SORAYAI was holding on to hope. Xaden was my hope. But only if he cares enough to look for me.Looking around the dark room made me feel nauseous. Was I going to die? No, Soraya get that thought out of your head. Remember who you are. You're Alpha Xaden's mate, and you know how powerful he is. I was desperate, scraping at positive thoughts to calm myself. "You have no idea who you're dealing with." I managed to speak, even if the lump in my throat made me feel like I couldn't. "Xaden would have your head for this." Maybe if I scare him....First, it was a simple cackle. Then it developed into an obvious laughter of mockery. I was irritated, and my fear was increasing by the minute. Where was Xaden? Get it together, Soraya. I kept trying to strengthen myself with the words in my head, but my body had betrayed me. I was shaking all over. "Am I supposed to be afraid of you?" He came closer to me and pointed his finger towards my eye. He stank of wet grass and mud, and a hint of sewag
SORAYA"Please don't hurt me. What do you want from me?" I was sobbing uncontrollably. I pushed myself backward till I hit the wall, and I realized that it would take a miracle for me to escape. I looked at the middle-aged man with tears in my eyes, and I couldn't still place where I had seen him in my head. "Stop trying to look for a way out. You're stuck with me." His voice was the kind that promised death. Slow and painful, like with a poison. He had that anger behind his eyes, but he masked it perfectly with a no-emotion look. His voice made me feel cold within, and I could swear goosebumps were appearing all over. He was going to hurt me, in a way I won't forget. He won't stop looking at me too, his eyes following my breathing and every movement. "Please." I could only beg him at that point. I was completely powerless. I had given up on reaching Xaden and decided that agreeing with my captor might be the only solution. He walked towards me slowly and his demeanor had changed t
XADENI couldn't think straight. My hands were trembling and I was boiling all over with rage. I looked at Kaylee sleeping soundly in her bed and I felt heat come up into my chest even more. She had cried a little asking for her mother and somehow I managed to put her to sleep. Celeste.So this was what having an arch-enemy felt like. I wanted to tear her into pieces and burn every piece till it was dust. I never imagined she'd go this far for a lie. She was just an obsessed freak and a sadist. I hated myself for not realizing it sooner. I couldn't get Soraya's voice out of my head. If Celeste had hurt her, then the council meeting wouldn't be necessary. I was going to kill her myself. I put a call through to one of my workers and asked her to watch Kaylee. I had to bring her mother back. Celeste was so desperate and stupid. I should have known this was going to get out of hand. My mind kept racing with thoughts on what I overheard on the phone. My grip tightened on the steering wh
XADENThe day was finally here. I had been waiting for most of my life for this. This assurance that I'm going to be with the right person. This safety and comfort of true love, granted to us by the moon goddess. This joy of finding one's forever partner and choosing to honor what one had been given. The day I defend the love of my life.A part of me wished she was here to see it. For three years I had searched for her and for two years I was starved because of her. I regretted ever having anything to do with Celeste. Soraya and I clicked at once and we had a child! A child! And yet I didn't know anything about it. All because of this stupid marriage pact.I watched as my father-in-law was dragged into the room. I gave Dax a warning look to treat him kindly now because these elders could misread things. There shall be no mistakes today. The divorce was happening, and that was final. I glanced at Celeste and I noticed she was shocked. It was obvious she didn't have a clue as to what I
XADEN"Thank you." I walked up to the council head after the trial and shook his hand. I was really grateful. The war was finally over. "Alpha Xaden, I should thank you for enduring this for so long. I'm glad it's over now. How's the kid?" He had a warm smile which reminded me of my father. "She's great. I'll bring her over sometime." I smiled back. It felt good to be free of Celeste. Better than I had expected. Dax walked up to me. "Hey boss. Congratulations. What are we gonna do with him?" He pointed to a well beaten up Malcolm. Looking at him brought back memories of seeing Soraya struggling for her life and I frowned again. "Keep him there." There was a special place where only Dax and I were aware of. Killing him was not a problem for me, I just needed my space and freedom today. He nodded and walked off immediately. It was time to break the good news. It was too good for a phone call. It was time to go home. Soraya. Thinking of her made my stomach flutter with excitement,
XADEN"The divorce is being finalized. It's over. Celeste won't bother us anymore." I stretched out my hands to her but she looked away quickly, pretending not to see them. I had a lot of work to do here. "Congratulations, then." She kept cutting the carrots. I felt my heart drop to the floor. I had just fought for us. What if I was fighting for myself all this time? I had no idea if Soraya wanted to fix this. I think she's just still upset with me."You don't seem happy about it." "What's there to be happy about? You being separated from your wife who tried to murder me? I don't see how any of it concerns me." Her words were as sharp as a knife, stabbing me in the chest. And it took the whole of me not to stumble over."It's not like that." I replied, taking a step towards her, unsure of how to explain. But seeing her take another away from me got my feet to stop."It is like that. But it doesn't matter, I'm not here for you or to be with you. I'm here because of Kaylee. She deserv
