Chapter 28Ian wasn't planning to return to Hilton the same day he dropped by the pack. He wanted to at least tell Kaden more about Avery and since he's dated a lot more than he has, maybe he could help, though he never intended to admit he needed help.But all it took was a single call from his mother; not only did it cut short his visit. She sent him into a panic frenzy. “Really? He's going to die now! I've not even forgiven him yet!” Ian mumbled to himself as he rushed back to the car, his driver all ready to drive him back. ‘What if he really dies?’ Ian could feel his throat run dry and though his driver, who was also his mother's driver, was driving at the highest speed, it didn't seem enough. Ian realised he'd never said a single nice word to Finn. He's never had a proper conversation with him yet; he's never asked why he neglected him.He still doesn't have the chance to hate him enough, so he really was scared of him dying. It dawned on Ian, who was sure he'd be indiffere
Avery let out a loud scoff at the appearance of his father’s COO, who actively opposed her every damn time after he practically ignored her to talk to Ian.“What are you doing here, Albert?” Avery demanded ignoring his response.What Avery had been constantly worried about immediately started happening when Ian’s pictures leaked to the public.Avery wasn’t denying that Ian might end up competing with her for her position, even if he was just a kid who lived away from everything her father owned and knew nothing of their father’s business; he was still their father’s son and this type of situation was something Ian could never escape, not even when he claimed to love her.Avery believed Ian would soon have a change of heart the moment he tasted the power that comes with being the son of the great Finn Archer, owner of Apollo Co. All he needs is a little more push from his mother and people like Albert, who are eager to use him to step up themselves—a greedy bunch of them.“Like I said
Chapter 30‘Finn Archer pass away at 63 years after getting married to his long time girlfriend Eloise Reign’ The headline for the day was something very painful for Avery to see.She was used to be being the headline with her father but not like this.The funeral was a quiet one, keeping it only between family and friends. Avery felt dead inside all through the ceremony, even with Rosie and Damian close to her and assuring her everything was going to be just fine, she felt like a part of her was covered with that golden coffin, lowered down gently into the earth and covered.And though she was shattering, she was in charge of preparations for the funeral as well as welcoming the guests all which lasted an entire day, and now, Avery, Eloise and Ian sat in front of Finn’s lawyer, as he got ready to read out his testament.“I apologise that this had to be done today, I understand that you’re all still greiving him, I’m really sorry for your loss” Mr. Beckett, who was also a legal advisor
Eloise kept the shameful circumstances about Avery’s birth to herself despite patiently waiting for the time to tear her apart with it because of her promise to Finn.So, she was a bastard and yet she took every chance she got to remind her of Ian’s birth. She might not have directly called Ian a bastard, but she sure was indirectly referring to it.Every time, Avery tends to remind her to know her place and tuck her greed, not to covet anything Finn owns since it wholly belonged to her since she was the only legitimate child of her father without knowing her own mother cheated.When Eloise received the DNA test results, she wanted to cackle out loud, as she was overwhelmed with both anger and annoyance, which she couldn’t hide from Finn as she challenged him about it.But it was as if he anticipated a day like that would come and sat her down, taking his time to explain.“You’re right, Eloise isn’t my daughter; I didn’t know until she was six, an attempted kidnapping from her kinderg
Chapter 32Ian's eyes immediately fluttered open the moment he felt the bond between him and Avery waver; for a minute he felt like his mate bond was gone and that didn’t sit well with Storm at all and seeing that his mother was talking to Avery, he could feel it that she was up to something again.Eloise flinched hard after Ian landed his fist into the nearest wall, leaving cracks in it.“I thought I warned you, don’t get in my way, Mom… I mean it.” Ian watched Eloise gulp at his threat. While he wished he could stroll past Eloise to get what she was trying to hide, Storm wouldn’t stop giving him hell about leaving to see Avery right that moment since he kept feeling that something was wrong.Taking one last glance at the drawers, Eloise hid the envelope she walked in with. Ian turned sharply to find Avery, who by her scent had retired by her bedroom.“Avery, can I talk to you for a minute?” Ian asked after a couple of knocks on her door but there was no response from her. “Avy, I k
The moment Eloise turned her back and Avery returned to her room, she immediately reached out to her assistant, trying to verify the piece of document Eloise had dropped into her personal email account, silently hoping that it was just a terrible prank she schemed to get what she wanted.But Avery was wrong.“I apologise, Avy, but the document has been confirmed to be one hundred percent authentic, verified by St. James Hospital.” Lewis's response after several minutes of pacing her room while she waited for her call crushed her beyond repair.Avery was overwhelmed by the memories of her time with her father.The time, she often pointed fingers.“Why the fuck did you cheat on Mom? You abandoned Mom?” Avery found herself recalling how she shouted at her father after she found out about Eloise’s existence.“Do you even give a flying fuck about me?” She remembered her harsh words to Finn after running away from home as a teenager. She remembered everything she said to him and how he put
