Emma's POVI stopped in my tracks with Asher and turned my head to look at the little girl looking up at her father. The whole garden fell eerily silent, it was so quiet that I could feel my heart pounding within me in nervousness.I stole a glance at Stella, she had stopped whatever she was typing on her laptop and was staring at her screen blankly. It was evident that her whole conversation was on the topic now, she did not want to make it obvious.I then looked at Draven, the man pulled the phone away from his ear and returned my gaze.Why was she asking him this?This was not part of the plan?I said, “Ashel, daddy won't be able to join us. See, he is busy.”“Is that true, Daddy?” The little girl's smile started to fade.“Yes.” Draven said in a stern tone. His reply visibly saddened the little girl. She was about to give up when the man disconnected his call without a warning. He put the phone inside his pocket and said, “But it's okay, we can go.”Ashel was thrilled and I was sho
Emma's POVWhen I turned around involuntarily to the voice that called me, all I could see was a pair of eyes with anger gleaming in them. Draven took long strides towards me, his eyes were locked with mine as if he was questioning me what was happening.I froze, my whole body shut down as if I had malfunctioned.“Draven…” Stella cried out, she sounded as if she was in pain. Her cry for help grabbed Draven's attention and he changed his course towards her. “Stella, are you okay?” He went inside the pond himself and helped her stand up. The girl stumbled before revealing a huge cut on her leg.Draven's expression turned angrier when he saw that she was bleeding.“Mom…” Ashel and Asher grabbed my hand but I stood there blankly, not knowing what to say.“What happened?” He asked.“I…” Stella looked at me and quivered, “I tried to initiate conversation with Emma but she kept being rude to me. When I asked her why she was angry, she told me that I was coming between you and her. She blamed
Emma's POV “Fine. I am calling the cops.” He pulled out his phone and was tapping on the screen.“Mom…” Ashel was so scared that she was on the verge of tears. I had to take care of the kids. If I go behind the bars, what will happen to them?“Fine.” I stopped Draven and was about to apologize when Ashef spoke out of nowhere, “Wait.” Draven looked at the little kid and asked, “What is it?”“My mom won't be apologizing.” The boy said firmly, shocking all of us.Draven's already grim expression turned grimmer, he asked, “Why won't she?”“I trust my mom. If she says she didn't do it, she didn't do it.” He replied, crisp and clear. Even though his voice was still childish and hasn't developed yet, he sounded as serious as an adult. The Alpha said, “Then how do you explain what happened?”“I don't have an answer to that yet but I am sure there is a logical explanation to it.”Draven took in a deep breath and got on his knees to match the kid's height. In a much calmer tone, he said, “A
Emma's POVDraven called me and asked me to come back home, apparently, he had already left with Stella since he was taking her to the hospital.Hospital for that cut? I scoffed but I did not bother taunting them. Instead, I said, “Why should I head back home after what you have done? I want to go back to my own house.”“The scene you stirred today isn't over yet. You dare not run away from it this time and be there at my house by the time I come back. Moreover, the time isn't up yet.” “Draven, what are you trying to do here?” I asked, “Stella is back! Why do you need me now to take care of you?”“Stella is injured and she is not my nurse, you are.” I could hear the cars in the background which indicated that he was driving. Even while being busy, he didn't find it difficult to threaten me, “Or you can surely quit midway and make me shut down West Wing for their unprofessional service.”I balled my fist and growled, “Fine. I will be there but Draven, I swear to God, this is the last
Emma 's POV“What the heck…” I muttered my myself. My social media feeds lately are about how people are getting scammed off their money so I did not open the link. I sent out a text, “Who are you? And how do you have my number?”“Doesn't matter.” The person on the other end was quick to reply, “Get this link to your son. You are running out of time.”“What do you mean I am running out of time?”I was still believing that this was a scam but what the person replied made me stand on my feet. The text read, “Isn't your son trying to prove your innocence? This has all the things he requires to do it.’How did this person know what was going on in my life? How does he know what my son was upto?Suddenly, a scary feeling of being watched welled inside me. I grabbed Ashel and ran upstairs to find Asher.“Mom, is everything alright?” The little girl, who had no idea what was going on, asked.“Yes, baby. We need to find your brother.” I did not want to scare her.I first went to the bedroom,
Asher's POV“What is happening over there?” Father exclaimed, shifting my attention from the ice cream cone that the vendor was extending toward me. I looked at him and followed his line of sight to see Mom and Stella standing beside the pond. They looked like they were having a conversation but it did not feel right. Stella hated my mom and vice versa. It was never a good idea to have them both in the same room, let alone talk to each other like this.Even the Alpha seemed to have the same feeling about this as he said, “I am gonna go and check on them.” He shoved his credit card in my hand and started to walk towards them.“Is everything alright?” Ashel asked me, sensing the tension in our father's aura. “I don't know. Maybe we should go check.” I said before putting the credit card inside my pocket. I told the vendor that we would come back for the ice cream later and he nodded his head.I grabbed Ashel's hand and had just started walking towards them when I saw Stella fall inside
