ASHER Everything in me wanted, needed, to take her in that corridor there and then. Storm was ready to create hail if I did not. She was our mate, and we had longed for her since the very moment we set our eyes on her. However, while my fingers traced her silky skin, and my lips explored every inch of her that it possibly could, something within me knew that I was making a mistake. A lot of things had happened between us, and a lot of things that sex couldn't fix......no matter how bad I wished it could. I pulled away from her and shook my head. I didn't need to look at her to tell she was disappointed, I could hear it in her low, disgruntled sigh. "You're pulling away again, Asher." I took two steps back before sliding my hands into my pockets to hide my bulging erection. "It's for your own good, Sophia." She scoffed. The shrug of her shoulder was very visible as she ran her tongue through her teeth, which I could tell she was doing by the way her cheeks and lips moved. "You
SOPHIA When he left, I made sure not to do anything to stop him. Asher was right about one thing; a pot of things had happened between us, none of which sex could solve. The only thing sex ever did was complicate stuff. Yes, even for a married couple. I swallowed hard on my saliva, heaved a sigh, and found my way back into the room. I pushed the door open just a little bit to reveal the mess in front of me. Even if I was to call a maid, what would I say happened? Did I even need to explain myself? Deciding not to, I closed the door and started to walk towards the staircase. Once I stood at the top, it was easy to see maids walk by. It felt oddly nostalgic. There was a time in my life when I had to wear the same uniform and move around the pack house palace with the very same braids they did. "Excuse me, please." I called out to two maids who leaned against the wall and gossiped. They didn't seem to have much going on, I was certain I wasn't disturbing anything. "I'll need your
ASHER Never. Not in a million years had I thought I would ever find myself weeping at the feet of a woman, but if Sophia was going to be soft enough to tell me the truth, I was going to have to play all my cards right. I held on to her right leg and pressed my forehead on to her toes. "Please, Sophia. I need you to tell me why you would do it. Why would you decide to hurt a man that did nothing to you? If you hated me so much, if you wanted to cause me this much pain, you should have just killed me instead." "Asher," The words came out as a breathless whisper. I blinked twice while my ears stood at alert. Slowly, I raised my head up as my eyes searched for her face. Tears and pain, both were engraved into her golden brown eyes. She sniffed in her tears and looked away from me. I noticed how her tongue caressed her teeth as she shook her head. "I didn't do anything, Asher. I didn't kill the king." Denial? Lies? Was that the game she intended to play? 'She would never lie to u
SOPHIAAs Asher banged the door behind him, a scowl stole its way across my cheeks, causing my brows to furrow and my heart to sink into the pit of my stomach. I struggled to look around, and like a corpse, I strolled to the bed and collapsed into the dainty mattress. The soft feathers engulfed me in a warm embrace, and it was the only thing that gave me comfort while I cried into my pillow. So much for a wedding night, I thought to myself. When I woke up the next morning to see my mascara smeared all over the pillow case, I sniffed to clear my nostrils. I could tell how bitterly I had cried last night from the banging in my head. I struggled to sit up slowly, before placing my head back against the headboard, closing my eyes and raising my palm to cup my forehead. I had gone through a lot in three days, it wouldn't be strange for me to fall ill at all. Yet, I knew I needed to stay strong to look after my boys. It was clear that no one else was going to do that for me. And seein
ASHER "I...Ivan?" Both my ears stood at alert once I heard her voice. I pressed my hands against the top of my desk and rose to my feet. Adeline also seemed pressed, even shocked that the person she had been speaking about was right behind us, but she did almost nothing to show it. "Someone's there." She breathed, and I responded with a curt nod. "Guess we better hope no one was eavesdropping, right?" It was my turn to speak as I started to walk to the door. Adeline let out a careless scoff as she turned around to look at me. "You know I don't care less, Asher." I tilted my neck just a little to stare at her as I nodded my head. Yes, I was fully aware of that, and it was a problem. It was hard to tell if she was lying or saying the truth because she had nothing to lose and absolutely nothing to gain. I pushed the door open completely and stepped outside to see Ivan looking down at...Sophia? My brows furrowed in a scowl as I looked down at her. Wasn't she supposed to be in be
SOPHIA I tilted my head to watch him walk away from me. He slid his hands into the side pockets of his suit trousers and made gentle strides down the stairs. My heart squeezed in my chest. How long was I supposed to endure this? How long was I going to keep letting him walk away? Was I supposed to sit back and let him walk all over me? Talk to me when he wanted to, and toss me to the side when he didn't? Didn't I deserve better? Didn't I deserve to be acknowledged, taken care of, loved? I let out a shaky gasp at the thought of the last word. Love. Have I ever experienced or received it? My father was the last person to show me that I could be loved, and he died more than fifteen years ago. And my boys…yes, my boys loved me too. So why did I care if Asher didn't? Or if he pretended not to? I shook my head and sniffed in my tears. No more crying, I thought to myself. I had done that for as long as I could remember, so I knew better than anyone that it didn't change anything
