Allison's POV
After Dante left, I set about preparing to go down for breakfast. I did not want him to have to send someone to call me. If he found out I was reluctant to eat, he might just decide to stay back. I could not let that happen. I needed space to sort out my emotions, and to think. Having Dante around would only serve to jumble my thoughts. For the first time, taking a shower was an uphill task. I kept imagining Dante, unclothed and wet in the shower. I finished up quickly and threw on some clothes in a hurry to get out of my room which held so many memories of last night. This was why I got to the dining room early just as breakfast was being served by some maids. It was a new record even for me, seeing as I deliberately came late for meals just to rile Dante. Madison was already seated when I arrived. She looked up as I approached. With a quick nod of recognition and a muttered 'Good morning', she continued stAllison's POVI ended the call, more agitated than I could ever remember being in a long while. I knew Darius was so cold and selfish but this was a new low, even for him. I wished I could call him back to give him a piece of my mind, to hurt him more with my words but that would be a sign of weakness.I told myself time and time again that I didn't and wouldn't care. I had done fine on my own and handled Dante in ways I doubted anyone else would have. That had to count for something, didn't it? I was sure that I would prove Darius wrong. I would escape from Dante's pack on my own steam. I forced myself to calm down and concentrated on prying my fingers off the phone one at a time.It took some time but when I had successfully done it I felt better- a little better. But I still felt a burning anger within me. It burned
Dante's POVAmused, I watched Allison literally struggle to say something in reply. There was something really cute about her discomfiture. The telltale blush on her cheeks when she had talked with Maddox already told me what I wanted to know.She snorted. "Fall for you? Don't be silly. You are delusional today, Dante. First of all, I was not eavesdropping on your meeting." She stepped away from the pillar she had been hiding behind as she said this. "Secondly, I have no interest in you whatsoever.""Well then, how did you know I had just concluded a meeting?"She licked her lips and made an impatient movement. "Well, hmm. It is pretty obvious. You had several guards and warriors present so it was an obvious conclusion to draw."
Allison's POVStanding behind the door, I watched Dante leave. He walked quickly like he had an urgent appointment to keep. It was odd how Dante's mood had changed from being playful and teasing to being serious all of a sudden.I wondered what information he had received through the mind link to change his mood. I would even have expected him to look all gloomy and perturbed immediately after the meeting since weighty matters had been discussed there. He had been his usual flirty self and then his expression had hardened. I knew something was wrong. Something definitely was off. I had wanted to ask him what it was but on a second thought, I had kept my mouth shut. I did not need Dante's constant annoying reminder that I perhaps cared a little too much about him.When he was out of sight, I went in but
Allison's POV A guard scoffed. "Really? The Luna coming here?" He shook his head. His eyes were fixed on the drink he was having so he didn't see me come in. "Hey, when is the food coming anyway?" He looked up then and saw me. "Well, I'll be damned," he said, surprised. His companion who sat close to him elbowed him in the ribs and he grimaced in pain. There was a sound of a lot of chairs being scraped back as all the guards registered my presence. They got to their feet as one. "Good afternoon, Luna." "You're welcome." "It's nice of you to join us," they said. A few of them eyed the guard that had brought me in curiously, evidently
Dante's POVI could not help the grin on my face at Allison's reaction. At that moment, I didn't regret bringing her here- not that I had ever done so anyway. I'm sure she didn't mean to, but she always put a smile on my face when she tried to act so tough and unaffected. She had not said a word in protest since I swung her over my shoulder. I walked towards the exit, deliberately taking my time, savoring the moment, holding her the way a hunter holds a prize trophy. The guards were excited at the scene. It was good to see them so at ease. This whole traitor business had taken its toll on everyone."Way to go, Alpha," someone called."There will soon be little Alpha Dante's running around soon enough," a guard beside me said in a low tone to his companion.I pretended
