~REIGN~I don’t know how long we stood in the middle of my bedroom, with me just cradling her to my chest while she sobbed. Despite how difficult it was to listen to the sound of her anguish cries. I held her close, doing my best to assure her that I was okay with it.As long as it was what she needed. Then I had nowhere else to be. And it’s funny because I’ve always hated the sound or sight of someone crying. The sound was something that aggravated me beyond measure, yet listening to her cries didn’t stir that family irritation except it made my heart ache for her.I closed my eyes, inhaling as I ran my wrist along the scent gland on her neck. The action was subtle, but I hoped scenting her would help her calm down and make her feel more safe. Eventually, her sobs evened out. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, pulling back slightly as she sniffed.Shaking my head, I reached forward to gently wipe the tear streaks on her cheeks. “You don’t have to apologize for this. If it helps you feel bett
~JADE~Is this?Was that a love declaration?Was he?!Did he just declare...But why would he?My mind warred as I tried computing everything I just heard.He wants to be my balm. To be the Alpha who eases my pain and protects me fiercely. He wanted me to stay, but most of all, he wanted me to choose him—to choose to stay, to choose him to be my comfort and home.Wasn’t that what Hunter also wanted? He never said those exact words but he claimed he wanted to be my home and safety, and look where that got me? He became the person who ended up breaking me the most.’We never had a choice with Hunter,’ Lev mumbled and that got me frowning.‘How do you mean?’‘With Hunter, we didn’t expect him to be our mate. Even after that, we were never given a choice. Did you really have the choice to sit and ponder if Hunter was who you wanted? Think about it, Jade. We had just escaped Manila, and it was nice to be back home. You just wanted to finally live and breathe like every normal person. You d
||*JADE*||I awoke to a numbing pain in my limbs, a headache threatening to split my forehead open, my eyes aching as I rubbed them open to an unfamiliar ceiling. Confusion slowly set in as I rubbed my eyes a little more to get rid of the blurriness in my vision while staring at the unfamiliar ceiling again.It’s impossible that I am dreaming at this moment, or suddenly do not recognize the ceiling of my home. I’ve been waking up to the ceiling in my bedroom for two years and I am certain it is definitely not painted this absurd red colour with a ridiculous chandelier hanging down from it.My body cried out in protest as I pushed up on the bed, eyes trailing off the ceiling as I took in the unfamiliar sight of the bedroom. My mind rang with different questions, while I try recollecting my memory from last night, how I fell asleep, when and what I was doing in a strange room.Nothing quite made sense, until I heard a deep groan beside me and my head snapped to the side with so much spe
~JADE~ I am not sure why I didn’t move, even though it was quite obvious that Hunter had lunged for an attack. That’s a lie. I know quite well the reason I didn’t move. My body had frozen in place when I saw him lunge, and a part of me thought my mate wouldn’t exactly attack me. It was just impossible that Hunter would want to attack me, given how he has never raised a hand at me for the past two years that we’ve been together. But I was deluding myself. Maybe the reason he never hit me for the past two years was because I never gave him a reason to, and now. Now I very much gave him every viable reason to want to hurt me, but I still tried convincing myself that he wouldn’t. Realisation dawned on me too late, before I could get my body to move out of the way, Hunter came barreling forward, his hand outstretched, palm striking me in the face and his claws cut a deep wound across my cheek. My head swings sideways, echoes of sounds rung repeatedly in my ear. My hands moved out of
~JADE~ Everything else happened in a blur. It all felt like a nightmare and I so badly wished someone would wake me up. Hunter had dragged me out of Arya’s place naked, and I had no will to protest against his iron grip. He didn’t think I had any decency left to preserve, I couldn’t even bring myself to ask for something to cover my shame as he pulled out of me, tucked himself back in and practically hurled me out of bed. I didn’t have it in me to look at Darren or Arya’s face, my mate had fucked me right in their presence. Humiliated and degraded me beyond words, dragged me through the streets naked and left me on the front porch of my parents house with a warning that I would never return to our home. I had crawled inside my parents house shaking and crying. Despite how many times they asked what happened my mouth wouldn’t budge, all I could do was weep as I sunk further into the shame enveloping me. “Is this true Jade?” Even now, as I sit here in the presence of my parents an
||*JADE*||I stood in the living room, unsure of what to do with myself. We were back home, and for the first time in two years, I felt like a stranger in my own home. I never knew a time would come when I'd feel like an absolute stranger in a place where I once found comfort and love.I am taken back to the first time I stepped foot in this house, the day Hunter brought me here as a surprise to show me our new home. The house he built for when he finds his mate, with the hope that they'll both make it their home, I remember the feeling of contentment and comfort I felt when he walked me into this very living room, the pleasant smile on his face when he said the words, “This is our home now, your home, for as long as you’ll have me."And in that moment, I felt like the most important person on earth; all the memories from when I was in Manila had become less painful. Because Hunter had given me a place I could call home in the first few months of meeting him and knowing he was my mate,
||*JADE*|| Days blurred into nights, and night into day. Hunter stayed true to his words by taking my things out of our bedroom. There was nothing I could say to change his mind, not even the fact that I was pregnant with his child.I had tried to make him go to the pack clinic with me, or even at least call the pack doctor over to confirm that I wasn’t lying, but he didn’t even care.He doesn’t think it’s his child because he believes I had to have slept with other men aside from Darren that he didn’t know about, and he is convinced that if I am truly pregnant, then the child belongs to one of them.But the child was his, even though he didn’t believe me. I know I should’ve told him before this happened, but I wasn't sure that I was pregnant because getting pregnant as a beta was almost impossible. Unlike omegas, a beta wolf like myself isn't always lucky to be blessed with a child. I'm not sure what the goddess has against us, but a beta’s chance of reproducing was almost next to no
~JADE~My eyes blinked open, my gaze hazy, as I tried to focus on the shadow hovering above me while at the same time trying to make sense of where I was and what had happened."Get up and get out of my kitchen." The rough sound of Hunter's voice had me blinking into focus, the fog in my vision and head gone as I took in his appearance.A groan slipped past my lips as I pushed away from the cold kitchen floor, my eyes taking in the broken glass around me, and an onslaught of headaches came barreling in as memories of the pain I had felt before passing out.‘He doesn't even have the deceny to ask if you're okay..’ Levana, my wolf, mumbled as I stood up."Quit stalling, stand up, and clean up your mess." Hunter boomed above me, and I winced. "Why?" I couldn't stop myself from asking, even if I knew his answer would only end up hurting me more, yet I still asked because a part of me still hoped that the mate who had loved me was still there somehow and that he would come back to his sen