Mischa:Damn it, I thought in my head.This was supposed to just be about getting supplies and yet… and yet I had been forced by the hands of fate to meet my mate here.The man held out his hand and it took me a moment for me to realize I hadn’t said anything.I didn’t trust him; I wanted to leave. But I couldn’t handle my team getting attacked again. They all looked weary and exhausted.“Fine,” I muttered and finally took his hand. As we locked eyes with each other, I could feel a tingle own my spine. This man was strong and I didn’t know why but it made me feel safe with him.Was this the mate bond in action? I didn’t know.I hadn’t thought much about the prospect of meeting my mate before. Alisha’s stories of her two mates that had hurt her had been enough for me to swear off romance for a long while. But Hilda had bonded with Mark and they were a happy tale.I shook my head minutely and let go of his hand. I didn’t want to think about it right now.“I think it’s time we move,” I c
DerekI groaned to myself as I stood up from my bed. I had barely slept last night, what between working in paperwork, dealing with interrogating another of Gerard’s spies in the secret dungeon beneath the mansion and drinking away those unpleasant memories… i was very exhausted to say the least.I walked over to the door and flung it open. Upon seeing my best friend’s face I shut it again with a loud slam.“Go the fuck away,” i snarled, even though I felt glad to see he had returned from the mission safely.I put on my shirt over my naked torso as he opened the door and walked in, chuckling.“Come on, Derek,”he teased me. “Don’t act like you aren’t leased to see me, brother.“I sneered at him, wondering idly why he looked so happy. Usually on a mission he would return exhausted and relieved but not this happy.Something has happened.And I had to find out what.“Alright,” l gestured to the chair for him to sit while I slipped onto the armchair. “Talk.”“Whatever do you mean, Derek?”
AlishaDerek.His golden eyes pierced through me like never before and I felt more exposed than h had ever felt in my life. Suddenly I felt my twins little hands leave mine and they ran to their father, all of them looking so accusingly at me.“You’re nothing to me,” Derek was saying and then his eyes morphed to a green pair so familiar in my nightmares. Sebastian. I glared at him, realizing he had tricked me again.“Mommy save us…”I gasped and tried to take my kids back, but it was too late. He had them in his claws and then…Blood began to drip down from my little Aria’s neck.“Mommy!” I heard Ares cry for me and reach to touch me. I reached for him but then he became farther and even further away.A cry got stuck in my throat and I couldn’t move.No! I couldn’t lose them!…I was panting heavily, sitting up in my sleeping bag and pressing my hand against my racing heartbeat.Beside me, on either side, my two babies slept. It reminded me that I had simply been dreaming and I relax
Derek:The evening before I was to meet with the rogue group came faster than I expected.I had barely been unable to sleep and took to wandering the halls with abandon. I didn’t care about the looks of confusion or fear from my maids and guards, who probably thought I was acting so oddly again.I circled the courtyard, and the kitchens, and even the portrait room that held many portraits of my ancestors and previous Alphas going down centuries.Then at some point during the night I heard my mother’s voice.“Are you unable to sleep too?”I could tell there was concern in her voice and I turned to glance at her. She looked saddened at me, and I definitely didn’t like that.“I’m fine,” i replied. She looked dressed for bed already and I had an inkling hat one of the maids had alerted her to my odd nightly movements around the house, and that was what forced her to get up.“Go to sleep, mother,” i said to her, and turned away but stopped in my tracks when she spoke again.“How much longe
AlishaDamn it.This wasn’t what I expected.If I had known it was the Red Wolf Pack I wouldn’t have agreed to meet with them.I tried to maintain my stoic face as I stared at Derek who was staring at me in shock.Why was he the one I had to meet with? What curse had fate given to me that i would meet with him like this?“Alisha?” Mischa turned to me with questions in her eyes. Then as I met her gaze, understanding filled them and then horror and regret.“So,” i heard the clearing of a throat and saw it was Benjamin, the one who used to call me sister in law so fondly before-I schooled my face into a stoic expression.Act like a leader, Alisha. You’re not here to reopen old wounds.“I hope you haven’t been waiting long,” i regarded Derek with a nod. “I believe we should have the meeting now and get this over with.”With practiced ease I gestured to Mark who nodded and began to round up some men to scout.“Mommy,” Ares reached up with both hands, clearly wanting to be carried. I melte
Derek:I had well and truly screwed up.I stood watching my mate walk away from me holding the hands of my two children that I had never known existed. She never looked back.Her words and furious glare at me had more than stung; it was like a dagger straight to my heart, to be unable to even get to hold my children.Only once they disappeared into a tent did I realize I had been staring.I could hardly breathe and I turned away and stormed off, barely paying attention to my best friend calling my name.I walked through the forest, feeling a mix of emotions burn through me. I was a fool.I had been a fool to let her go.I had become drawn in by Sebastian’s words and how he mocked me for taking Alisha as my mate.But had I ever thought to ask her why she left the Silver Moon Pack? No. I had only been cruel to her and let her go without a glance. Because I had been angry at her for keeping those details of her past from me.What if she had kept it from me because she knew I would be ups
Mischa:I had yet to talk to my best friend just yet, and after bidding everyone else goodnight, I stepped towards the tent she occupied.“Do you need to pee?” Alisha was asking her twins, and they both shook her head. “You sure? Your stomach doesn’t hurt?” She asked again, which I knew was the same kind of routine she did every day when they went to bed or took naps during our travels. After a warm, wet and mildly uncomfortable experience nearly a month ago, she had begun to make asking them constant questions on their bladder and bowel movements a regular thing. “Okay, tuck in time,” she said to their beaming faces and they immediately got to lie down on the sleeping bags.Alisha looked tense as soon as I came in so I knew that she knew I was there, it I stayed silent and smiled at the twins who waved at me while Alisha tucked them in.Now that I had met Derek, the father of the twins, I could see a lot of resemblance they had to him. Aria clearly had her father’s eyes and hair, an
Derek:I was speechless and unable to even move as my best friend’s mate raised her voice at me.She continued, “I saw her care for my dying father even when she had no one caring for her! If not for her I wouldn’t have had a chance to bid my father a goodbye! When we escaped that place we ran! Without rest! She never said a word about it even when she was the pregnant one! And you know what? Even as a mother with so many duties resting on her shoulders, she never makes her children feel abandoned! She’s a good mother, just like she always wanted to be!”Those words cut through me.I tried not to let it but it was practically impossible.I felt regret as I saw the tears slipping down Mischa’s face and Benjamin held her, trying to calm her down.“It’s enough,” he murmured in her ear softly to her. “Misch, stop.”She finally fell silent and I couldn’t bring myself to say a word to her.The tears rolling down her cheeks were enough to cause me pain and she buried her face in Benjamin’s c