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
XADENI stood behind her door, hearing her loud sobs and whisperings to our baby. So this was what failure felt like, after putting in a whole lot of effort and time. Who was I kidding? Two years was an awfully long time to be alone. With a kid. Every night as I lay in bed, I continuously wished for something different. A second chance. I would sacrifice being the Alpha just to be with her. I wanted my destiny changed overnight. I prayed to the moon goddess for help. Nothing happened.I sat down on the stairs, holding my hand to my chest in a bid to ease the pain. I had not just been stabbed by anyone. She had the greatest influence over me and she was using it well. I mean, I was the Alpha, and a few words from her had me struggling with movement. Even after Celeste had gotten what she deserved, she'd played her part to the end. I was ruined. Soraya hated me. No, she loathed me. And everything was my fault. I never wanted to be the cause of her pain. I just wanted a happy home and
XADENAnd yet, here he was. He arched a brow. "You're not the only one who can handle a tracker. I've been following you. You're not doing too well, Xaden."I took the shot in one go and pushed the cup towards the bartender. I felt tipsy now and I was happy I was almost at my limit. I smiled. "If you didn't come here to help then why are you here?""What do you need help with?" James asked still on his first cup. What a slow ass. How can one sip a shot? You were supposed to drink it all. "Tell me how to fix the mistake that is my life." "Why would you think your life is a mistake?" He gulped down his own drink and I smiled again, almost laughing. The James I knew was not much of a gentle man, I learnt drinking from him. "Because it is. It's either that or I have been cursed in some way." I placed my head on the counter and drew little circles around the cup I had been drinking from. "Is this about the rumours that have been going around? We both know that Celeste was a monster. W
CELESTE “Let’s just get this over with.” Soraya said finally in a choked up voice like she had been sobbing incessantly before or was trying her hardest to suppress a fresh batch of tears. I couldn’t tell exactly which it was, she had put on dark sunglasses to mask her eyes but the point was that she was in pain and it was music to my ears.We quickly took our seats as Xaden reached into a black briefcase before pulling out a relatively thick folder of documents. He placed them on the table and held his hands over them.“Antidote first!” He glared as I quickly rushed to grab them.“First of, you had better watch that tone with me or I walk out and take the antidote with me. Secondly, I suggest you get real cozy because Mr. Fabian still has to look through them first. When he gives me the go-ahead, you get the antidote.”I watched as Xaden turned and shared a look with Soraya who promptly nodded before he let go of the files. I picked them up hastily before handing them off to Fabian.
CELESTE I took a quick glance at my watch as we slowly pulled into the driveway of Xaden’s villa. It was almost 8:30 am and as I took in the familiar surroundings, I still found myself in awe of its splendidness. It was really insane how a place you had lived in for so long, could suddenly look so different under the right circumstances.“Soon to be all mine.” I couldn’t stop myself from saying as I remembered my last time here and how it had ended in quite the shameful affair. Xaden had pulled me mercilessly by my hair and thrown me out like some disgusting handmaiden, not even allowing me the decency of packing a few belongings. He had completely embarrassed me while that bitch, Soraya, simply watched and smiled. I was reduced to nothing but a mere laughing stock but this time, things were different. This time, I was coming back with a vengeance and I was coming for everything.If Xaden wasn’t prepared to hand everything over to me, then he could kiss Kaylee goodbye but I knew b
SORAYA “What is it now?” He said, annoyed.“You had better tell that bitch you call your mate to have all her bags packed before I arrive tomorrow. Once I get control of everything, that house becomes mine and so is everything inside it. If she isn’t packed before then, she would be kicked out with nothing but the clothes on her back. Do I make myself clear?”“Crystal!” Xaden blurted before hanging up the phone immediately.“I hate her so freakin’ much!” I glared as I rose to my feet.“Not as much as I do babe, not as much as I do. It would take everything in me not to kill her when she moves back in.”“I guess I had better go get packing before our new landlord kicks me out into the streets with no clothes.” I said as I reached for the door.“Wait.” He called out to me before I could twist the doorknob.I turned, looking over to him as he caught up with me and drew me close to himself.“Xaden,” I moaned in protest as I tried to wriggle out of his hold but his arms were strong and he