AUTHOR Reed Borne - as he liked to call himself - the only legitimate son of Hera Borne, older sister to the late king Gunter Morris, and the son of a drug addict, a failure for a father. He reclined into the sofa as he stared out of his room balcony. Another puff of smoke escaped his nostrils and he smiled to himself. Reed never liked to think, but it was all he found himself doing lately. Thinking about the past, the present and the future while knowing that only the past and the present were defined. However, he knew the future he wanted. His smile dissolved into a mischievous grin. He had goosebumps, "thought-gasms" while thinking about it all the time. He could imagine a future where Asher Morris was as miserable as he was, where Asher Morris didn't have the love of family. It was the one thing his father, Gunter Morris, deprived him of. It was also the reason he could not forgive the man even in his death - which he, Reed, was totally responsible for by the way. He dropped
ASHER "More room needed in the OB/GYN ward…yeah? No, alright. I'll make sure to send that to doctor Maurice…sure, sure, okay…" I tried to distract myself with the conversation that obviously didn't concern me. A nurse had her phone between her shoulder blade and her right ear while she scribbled into a notepad as she walked past me. For a second, just a brief second, she masked the painful sight of Sophia holding on to an unconscious David. We had been in the hospital for over ten hours, still David was yet to regain consciousness. I couldn't help but blame myself. If I wasn't so busy arguing with Sophia, I would have been able to stop him from having the cakes he had, if I had known he was allergic to nuts, that is. "Daddy?" Darwin tapped my right leg. I looked down to see his head resting on my thigh, a small smile crept up to my cheeks. "Is D gonna be okay?" I stole my gaze away from Darwin and looked through the glass window to see David. His eyes were shut, and he wore an
This has been an emotional roller coaster for me. This story began in January, and since then, a lot of things have happened. I’ve been sick, I’ve had countless visits to the hospital, gotten an operation, entered final year in medical school, a lot of things actually. And finally, after nine months, I get to say goodbye to the beautiful Morris family, and everyone involved in their story. It wasn’t easy, but you all stood by me. I hope you enjoyed this story as much I almost enjoyed writing it. And I hope to see you again in my next project coming in OCTOBER, and my debut billionaire romance novel. Thank you all. Xoxo, Bella Hemsworth.
SEVEN MONTHS LATER AUTHOR The sound of the door closing had everyone up on their feet. Daniel, Darwin, Lillie who had been fidgeting on her seat, Queen Sophia, even little Emilia. The doctor blinked twice, fairly surprised by how fast they had all stood. All the set of eyes that peered at her caused her to clear her throat. She couldn’t blame them for being anxious. Princess Darla had been in the labor room for over eight hours. “How’s everything? How’s she? How’s…?” Lillie moved to the front, and the doctor smiled at her. “Everything is fine, your highness. Princess Darla has just delivered two beautiful and handsome children.” Silence hung in the air for three brief seconds. Yes. The doctor had counted. “Does this mean…?” Lillie asked with wide eyes. “Yes.” The tall lady replied. “Twins.” “Oh my God!” Lillie screamed, tears in her eyes as she watched everyone else rush into the room. They were supposed to have gone in one by one, but even the doctor knew better than to tr
Lillie’s POV *THREE WEEKS LATER* I stood outside Darla’s room, taking a deep breath before knocking softly. No response, but I knew she was in there. I could hear her crying from where I stood. Even her large twin doors had done nothing to mask the sound of her sorry. I turned mine into a ball in my throat and swallowed hard to push it down to my stomach. It couldn’t come out, not today. I reached for her door knob, opened the door and found her sitting on the edge of her bed, her face pale, her eyes swollen from crying. The black dress Darwin had gotten for her lay untouched in a rumpled mess beside her."Darla, you need to get ready," I said gently, stepping inside. "It’s time."She shook her head, her hands trembling as they gripped the sheets. "I can’t," she whispered. "If I get dressed… if I go downstairs… it means he’s really gone. That Logan is really gone, and I’ll never see him again. The love of my life, Lillie… the father of my child." Her voice cracked, her should
