Hayley“Mummy, I am so excited about today already,” Adriella giggled and I turned to her with a smile, “why?”“We are going out with you and Uncle Alex,” She cheered. At her response, I giggled. “It’s not something you should be so excited about. But I am glad you are happy.”“She is excited because she will be eating chocolates of course.” Adriel countered with a sneer, “She only always gets this excited for things like going out and the rest. But if we have to read for a long time, she will run away. She only likes food.”Staring at him with her face squinted, “I wasn’t talking to you,” Adriella said, "you should learn to mind your business. You will be acting like you are serious every time.” She hissed. Turning to me, “Mommy, is it a crime to want to eat chocolates?” She queried.“No dear,” I answered. “As long as you are not taking too much of it. Remember, too much of everything is bad.” I knotted her hair into a bun as I replied. “Thank you! Because I can’t explain why Adrie
DamonNo matter how much I tried to reason and plead with her, Hayley still walked out on me. I knew I deserved it but I couldn’t just let her go. She was the only reason I came out to Texas in the first place. The work expansion and all was only an excuse or ‘collateral benefits ’ at best. Plus, I just found out that she didn’t just have my child but she had my children. I was going to make sure I get them back no matter the cost. While I watched her walk out of the mall, I immediately instructed Tim to tail her and report her final destination to me. Deep down, I hoped it would be her house address. “Tim, I want you to follow her quietly.”“Yes sir,”“I want regular updates in 30-minute intervals. Make sure she doesn’t notice you are following her and do not lose track of her, no matter what.” I said to him as we hurried down the stairs, ignoring the escalators because of the volume of people that occupied it at the mall. “Okay, sir. I’ll do that” Tim hurried past us so as not t
Hayley“Please remember what I told you, Lanie. They should stay inside.” I mentioned again, my voice sounding weak as I stared at Lanie. “Do you think this is the best thing to do?”At her question, I nodded in response. I did not know the best thing to do really, everything was happening so fast with me and it was overwhelming. “Think about it again, dear. I knew this day was always going to happen, but I did not expect it to happen soon.”“Thinking is literally the only thing I’ve been doing, Lanie,” I let out an exasperated sigh. “I fear it’s not even the best for my health anymore. Please just stop with all the questions and help me take care of the children, I will be back soon.”As I turned to leave, Adriel and Adriella rushed to where I stood, “Mommy,” They chorused. “Why did you ask that we stay back home today instead of going to school? Is anything the problem?”“Our school is not on fire, right? Because Adriel has been saying that you want us inside because our school m
If I knew opening the door would put me in the state I was, then, I would have rather stayed with my children, letting the bell ring till he got tired and left.I was about to pick up the last chunk of meat on my plate when the electric doorbell rang. I wanted to go for it, mainly because I felt uneasy. But at that same time, Adriella had choked on her food. And because the dinging of the bell had not stopped, Lanie had to go check it. The restlessness that I felt did not stop, and Damon’s scent felt really close by. Immediately Lanie turned the doorknob, I sprouted from my seat running towards the door. “Don’t open it, Lanie,” I said to her, but it was already late. She had already opened the door, and standing in front of me was Damon. Hating his presence that was right in front of me, I cursed, attempting to bang the door at his face till he held it back. “Forgive me for interrupting, but I was so eager to see my children.”It was official, Damon had gone nuts. That was the o
DamonThey were arriving at noon, and right now it was fifteen minutes past eleven. The cleaners were almost done with setting the house up, and Marco was finalizing things with the house dealer. Everything was slowly falling into place, but the speed of the progress wasn't exactly satisfying.My eyes darted around the house trying to fish out any signs of imperfection. Adriel and Adriella were visiting today, and I had to make sure everything was perfect for them. Though my intentions had been to stay in a hotel for the entirety of my time here in Texas, I hoped to stay some longer time there as the hotel staffs were really welcoming. But circumstances changed, and I had to move into a house faster.There was no way I was going to receive my children in a hotel room, not only was it unprofessional, I considered it nothing less than bad parenting. For their sake I had one of my escorts, Tim, search for the best available penthouse. And when he did, I immediately made the purchase. All
Hayley.It was just a few hours into work yet the entirety of my body ached as if I have been working for weeks nonstop. Documents to be reviewed piled by my right side of the table, the few I reviewed, on my left and scattered on my table were ideas for designs of clothes we were supposed to present for Fashion week.Fashion week was the most important week for every fashion house. It was an opportunity for every fashion to showcase their best designs. The week determined how successful the business year was going to be and as my companies was yet to be largely recognized, I needed to give my best in the fashion week which meant that all I needed to do was work, work and work."Are you busy?" A light knock came on the door as footsteps drew closer to me. I groaned loudly. I didn't need to look up to know who it was. I knew the voice and I knew it only told one thing; work."I swear, Yvonne, I can't look at any more designs or documents. I am drained as it is, my brains are fried." I