Allison's POVI stood transfixed by Dante's words. Just like that, he had somehow managed to hit me where it hurt the most. I could feel something within me unraveling as the mental wall I had built to block out those painful memories shook and tottered. I could not seem to take my hands away from the door knob. They seemed glued to it. With everything in me, I concentrated on prying my fingers from the knob, but I couldn't. It was foolish of me to think that he had not noticed my peculiar habit of leaving the lights on and how it was connected to my panic attacks.A part of me knew that he would ask this question sooner or later especially since he had been a witness to my crying episode. I had just hoped that he would not be interested enough to care. I couldn't bare myself to him about this- not now or probably not ever. It was weird even thinking about how to have this conversation with Dante. Squaring my shoulders, I pushed the door open. "Stop, Allison," he said. The teasing
Madison's eyes were suddenly inscrutable, all pretense of good humor gone. Her brow puckered in a frown as she looked at me impatiently. Then, her face suddenly relaxed into a blank mask. It was too late though. I had already seen her irritation. I wondered if it was directed at me, Dante, or if it was as a result of the recent happenings in the pack. Madison was beginning to stir my curiosity. Beneath that seemingly cheerful nature, something was going on. She looked around the room, as if willing Dante to materialize from thin air. I didn't move out of the way in case she harbored the thought of coming further into the room. "You have not answered my question," I reminded her. She shrugged. "I wanted to see Dante. There is something important I want to talk to him about." I was about to ask what she wanted to talk about that couldn't wait until a decent hour in the morning, but I didn't. It wouldn't do for me to seem overly concerned about her dealings with Dante. I put a poker f
Allison's POV I felt a smile spread across my face as I walked to the front door. The guards at the door were not the same ones Madison and I had encountered the other day. They watched me approach warily. The guard said something to his companion who then looked in my direction. Teeth bared, I went closer."I'm sorry to say this, Luna but you have to go back inside," said the first guard. "The Alpha's orders-""To hell with the Alpha's orders," I shrieked. He shrugged. "Well, you can't still go out. I'm sorry."The second guard spoke up. "Please, go back inside. It is late already. Besides, what are you going to do outside at this time of the night?""None of your business," I snarled. I finally came to a stop in front of them. I planted my hands on my hips and stared them right in the face. "Now, let me make this clear to you boys. I am going outside for a walk and you will not stop me.""Actually-" began the first guard. He subsided into silence when I raised a warning finger.
Allison's POV Dante's piercing eyes surveyed everyone in the room. It was as though those eyes were able to unravel every man's secrets. Though he spoke to everyone at the same time, at that moment, it felt like he was talking to each of the men in the conference room individually. The men assembled leaned forward, their bodies tense, looking as wound up as taut strings. They hung onto his every word. The boy in the room who sat beside Dante was transfixed. I could tell that he closely followed all that his father was saying. I smiled a little at the worshipful expression in those green eyes that were so like mine. After a silence of some seconds, Dante continued, "We have been through worse in the past and this poses as no challenge whatsoever. I consider this war we are about to go on... as a form of target practice. Some of you have gotten rusty over the years, so this should be an opportunity to take out your rusty daggers and relearn how to fight." There was a ripple of laug
Allison's POV I spent most of the morning in my room. I kept replaying the scene with Dante this morning over and over in my head. Each time, I gave his words a totally different interpretation and that made me sadder. I knew that I was torturing myself by doing this, but I could not seem to stop. I had ordered for breakfast in my room. Whenever Malkiel had felt hungry, I had fed and soothed him. A short while after breakfast, Aria had come to talk to me. Sensing that something was wrong, she had asked why I did not bother to come down for breakfast and why I was cooped up in my room. Then she had prattled on about a lot of other things which I did not bother to pay attention to. My replies had been so curt that she had eventually left, but not without informing me- without me asking- that Dante had left the pack to attend to some things. It came as a surprise to me when less than an hour later, a knock sounded on the door. I immediately perceived Dante's scent outside the door.
