When the ceremony is over and Oli and Daniel are on their way to their honeymoon, we go back to my parents' house to eat, but before the food is ready I approach my father. "Hello there, sir," I greet, coming to his side in the backyard as he watches his grandchildren playing. "Hello there, little flower," he greets, immediately putting his arm around me to hug me against him, "How are you?" "I'm perfect, but I have a little question for you. Can we go somewhere private to talk?" "Of course, let's go," he agrees and directs me to the guest room beside the stairs, "What's up, baby? What do you want to talk about?" "Well, I want to talk about Rodrick's community service... What's that about? I would think it's normal, but then I remembered Anthony's community service. He had to build the whole kindergarten single-handedly. And then clean it for four months.” "Anthony stole money from the school and tried to scam people,” he reminds me, “All punishments are personal, they’re supp
I walk away from Rodrick as he finishes cooking so as not to make things worse for him and I go sit in the living room next to Carolina, who gives me a knowing look when I approach because she can imagine I'm a little nervous about the subject. She knows everything I went through with Daniel, she knows he never had a rut while we were married, but luckily she doesn't say anything about it. I try to calm my nerves by diverting my attention to my niece, resting on the floor around her toys. I pick her up and throw her up to the air a couple of times, making her squeal with excitement. Her baby laugh is the most beautiful sound ever.Looking at Hannah is always a little bittersweet, even more so than looking at Alex and Rio, because I always wanted a daughter more than anything else. And because Carolina and I look so much alike, I feel like Hannah looks exactly like me, like a daughter of mine would look. And that hurts, but at the same time I'm grateful to have her in my life, even
Under the eyes of my alpha, I am forced to obey and there is no choice but to do as he asks. I have never done anything like this and at first I start to feel insecure as I lift up my shirt, but when I pull down my pants and am left in just my underwear, Rodrick's body stops looking relaxed on the bed. He becomes tense and his eyes get even heavier, as if he wants to come get me. That gives me the confidence boost I needed to get rid of the stupid nervousness that took over me since I heard the word 'rut'. I have nothing to be shy about with Rodrick, this man is crazy about me. Or just crazy in general. "Do you want me to keep going?" I ask just to play with him, but Rodrick is not in a playful mood and just gives me a warning look that makes me laugh, "What? This was your idea!" "I didn't think it was going to be so annoying and that you were going to move so slowly," he complains, "Come on!" "God, so demanding," I mutter and move a hand behind my back to unclasp my bra and l
My relationship with Rodrick continues to be amazing. With each passing day I realize that he truly is the best man Mother Nature could have bestowed upon me. Not only did he come into my life to teach me what it feels like to be loved, he has also made me realize that what I felt for Daniel was never love. Not like this. I was obsessed with the idea I created in my mind about him and wanted to have him to show him off, then I didn't want to let him go so I wouldn't admit defeat, but I never truly felt in love with him. Realizing that has made it a hell of a lot easier to deal with him and my sister when they come back from their honeymoon and act like they can't breathe if they're not around each other. Rodrick came to save me from my shitty life where I was only interested in appearances and was extremely miserable inside. Since we've been living together I haven't felt the need to buy material things, or upload a million pictures showing off my man like I did with Daniel. I
Once I get a handle on these strange feelings my wolf is having, I return to my family and everyone is already talking about something else. I search for my mate with needy eyes and once I find him, I walk to him and sit on his lap. My wolf and I need him right now, so I bury my face in his warm neck and let him wrap his arms around me. I need his strength right now, I need him to tell me that everything is going to be okay. If he doesn’t I really might fall apart. "What's going on, love?" he asks in a worried tone, his hand stroking my back as if he's calming me down, "You smell scared." "I don't know," I answer softly, trying to merge with him, as if I want our bodies to become one and be able to live under his protection forever, "It's so strange, I feel sick." Rodrick doesn't wait a second, he gets up from the seat carrying me. "We’re going home, Clara is feeling sick," he says, ending the conversation and causing a surge of pity towards me again. I hate that they feel bad
For the whole next week, Clara's heat continues to be like this, it doesn't fall back into normal. She's just needy and clingy, not horny at all. I try my best to make her feel better and I guess it works a little, but not that much. And eventually I realize that I just need to comfort her, not try to make her feel better or give her solutions to a problem she doesn't want to solve, because it can't be solved. She just needs to be sad for a moment and that's fine. Tuesday morning Clara wakes up and she no longer smells like heat, her eyes are not dilated. She groans and pushes all the blankets that were over us to the floor and breathes hard as if she was drowning. "Holy shit, it was hot in there!" she complains and fans her face, "How could you stand that?" "I don't know, it felt nice," I reply and let out a small laugh as she gives me a dirty look like she thinks I’m a weirdo, just like the Clara I know and love, "You’re feeling better?" "Yes. My wolf just had to cry it out,
