing again.“What the fuck are you doing in my house?! You sacrilegious sack of shit!” I yelled as I found Jeremy in my living room, about to pounce on Celeste.“Xaden!” She screamed. “Be careful, he’s gone completely crazy! He keeps saying...”“Shut up Celeste!” I snarled. “You did this! How could you let this unrefined buffoon into my house?”“What did you just call me?!” He turned to face me and I finally got a good look at him. He looked dastardly, almost inhuman as he was beginning to appear like some unholy alchemy of man and beast.I kn
XADEN It had been almost three days since I’d heard last from Soraya and I could feel the fear, slowly creeping in. It was unlike her to stay radio silent and even on the days she didn’t feel like talking, she would always try to send a message at least.I looked at my watch and saw that it was past 7am already. Three days and not a peep, it definitely wasn’t looking good. I went for a quick run, in the hopes of clearing my head. I didn’t want to entertain the wild thoughts that were beginning to plague my mind.When I got back to the house, Celeste was already waiting in the kitchen. I had been hellbent on avoiding her all week and she was almost never awake this early in the morning. I winced, knowing I’d inadvertently walked into a well calculated trap. “Good to see you can still show your face.” She spat out derisively. “I thought you finally decided to run after Soraya like the lovesick puppy you’ve proven to be.”I steadied myself, choosing to remain calm and silent as I too
EVAN“I honestly can’t believe this. Celeste actually tried to have you murdered because she wanted to be with Xaden?”“To her, I was simply an obstacle. A mere nuisance that she had to get rid off so she could enjoy the splendor and lifestyle that came with being married to a man like Xaden. She poisoned me while I was asleep and thinking I was dead, her father bundled me into his car and they drove deep into the woods to bury me. When I came to, I tried to beg Celeste for help. That was my biggest mistake. They pummeled me with their shovels till they thought I’d stopped breathing and buried me in a shallow grave.”I took a deep breath and looked up at her. She seemed completely lost for words. “You shouldn’t look so surprised. I mean, she poisoned your two year old daughter. Such a person is capable of doing anything.”“I know Celeste can be ruthless but I always thought she became this way over the years. This incident happened more than ten years ago. I’m just surprised that she’
EVAN“That’s what the nurse said but I doubt there’s much you would be able to do for her.” She said in her tone that was completely crippled by fear and resignation.“Well, this is an hospital ma’am. Why are you so certain that we would be unable to get her the help the needs?” I asked, doing my very best to sound as genuinely oblivious as I could. I was fishing for information and I didn’t want to spook her just yet.“I know you won’t be able to save her because this has happened before and the doctors who attended to her then were just as clueless. All they did was stabilize her but it was only a half measure. Without the antidote, she wouldn’t be alive for long.” As she spoke, I could feel the weight behind every word, the immense gravity behind each statement and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for all the pain she had to be going through in that moment.“Well, I’ll advise you don’t give up hope just yet. Things like this always have a way of working out in the end.”“I don’t need
EVANEven as I held on to the hospital file, I still found it hard to believe what I was reading. The file had the biodata as well as the personal information of a two year girl who was rushed in on account of a terrible high fever and loss of consciousness of a one day duration but it was the name of the patient I found most intriguing.Could it really be possible? I looked through the name again as bewilderment washed over me, Kaylee Sinclair. I flipped to the page that had the information on the parents and primary care givers.The father was a Xaden Sinclair and the mother, Soraya Summers. I couldn’t help but feel a bit jittery as a wave of excitement surged through my entire body, filling me with an immeasurable sense of glee.If this turns out to be accurate, then my opportunity had finally come.As I leaned against the counter of the nurses’ station, I went through the previous bloodwork of the patient, trying my best to make sense of what I was reading but I still couldn’t get
CELESTE “He fooled you, Celeste. I, on the other hand was a fool for ever thinking you were competent enough to get anything done.”“There’s no way I could have known. How can you possibly blame me for this?”“I don’t give a fuck how you get information from Xaden but the least you can do is verify and make sure it’s at least authentic before sending me on a wild goose chase.”“What’s done is done Jeremy. The blame game isn’t going to do anyone any good. She could be anywhere, so I suggest you had better forget about her and best move on.”“What’s done is done? Is that what you just fucking said to me?” He asked in a much tamer and colder tone. It was more unnerving whenever he spoke like this compared to the yelling and shouting.“There’s nothing that can be done. Xaden isn’t going to give up the information. They could be anywhere in the country. Even if they were still in the city, which I highly doubt, it would still be almost impossible to find them. So what can you do?”He rema
CELESTE “Your intel was complete horse shit! Are you trying to fuck me over Celeste? We had a deal!” Jeremy’s voice rang out angrily as I switched the call to hands-free and tossed it on the bed.“What the hell are you yapping about? It’s fucking 8am in the morning Jeremy. Who even calls someone this early in the morning?” I asked sleepily as I tried to find my morning voice.“Well, unlike you, some of us have to work for everything we own. We don’t just get rich through blackmail and manipulation.”“Watch your fucking mouth Jeremy! You don’t speak to me that way. Instead of being this much of an insufferable prick, why don’t you tell me what’s gotten your pants in such a twist?”“Wow! Look at the millionaire growing wings all of a sudden. You’re now telling me how and how not to speak to you? Insane!”“Please why did you wake me up so early? I need to get back to sleep!”“I guess it’s easy for you to sleep when you’ve got everything you ever wanted. So you feel you can now screw me