DamonIt had been a week since I last saw Hayley and the kids, and life was not getting any better than it currently was. In fact, things seemed to be getting worse for me. For a full week now, I had done nothing but wrap myself up in misery and anguish. And seeing Hayley completely having a good time with Alex, was my breaking point. I did not want to hate him, but I was already beginning too. It pained me more when I had sent Hayley a text, telling her of how I hated that she was with Alex, and I only wanted her to myself, she gave no reply. She did not even look at it, and instead, went on laughing with Alex like I completely meant nothing. I wanted my children and Hayley too, and with Alex around, it seemed almost impossible.My mental health was hastily deteriorating, and it affected the company as I was taking longer time to approve plans. And the only reason why a query had not been raised at this time, was because Liam was helping me with majority of the things that I was
DamonMy last conversation with Alex kept me worried continuously. He had formed a much deeper bond with Hayley and the kids than I could even imagine. I never expected that Hayley would even act that welcoming to any other person. But there he was, telling me all about his feelings and how he deserved her and that he was going to make them be together. Telling me all that to my face! How dare he! Hayley is mine and I won’t let anybody snatch her away from me. I had to remove Alex from the picture one way or the other. But how? How was I going to learn more about the man? How was I going to make him lose interest in Hayley? That seemed impossible judging from our discussion, then how was I going to make him disappear from our lives? All without leaving any traces that lead back to me.These questions occupied my mind all day long, swimming from one end of my brain to the other endlessly. I was never a man that accepted defeats and I was not going to start now. He was messing with my
Epilogue It had been a week since Hayley passed out, the exact time the war came to an end. In a rage, Damon had strangled Gazel, going as much as killing by snapping off his head. From the onset, it was not part of his plan to kill Gazel even as he had agreed to a duel. He was hoping that Gazel could be imprisoned at least, and given some time to amend his ways. But after seeing what Hayley had to go through, he could not bear it. The wolf that had shot at Hayley was also caught by Alex, and he and all of Gazel’s other warriors were imprisoned. “Is she up yet, Daddy?” Adriel who had just met Damon coming out of Hayley’s room asked, and disappointed, he shook his head. “Not yet.”Adriella who was walking some distance away from Adriel heard their conversation, and sad, she ran to her room. She had been trying her best to be calm about everything for the past week. But it was killing to know that her mother was still unconscious from the attack. The best doctors had attended to
HayleyAfter further investigation, we discovered that the message hadn't been about Gazel and Damon, but between Alpha Mathews and Gazel. Since I had reported about the coup d'état and not the war, the council had responded to the coup. I felt bad for what Alpha Mathews was going through, but all I could do was sympathize with him. There was nothing we could do from now onwards, and only a duel between Alpha Mathews and Gazel could settle the conflict. The winner would become the alpha, and the loser would be tossed in the dungeon. The council would have punished Gazel for the coup d'état, but because Alpha Mathews had made a public announcement denouncing his claim to the leadership of the pack, the council could no longer do anything about the coup. It might have been forced at the beginning, but Alpha Mathews' speech and handover had covered up for Gazel's crime. Gazel was a trickster, and that much was known. He was a man who thought ahead, and that was exactly what made him ve
Damon I steadied my footing, and with a powerful swipe of my claw decapitated three opponents at once. These men were weak, a lot more weaker than I had anticipated, but they were definitely larger in numbers. I was yet to spot Gazel, and not seeing in front of the army made my fears return once more. I knew Gazel was a cunning man, but I hadn't expected him to be a hypocrite as well. Leaping to the side, I let out a loud howl before chowing down on a smaller Wolf's head. It let out a stifled cry before I tossed it into the body of its comrades. I had been taking things easy at first because I wanted to believe that they were under mind control. But that mistake had cost me during the earlier stages of the war. Now, I was going on full throttle, and I was willing to take down any opponent that crossed my path with full force. If pitied, these men were going to destroy the entirety of my kingdom, and that was not a sacrifice I was willing to make. I tackled a young wolf and slammed