{ Clara }I gasp loudly and push Rodrick aside with all my might so I can be the first to approach the baby carrier Andrew left by the door, covered by a grey hospital blanket. I can't believe this. I really can't. It's like I'm in a dream, my body doesn't feel like mine. Andy lifts the blanket and lets me see the baby there. That brings me out of the mental fog because it means it's for real. This is really happening. The pup is small, his skin is brown and his face is purple in two different places with bruises. My heart clenches with both happiness and pain for him, but I have to be honest, I mostly feel a fucking joy I've never felt before and I don't even register what they start saying around me because I only have eyes for him. ‘My pup’, my wolf says, ‘He is mine. Only mine.’ I lift him out of the carrier and I hold him against me, burying my face in his head full of thick curly hair to breathe in his scent. He truly smells like mine, I don't know why and I don't know how
{ Rodrick } I've only been a father for two weeks. Two weeks that have felt like two whole years. I haven't slept more than three hours a night and I haven't had sex with my mate in our bed since Phoenix arrived. My pup is a pain in the ass, I'm not going to lie. He cries all night and sleeps peacefully all day, not feeling guilty at all for ruining our sleep... yet, he's still the moon and stars in Clara's eyes and that alone makes it all worth it. Phoenix is now legally our son and the day we signed the papers we consider it as his birthday, even though according to the people at the hospital and the time he's been with us Phoenix is around a month and a week old. Fortunately, that doesn't matter much. Time is relative anyway. What does matter is how much he has ruined my sex life and what I loved most in the whole world, sleeping inside Clara with her body on top of mine. And not only that, the only day we can have for just the two of us because Phoenix will stay with Dalia ton
I really don't know what happens after I get the news. I'm in complete shock. Alessandro keeps touching me all the time and everyone tries to strike up conversations with me, not realizing that I'm not really paying attention because I’m lost in my own mind, trying to deal with my overexcited wolf. A couple of hours later we say goodbye to everyone and it's finally time to go home. I feel like there's something pushing on my shoulders until I manage to get into Alessandro's room (our room?) and I'm able to lie down on the bed. "What's wrong, baby?" asks Alessandro, sitting down next to me on the bed, "Are you thinking about the pregnancy?""I'm just thinking about everything. I feel like I woke up in another dimension, I mean... I was asleep for a whole week and now everything is different. I don't know how to feel yet," I honestly admit. Alessandro nods and looks at me with understanding in his eyes."I can imagine how hard it must be. Come here," he says, but he doesn't even wait
{ Andrew } I have no idea what happened after I decided to let my wolf out for a while, but when I return to my body, I'm naked and next to Alessandro in a bed. My body feels freshly fucked and that makes my face turn hot. I don't freak out because it's obvious that Alessandro is the culprit, but I'm pretty confused about at what point exactly that happened. "Hey, Kitten, you woke up," Alessandro says next to me, putting a hand on my face, "It's you again, baby. How are you feeling? Your wolf's been out all week." "What?!" I exclaim and sit up in bed in absolute shock, "What do you mean all week? Was I on heat again?" I was only supposed to log out for a little while. A little while, meaning an hour or two while my sadness subsided. Not a whole damn week of my life, what the hell? "You weren't in heat, you just decided to give control to him," he explains, looking at me with so much love it leaves me even more confused than before, "Some things have happened, you want to kno
I don't know how to react to this. I’m upset and relieved at the same time, in equal amounts. All I can do is look down into the most beautiful, innocent eyes I've ever seen in my entire life... even if that innocence is a lie, at least at this moment. "Did you get yourself wet on purpose to come hide here and make me think you were with another alpha?" I ask, still trying to make sense of what's going on before any reaction. "No, no," he answers immediately, looking a tiny bit unsure for the first time, "I was just flirting with that alpha on purpose, I wanted you to go stop him or at least... I don't know, make you look upset, but every time I turned to look at you you were focused on something else. I wasn't planning on the other guy getting me wet or that alpha wanting to bring me here, I just went with the flow to see if you cared enough. But, five minutes? Do you know everything that could happen in five minutes?" This little manipulator. "I don't like this, Andrew. These
