CLARA.My stomach churned.I was meeting mummy today.The meeting is always inauspicious. No matter how much I prepared my mind for it, she penetrated and tore down whatever protective gear I had put in place.My stupid bra was giving me a hard time fastening, and the chill of our massive closet was enveloping me, causing an uprise of hairs on my skin. My nightgown pooled on my waist. I sighed; my hands were already hurting from all the failed trials of clasping the bra.I gave up, thumping into the cushiony chair.“babe!” I called out to the bedroom, “Come in here please”Asking Jackson for help always had me on pins and needles. The feeling of being such a bother to him, whatever it takes to avoid that look of sheer disgust on his face.He’d been acting weird.Staying home more often.He didn’t even go to the neighborhood gym and just used the one in the house.It was scary.No one changes that fast.However, money, wealth, and influence all-cause powerful men to cower.How much mo
CLARA'S POVAs usual, the Preston Hotel was a cocoon of serene ambiance.The piano was playing in what I supposed was a pianissimo with a very rich crescendo effect; it reminded you of Clair de Lune.It was a place for the highest class, the one percentile of the economy. A place suitable for mummy, and because it was suitable for her, it was for me.Even though truly I preferred a more upbeat venue than a classical inn.The hotel restaurant was around the back of the lobby; mummy always decided on the menu; it was always some form of lean white meat and very pricey wine; it got monotonous sometimes.That was mum.Change scared her, she’d rather live a life of routine than change her coffee order.She gets the same butterfly bob cut, never adds color to her hair, goes to the same spa, and the same nail polish. Mummy was stagnant. She didn’t like change; she even disliked the fact that nature forced her to change, the new smile lines and wrinkles. She’d had Botox done twice, and tha
AURORA: Today was the grand ball ceremony of the moon shadow pack, to celebrate the friendship and socialization between the moon shadow pack and neighboring packs. Tonight, a promise was also made to me, and for me, it was the most exciting part of the ball. Jackson my fiancee had sent a limo to pick me up so I could meet him at the ball hall. As soon as the car door was opened, I stepped out of the car, and took a deep breath in. "You look magnificent, Aurora." My best friend Heather complimented me as she helped made my hair look even perfect. "I ought to be. Jackson's introducing me to his family and pack tonight." "I hear you, girl. It's going to be official soon. Just imagine it baby girl, Aurora Brandon, a dream you've always waited so long to become reality." Once again, I took a deep breath in. Heather was right. I had waited so long for this to become a reality and it was just a few hours from becoming one. Jackson and I had been dating for 9 years, and today he was goin
Here I am celebrating at a bar when a party that I had long anticipated for was going on at the moment. My head spun around, and my tears uncontrollable as my mind was still trying to get a grasp of everything that had happened back there."Jackson found his fated mate" I scoffed aloud, and dug my fingers into my hair swinging it to the left side alongside my head. "He's mine… or he was mine."It hurt me even more to know that I was being played by him all along. All these years, I thought we both prayed not to find our fated, but it seemed it was different for Jackson. He always wanted to find his fated and get rid of me as soon as possible. I was just realizing that all his promises to me were lies or mere words.My phone kept ringing, but I wasn't planning on answering it or talking to anyone. All I want right now is to sulk in my own misery and foolishness knowing that I had sacrificed so much for the man whom I called my chosen mate. "Can I have another glass of vodka?"As soon
AURORA:My head kept banging so hard that it made me realize whatever I had taken last night was so strong. I groaned aloud, trying to understand why the hell I was on the bed with a duvet around my body, then it occurred to me that I had acted so stupid last night. Praying deeply, I raised the duvet and saw myself naked underneath,"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! What did you do, Aurora. Damn it, my phone, my phone, where the hell is my phone." I cocked my head towards every direction, but before I could stand up on my feet, the door burst open and I yelled out so loud before Heather stepped in."Fuck, you scared the living hell out of me, Heather.""What the hell are you doing here?" Then, Heather's eyes scanned around the room to see my clothes on the floor, "Oh wow, goodness. You were having the best time of your life last night? So where's he? Where's the man who stole your freaking virginity?"I rolled my eyes at Heather. Damn it, how could I have made such a huge mistake yesterday. All I k
ETHAN:"Alpha, this is everything I found out." Derek said, handing me the papers and everything I had asked him to find out about my fated mate. "I learned she was Jackson's girlfriend until last night he found his fated mate and broke up with her. Maybe that was why she ended up in a bar drunk with you."I continued to stare at whatever was in my hands, thinking about last night. I had felt the mate bond, and I knew she was my mate. I remembered myself taking her virginity and it was only after I had pulled in I realized she was a virgin,When I woke up the next morning, I wanted to stay by her side till she woke up, but I received an urgent call so I called her friend to come pick her up "Alpha." I fluttered my brows and came back to reality. "Where do you think she'll be next?""Well, Alpha Jackson is getting married today, and I think the best place she might be would be the wedding hall"I rose to my feet and began to walk towards the car. "Where are we heading to, Alpha?" De