Emma's POVThe three of us played the video on repeat. No matter how much we watched it, we could not get enough of it.Ashel's face twisted and she could not hide the disappointment anymore, “I knew she was a bad person but I did not expect her to stoop so low.”“Can't say that I am surprised.” Asher commented.Ashel then asked, “I thought Daddy was smart. How could he not see through her facade? It's disappointing…”“His IQ is in negative when it comes to emotional intelligence.”“Asher.” I called him out. “What? Do you deny that father is clueless when it comes to the emotional part of life?” The little boy berated back. I said, “It is not our position to say anything about this.”Ashel then slowly asked, “Mom, has this bad woman always bullied you like this? Didn't you say you were friends with her in college?”My face was saddened immediately thinking about our college days. Stella was the only friend I had and the only one who knew about my love for Draven. But I never blamed
Emma's POV“Yes. I am not kidding. Every single thing that she has said is a lie.” “No, I am not lying! I don't need to lie.” Stella stood up from her seat, clearly upset by the accusations. She looked at Draven who was still seated on the couch next to her and said, “Draven, what is all this? Your son is accusing me and you are watching it all silently?”Draven did not say anything immediately and slowly asked, “Asher, are you sure what you are talking about?”“I am.”“How can he be? He is just a kid.” Stella protested and looked at me, “Emma, I understand if you don't want your kids to love me but at least don't make them hate me like this.”“Keep my mother's name out of your mouth.” Asher glared at the pretentious woman. His sudden outburst shocked both Stella and Draven, they were too stunned to see the usually distant boy so rude and angry.Taking the silence as his stage, Asher continued, “Father, this woman was very calculative. She made sure to bully Mom in the park where the
Emma's POVThe next day…“Mom, can I stay back?” Ashel asked as I was looking in the mirror, trying to put on my eyeliner.I asked, “Why, sweetie? I thought you were excited for the festival.”“I was but I am not anymore.” He pulled the bow in his dress and sulked at me, “What kind of dress is this?”For the festival, men and women are required to wear the traditional clothing of werewolf culture. Women had dreamy outfits as the main attire consisted of a flowing, floor-length gown made from luxurious fabrics such as silk or velvet. The gown is typically a pale, shimmering colour, such as ivory, silver, or pale blue. They were required to pair it with a headdress, decorated with extensive decorations. As for the men, they were required to wear Habit à la française, which as you can see, looked ridiculous. Imagine being an apex hunter and showing up in balloon pants and a bow.Asher did not know that there would be a dress code. He only found out two days ago when the dress was deliv
Emma's POVwas not expecting him to ask this question all of a sudden and did not have an answer for it. I stared at him, blinking blankly as I tried to come up with an answer.The dynamics…How did I forget about the dynamics between us? We are a couple going through a divorce. Today does not typically happen, how am I supposed to handle it?Draven stepped closer and asked, “You seem to have forgotten that we have applied for a divorce, Emma. I am fighting for custody of our children. I forced you to come to the festival.”His voice was as dark as his eyes and haunted me. I could feel the colours draining off my face as fear overtook my expressions.He growled, “Think about it, do you still want to be next to me? Don't you want to run away?” He took a step towards me and I involuntarily backed off. This caused him to stop and smirk, “Thought so.”He stepped back and turned to leave, welling me with guilt. “Draven, stop. I didn't mean to.” “You should stay away from me, Emma. I wil
Emma's POVI was not expecting him to ask this question all of a sudden and did not have an answer for it. I stared at him, blinking blankly as I tried to come up with an answer.The dynamics…How did I forget about the dynamics between us? We are a couple going through a divorce. Today does not typically happen, how am I supposed to handle it?Draven stepped closer and asked, “You seem to have forgotten that we have applied for a divorce, Emma. I am fighting for custody of our children. I forced you to come to the festival.”His voice was as dark as his eyes and haunted me. I could feel the colours draining off my face as fear overtook my expressions.He growled, “Think about it, do you still want to be next to me? Don't you want to run away?” He took a step towards me and I involuntarily backed off. This caused him to stop and smirk, “Thought so.”He stepped back and turned to leave, welling me with guilt. “Draven, stop. I didn't mean to.” “You should stay away from me, Emma. I w
