Naomi came to sit beside her on the bed. As she reached out to hold her hand, Alex drew back her hand in guilt, her feelings clearly displayed on her face and in her eyes even though she tried to hide it. To confirm that Naomi saw it, she said. "Hey, honey. I need you to know that none of this is your fault, okay?"Cara sniffed and then she nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, Alex. None of this is your fault, and you have to take things really easy. You have to be strong because of your pack. We are your family as much as you're ours too.” She said.Such wise words came from a wise woman, but Alex couldn't care less about the advice.This was her cross to bear, hers alone and no one else. Truth be told she wanted everyone outside so that she could start to cry and wallow in her misery. Whether or not they leave her alone now, at long last she would still be left alone and she would be able to cry as much as she wanted.Suddenly, one of the nurses rushed into the room, pushed the door
"It's been three days now, Alex, but you won't stop crying. That's not good enough you know." Cara said as she sat beside her on the bed. She looked down at Alex with her head buried in the pillow.She had been crying for those three days, and Cara couldn't really blame her, but she hated to see her like this, not when everyone else had gone back to normal. Cara knew how hard it would be and if she was in her shoes, she might probably do the same or more, but she wasn't doing that now. She was sitting here beside her on the bed and trying to get her to stop crying as if her life depended on crying.Agreed that what had happened was a really shaken-up thing to happen, but it was time to stop and return back to normal.Alex raised her head from the pillow as Cara shook her shoulders, her hands over them from behind her back. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Cara. Leave me the heck alone." She said, rolling her eyes at her. This was unacceptable, she thought as she stared at her. She h
It just wasn’t easy, even though she knew that truly, it wasn’t her fault, the position Gabe was in. Thankfully, he had woken up, and everything had been alright, but still, she just couldn't get her mind off it. She wondered why she felt the way she did if truly she believed and accepted the fact that all that happened to him had nothing to do with her. It's been days since Gabe woke up, and all she could feel was guilt, guilt that it was because of her he had gone to the pack house that morning. She realized that if care wasn’t taken, the feeling would eat her inside out, and there would be nothing he could do. Sighing, she sat there looking at the ceiling. They were back at Berkeley Moore, with Naomi and Galatia almost always in Gabe’s room, but she heard them talking this morning about Galatia going to the airport to bring their other brother. He had been unable to make it the other time when they had thought that he would come because of some serious pack business he had to
Meeting Gideon wasn’t as hard as Alex thought it would be, and she discovered that he was even more down to earth than Galatia was. He had no reproach on his face when he looked at her, and no rejection even when he held her hand in a handshake. All he did was smiled at her and told her that everything was now in the past. Maybe that was true, but getting Gabe to see the same thing was not as easy. He was having nightmares about the incident by the border and that was taking a toll on him. Alex hoped that having his complete family around would help make things go back to normal as soon as possible. She was really glad anyway that he was starting to get out of his room, unlike before, when he would stay cooped up in his room. She was back to cooking and cleaning, but according to Naomi, it was going to be a temporal thing. A new cook would be coming over so that she could focus on the training she would be resuming soon, her words not hers. Even though she had told her she could do
"Cara told me about you blaming yourself for what happened.” He said when she said down. Alex raised her brows and then she blew out the breath she had no idea she was holding before now. Part of her mind had thought that he was trying to propose to her when he said he wanted to ask her something and then he got on one knee. Don't blame her for being that expectant, but that would be the first thing most women would think that was about to happen. She was glad that that wasn’t the case though, knowing that just now because she wasn’t ready to take that step with him, not when she was broken herself. “I'll take your silence as acceptance, but I'm baffled that you have to feel that way.” He said. “You should sit down, you know.” She said. Agreeing that she had been that stupid to blame herself for something she didn’t do wasn’t as easy now. Gabe shook his head. "Don't try to change the subject, Alex. I don't want you to put yourself in an unnecessary tight corner. I want my woman t
The grandfather clock in the sitting room chimed and Alex wondered what was taking them forever in Gabe’s office. She had woken up this morning to a surprise, disrupting her training session, but she didn’t mind a lot, seeing as she had done that for the most part of yesterday and the day before, so she could do without the running around, baring her teeth trying to control herself with her eyes closed to get her wolf out. The doorbell had sounded as she came down the stairs where she had just been coming from her room only to go to the door to open it and find her parents there. She had stared at them wide-eyed with surprise gleaming back at them as her mother smiled at her and her father looked at her like he had missed her. Oh, for heaven’s sake, she had forgotten about her having two parents, and these ones were not Marilyn and Mason. How did they get here? How did they come to be at Berkeley Moore when they didn’t know the place, but almost immediately as she asked herself th