“How? Are you even on planet Earth? How the hell could you not know the famous Ethan Thompson of the Phoenix pack? The CEO of Thompson enterprise. How the hell could you not know Jackson’s uncle? Heather yelled, and it was at that moment I let go of whatever was stuck in my mouth dropping the fork on the plate.“Jackson’s uncle?” I muttered, and Heather nodded her head,“That man is also my mate, Heather. I didn’t want to believe it at first because I was too hurt but after I met him for a second time outside the wedding hall, I knew he was,”I felt her pull my arm as she instantly rushed towards me, “You have to tell me everything he said to you Aurora. And, if he’s your mate, what the hell are you still doing here? Jackson isn’t the only one who gets to be blessed with a fated mate, girl, too deserves more than he does.” Heather uttered, but I shook my head in negation.“This doesn’t look like a blessing to me Heather because it's Jackson I always wanted. He’s the one I love and not
AURORA POV****I had not seen Heather since I woke up and left for work, and I knew she was still so mad at me. I wasn’t ready to do whatever she wanted me to. I wasn’t ready for another mate when I was still very much in love with Jackson. it might have been easy for him to let go of me and everything we shared for five years, but it wasn’t the same for me. It wasn’t that easy at all.I knew deep down that I would run into his arms the moment he returned to his senses, and I felt like I was waiting for a miracle to happen from nowhere.“We’re here.” The cab driver uttered immediately he halted the car and I instantly snapped out of my thoughts.“Oh, thank you,” I responded and stepped out of the car. I dipped my hand into my pocket and brought out 50 dollars, then I handed it over the him. Once the cab was gone, I turned around to face the company.Now that I was thinking about it, my mate owns the company I had always dreamt of working in as a kid. I chuckled to myself, a lot of dou
CLARA'S POVAs usual, the Preston Hotel was a cocoon of serene ambiance.The piano was playing in what I supposed was a pianissimo with a very rich crescendo effect; it reminded you of Clair de Lune.It was a place for the highest class, the one percentile of the economy. A place suitable for mummy, and because it was suitable for her, it was for me.Even though truly I preferred a more upbeat venue than a classical inn.The hotel restaurant was around the back of the lobby; mummy always decided on the menu; it was always some form of lean white meat and very pricey wine; it got monotonous sometimes.That was mum.Change scared her, she’d rather live a life of routine than change her coffee order.She gets the same butterfly bob cut, never adds color to her hair, goes to the same spa, and the same nail polish. Mummy was stagnant. She didn’t like change; she even disliked the fact that nature forced her to change, the new smile lines and wrinkles. She’d had Botox done twice, and tha
CLARA.My stomach churned.I was meeting mummy today.The meeting is always inauspicious. No matter how much I prepared my mind for it, she penetrated and tore down whatever protective gear I had put in place.My stupid bra was giving me a hard time fastening, and the chill of our massive closet was enveloping me, causing an uprise of hairs on my skin. My nightgown pooled on my waist. I sighed; my hands were already hurting from all the failed trials of clasping the bra.I gave up, thumping into the cushiony chair.“babe!” I called out to the bedroom, “Come in here please”Asking Jackson for help always had me on pins and needles. The feeling of being such a bother to him, whatever it takes to avoid that look of sheer disgust on his face.He’d been acting weird.Staying home more often.He didn’t even go to the neighborhood gym and just used the one in the house.It was scary.No one changes that fast.However, money, wealth, and influence all-cause powerful men to cower.How much mo
****** Five days later*******HEATHER'S POV“I didn't expect your face to be the first I would see. Your concern as much as it is flattering, is scary “I said to Ethan, who had surprise written all over his face.“Damn woman, you just woke up”Ethan said, trying to hold back the smile that was trying to burst out.“More reason to get back into the groove, yeah?”I grabbed his hand and gave it a tight squeeze, that action portrayed everything I wanted to say to himBeing a sentimental person was not my thing at all; I was more of a realist, and I left all the sentimentality for Aurora.Fuck, Aurora.“Ethan..Aurora..”I started and he shook his headI released a breath that I did not know that I was holding back.“How did you pull that off? How long have I been unconscious?”I asked him, ripping the IV connected to my wrist.Ethan stared at me with a look of disapproval on his face and a brow raised.“Don't give me that face, I am very fine, I feel like I could lift this hospital”I s
DAHLIA’S POVI had no idea how to tell my son that we could not go to Canada because his father was there when the reason he wanted to go in the first place was to see his father.There was no possible way that I could agree to that, I could not let that happen.But how on earth was I meant to do that?“Liam baby, who told you that? Who told you that daddy is in Canada?”I asked him with wide eyes, as I parted his hair softly.“I heard you say it to Uncle André”Liam said, looking at me so sweetly.I groaned, I was so fucking careless. How could I have had that conversation without ensuring that no one would be able to hear it?All these years, I had kept Liam's questions about his father at bay with promises that he would meet him soon and stupid stories of how he left us. When the truth was that I took him and abandoned Ethan.My actions may not be justifiable to anyone but I did what I had to do. I could not continue living with Ethan and acting like everything was fine between us.