Hayley"The walls have been breached!" A guard yelled out and my heart immediately sank to the stomach. It was just as Damon had predicted, Gazel had sent some of his men to attack the pack. "Archers fire!" Another order was yelled and soon flaming arrows were being rained on the invading enemies. "You shouldn't be out here, my lady. It's best to remain underground where it's safe. Damon would never forgive me if I let anything happen to you." Liam urged while doing his best to make me follow him into the underground chambers that had been prepared in case of this situation. "No, I'm the Luna, and I will not cower in fear in the face of my enemies. If they think Damon is the only person they should be afraid of, then they are heavily mistaken. I am a mother and a leader, and I'll do anything to make sure that no harm comes to my children and subjects." I made it clear to Liam. He watched me in awe, and I was sure the idea of me being a weakling disappeared from his thoughts. "What
Damon "I won't stay back Damon! I'm marching to the war front with you!" Liam opposed. I had just ordered that he remained at the pack to take care of things while we were at war. I had barely finished when he began to yell out his own opinion. It was the first time Liam was speaking to me without any sense of formality in his voice and character. It was obvious he wasn't going to let me go, not while he wasn't part of my troops. "You have to be here, you're the only one I can trust with Hayley and the children's lives. Alex will be with you, please do this for me." I pleaded rather than order. At this point it was obvious Liam wasn't speaking to me as my beta, but as a friend who wanted to support their friend at all cost. He wouldn't obey orders even if I gave him one, the only way I could possibly get to him was by exploiting his kind heart. "You need me by your side, in stronger than all of them—" "And that's exactly why I want you here. If Gazel has men ambushing the pack, I
Damon"We've managed to camp a few kilometers from Wolfsbane field. The soldiers can begin their march now." Liam informed me. I stared at him for a while before giving him a reassuring smile. I could see the fear and concern in his eyes, and even though he fought hard to hide it, it was as bright as day. "There's no need to hide your fear, Liam. I feel the same way, and I'm sure everybody else does. It would be foolish to be happy and unbothered during the times of war." I said before giving him a pat on the back. "You've done well with preparing everybody, you should take some time to rest. I'll handle everything from here onwards." Liam shook his head fervently in disagreement. "I can't rest, not when there's much to do. Gazel is marching here with an army by his side. We need all the help we can get. I'm not exhausted yet, I'll continue to help in any way I can." He argued. "If you exhaust all your energy now, then you'd be useless when the need comes. I know you want to do mor
Gazel"What do we do about those two? Isn't this bad? Those two could spill all our plans to the enemy." Frederick said in a frantic tone. He was fidgeting in both fear and rage, and his reaction was completely understandable. Lisa had just escaped, and alongside her was a spy I never noticed early enough to dispose. I had to give Tim props, he had been extra careful, and was without a doubt the most dangerous man to me at the moment. I had no idea how much he knew, and there was no telling how much he had stolen. If he exposed much about my plans to Damon, I was sure to fail, but regardless I didn't halt the preparations for war. "Aren't you going to do something? They might have valuable information." Frederick asked with an inquisitive look in his eyes. "There's nothing we can do at the moment. Those two would have probably reached Damon's pack by now. Chasing after them is meaningless at the moment. Focus on getting more men into our troops and forget about those two." I instru
DamonThere was no denying the fear that crept into my heart each time I remembered that I was going to war. I was confident that we would win, but there was no predicting or preventing casualties in war. If I could do anything to prevent it, I definitely would have done it, but that was impossible when Gazel was involved. He was determined to bring me down at all cost, and he had made that fact abundantly clear. He was out for blood, and I too wanted to match his energy. There was no way I was going to let him have his way and do anything he wanted, especially not when it had something to do with Hayley. "Have the walls been fortified? Any reports of ambushes?" I questioned one of the guards that walked with me as I inspected the preparations being made for the incoming war. We had received reports from one of our scouts that Gazel would be marching north with an army of twenty thousand in two days. If we began our match on the same day, our armies would meet on the fields of Wolfs
DamonIt was tough to get everything out of my mind, but with Hayley and the children's help, I've been able to keep my mind off the things that threatened my mental stability. We were yet to hear from Tim, but I didn't let it bother me anymore. Thanks to Hayley's help, I was convinced that he was doing alright, and I wanted to trust in her words more than my fears. "Dad, when will you take us horse riding?" Adriella asked as she brushed the hair of her doll. She had been watching a lot of horse riding shows with her mother and now she wanted to try out the sport for herself. "Once you're old enough to ride a horse." I answered softly before rubbing her head gently. The little girl pouted her mouth in disappointment, but I gave her a smile to comfort her a little. There was too much going on, the last thing I wanted on the long list of troubles was a crying child. "How are their lessons going?" I asked Hayley who was helping Adriel with his assignment. "It's been going smoothly, t