"He said that it was better to tell you about it instead of keeping it from you.” She said and Alex nodded. It was better to tell her indeed because keeping it from her would only drive them apart, not that she wanted that to happen or anything. She walked to one of the chairs that were in front of the desk and sat down after turning it to face them. After her mother sat down, reluctantly Alex noticed, and she began to talk. "When we first visited the orphanage to adopt a child, I was quickly drawn to you, but someone working there at the time told me that if I was bent on choosing to adopt you, then I have to meet someone who was going to let me know more about you, and what I was getting myself into. “At first, hearing that made me slow down a bit, but your father had also already fallen in love with you, so he helped me remember why I wanted you. You looked so much like your father, your eyes like his. It was as if you were his child. I never thought that maybe he had you with s
After her parents left, Alex felt like she could do everything now, including facing Marilyn and Mason if she wanted. According to Gabe, keeping things bottled up would only hurt her even more than the actual thing would. She had learned a very important lesson and it was on that note that she told Gabe to invite them over for dinner, with her siblings. She wanted to get it over with and see where it would end. “That was the best thing to do.” She told herself. She reached the cabinet that was at the top of the counter to grab the board so that she could chop the last bit of the ingredient. She was cooking tonight by herself because she wanted them all to have a feel of what it was like to have her in their lives. Cooking might not exactly do that, but she knew it would do something. She grabbed the knife and then the onions, and she started to dice it up with her eyes squinted almost closed so that she would avoid the peppering sensation as best as she could. As she sliced up the
Epilogue Three years Later “Gaby, go call your papa for dinner. He should be in his room.” Alex told her three year old daughter. Little Gaby shook her head and said. "No, mommy. Papa is being a wolf outside with Alex.” she pointed to the door of the kitchen that led to the backyard. Alex had two beautiful daughters, twins, Gabrielle and Alexis. They were her life, and she loved them so much. Nodding, she smiled at the girl and shook her head at her as she licked her lollipop. She kept telling them both it was going for their teeth, but their father would sneak it to them. She could tell the only reason Gaby wasn't hiding her candy lollipop was that she was carried away. "Gaby, what's that you have in your hand?” she asked her. “Huh,” she removed the lollipop from her mouth and started at it for a second, then she quickly hid it behind her. Smiling, Alex shook her head.Soon, she heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen door and Gabe stepped inside, Alexis behind him. She al
Alex slept for two hours straight and she had just woken up five minutes ago. She was standing in the kitchen with Gabe standing at the end of the table watching her as she moved around, slicing this and salting that.Mrs. Teddy just arrived ten minutes earlier with the ingredient she had listed off at the hospital, and he had instructed her to wash them and get them all ready and sorted for her. That made Alex's job easier for her. She was making brown rice, fried salmon, and chicken soup. She already had the pot in the cooker and she had put in all the vegetables she chopped into it; including the spinach and broccoli. They are low in calories, and they are a great source of calcium, iron, vitamin C, and heart-healthy antioxidants. She allowed the vegetables to cook on medium heat until they were soft. She stir-fry the vegetables for a little while before she added the boiled chicken and seasoning to it. She was cooking it in the special way her mother had taught her how to. She
After bringing the coffee, Tim asked them to wait outside, and not to go home until they were able to see the cute little baby that just joined the family. Sitting outside with his wife, Gabe wrapped his hand around Alex's shoulder and pulled her to him so that she would rest against him. “Do you think we should stay? You look tired.” “I am, but we should wait.” She said. Thankfully, Tim soon poked his head out of the hospital room's door, and he said to Gabe. "Come on, Gabe. You can now see the baby." He said.With a nod, he stood up. "Will you stay here?” “I'll come with you.” She said and he nodded. They proceeded to the room and followed Tim to the side of Cara's bed. Cara was carrying her daughter and she used a pink blanket to wrap around her. Gabe could have sworn that the baby was as pink as the blanket itself.She was so beautiful and she had chubby cheeks. She was closing her eyes so Gabe couldn't see the color of they were but he knew that they would be beautiful. Cara