Dahlia's POV“Cut!”I ran my hands through my hair once the director finally decided to end the scene.We had been taking this scene for the past few days and he was still not satisfied with any of the takes.Personally, it was quite an easy scene, but the director was just a stuck-up motherfucker, so he just made me re-take them because I refused to suck his dick.I was pretty sure that he had a tiny stump for a dick with his protruding pot belly.Envisioning him naked would probably send me to the bathroom to puke.“Thank you guys, that is all for today”Those were the best words I could have heard all day; my feet ached so much, and actually, my whole body ached.Being the lead actress in this drama was an offer that I could not refuse; this movie was going to be another milestone in my career.Instead of the three billboards at Times Square with my pictures, there would be multiple.I had sacrificed everything, every single thing, to reach where I was, and I was not about to give
CHAPTER 37AURORA'S POV Oh, goddess. Aurora! My mind echoed it just as Heather would had she been here.For weeks, she had been trying to get me to see the reason why I should let go of Jackson and embrace Ethan.She was rightShe was always right.Where was Heather?“so there were no other visitors?” I asked.The nurse shook her head and looked down at her feet as if waiting to see if I had any other questions; when none was forthcoming, she slipped out of the ward.Outside the ward, I heard the Nurse’s cheery voice greeting someone. The deep voice had asked, “How is she?” and the nurse had given a breakdown; it was all muffled, so I didn’t even know who it was; besides, she wasn’t like a personal caregiver or anything like that.A few moments later, the door slid open, and once again,n, my anticipation spilled on the floor, or, surprisingly, I wasn’t disappointed. I could feel my eyes light up a fraction, and it felt like a trapped bird was flapping in my chest. As incomprehensib
AURORA’S POVThe ward door slid open and for a moment I felt sheer anticipation,And I thought finally Heather came. My brief moment of bliss deflated like a ball to a needle.To my disappointment, it was just the doctors who had been treating me.I felt a brief pang of guilt that, at that moment, I felt so little of the doctors who had saved my life; I didn’t mean that anyway. I just hadn't seen Heather and the more hours passed, the more uneasy I felt.Heather and her phone were 5 and 6.She’d even borrowed the charger from the convenience store salesperson once she was on five percent, and now two days had passed with no sign of her.Did she even know about the incident?It’s possible she didn’t.That was the only available answer.The doctors did the regular rites of checking my vitals and then asking questions about how I was feeling, whether or not I was feeling pain, and I gave my answers briefly and curtly. My eyes wandered to the door more frequently than I looked up at the
ETHAN'S POVI needed to focus on getting Heather better for Aurora. Obsessing about Fenrir and my past could wait till Heather and Aurora were okay.Letting myself feel insecure was not something that I could afford. I had too many responsibilities resting on me.One thing I always prided myself on was my ability to carry out my responsibilities no matter the situation.Right now, Heather was my responsibility; not only was she the best friend and only family to my mate.I and Heather had developed a friendship, one that I was beginning to cherish.She was the most fiery and outspoken woman that I had ever met. Usually, the most powerful men cowered at my name, but Heather was not scared to face me down as long as it concerned Aurora.I had never seen a friendship as fierce and loyal as the one that they shared.They loved each other so much, Heather could do everything from Aurora. I never for once doubted her intentions toward my mate. She would never let harm come to her, and for t
AURORA'S POVI had told Jackson to go, I had said that I did not want to have anything to do with him. I had told him never to show his face to me again. Or at least I had thought that I had.But instead, I was so weak and pathetic that I broke. I could not hold back my emotions.Despite everything he had done, once he mentioned loving me, everything that I had tried to hate him for fled from my mind.I was so ready to forget about all his past indiscretions and act like nothing ever happened, act like he had not stomped on my heart and chosen someone else over me, act like he had not thrown away the five years that we had shared without so much as a thought.Once Jackson began to say how much he regretted doing what he did, I could feel my heart melt. I had tried to steel myself against him but it was impossible.My brain told me that I should hate him and I should cut him off from my life, but my heart told me otherwise, and my body went along with it.His touch on my skin sent flam