I get out of the car after saying that, managing to keep my tears under control because now I'm more angry than sad. I know I have no right to be because it's all my fault, but that doesn't help to control my emotions. I walk inside the house and curse internally when I see the whole family here. Frank, Dalia, Lucinda, Robbie, Carolina, Daniel, Olivia, Rosie, Carolina, Harry and the kids. The only one missing is my brother. I can't believe I was so upset that I didn't even pay attention to all their cars outside. They all look at me with intrigue when I walk in smelling like pure misery, probably. "Hey, how did it go?" asks Clara as soon as she sees me. And since she's the closest thing to my brother, I walk over to her to hug her, "Oh, no. What happened?" "Nothing, everything went fine," I lie because I don't want to be the cry baby of the family anymore, "I just want a hug." ➿➿➿➿ This is the first time I've ever seen my brother so concerned about his appearance. He checks
{ Andrew } Nobody asks me anything about how I feel anymore, not even my brother. It's obvious that I'm not well and it's obvious that I have issues, but I still try to act normal and carry on like I used to when Alessandro didn't exist in my life. I've been living with my brother and Clara again and I spend all day cooped up at home at my new job babysitting my nephew or reading in my spare time, which is still as fun as before, except I'm doing it to escape again and that's not so good. I need to remind myself of the good things in my life again. Like this roof over my head, my big new family and my lovely nephew. "Does that taste good, Phoenix?" I ask my nephew as I feed him and he just bangs his little fists on his table, as if demanding that I give him more food. As soon as I bring the spoon close to his mouth he grabs it in his hand and steals it from me to bring it to his mouth frantically as if he's starving, "I guess that's a yes. God, pup, that's why your cheeks are so
{ Andrew } [ 18 years old ] My wolf was right. I am an omega. I look in the mirror and try to find differences in my body like curves or something, but I'm still as skinny as ever. The only change is the way my wolf feels, like an omega. It's nothing new, he’s always had the idea that we are. But today he knows for sure. And I'm filled with excitement, until it's time to leave my room. Today is Saturday, Rodrick should be at work right now. My dad could be anywhere, working, visiting one of his siblings or just hunting in the woods... but today is the anniversary of my mother's death. My dad is here. It's only nine in the morning but from the amount of bottles around him I know he's already drunk. He looks at me with much more hatred and contempt than usual, although I'm used to it. His hatred for me is always worse this day. I killed the love of his life, after all. Except this time when I approach instead of starting to yell things at me, his brow furrows in confusion an
"I'll leave," I say and turn around to do so, before this gets a thousand times worse. "What?" Alessandro spits and follows me as I walk to the stairs to go to the guest room. My heart is in my throat as he follows me, I feel stalked in the worst possible way. I start to think: what the fuck am I going to do if he seriously hits me? My father was just a beta, a short man without that much strength and even his beatings hurt and left me unable to go to school for a day or two. How would it feel if a strong alpha hurt me? I would probably just pass out from the pain. "Andrew, stop it right now. Why are you acting like this? Look at me!" he roars just before I can get to the guest room and it scares me even more because his command makes me actually stop and turn to look at him. And then I remember that he has alpha power, he can subdue me and force me to do whatever he wants. But instead of grabbing me and hitting me, Alessandro takes a big breath and raises his hands in surren
Alessandro was being serious, surprisingly. Instead of going to work, he drives home and carries me bridal style until we're inside his room. "I missed you so much last night," he says against my lips once I’m standing on my own before kissing me and not giving me a chance to tell him I missed him too. Alessandro kisses me like he needs me to live, touching as much of my body as he can and ripping off Clara's pajamas before pulling away from me to start undressing himself. "Wait," I stop him, "Can I do that?" "Undress me?" He asks and I nod. Alessandro lets out a laugh but nods and suddenly I have another one of my fantasies coming alive. I've always wanted to do this, to have this man perfectly groomed in front of me and be able to undress him bit by bit, making him all messy and wild. It's one of the things I fantasize about every day. Alessandro has a smile on his face as he waits for whatever it is I'm going to do and his scent smells of complete bliss. That gives me the con
I walk into the therapist's office nervously, but she manages to make the conversation casual at first until I start to loosen up and then I can tell her why I'm here. I blurt out all about the wall in my head and my abusive father and how he would do stuff to me. "What ‘stuff’ did he do, Andy?" she asks with a sweet smile that makes me feel good, safe. So I tell her and thankfully her face doesn't change much when I talk about the beatings he gave me since I started walking. Or how he started forcing raw meat on me when I turned twelve until I was fourteen when I was finally able to shift. And then how that was another problem because I was too small, too weak. And then it was another problem because I presented as omega and he didn't like that one bit. "And how do you feel about being an omega?" She asks when I'm done talking. I sit there thinking for a bit. "Before my presentation I was very excited. I always wanted to be an omega... until I actually was and my dad ruined all t