Ian hated that he let his excitement get the best of him when Avery must be having a pretty hard time with the whole thing.Ian wasn’t sure if what was stated in those documents was true, but seeing as Avery gave in to his mother’s whims, it could only mean Avery had verified its authenticity, not like it ever mattered to him anyway.Even if it wasn’t true, knowing that Avery had one less reason to push him away was enough for him.But on his way to Avery’s apartment, as he trailed her with his car, he listened to the recording, all of which confirmed what was already stated in the document.For the first time since Finn’s death, he felt truly grateful for him; he didn’t care that he practically left him one-third of his wealth, maybe even a little more than that; he didn’t feel as grateful to Finn as him raising Avery since she was meant just for him.And all through his drive, he thought of the perfect way to convince Avery since it was clear she misunderstood the situation, thinkin
Mature content ahead“I wish I could bury myself.” Avery mumbled as she woke up to Ian’s warm body next to hers, completely stacked naked, and so was she.“I can’t believe I let this happen again,” Avery mumbled as she recalled Ian seriously trying to tell her something important she instantly dismissed because it didn’t make any sense.Then she recalled him smelling so annoyingly sweet and inviting, in a way that threw her entire body into turmoil.She recalled giving in to her raging lust and climbing on top of him, grinding on him as her insides throbbed to be filled.Before Ian agreed to her request, she was wet for him; she craved him, a craving so dangerous she lost all reason. At that moment, nothing else matters to her. She just wanted to scratch the itchiness inside her, welcome his warmth but despite how hot and bothered Ian was as well, he kept his cool.“You’ll have to settle with this for now,” Avery recalled Ian saying as he kissed her gently, letting her have a taste
Avery sighed softly as she stood up, ready to leave the cafe where she met with Damian.After giving her response, she didn’t think there was anything else to talk about and immediately tried to leave.“You wanna get some tarts? you love tarts...my treat,” Damian suggested, pointing at the pastry shop displaying tarts right next to the cafe as they walked out of the cafe together while ignoring the gaze of the two girls by the entrance who seem to have recognised her even though she was wearing the simplest clothes possible.Avery for a minute hesitated but the pastries looked nice.“Sure,” Avery accepted before they both walked right into the pastry shop but right before she let go of the glass door, Avery was sure she heard a camera shutter.‘I wonder what those reporters are up to now.’ She thought while waiting as Ian ordered her some fruit tarts and packed them up for her.“Thanks,” Avery grinned before they both walked out and headed towards their cars.“Well, they reminded me o
Chapter 52Avery sighed softly as she stood up, ready to leave the cafe where she met with Damian.After giving her response, she didn’t think there was anything else to talk about and immediately tried to leave.“You wanna get some tarts? you love tarts...my treat,” Damian suggested, pointing at the pastry shop displaying tarts right next to the cafe as they walked out of the cafe together while ignoring the gaze of the two girls by the entrance who seem to have recognised her even though she was wearing the simplest clothes possible.Avery for a minute hesitated but the pastries looked nice.“Sure,” Avery accepted before they both walked right into the pastry shop but right before she let go of the glass door, Avery was sure she heard a camera shutter.‘I wonder what those reporters are up to now.’ She thought while waiting as Ian ordered her some fruit tarts and packed them up for her.“Thanks,” Avery grinned before they both walked out and headed towards their cars.“Well, they re
Chapter 51Even if Ian had promised to wait for Avy who said she needed some time to sort stuff out, it was hard to keep himself from contacting her.Being cooped up at home while still blatantly giving Eloise the cold shoulder was terrible.After all, she forced him into accepting her conditions.Ian was only able to accept her proposal after brainwashing himself into thinking he wasn’t doing for her but Avery.Doing the internship at the company and changing schools would mean he gets to stay by Avy’s side for a while.His grandfather is only filling in for him as the alpha because of school.Ian knew he had to return to take his grandfather’s position the moment he was done with school, which means he only has a couple of years to spend with Avy and convince her to be his Luna, since being his Luna might change everything for them.Ian, while still drowning in his thoughts, decided to visit Natalie since he finally made up his mind on what to do about the Elite party, which invitat