SORAYAI had mastered nausea. During the past week, the amount of situations I'd found myself in, mixing up my insides and threatening it to find its way out, was alarming. At first it was about being alone, in a strange room with strange dangerous people. Now the room was full, and the monsters were not even identifiable. How did I get here? I hated myself for being mated to such an egotistical brat. He only thought about himself and how everything else affected him. He'd forgotten completely about everything I suffered and was happy to skip to the good part. I was all for breaking his heart, but Kaylee was my priority now.I didn't want to be here. This council was full of people, old and young, both who expected something of me. Something I didn't feel anymore. It hurt to know just how much I could not resist him, and how much my resentment grew by each minute. One did not outweigh the other. I hated Xaden just as much as I loved my daughter.She meant the world to me. This was th
SORAYA"Soraya! Wait up! I'm sorry please!" Xaden's voice was closing in on me. I knew he would reach me soon enough, I wasn't so fast. I let go before I could give up, and turned to face him."Take me home." I said, keeping my face straight and ignoring the tears that had fallen and destroyed the little makeup I had on. "Let's talk about this. Please." He stretched his hand to touch my arm and I took a step back. I frowned and squeezed my face. "Do not touch me! And I want to go home. Right now!" He seems heartbroken by those words but he turns to the side, giving way for me to walk back to the car. I stomped my feet until I got there. The ride home was very silent. Xaden focused on the wheel and I looked out the window, trying to take in everything that had happened. What did I do to deserve all this? I wanted to go to school, but my life was hell there. I tried love and I got even worse results. I must have been cursed. My hands and legs wouldn't stop shaking, and flashes of th
CELESTE What a show that was! I thought excitedly to myself as I retrieved two clear crystal glasses and a bottle of absinthe from the living room side bar, Xaden had requested for the strongest stuff I could lay my hands on. Seeing Soraya completely stranded, scared and afraid had filled me with so much ecstasy that I thought I would burst. Nothing could have prepared me for it, Xaden definitely did not pull any punches and I loved every bit of it. There was however one little bump in an otherwise flawless plan, he didn’t have the guts to send the bitch packing. He could have ranted for as long as he wanted and even tried to come up with valid reasons as to why he couldn’t kick her out but in the end, I knew there was a part of him buried deep down that still cared for her even when he thought she had been unfaithful to him. I didn’t worry much about it, in no time, I would smother whatever little feelings he still harbored for her until I was the only one he saw, until I was the on
SORAYA“Now tell me, is there anything I have not done or sacrificed for your protection and that of Kaylee? Or is there even any request you may have made that I have ever deemed as insignificant?” “No there isn’t. You have been most generous and I am grateful for everything.” I said as I threw a look of disdain at Celeste who was already seated and crossing her legs, obviously savoring every bit of that moment. She was having the time of her life at my expense and she wasn’t going to say one word. She wouldn’t risk undermining Xaden again and so she simply kept quiet and enjoyed the show.“Have I not been fucking good to you? Have I not been a loyal mate and genuine partner?” He asked, staring at me like he couldn’t even recognize the woman in front of him.“Xaden please, if we’re going to do this, can we not do it right in front of your ex wife?” I asked, while the pain of the way he looked at me threatened to bring me to my knees.“The same ex wife who got wind of all your escapa
SORAYAXaden’s voice rang out through the halls with such an intensity that it had sent shockwaves thrusting throughout my body and the ominous tone with which he yelled, echoed throughout the space and filled it with a scary ambience. In all the time I had known and been with him, I never heard him sound so furious or intimidating. Sure, he normally had the occasional outbursts and feats of rage but there was something different this time around, this time it seemed as though the fire in his voice would never be palliated. I felt my lips twitch and my fingers tremor in fearful anticipation of what was to come, it definitely was not going to be pleasant.I was still set up in the kitchen with Melissa and had almost rounded up with the pastries we spent the better part of the evening preparing. I had put so much effort into them and now it seemed like in the end, it would all be for nothing. I was still going to get them done and Melissa could keep them for all I care, she worked just
