XADENMy eyes fell to the floor. I wasn't expecting such harshness, but then again I had said too much. Soraya was right. What was I thinking? For all I knew, this could be Celeste's handwork or her bastard father, Malcolm. I should have killed them myself on sight. “We'll, find her, I promise.” Dead or alive, we will find her. Hopefully alive.Dax arrived almost an hour later and he walked towards me. "How did you get here so fast?" "We flew here, boss. Time is not on our side and we're not familiar with this area. You're going to have to come with us." I looked at him and back at the door. There was no way I'd just leave. I approached the door one more time. I needed this woman to know that I wasn't going to let her go. "Soraya, baby, Dax is here. And I would have to go with him to look for her. I need you to stay here, while I get our baby girl back. Okay?" My chest ached from reminding her of the unfortunate situation we were in. I wished she would talk to me. I waited for a fe
SORAYAMy whole body shook with fear as I listened to the voice on the other end of the phone. It was cold and threatening. My mind went blank as the realization of the entire situation hit me. Kaylee had been kidnapped. My baby did not drown or wander around, she had been kidnapped. My eyes widened as I glanced at Xaden, shock rippling through me. Or was it the fear that immediately ate me away. I caught the same blank expression on his face. Why did this have to happen to us every time? My mouth was wide open, but nothing formed. The horrors I faced when I was kidnapped confronted me in my mind, I was too shaken to speak. All I could think about was Kaylee, how strangers scared the shit out of her, her calling for me and not getting any response. I refused to imagine the things they could do to her. Goddess please. My mind flooded with questions, asking myself how and where I went wrong. I knew it wasn't the Xaden situation, this target had meant to hurt me specifically. Why else
SORAYAHow could someone love another so much and still harbor this much hatred? Xaden made me feel different all the time. My rage towards him was different, more heightened with intent to keep hurting him. My love for him was different, causing me to be blind to obvious reasons why I shouldn't be here. Maybe I just wanted this to work. I mean, there was no such story of a third mate right? It was my last chance. We didn't like the same things and it made everything between us harder. Each argument left me feeling more annoyed but somehow I still managed to love him. It was infuriating. He could easily possess the whole of my mind with a single touch on my skin, causing my thoughts to circle around him. When he kissed me, I went blank completely. He knew exactly how to handle me. He never had the right words to say when we were fighting. Just spilled whatever came to his head. I was so worried about Kaylee. I didn't want my baby to die. "I'm coming with, Xaden. She's my daughter a
SORAYAMy mind was blank and my face felt like it was on fire. I had the strongest urge to dig my nails into my face and peel it off. I'd cried too much and the salty tears had dried, leaving streak patterns on my face.I thought back to when I was pregnant. I looked at my bump everyday and told myself repeatedly that I had made a mistake. For the first five months I struggled on my own, working menial jobs to pay the hospital bills. I was super depressed, considering the fact that I was separated from my second mate. I focused on building my hatred for Xaden. But no matter how hard I tried, there was still a part of me that wanted to wait for him. Celeste had told me lies about him. I was pregnant with a strong hatred for Xaden. It was hard to forget about everything at once. I loved Xaden from the minute I met him. The attraction between us was strong and soon enough, we were all over each other, as mates should have been. But now I was being punished. Punished for getting down a
SORAYAI groaned as the man dragged me out of the room and shoved me into the open chilly air..I shivered a little because of the change of temperature.“What's going to happen to my daughter?” I demanded but the man responded by pushing me into a black SUV parked in the corner.As soon as I got in, a paper bag was wrapped around my head, restricting some of my air flow and plunging me into darkness.I heard the doors of the car close and my mind began to race. It didn't help that I couldn't see anything.I was starting to think this was a bad idea.Trusting strangers was obviously a bad idea but I had been pushed into a corner and had honestly been hoping they'd keep their end of the bargain but judging by their rough handling, I was starting to rethink my stupid decision.“Please, let me go. I did as you instructed.”I pleaded again but neither of the people in the car said anything. It was radio silent but that didn't deter me at all.“Are you listening to me? Please, say something
SORAYA“That is not a good enough reason to be yelling at a child, Jeremy. And she's Xaden’s flesh and blood, his daughter. Not yours!” I spat, still trying to wrap my head around what was going on.“Where the hell was he when you needed him? When you fucking went into labor, when she took her fucking first steps? I changed her dipers, and took turns with you to make sure she was okay the fucking times she got sick. Now you allow him to fucking come into our lives like he fucking deserves it?” His voice boomed through the entirety of the house, doing nothing but scaring Kaylee even more. He was traumatizing my daughter and I hated him for it.“I told you not to bother with all those things then didn’t I? I told you it was something her father was supposed to do and I didn’t want you to feel obligated to raising her. And you know why? Its fucking because of this…” I screamed back, enough was enough now. I was tired of all of this. I gritted my teeth in inexplicable rage and fury. He sm
XADEN“What are you doing?” I asked the two huge looking men who were walking towards me with an iron rod. They both grabbed my arms, shoving me out of the house and dragging me into another room.“Shut the hell up!” One of them growled, raising the metal rod to strike me. “Where are you taking me?” I demanded, trying to get out of their hold but failing horribly.“I said, shut the hell up. Are you deaf?” The second gritted out, striking me with the rod again.“Fuck!” I growled, trying not to scream at the impact. He was purposely hitting the pressure points in my body that hurt to death.“One more word from you and you are dead, do you hear me?”“Fuck you!” I spat, ignoring the pain that roared through my body, both physical and emotional.I was still trying to wrap my head around what had happened and I still couldn't believe what Soraya had done. She left me.“You best watch your mouth before we watch it for you,” the first man spoke again, this time holding a baseball bat. He swu
XADENHospital. I fucking hated that word, much less the place. It was the last place I wanted to be right now. I was sure it wasn't going to mend my broken heart.Dax panicked - well, as much as a 6’3 bodyguard could panic – as he fished his phone from his breast pocket. I grabbed hold of his arm, pulling, barely. I didn't want to go there.“I’m fine…” I managed to choke out even though I could barely keep my eyes open.“Fuck no, clearly you're not.. Your vitals are something else. Your heart rate is low, don't even get me started on your breathing. It's not normal and you're losing consciousness and fast…” his words sounded muffled. I could barely make them out. I shook my head slightly, refusing at all costs to go anywhere that wasn't home.Home I thought I would end up sharing with her.“What did they even do to you man?” He hissed, propping my head to his chest. His fingers pressed the side of my neck, barely above where the injection sunk in.“Tran…tranquilizer,” I strained, fo
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