Emma's POVDraven walked to the front and said, “I think that is enough. You will get dizzy.”“No, I am never getting off of this.” I said at the top of my voice. His face was clouding with worry seeing how fast this was going. He said, “Emma, I am serious. Get down! I don't have a good feeling about this.”“What are you worried about?” Just as soon as I said this, my hands slipped off the bar and I went flying off the swing.“Careful!” Time seemed to have slowed down as I found myself falling towards the ground. I closed my eyes, preparing myself to hit the ground but instead of the cold, hard ground, I fell on something soft but rigid.I stayed there for a while, feeling two arms tightening their grip around me. That was when I opened my eyes to see Draven heaving, there was a mask of fear and worry on his face.He somehow managed to work fast and grab me, saving me from falling off and breaking my nose.His clutch was so tight that I felt like my bones were about to crush. I was j
Emma's POVI asked, “So, you don't have any fond memories of your childhood?”“No. I think I don't even know what it is supposed to feel like.”I grunted, agreeing with him, “You know, I relate with you.”“You do?” He raised an eyebrow, “But you were in the pack and Gamma Austin looks like he is a good father.”“He was a good father to my brother, not to me. Even though they adopted me and let me live with them, I was still an outsider.”“I am sorry you had to go through that.”“No no! Why are you sorry? Even you had a shitty childhood growing up.” I smiled at him, “It used to bother me once upon a time but it doesn't matter anymore.”“Yeah.” He took the last bite of his meal and said, “There is nothing we can do about it. It's long gone.”I opened my mouth to agree with him but shut up immediately when I remembered something. I put down my fork and grinned at him, “Let's go!”“Where?” I got up from my seat and grabbed his hand, “Let's go!”“But your food…”“Let's go go go!”I starte
Emma's POVHe did not wait for me to say anything and got out of the car. He walked up to my side and opened the car door, silently asking me to step out.I crossed my arms and turned away, “No. I am good.”“You haven't eaten anything since afternoon.”“I am not hungry.”I heard his wolf groan in frustration but there was no expression on Draven's face. He was calm as usual.Just when I thought that he had given up, he swiftly unbuckled my seatbelt and picked me up in his arms again. Before I could even realize it, I was dangling over his shoulder and watching him carry me inside.“Draven, you creep! Put me down.” He turned a deaf ear against my protest and carried me inside the cafe. We were inside now and the weird way he was carrying me attracted everyone’s attention. The guests stopped what they were doing and stared at us in confusion.“Alpha?” One of the customers asked, “Is everything alright?”“Yes.” He replied, “My wife is just upset. You can all go back to your work.”My f
Emma's POVThe empty street was flooding white by the petite snowflakes and the temperature was dropping drastically. I was wearing a simple sweater and it did not prove to be very helpful in keeping me warm. In no time, I was standing on the street, covered in snow and shivering.Fifteen minutes passed by, and I still had not managed to find a cab for myself. They were just mercilessly driving past me, not even caring that I was all alone and freezing.“Hey stop! Please! Asshole!” I cursed at the fifth cab which drove past me.My fingers were numb at this point and I needed warmth. Even rubbing them together or keeping them under my arm wasn't helping me much.I turned around to look at the pack house, how badly I wished to run inside and take cover but my ego would rather make me collapse than ask for help. The snow seemed to be messing with the network reception, neither was I able to access the internet to book a cab or call anyone to come pick me up.I was truly stuck…There was
Emma's POVDraven and I continued with our work, even though we were in the same cabin, we did not talk. He was busy with his phone call meetings and I was busy with my head buried in the documents. He had just gotten off a phone call and had just kept his phone down. I asked, “Is everything sorted?”“Yes.” He nodded, “Everything is smooth so far. The extra reinforcement we are sending to the borders will reach there on time. I think everything is pretty much good. What about you?”“Just a few more documents and I am done too.”Draven nodded and leaned back on his chair, “Thank you for helping me out. I could not have done it without you.”I blushed; it felt good to have been praised by the almighty Alpha himself, who cherished his words like gold.In the past few days, while observing Draven and his work from a close proximity, I could not help but feel pity. Even when preparing for the festival, he had to go out every now and then to take care of his last minute Alpha duties. Even
Emma's POVA week passed by and I have no idea if Alexandr talked to Desiree or not. What I do know is Draven has taken back his case and he is no longer suing me. But he made sure to tell it to me clearly that if I try to pull any stunt on the day of the festival, he will make sure I pay for it.Asher and Ashel were excited about the festival, surprisingly. They were not looking forward to seeing their father but the festival itself. They had heard about it a lot growing up, and to experience it first-hand was something they were looking forward to.The costume that we wear on the day of the festival was specially made. Draven sent a dress designer to my house the very next day to get my measurements. He did not want any kind of delay or mishap on the day of the festival and was taking extreme precautions for it.Everyone in the hospital was pleasantly surprised that I would be hosting the festival this year and told me they were looking forward to it too.The whole pack was in the f