Alex was all happy, smiling and nodding at everything Cara said. She had had a peek at the baby before she was taken away so that they could clean her properly. She was so pink and so beautiful that Alex's heart swelled with pride and happiness for her friend. This was what people called a bundle of joy. She was going to be experiencing it soon, in a few months, and she couldn't wait. Although, she had also seen the pain that came with it, and that scared her, but the happiness in her heart at the moment didn't allow her to dwell on it. This was the first time that Alex witnessed childbirth, and so far she feared and loved the experience, the feeling she got. She bent down to whisper into Cara's ear and told her that she was going out to see Gabe.“I'm so happy for you both.” She wanted to say, but she could see that Cara was already so tired. Telling her that would make her all pumped up to talk more about her own feeling and how happy she was. “Okay, you should do that.” She said
Getting out of the car even before Gabe parked it made him so angry he wanted to yell at her, slamming on the brake before she could jump out. Why the hell was she acting so reckless all of a sudden when she could as well calm down and still get to her sister in the end? He gave her a look that could have melted her head off if that was possible and gritted his teeth. "That was dangerous, Alex. Why did you think it was okay to open the car door when I haven't even stopped the car?”“I'm sorry.” She said, her voice a little bit low. Her phone had been ringing off the hook since they were on their way here. She had picked it every time, and Cara kept telling her to get herself there if she didn't want her to kill her. “You could have been killed if I didn't stop the car. You almost got down from the car if I didn't stop you.” “I wasn't thinking straight.” She said. She had been so distracted, thinking about the kind of pain that her sister must be going through, with the pain that
Alex had just woken up a little minutes past six o'clock in the morning when her phone rang. She had been sleeping with her body half across Gabe's body so she tried to get off him but his hand tightened his hold around her waist. He moaned and moved even closer to her, pushing his face into the crack of her neck. He sniffed and moaned again. He was probably dreaming about her, or at least, that was what she thought was happening.“Gabe,” she called softly. "let me get up, okay.” She said. She wasn't sure he heard her but she would try. She was tired but her phone was ringing, and for someone to be calling at that time, it must be something important.“Gabe, remove your hand off me. I need to get to my phone.” She said again. She tried raising his hand that was across her belly but he was not bulging. She raised her head to look up at him to see his eyes were now wide open, with no residual of sleep on his face. He had been watching her sleep, and she wondered for how long that had
"Alex, finish the bowl," Gabe instructed and Alex made a sour face, not liking the situation at all. She wondered what she had gotten herself into and how she would get herself out of it. "Gabe, I am done. I am not hungry anymore." She whined and pushed the tray away. She held her breath as she said that, hoping that would work and he would leave her the heck alone. "Finish it. You are pregnant. You need to take care of your diet now. I don't want you to black out as you did after the honeymoon." He said and picked up the bowl. He was determined to make sure she finished the food, and if that required him spoon-feeding her himself, then that was exactly what he would do. Filling the spoon with the soup, he raised his hand and extended it towards her mouth, opening his in a gesture for her to go the same. Groaning in a complaint, she finally opened her mouth and allowed him to slide the food inside.“I won't black out again, you know. The doctor already examined me.” She said and he
"And I take her to be my lawfully mated wife,” Gabe said, and the elder that officiated their marriage said. "You may kiss the bride.”Alex knew that she would always remember Gabe's sweet reaction when he turned to kiss her as the elder had said. He was smiling brightly, his eyes laced with tears of joy. She could tell he was as happy as she was even though she had been getting cold feet at the beginning of the day, up until the start of the ceremony itself. He caught her lips as he kissed her passionately, her searing hot mouth making her want more than the kiss he was giving, but she couldn't have. They were outside after all, with a lot of people present, and she wasn't about to give them a free show. That would be doing something nasty. As Alex lost herself in the kiss, it was the loud cheer of the people around them that drew her back a little. She could tell that they were all so happy for them. At least, most of them. There was no way everyone around a person will completel
Today was one of the happiest days of Alex's life, no doubt. She was not just happy though, she was elated, or any other word she could use to describe the way she felt at this very moment. It also happened to be the day she had been waiting for and dreaming about since she became a grown woman. She had basically prepared her mind for this very day and now that it was here, she was glad, feeling ten folds of the happiness she had always dreamt of. She couldn’t wait to be addressed as Mrs. Berkeley, and today was the day she was going to say “I do” to the man that she loved so much, even though it was just going to be one of the wedding ceremonies, it was as important as the one they would do at the pack house to have them officially mated. It was more or less a joining of some sort. She had always dreamt of spending the rest of her lifetime with the man that loved and cared for her and her family this way. She was just too happy to express her joy. She realized that the way she was