XADEN “You can be honest Dax, you don’t have to be brutal about it.”He paused momentarily, thinking over what he had to say. “If I’m being honest, I wouldn’t say my advice on this would be the most insightful but from the way I see things, I don’t think Soraya is or will ever get over Celeste living in your house. It’s just not right, I mean I don’t even live there and I really find it repulsive. I can’t possibly imagine how hard it must be for her to wake up to that everyday.”“Well, it seems you ended up being brutal with your honesty Dax.” I began, stifling a smile. “The thing is, that is what she said and I don’t believe it one bit. She may not have been comfortable but I knew she was already coming around to tolerating and ignoring her. No—this is more than that, this is definitely something deeper. The switch was too sudden and that’s completely out of character for her. There is something afoot Dax, I’m just finding it hard to place my finger on what it is.”“Like I said boss
XADEN To say that I had the faintest idea of what has been going on for the past three days would be an obvious lie. One moment everything seemed to be fine with Soraya and I thought we were finally in a good place and the next, it’s almost as if her mind did a complete one-eighty and I couldn’t even recognize my mate anymore.I had gone above and beyond for her protection, pulled strings to organize a lavish and fancy dinner for her, I even kept my distance from Celeste, choosing to move her away from the masters and still, it’s almost as if it wasn’t enough. There was something definitely wrong with her and whatever it was, she was choosing not to tell me. If she wouldn’t spill, then I guess I would just have to pry it out of her when I had the chance. But how could I even possibly get the chance? She refused to move back into our room, refused to cook and eat together as a family, it’s like living with a completely new person.Screeeeeech!I quickly slammed on the brakes of my SUV
SORAYAI didn’t know how George had done it but he somehow managed to drop Kaylee off and still get me to the university in time for lectures. Xaden sure knew how to employ those who were the best at what they did and our movement this morning was quite hasty. I couldn’t say the same for the classes though, the entire process just seemed to drag on for hours as lecturers replaced one another in a frenzy. I was grateful for the close of day and quickly made my way to the parking lot. I located the car parked in a corner under a tree shade and hurriedly walked up to it before knocking on the driver window.“Did you wait here all day?” I asked, looking over at George who had his hat hooded over his face and the driver seat reclined. He had probably been napping. He jumped up with a start and quickly adjusted his seat.“Sorry about that ma’am.”“Don’t apologize for resting, I mean what else would you do here all day? So you just stayed here waiting for me?”“Yes ma’am, those were my dir
SORAYA Morning definitely couldn’t have come faster. I thought as my eyes opened to the soft glints of the early morning sun that slowly filled the entire room. The cool fall breeze softly sipped in through the open window and caressed my skin with a tender feel. It was a beautiful morning and I couldn’t even appreciate it, all I felt was an heartache that threatened to tear me apart.I hadn’t had much sleep, how could I? When Celeste had made sure I heard everything that was going on during their dinner, even while I did my very best to ignore. She wasn’t kidding when she said she would be keeping me here simply for the fun of humiliating me and last night was seriously a test of my patience, I didn’t know how much more of it I would be able to take.With every laughter and happy moment that they seemed to share, an equal of amount of pain shot through my body and just seeing them cozy up to each other like that was simply too much to bear.I promptly got out of bed and went into th
SORAYA“Wow! I pulled a lot of strings to get that Italian chef flown in and you’re just going to spit it right back in my face huh?”Damn! He got me Italian food?! What a dreadful waste.“I’m not spitting anything in your face. I just said I’m not in the mood, surely you can understand that right?”“Oh I understand quite alright. I understand perfectly that you’re just a cocktease! Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.”“Okay then.” I whimpered as I moved slowly towards the door.“And since I can’t cancel the booking, I’ll still have the chef come over. I’m sure Celeste would enjoy some good food since you would be too busy not being in the mood.” He called out after me. He wanted to hurt me just like I was hurting him but at least I was pretending and he was just being a dick.“You can go to hell Xaden!” I said, choking down my tears.“You first Soraya!”I stormed off and pulled against the bedroom door before shutting it loudly as I stepped into the hallway.“Well, well, well
SORAYA I remained in the kitchen, standing there transfixed, like a deer caught in headlights. I was definitely caught by surprise with what I had just seen. I couldn’t believe it and yet I knew it was true, I mean I saw it with my own eyes.I could feel every hair on my body stand, my mouth suddenly went dry and palms were sweaty. My heart raced and my breathing felt forced, I felt like I was having a panic attack.At that moment, it felt as if time slowed down and I couldn’t help but hold onto the counter for support lest I fall flat on my face. My mind raced and Celeste’s words rang loudly in my head. Stay away from Xaden! Those were her words and she wasn’t one to trifle with her instructions. I felt choked for air and all of sudden I was light headed. The evidence was clear, clear as day and it was good, really good. She had caught me in such a compromising position that Xaden wouldn’t even think twice to dispute it. He believed so much in the things he saw and as long as his