I sit on a chair and open the laptop in front of me, unable to deny that I am surprised, and a bit ashamed of myself, because I'd totally been avoiding a talk with Ravenna. I’m not scared of talking to her. I’m not scared she’ll not want to speak to me. I’m just scared of losing her. Lying to her does not come to me as easily as it comes to Ulric, and I always feel like one look at me, and my baby would see right through all I've been putting up. The call comes through, and I watch it ring for a while - Caelum’s gaze a hot thing on me. I cannot ignore it, and the fact that he’s sitting right there, unwilling to go out makes me feel something cold in my body I pick up the call and Ravenna’s face comes onto the screen. Immediately I feel my heart melt. My daughter is right there. The picture seems better on this laptop, clearer, her features are so well-defined. And the small smile on her face makes her watery purple eyes crinkle and twinkle in that fantastical way. “Hi, Mummy
Caelum’s pov. Sophia cares about her daughter. It was clear in the way her face lit up when they spoke, in the way her eyes seemed to twinkle as she stared into the screen of the laptop and the way she gazed at the little human beyond that screen with an almost crazed fondness. Sophia looks at her child... Like she’s all that matters in the world. And she’s a good mother. That much is clear. But she’s also hiding something from her daughter. I stare at the spot she was just seated on and my body mourns the loss of her presence. The loss of her scent. The loss of the warmth that was radiating off her so softly. She looked…tasty in the outfit she wore today. I love seeing her in trousers. They package her backside quite alluringly. “Drooling on the mental image of a business deal, are you?” I look up to see Alora just in the doorway, and her expression is still closed off. Her tone is still cold. I sigh because she’s also an issue I have to deal with, and despite the fact tha
Sophia’s pov. I hear my door creak and Alora walks in on me changing. I yelp because I wasn't expecting her. She chortles as she settles onto my bed, totally uninvited, and as calm as a snake about to pick off its next prey. I don’t know what to make of her entrance, or her attitude But there’s something in the air about her today. Something so unlike Alora that I can’t help but ask, “What is it? There’s something different about you today.” She shrugs and I take a look at her dress. It’s a summer flower motif dress, and it’s beautiful, it makes her beautiful. Caleum must have gotten it for her, or Seb. “Are you going to leave me in silence, Alora?” She groans and makes a tired little sound before turning to me, “You’re very insistent sometimes y’know.” I nod because I know, but that isn’t the point here. I wait for a response, and when I get none I deflect to another aspect. “Are you at least going to tell me what you’re here for?” “Mr. Caleum sent me.” The first thing my m
“Aren’t you going to be concerned about that?”I glance at my phone and ignore it again for the fifth time in the past thirty minutes.“It’s not important. What’s important right now,”“Is getting revenge on the shithead Alpha who cheated on you with that violet-eyed lady.”I cut Alora a glare and she chuckles like a child before looking out the window, eyes sparkling with a closed-off type of glee.While I would have loved for that to be my aim, it isn’t. Not now.Revenge against Ulric isn’t something I haven't thought of. I have. I have thought of making him pay for all he did to me. But I know if anyone’s meant to pay for anything, I will be in the position of the one doing most of the paying.I am not innocent or excluded from the things Ulric has done. I was the one who carried them out.Him betraying me is simply karma.I was never meant to be loved.It was my fault for thinking I could.But what’s done is done, and giving myself to war isn’t what I'm inclined to do right now. T
Alpha Alvin Bruner Hiddlestone is the owner of Alvin and Bruner. The best law consultancy firm in the whole city, and much more than the city.I knew Alvin when I was still in college. I also knew Ariana then, and Breanne.Alvin and I weren't friends but we do have history together. We have history I hope he has forgotten, but I need his help now. If not, I would never be here.I want to wonder how Alvin will react to me being here today, but I need to. I know Ulric. I don’t know why I didn't insist on the assets being split before I vacated our house, now his house… but I don't know why I didn't insist on our assets being fully split before I left.Maybe I was still reeling from what I had done. Maybe I just didn’t want anything to do with Ulric and I really did plan to live my life out in a small cottage in the woods.I… I've contemplated leaving Ravenna in his care. I know he’ll never have time for her, not the way he ever should, but at least with him she wouldn’t live in lack
When it’s thirty minutes on the dot, I knock on the door once more and go in.My mind cannot help but input images into my head.I can literally see them the same way I captured them. Or rather the same way I caught them. Alvin cleans up well.There’s a new floral scent in the air that wasn’t there before, and while I am tempted to ask if his fling dripped so much juice she’s left a scent to the place now, I know not every woman has a floral scent down there.I notice she works in the same room as he does. Alvin’s office is a massive space. Almost half of the whole floor.“Sophia.”He nods to me as a form of greeting, making me dart my gaze from his woman on the side. She’s very young. Very beautiful too. I return his greeting.“Alvin. Thank you for having me.”I wait to be offered a seat but I do not get that offer. I scoff internally and glance at Alora, “Have a seat dear. We’ll be here for a while.”I am on my seat the next moment too and I see Alvin, staring at me. His voice is al
Alora throws the NDA back in my face.“No.”I sigh and try to make my voice as calm and as patronizing as possible. There’s nothing else I can do.“You realize this is just a formality, right Alora? This doesn’t mean anything.I just need it for… security purposes,”“Because you don’t trust me!Stop trying to lie to me and just tell me the truth. YOU DO NOT TRUST ME!”Alora is yelling and I can see that she’s angry. I sigh internally because we were doing so well just a few minutes ago.“I do trust you Alora.”“I picked out your thoughts the moment you asked for the NDA. Don’t fucking lie to me!”I feel shock go through me like a beam of lightning through the heart. Alora looks at me almost triumphantly with a sneer on her face. A basic look of betrayal oozing off her posture. I find myself lost for words and Alora releases a disbelieving huff.“How stupid I must have been to think I'd ever get into the trust of a Luna.”“It’s not because I'm a Luna, Alora.”She turns on me immediate
Caelum’s pov.Sophia spends two hours staring at the ceiling before she finally looks away and speaks.“Can you tell me about yourself?”Her scent makes me feel like I'm edging myself. It intoxicates me and then detoxifies me in the span of seconds. She goes on,“I’d really like to hear it.”You know that feeling where you are just at the tip of your release, your mind equal parts numbed and sensitive, that is how I feel whenever she speaks. The sound of her voice does something to my heart. But it’s probably just because I haven't taken the inhibitors. I hear something in her squirm as she hears my response,“I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to bear it.”She tries to hide the effect I have on her, tries to mask it with a chuckle, and asks a question that sets a small smile on my face but also makes my heart burn with anger.“You’re my brother-in-law, aren’t you? There’s probably nothing you can say that’ll surprise me.”Her tone is one that is laced with that sweet mirth. A mirth I w