Allison's POV For the next few hours, Malkiel's temperature kept fluctuating. Sometimes he was as hot as a live coal. Sometimes his temperature returned to normal. At other times, he felt cool to the touch, so cool that I felt goosebumps form on my skin when I touched him. It was still scary to see my baby going through these kinds of changes within the space of a few minutes. Even though I knew what had caused Malkiel's illness, it still did not make it easy to deal with. I did not know what to think- how to feel about all of this. It was too much to take in all at once. After Dante had told me about what the red mark was, I had sat watching my son for hours, thinking about all he had said. As I stared out of the window, my fingers trailed along Malkiel's chest. It was easier for me to believe what Dante had said because apart from the high temperature and the fact that he was sleeping too much, Malkiel did not show any other signs of illness. A part of me- the part which alway
Dante's POV I glared at the woman who was on her knees before me. She was crying and mumbling incoherently and had been doing that for the last few minutes. Stiffly, I walked back to my desk and sat down behind it. At least the desk provided a sort of barricade that might prevent me from hurting her. I closed my eyes, shutting out the image of her face. Slowly, I massaged my temples as I felt the headache I associated with one of my fits of rage coming on. My wolf was getting restless, wanting to come out. If it did, it would be bad for the woman- very bad indeed. Calm, be calm, I muttered to myself over and again. When I felt I was somewhat in control of myself, I raised my head and pinned her with my stare. "So, what are you trying to say, Tessa?" I said. "Apart from the Luna and I, you are the only one who spends so much time with my son as you are his nanny. Explain to me how the hell this happened under your watch." "It didn't-" I motioned her to be silent. "The Luna
Allison's POV My eyes lighted on the most adorable baby sleepsuit I had ever seen. I caught my breath in delight. A woman was in front of the rack where the sleep suits were displayed. She was looking at the one that had caught my eye consideringly as though she was thinking of buying it. Abandoning the shopping cart for Aria, I dashed forward and took it off the hanger, startling the woman a bit. I walked back to Aria who was trying to see what I was holding. "What have you got there, Luna?" she asked. "Only the most adorable little sleep suit for Malkiel." I held it up for her inspection. She shook her head emphatically. "Nope, definitely not. This isn't... Malkiel's style at all." I grinned. "How do you or anyone know what Malkiel's style is? He's just a baby." "And he won't like that, trust me. There are some clothes I dress him up in and he then tries to take them off by all means. That way, I know that he doesn't like them." "You don't like it, you mean. What is wrong
Dante's POV With a flourish, Maddox handed me a document that had every inch filled with letters and figures. "Here, take a look at this," he said smugly. I settled down to read what he had given me. Without taking my eyes off the document, my hand wandered across the desk. Anticipating my wants, Maddox pushed the calculator towards me. I snatched it up and for the next few minutes, the only sound in the room was the faint beep of the calculator keys as I put together the figures before me. When I was done, I leaned back and whistled in surprise. "How accurate is this?" I inquired. Maddox flashed a smile. "I knew you would ask that. It is very accurate. I went through it thoroughly. I knew that you would want to see the documents sooner or later, so I prepared in advance. Surprising, isn't it?" "Not entirely," I replied after a few seconds' hesitation. "I was sort of expecting something like this. But the figures- the figures are quite astronomical. Wow." Maddox had given me
Allison's POV A pleasurable thrill went through me. Dante had that look in his eyes that told me he wanted us alone, together. My insides warmed at the intensity of his gaze. I nodded. He grinned and pressed me even closer to his body. "That's my girl. You said what I have been wanting to hear all evening," he murmured. He stepped away, looked around, and slid an arm around my waist. He walked quickly and I was almost forced to run to keep up with his stride. He weaved his way expertly among the guests we ran into. He seemed to have an instinctive knowledge of who wanted to engage us in some sort of conversation. We got inside and I was about to push the door of his room open when he kneaded my bottom. "Dante!" I exclaimed, laughing. "Let's get inside first. There are too many people tonight." As soon as we got in, he planted a burning kiss on my lips. I moaned softly, responding eagerly to the feel of his lips against mine. I had thought that with the birth of our child, the p
Allison's POV Aria stood at the entrance of my room. She walked further into the room, her flowing, black velvet dress rippling as she moved. She stopped beside my bed and regarded me closely. "Well, I don't believe it!" she exclaimed. "Luna, I can't believe that you are not dressed yet." I yawned and stretched. "I will get dressed... eventually." Aria gaped and shook her head. "The time is 6 pm. 6 pm!" she repeated when I said nothing. "The ball is due to start anytime from now. Your hair and makeup aren't even done yet. Luna, you should have been ready hours ago." I grimaced at the word make-up. "Who needs make-up anyway?" I grumbled. "It even wastes time. I have an idea, Aria. How about I go downstairs with no make-up on? I will just er- try to fix my hair up a little." Tria looked scandalized at the very idea. "Definitely not, Luna. What would people say? You are one of the reasons why this ball is holding. You have to be perfect for tonight. A lot of people from other
Allison's POV The first person I saw when I opened my eyes was Dante, sitting on the bed beside me. I gaped at him. My first thought was that I had died and gone to whatever paradise the Moon goddess provided for my kind. While I had been semi-conscious after giving birth, I had thought I heard his voice in my room. But I had dismissed the evidence of my ears, tagging it to be a product of my overactive imagination. Now here he was, right before me. When I blinked, his form did not waver or turn to smoke like it had in my dream. I did not want to get my hopes up, but I gradually started to believe that it was Dante I saw. He saw me looking and gave me his familiar lopsided grin. "Dante," I croaked. "Is- it really you?" He looked at me with such love and longing that I felt my insides melt. I put out a hand and touched his warm flesh. "Yes, it is me, my love. I am here with you." I took a deep, shuddering breath. The sound of his voice drove home the fact that I was not dream