SORAYA“What then, are you suggesting?” Xaden asked the council. I saw the challenge in his eyes, and suddenly a new wave of emotion overcame me.Fear…for him.The council is a powerful institution. Whatever gripes he has with them should be held back.“You’re smart, Xaden,” elder Maren retorts. “You should be able to figure this one out.”Her words cut deep, but the rest of the council seemed unaffected by their life-changing decision. They have just spun the lives of two innocent lovers around, and they were suggesting the quick fix be for us to ‘figure it out’?The audacity!Xaden’s anger boiled up to the surface and his eyes spewed concentrated hate towards the nonchalant group seated at the round table. “To other discussions,” Elder Maren sighed dismissively and opened a stack of papers in front of her. “We are considering the treaty between…”“No.”The silence after Xaden’s voice was deafening. So much that it took all of me to resist the urge to scratch at my ears.“I’m sorry,
XADENI stormed out of the private chambers in disbelief.How dare they?I mean…they made their stance clear up front, but the audacity for them to double down on their intentions is as surprising to me as it is disgusting.The council is supposed to be a reasoning body. What the hell happened to them?“Remember our words, Xaden,” Elder Maren tried to impose her opinions on me, even though it was clear with my gesture, that I wanted nothing to do with her or her damned council. “Heed the words of your elders and you shall have a peaceful reign as an Alpha.”I turned around, and it took all the willpower in me to restrain my pheromones and not use them against her.“The elders be damned!” I growled. “I am Alpha of the pack, am I not?”“And you need a strong Luna by your side, Xaden…for sake of the moon goddess, calm down and listen!” Elder Maren’s voice assumed a motherly scold. She had no idea what or whom she was up against.“As the Alpha of the pack, I have full and unadulterated co
XADEN“Hmmm. Surprising. News like this should reach you first before it is even posted,” Mike mused. I could already anticipate that the contents of this…so called news would infuriate me.“Spill, Mike. Don’t edge me on,” I growled.“Okay…so basically, news about you and Celeste’s divorce is out.”Not the worst of news…even if I didn’t expect the public to be aware of it until I had my real Luna on the throne with me.“Is that it?”“Oh, ho-ho, Xaden…that is far from it. See…the same news article that published you and Celeste’s divorce, also sought to paint a certain someone in a certain light.”I waited for a couple of seconds, and when nothing came from the speaker, I growled. “Oh come on, Mike…you’re riling me on purpose!”“Okay…okay…I’ll stop fucking with you…” Mike chuckled nervously, “but only because I’m slightly concerned about your temper to say this next part.”“Just get on with it. I won’t kill you.”“So…the article suggested…well practically theorized that Soraya…whom y
SORAYAIt stung, you know.Weak. Young. Inexperienced and unable to lead. Not of noble blood and has not formal training that would enable her stand by the side of the ruler.Not a member of the pack.All those demeaned my esteem and brought it to the ground.But seductress?Seductress? The implication that I’m here out of desperation and I’m lucrative enough to wield sexual energy and use it as a tool to grant me passage?It felt like I was taken from the ground I previously was, and kept under foot.And it wasn’t the good kind, either. I felt like the muck stuck underneath boots, that you would scratch against the pavement to get rid of. I felt unwanted, even as trash.But somehow, there was a slight smile on my face.What more is there? What more damage can they do? I looked at all the members of the council, their eyes displaying lackluster apologies. None of them were sorry. In fact, I was willing to bet that Elder Maren wasn’t the only one on this ploy, and she just had to take
SORAYAThe grand rooms in the pack house were one of the reasons I still hadn’t left the pack. The ceiling was too high for me to touch, even if I jumped with the assisted power of my wolf.On them were decorations and paintings. On this one particularly, lay what looked to be a wolf and its mate, nursing their cubs. It was magnificent and nostalgic, making me remember my days as a cub, under the nursery of my mother and father.Hanging, still much higher than I could jump, was a very intricately designed chandelier. When I focused well enough, I could see holes where it would’ve been otherwise impossible to see them, and the whole thing glowed an aura of gold so shiny, I struggled to recognize whether or not the thing was really on, or just reflecting the sun’s light.“Ow!” I hissed when Kaylee slammed into me, seemingly unaware, in her childish spirit, of my condition.“Woah, there baby…” Xaden swooped in and snatched her off my body. I’d been playing for her for a while, as the nu
SORAYA“Soraya. You don’t have to go anywhere if you don’t want to,” Xaden’s calm voice was forced. I could see it even more clearly when I turned to look at him and saw the veins on his forehead threatening to pop.He was explosively angry, but was trying to keep his cool, probably because Kaylee was in the room with us.“I have to, Xaden. I have to prove that I can fight and die for this pack…and if proving it means that I actually die now, then so be it,” I took his hand in mine and gave them a reassuring squeeze.He didn’t look at me…not even when I placed a kiss on his forehead. His eyes were on the cocky council members.“You…” he growled. “If anything happens to Soraya. I’ll kill you and every single person on that damned table,” he grit his teeth so hard, sparks could have flown out of them. “I’ll kill you all and leave the pack. It doesn’t matter to me. Nothing matters to me after Soraya. Am I clear?”Kira rolled her eyes and turned around to start walking out of the room. “C
SORAYA“Oh Sora? She’s a fool! You can tell!” A familiar voice boomed from behind the door and it stopped me from knocking as all the insecurities started flooding back.That was Liam’s voice alright.“Oh, please,” someone laughed and I didn’t need a seer to tall me who it was. The high pitched laughter paired with the obnoxious voice told me all I needed to know about the voice.“Fucking Sally,” I snarled, more to myself than out loud. There was no way I was entering that room now. Or maybe I should simply get in there and have their heads…now that I know I can hold my own in a proper fight…“Soraya?” A voice called out to me from behind and when I turned to inspect the voice, my heart sank. It was Xaden. I tried to turn and face the voice, but I couldn’t move.That’s when I realized that I was paralyzed and in heavy tears. Maybe not tears of grief, but tears of pure, unadulterated rage.When I tried to move again, I was finally unstuck, but even that didn’t last. As soon as I tried
SORAYA“Xaden!” I screamed again, moving as fast as my legs could carry me. My wolf gave me speed. My nose could always catch a whiff of where he was, but his scent was scattered. The clinic had many halls too.That made it almost impossible to follow his scent with singularity, as it felt like every corner I turned, he was there as well.Impossible. The sterile whiteness of the corridors taunted me. The clean, spotless walls laughed at my confusion, but I pushed through. My eyes blurred with tears, so everyone I pushed out of the way was unseen to me.I used my nose to see, and I would not advise it. I kept bumping into things I couldn’t sense. Things that blended into the general landscape of the place. A protrusion in the wall, that is of the same dry wall material caused me to stumble.I picked myself up without hesitation. Now was not the time to stumble and wallow in my pathetic-ness. I needed Xaden to understand things from my point of view.After a while, I quit trying to pin
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