David’s POV Blood. All over the room. Dripping from every wound in my body. I didn’t need to see my reflection in the mirror to know I had been beaten up real good. Yet, when I saw it, a bitter chuckle forced its way out of my throat. I had managed to kill them all even in my state. The fuckers must have known they wouldn’t be able to stand a chance, hence why they had to poison me. In those last minutes of my life, the faces of my brothers flashed in my mind as I sat on my bed. My brothers, my sisters, my darling mother who had seen so much loss in her time. I never thought I’d see them again. I thought that, by the time they reached the hospital, I’d be long gone. When the rogues came, I was sure it was over. They had knives, weapons—I barely had the strength to lift my arms, but something inside me, something primal, wouldn’t let me give up. Not yet. Not before seeing my family one last time. If they could get to me, that is. There was no guarantee they had been able to make it
Darwin’s POV Heavy is the head that wears the crown, but there wasn’t a crown on my head. However, I knew I had stepped into David’s shoes the moment he was hospitalized. It suddenly made sense why he had been so stoic and protective of everyone. For the first time in a long time, I could feel what he felt. The weight of the world resting on my shoulders. My world, and that of Dark Moon at large. Even as I ripped Jace’s head from his neck, the reality of what had just happened sank deeper as I looked at him—the cousin who once laughed with us as children, now reduced to this: A lifeless head in my hands. Who would have thought I would be the one to end his life? Who would have thought that he’ll be the one to turn our lives around? To hurt my brothers, to betray the only family he could call his? His eyes, once filled with arrogance and ambition, were now vacant, staring up at the sky even in his death. But now, he would be unable to see any fucking thing. His life had ended.
Darwin: The battle was far more brutal than expected. Dead bodies lay across the ground, a mix of our own people, rogues and rebel soldiers. Daniel and I were yet to turn as we were preserving our energy to fight our common enemy. A wolf lunged at me and I caught it by its collar and snapped its next in one move. It dropped to the ground, slowly shifting back to its human form as it took its last breath. Another one came and I sank my claws into it, twisting and tearing its guts out so it lay on the floor in a disgusting pile. I only one had one intention as I made my way towards the Palace. And that was to make sure Lillie and my family members were safe. After I'd confirmed that they were, I would return here and find Jace. The hall was empty. Void of anyone, so I knew they had all been carted away to safety to the Palace's secret basement. I heard a familar sob and hurried towards the corner leading to the underground building. Lillie was crouched beside Logan w
Lillie's POV: Tonight was a wedding and the whole Palace was bright with the hustle and bustle of activities. A decorating team had been employed to decorate the area and it had gone on for about two days. Tonight, they were finishing up the rest of the decorations as guests began to arrive. I heard the Queen's voice from where I stood in Darla's room. She was yelling at the decorating team for their slow pace and we all laughed when she asked one of the ladies to get out of her sight. "It's not mother's wedding and yet, she yells like it's hers." Emilia said from where she stood, our beautiful flower girl, getting dressed by some of the maids. Darla chuckled from where she sat in front of her vanity table. "Mother can be a control freak at times. Don't tell her I said this, or she's going to serve my body to the guests." Emilia grinned in mischief and I instantly knew she was going to use emotional blackmail now that she had power over Darla. "Wh
Lillie's POV: Things were going smoothly. More than I expected. I banished the thoughts of something ruining the good time everyone was having and decided to, for once in my life, be happy that things were going the way I wanted. Queen Sofia was forced to interceed on Logan's behalf and the embargo of being a slave was taken off him. Darla made it a point of duty to remind her every waking moment of the day until the Queen decided to have rites held on Logan's behalf. And now, they were seen always having little cute moments around the palace. Logan and Darla were always found in each other's arm and I always saw the look on the Queen's face. Even after taking the banishment off Logan's head, she still wasn't in approval of their relationship. But as time went on, she became busy with other things and paid them no heed until I found her one day, smiling at Darla and Logan as they sat at the porch. Darla had her head on Logan's lap as he read her a book. It was such a
Lillie's POV: I paced from one end of the room to the other, trying to come up with words to say to my brother. Logan stood, head bowed low, at the other end of the room. I could tell he was feeling extremely bad, but not guilty. He finally stood tall, steeling his expression as he stared right at me. "What are you going to do? Judge me for following my heart? Call that a mistake also?" I honestly had nothing to say to him if I was being honest. I was just surprised that Logan and Darla were ever a thing. I wasn't angry or judgemental. I just didn't like how it had been hidden from me. Did Logan not trust me? Or hadn't I been a good enough elder sister for him to talk to? These were the thoughts that plagued my mind. I turned to him and sighed. "When did you start Dating Darla?" "We're not... dating," He replied. "Though we really like each other a lot." "So when did all these start?" He scoffed. "Do I have to tell you all the details?" "Yes. I have to know."