SORAYA The words had hit me like a tire iron straight to the face and I felt like I had lost my wits as I did nothing but sit opposite of Xaden, smiling to myself. Even from a mile away, Celeste was still able to manipulate and get us to do exactly what she wanted. If I wasn’t so incensed at the whole situation, I would have applauded her, for her unrelenting schemes and machinations. Even when I thought I had won, it was all an illusion and while I was playing checkers, she had been playing chess the entire time. I looked over at Xaden who was already looking like a shadow of his former self. He had been cooped up in his office all week and drinking himself senseless, it was all making sense now. He’d had to make an impossible choice and whichever way he went, he was still getting the short end of the stick.“So what now?” I asked finally. “I just pack my things and leave?”“I don’t see any other way out of this mess Soraya.” “And you haven’t been able to find a way to get a perm
XADEN “Shit!” I cursed out furiously as I tried to save some of the documents and clean off the liquor from the table. “Who is it?” “It’s Melissa Sir.”“And?”“I’m sorry to disturb you Sir but madam Soraya told me to come up here and ask if you would be coming down for dinner.”Shit! This was the third night in a row that she had sent Melissa up here to try and get me to come down. Each time I had come up with some sort of excuse. I had honestly thought she would have given up by now but Soraya was nothing if not persistent and I was even more surprised she hadn’t come up here to drag me down herself.“Erm... tell Soraya I’m really stumped with all of this paperwork I need to fill out and would be a bit late for dinner. If I don’t make it out there in time, please tell her not to wait up for me cause I may be working really late.”“Um..okay sir. So should I bring your dinner up here for you?” She asked, unsure of exactly what it was she needed to do.“You don’t need to worry about t
XADEN Three whole days had already passed since Celeste had made her demands clear to me and I still wasn’t any closer to making a decision. To say I was heavily conflicted would have been an outrageous understatement. On the one hand, I wanted Kaylee safe and free from the effects of the poison that Celeste had injected her with. And on the other, the price of that safety would be losing both of them, Kaylee and Soraya, which was a choice I wasn’t prepared to make.Celeste had definitely gotten more crafty with how she had gone about this twisted form of blackmail. Signing the power-of-attorney over to her would give her sole control over all my businesses and holdings. Even the very roof over my head would be gone if I took one step out of line. So like I said, I was outrageously conflicted. There was no possible scenario where any of this would have a happy ending. I didn’t want to lose them but if I didn’t agree to the terms that Celeste was putting forward, then Kaylee would be
XADEN“Give me a minute babe, I need to take this.” I said to Soraya, who didn’t even acknowledge my words. She just sat there looking dazed and my heart broke seeing her that way. I picked up the call as I made my way outside the clinic.“Celeste? Is that you?” “I’m sure by now, Kaylee should already be feeling the effects of the poison I injected her with.” She said in a mocking tone as she laughed maniacally.“You fucking bitch! What did you do to my daughter?! I swear I will kill you and feed your dead carcass to the vul...” “Oh shut up Xaden! You are in no position to make threats and you had better listen and listen good because Kaylee doesn’t have much time before that poison kills her.”“What do you want?! Is it money? I’ll give you anything you want. Just make this stop, I’m begging you!”I couldn’t help but feel helpless as she burst into that sick laughter again.“Oh Xaden, strong and powerful Alpha. Begging? I sure want to see that. Meet me at the Lupine gardens, the on
XADENI sat in my office, trying to make sense of what had happened yesterday. I could only come to the conclusion that not killing Celeste when I had the chance was the biggest mistake I could have ever made. That mistake seemed like it was now going to cost me dearly.Kaylee’s cries had woken us up suddenly last night and even though it had been a long time since she woke up in the middle of the night crying, I didn’t think much on it or even suspect any form of foul play. That was until I got to the nursery to find Kaylee wailing uncontrollably with the window completely opened as the cold night air poured in.It wasn’t even remotely possible for either Melissa or Soraya to make such a fatal error and I knew immediately that something was seriously off. I decided not to raise any alarms until I was sure of my suspicions and so I took Kaylee upstairs to our bedroom without telling Soraya what I had discovered. I didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily just in case it turned out to be
SORAYAThe surprise had been on my mind all day. The classes had gone by in a blur and even as I sat in the back of the SUV, on my way home, I still couldn’t help but obsess over what he had planned. George was quite the speedy driver even while maintaining the speed limit but I wished right now, more than anything that he would just step on it and get us home faster. Kaylee was already fast asleep beside me and it was probably not the best parenting to want George speeding with a kid onboard but still, I was curious and you couldn’t even blame me. Considering all I had been through, I deserved to be spoiled till I couldn’t take it anymore.We got home in less than five minutes and as I alighted, Melissa was already waiting by the entrance for me.“Good evening ma’am. I trust you had a pleasant day?” She asked as she reached out to take Kaylee from me.“It dragged on for too long.” I blurted. “Is Xaden in?”“Yes, the boss is in but he’s asked that you freshen up in your room and put o