LANDEN’S POVMOONLIGHT PACK"Where are you going?" My voice echoed through the room, laced with a mix of frustration and disbelief.I watched her turn slowly, her expression hardened like I was nothing more than a stranger in her eyes. The sight of her, ready to go, with her bags in hand, felt like a punch to the stomach, but I covered it up with anger.Annabeth didn't answer, just kept moving as if I hadn’t spoken at all. The silence between us once filled with warmth, now felt suffocating. I strode forward, my hand instinctively reaching out to grab hers.She halted, but the fire in her eyes was enough to sear through any remaining hope I had that she might stay."I asked where you are going, Annabeth," I growled, my grip tightening slightly. I needed to hear her say it, to understand why she was walking out on us, on everything we’d built together."To give you both some peace and quiet," she spat, her voice dripping with bitterness. "A moment to enjoy your honeymoon and an heir fo
Gerald, my Beta, stood beside me, discussing the latest developments in the company and the pack.His voice was a steady hum in the background, but my mind wasn’t on the quarterly figures or the pack’s new security measures. It hadn’t been for a while.“Alpha, the new investment looks promising,” Gerald said, tapping a particular document.“We might expect a substantial return at the end of the next quarter.”I nodded absentmindedly; my eyes were flicking over the page but in my mind, I was somewhere else - thinking about her - Annabeth.The name lingered in my head like an old song that had started coming back too often these days.Years since she left; years without her sight. For so long I avoided thinking about her, hiding everything too deep down inside me believing that I had moved on.But recently things had changed; there was kind of a pull that was coming from deep down inside my soul which I couldn’t resist anymore. It was that bond of mates I tried to tear out of my heart b
ANNA’S POV“Anna, you have to run down here,” Rita’s voice shook through the phone and every word she said had panic in it. I became anxious; fear rose and my breathing became faster. “Rita, what is it?” I asked trying to sound as calm as possible although inside of me a storm is brewing. “I hired someone to investigate the whole matter,” She started angrily yet with a hint of unbelievable. ‘Well, who do you think drugged you?” The fact that she asked the question caused my heart to beat louder, the blood pulsing inside my head becoming endearing to the sound of a dangerous and turbulent water current. I gripped the phone harder and prepared myself for the worst. "Who?" “Oh it’s the shameless bastard Alex,” she muttered naming him as if the name was very bitter to her taste. That was the truth that knocked me out, leaving me stunned, gasping for a piece of air. Alex? The man who had been stalking me, proposing to me non-stop? How could he have done this?"What was he planning to
ANNA’S POVI looked at Emily from across the table, the tension in the room was so thick it felt like it was smothering me. Her eyes were bloodshot and she kept wringing her handkerchief, obviously uneasy under my stare.The silence hung like a heavy fog between us full of unstated accusations and unshed tears.At last, I spoke to fill in the gap; my voice calm but bitter with restrained fury.“Emily, why did you do it? Why did you treat me like that?”Emily’s bottom lip quivered as she dropped her gaze onto her palms refusing to look into my eyes.“Anna I… I never meant to. I swear I didn’t. But I was desperate, and… and Alex promised me—”“Promised you what? Money? Influence?” I leaned forward, my tone sharper than I intended. "What could possibly motivate you to betray someone who trusted you—your boss, me?"Emily wiped away the tears that instantly welled up in her eyes as she tried to gather herself.“I needed the money, Anna. I was in debt, and Alex knew that. He offered me mor
The house was grand and spacious to accommodate the Ellington family and it had huge tall ceilings and the walls were painted with pictures of ancestors who gave more than an impression that they could glare at any miscreant.I could sense them looking at me, just as much as I could sense the Navian’s family glaring at me. I slightly repositioned the napkin on my lap: the tension is as thick as a fog on the table and it is impossible not to notice it. Beside me, Navian looked as composed as always, and although he wasn’t exactly an aura of comfort to cling to, he was the closest thing I had nearby.But even his warmth couldn’t shield me from the icy glares of his mother, Mrs. Ellington, his sister Lila, and—most unnervingly—Elena, Navian's fiancée."So, Anna," Lila began, her voice sweet but her smile anything but. "It must be quite a change for you, dining in a place like this. I imagine it's a bit different from what you're used to?"I forced a polite smile, refusing to rise to he
I showed up at Navian's office for my routine tests, the kind of visit I've been keeping up to make sure the brain tumor doesn't return. I was so tired of calls and meetings that day that I was itching for a break.But, it was obvious by the look on Navian's face that leisure was not on the schedule as soon as I walked in.Even though Navian was buried in paperwork at his desk, it was obvious that his thoughts were elsewhere. His lips squeezed into that tight line he knew so well, and his brows were furrowed. There seemed to be something off and I suspected what it might be.“Navian?” I called softly, moving closer.He looked up, meeting my gaze briefly before his expression shifted back to guard. “Anna, you're here.”I sat down across from him. “Is everything okay? You seem... distracted.”He sighed, rubbing his temples. “It’s Elena. She’s been different lately.”“Different how?” I asked, though I already had an idea. Elena had always been a bit possessive, but recently it seemed to
After that chat with Navian, I made an effort to maintain my distance, although it was not as easy as it seemed. Our lives had grown so entwined that I was reminded of it every time I saw him or heard his voice.But I knew I had to follow through on the plan: to give him and Elena some room, to resolve their differences without me interfering.After a few days of little to no communication, I was beginning to believe that maybe, just maybe, things would get better. However, the stress seemed to increase rather than decrease. And then there was the night when everything boiled over.The day had been boring until something happened. I had spent most of the afternoon attempting to concentrate on my work but couldn’t stop thinking about Owen.He was my life, and I wanted everything to be perfect for him. At five, it occurred to me that I leave the office so early and pick him up from school by myself instead. I longed for him; nothing felt better than seeing his smile when he saw me.I pa
On our way back home, there were no sounds apart from the silence between us though so many things had happened during dinner time. The words Elena said hit me hard in my chest with an ache that grew heavier each minute. When I invited them over for dinner, I expected awkwardness but not this quick transformation of our conversation into one filled with blame and anger. And it all began when Navian picked Owen up from his school.Through my rearview mirror, Owen sat there looking out into space quietly enough for me not to hear anything else except what was going through his head. Now he was absent of his usual chattiness replaced by silent worry squeezing my heart like a vise grip. He was too young to know anything about adult relationships but there was something wrong in an unclear way that only he could feel. That made me hate myself for having caused him this distress; after all, he did not ask for it.When we got home I unbuckled him from the car seat and lifted him into my ar