AlishaThe evening passed in relatively peaceful silence after that, although in many ways, i tried not to think about Derek, whose eyes constantly stayed on me. I barely spoke, only focused on letting my children have a good time.Finally the night was to end and I wearily packed up the items. Derek held the twins in his arms, and I had to admit it was a great help for me. They were already snoozing and rested all their body weights on him, and I peeked at them numerous times to be sure that they were okay.“Thank you,” Derek said as we began walking back. The guard that had accompanied us was with us as well, keeping a small distance behind his Alpha. “For letting me stay.”I sighed; couldn’t he see that I didn’t want to talk to him? Having him near me irritated me to the core.I stayed silent, praying silently to the goddess that he would simply take the hint and let the rest of the minutes pass in silence.However Derek didn’t seem to understand cues like that.“Have you considere
DerekBenjamin sniggered as he read the letter Alisha had sent to me that afternoon.He looked mighty amused, more than my mother had been when she found out about it.“Are you done?” I asked my best friend who only coughed lightly, his laughter still at the back of his throat. “You’re supposed to sympathize with me.”“Oh come on, Derek. By the goddess, you should be happy she agreed to let you have the twins over at all,” he argued. “But really? I’m just thinking of how you plan on meeting her every condition listed out here. I mean… the meal plan is one thing. I can understand her specifications for their bedrooms. Getting the twins new clothes is fine. But special silverware for each meal? Removing all red and yellow flowers from the garden? Clearing out the mansion of all guards and maids anytime they’re around? That’s just her trying to fuck with you.”“I know that,” I ground out, my hands clenched into fists on the table. “But I can’t deny her that, now can I?”Alisha was never
GerardI was more than frustrated; I was furious.Another spy? Dead.They were dropping more and more like flies, like one could easily swat them down with just how twitch of a finger.“Fuck,” I growled, tightening my grip on the quill that it snapped in half. I was losing this battle of wits against Derek. The only thing keeping me from truly losing is having a hold on the Pack Elders. And that secret…I growled as a knock on the door of my study distracted me again from my thoughts. Standing up I barked at the door, “Who is it?!”The door opened to a maid who meekly bowed, clearly shaking from fear underneath the weight of my glare at her.“What is it?” I demanded to know as she trembled. I was impatient and didn’t have the time nor energy to entertain her any servants sniveling. “Speak!” I raised my voice in frustration and she fe to her knees.“Sir,” the maid kept her gaze to the floor, her hands clasped together. “Miss Lila has left the house again.”I grit my teeth in anger; of
MischaI dodged the blow, hissing from the force that knocked the wind out of my chest.Damn, I thought. Alis was always hard to beat in a good day, and impossible on other days.I shifted back to my human form and charged directly at her black wolf, which dodged seamlessly, jumping up in the air and shifting back to her human form. I blinked; and that was all it took for her to plant her foot on my face.“Argh!” I growled, tumbling on the floor. I found my footing and came face to face with her pointer finger extended out into a razor sharp, curved claw.“Call,” she said, barely panting, while I sweated buckets.I felt the sting of defeat again, but it left a smile on my face nevertheless.“Damn,” I said with laughter bubbling up in my chest. “You win again, Alis.”She smirked at me, “I always win, Misch. But you’re getting better.”The compliment made me preen a little, while I wiped the sweat off my brow.Benjamin had been able to use his status as one of the strongest warriors in
AlishaAfter reaching the pack clinic from my spar with Mischa, I walked through the back entrance to inform Simon I had returned. My feet padded down the hallway, through the sterile scent of the wards and down to Sinon’s office when the door opened and out walked Derek.Our eyes met and I kept my voice measured when I greeted him.“Good morning,” I said.I could feel his eyes all over my disheveled state - I hadn’t yet taken a shower.“Hi,” he eventually said. “I came over to see you. Simon informed me you were out.”“What is it you want to talk about?” I asked him plainly. “If this is about the children then I expect you’ve met my conditions.”Honestly I expected Derek to come out and say my conditions were nothing short of unreasonable, but for the last two days since I sent him that letter he hadn’t done that.To my utmost surprise, the Alpha nodded and he replied with, “And I’ve spared no expense in making sure your specifications were met. It’s done, all of it.”I was silent fo
AlishaI fell silent. Everything that Simon had just told me rang through my head but I still felt uneasy. It was as if my emotions were on overdrive and I had to struggle to keep myself in check.Derek had done this to me. If I had never seen him again, I would have felt better. It had been a numb existence without him but at least the memories of pain and hurt I had been through because of him had become relegated to only my nightmares, instead of them plaguing my waking hours as well.I let out a sigh and felt Simon pay my head gently in the manner that he liked to.“Why don’t you take a long break?” He asked. “Clinic day’s over, so you can go on and rest until the twins get back, hmm?”I silently glanced at the wall clock on the corner and saw it was only 5.30pm. The twins were supposed to be back by 6pm, as Derek had promised.It might be a little early but…“I’ll go pick the twins up now,” I stood, making up my mind. I felt like I would overthink if I ended up staying on my own
AlishaThe way to the dining room was filled with the twins’ running commentary on how their day went; how they ate lunch and spent some time in the garden, how they ended up taking a nap in the BIGGEST BEDROOM EVER(!) and everything else in between from the color of their bedroom walls to the tasty cake they had for dessert that afternoon.I kept silent through it all, holding Ares in my arms and letting their words wash over me.As we entered the dining room, I placed Ares in a seat across from his sister, and I saw Derek reach to pull out my chair and my jaw was tense from how much I gritted my teeth.Walking away from him I sat on the other side of the table.He looked stoic yet concealed hurt was behind his eyes as he sat down on the chair he intended to be for me.Dinner was tense as the maids served the food, but I couldn’t help my mouth watering when the aroma of steak and the side dishes hit my nostrils. As one of the maids passed by him I noticed Derek say something impercep
Derek“I can’t do that,” my words made my mate stop once more.If hell was a feeling I was certainly there now. To hear her say those words, that even if she forgave me she couldn’t forget… it was far too painful for me to withstand. How could I, when she had even implied that I should move on and marry another? That I should forget about having her back in my life, save for the twins? It was like she was a judge of my sins, damning me to a life sentence filled with eternal regret and pain.“That’s not for you to decide,” she responded to me.My wolf roiled in me, straining to reach out to our mate through the bond. That mate bond with was warm in my chest now bhrnwd with the power do a thousand suns.“I’m not going to do as you wish this time, Alisha,” i said to her, my tone certain and leaving no room for doubt. “I’m sorry, but this isn’t for you to decide either. I can’t move on, and leave you behind. Not when I know it would be a lie. I can’t be a husband to anyone else, and no on