“This is surprising; I never expected you’d actually show up here.” Natalie grinned after Ian showed up at her place of work and paid for her hours since she was an escort for alpha werewolves.Since she was reserved only for the VIPs of the bar, buying her hours without reservation was expensive, and somehow Ian paid for it to talk to her.After their first encounter, Ian and Natalie, naturally, got close since he was new in town and Natalie knew all the fun places.While Ian could call Derrick to hang out, he still couldn’t discuss werewolf matters with him since he was yet to tell him about who he really is.Natalie had met Ian outside before; when his father died and he needed a drinking buddy, it kind of seemed like Ian had more worries than his father’s death at the time but Natalie never got to ask since it was officially the third time they were meeting.And though Ian did seem like he genuinely wanted to be friends with her, Natalie was sure it was all because Ian still hasn’
Chapter 49Avery felt the warmth of her cup of coffee seep into her hands as she gently wrapped her hands around it while trying to avoid Damian's persistent gaze.She'd asked to meet to apologise since she knew she was partly responsible for what happened with Ian.Avery, who'd never seen Ian act like that and had no idea he was capable of lashing out like that, blamed herself.“Did you really ask me here to sip coffee, Avy?” Damian asked after several minutes of sitting across from each other in an awkward silence.Even though she's ordered Damian's favourite drink, he still looked quite upset, which was fair; Ian did punch him a couple of times, thinking he forced himself on her.“I'm sorry, Damian. I'm sorry… I really am.” Avery apologised with her head still lowered in guilt.According to Damian, Rosie asked him to come check up on her after she called her back and didn't get a response from her.And since Damian wanted to talk to her because things didn't exactly end smoothly th
Chapter 48Ian woke up with a clear head and a refreshed body but the contents of his memory were so disturbing that it made him conclude he was dreaming. yet, the bite marks on Avery’s weak body were enough evidence to reaffirm his reality.He was a total bastard to Avery. How could he lose control like that when he wasn’t even in his rut? Did Avery’s heat somehow manage to trigger his rut? Ian wondered.Ian knew he was going to have to reveal this part of himself to Avery eventually since he was an alpha and ruts for him wouldn’t be any different from what happened between them, but Ian didn’t expect to show her this early.‘She’s definitely going to break up with me?’ The The thought terrified him so much, tears trailed down his eyes instinctively.So far, Ian had only shed tears to garner Avery’s affection and make himself appear pitiful since pity is also a type of affection, but Ian wasn’t acting this time.His thoughts were in turmoil, and the thought that everything he’d meticu
Mature content aheadAvery recalled the pain that shook her the moment Ian bit down on her neck but the pain soon faded, replaced by an explosion of pleasure that had her shaking as her climax raked through her entire body.She felt an undeniable amount of relief spread through her body and her body finding such relief for the first time since the pain of her unbearable heat and desires started instantly relaxed her, and she started to feel sleepy.One thing, though, Ian had no plans of letting her sleep.Ian lifted Avery into his arms and brought her to the bed before he started pulling off his clothes.“I heard marking can both be painful and pleasurable but to think you’ll cum to just that…almost makes me wanna do it again.” Ian smiled but despite the curve of his lips, he still looked really pissed.‘I guess he’s someone who doesn’t let go of grudges easily.’ Avery's thoughts were snuffed as she stiffened when Ian slid down her pyjama shorts.Heat instantly enveloped her skin agai
Chapter 46Ian couldn’t help wondering who the strange visitor who visited the day before was. Ian could feel Storm’s irritation from the moment he felt his presence.An alpha with quite a domineering presence that had Storm getting all territorial but Ian had to remind him that even if the place belonged to his father, his territory wasn’t here.Locking heads with another alpha whose territory might be in the area wouldn’t be good.Ian ended up just locking his door from behind and sleeping afterwards, even though he tried to eavesdrop on his Eloise conversation with the mysterious alpha visitor.Ian tried calling Avery after he woke up but there was no response and the same for when he woke up in the morning.After a couple more calls, Ian couldn’t help feeling anxious and immediately decided to visit Avery.“Ian,” Eloise called as he strolled downstairs all dressed up and ready to leave for Avery’s apartment. “You’re going to see her again, aren’t you?” Eloise frowned after he reac
Everyone in the Archer household knows about the overshadowed Eldest son of the Archer household.Arlo Archer loved his wife, Emily Pelt, very deeply and never took another even after 12 years of being without a child but Emily Pelt loved children and adopted Arden into the family after 7 years of being childless.According to Avery’s knowledge of her family history, her grandmother already gave up on having children but Finn came as a miracle that healed her years of heartbreak over not being able to have a child of her own.Which was why Finn's other name was Apollo and with Finn’s rise to success as well as the birth of her aunt Charlotte who married into a royal family, Arden was soon forgotten and overshadowed, to everyone else that is but to Avery.He was the only other father figure she knew, running to him every time she ran away from home or had an argument with her father.He was just…always there when he was breaking and she came to rely on him quite heavily but 10 years ag