A nervous pit settles in Leila’s stomach as she reads through the divorce papers, shaking her feet under the table. She stuffs it back into her bag, frowning at the other item in there, the test result of her pregnancy. One of them will be in the Alpha’s hands tonight. She picks up the cold glass of freshly squeezed orange juice from the gold plated table of the restaurant's VIP section where she is sitting and as she sips, her eyes scan the space and she can see the eyes leering at her. In a VIP section with ten tables that can sit up to forty guests, she is the only one sitting there. Tatum either booked the whole place out for their surprise date night or the pack members who can afford it are just avoiding her as usual. Tatum has barely said two words to her since their argument about Kelvin, in fact, she barely sees him. He leaves the house very early in the morning and returns far into the night, heavily reeking of Carmela’s smell but Leila doesn’t dare to complain, she is qu
Leila looks away from his eyes. How dare she endear him when it brings pain to her heart knowing it only gives her a hope she shouldn’t have. Afterall, the names were only to amplify their act to everyone and now the gig is up.“Leila…that day when I married you, I meant every word, every promise,” Tatum says in a calm voice, his eyes carrying an emotion Leila can’t quite describe.He promised a lot that day. He promised to always be there for her, to help and to protect, even though...they are not mates.They aren't. Tatum knew that, and lied to the pack for her.She once thought it might be the result of somewhat a small but real affection in his heart for her, but now...she realises it's only because her life was saved by his Luna. She is just a symbol of Carmela in his eyes. Nothing more.None of them thought Carmela would come back. Only he did, only he kept searching for her.The signs are there since Carmela returned, she cannot allow herself to hope, he will break his promise f
“Good evening Alpha,” The three chorus, smiling from ear to ear when Tatum breaks the hug.“I didn’t hear you greet the Luna.” Tatum’s voice is cold and with a command, his eyes flashing red, a sign his wolf is also agitated.“Good evening Luna.”The three quickly bare their necks to Leila, feeling terrified by their Alpha’s dominating aura.“Evening ladies,” Leila replies passively, grabbing her glass of juice and looking mindlessly away, knowing Tatum’s full attention will be turned to Carmela. She may just as well pretend to be a ghost at the table.“Can we sit with you Alpha?” Tracy eagerly says, smiling down at Tatum.A deep growl from inside Tatum’s throat is the response she gets and Carmela quickly pulls her back, smiling at Tatum.“Forgive her Alpha, we’ll take another table,” she says, leading her group to the table behind Leila and Tatum.“The Alpha was going to allow us to sit with him, you shouldn’t have pulled us away,” Philomena says the moment they sit down, frowning
Tatum didn’t return for the rest of that night.Leila stares outside the car window as she makes her way to Tatum’s father’s house, seeing a bunch of kids engaged in a fierce water gun fight and she smiles as a distant memory comes to her mind of her and Tatum always being a team at this sport when they were younger.Sometimes, she wishes Carmela never got the phoenix mark because that is when everything changed, when Tatum’s attention shifted from her as a friend to Carmela as his future Luna, only for her to discover as puberty hit her that those fun moments as kids had sown a deep seed of affection for him in her little heart.She hardly sees Tatum now, he doesn’t even come home some nights and it hurts because she knows exactly where he is and why and tomorrow, Carmela will move in permanently with them so whatever they get up to will be right under her nose.Carmela’s panic attacks have gotten worse instead of better and the Alpha of the Blood Oak Pack is the only one that can cal
Cheers, jokes, smiles, laughter, everyone seems happy, everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, enjoying this lunch but not Leila, she is just stabbing her food, occasionally giving comments when she has to and keeping that placid yet fake smile on her face.She used to be the centre of attention whenever she visited Alpha Darren, his questions and riddles to test people’s wit used to be directed at her but now, it’s like he doesn’t even see her, no one sees her, not him, not his wife, not even her own husband.“Saving Leila’s life came as an instinct to me. I always thought I was going to be Luna since I was ten and I thought of it as my duty to save the life of a subject,” Carmela replies to a question from Alpha Darren and the room goes silent, all eyes falling on Leila.Leila keeps her head down, avoiding the many eyes leering at her, knowing Carmela just put her on the spot.“But of course, Leila wasn’t just any subject, she was also my best friend. I’m glad she’s the one Tatum
Surprised to hear Carmela yelling and seeing the cold look on the old Luna’s face, Leila lets go of Carmela’s arms, still confused about the absence of the scar.“Ouch..” Carmela cries out, gripping her wrist as if to massage it but she twists it out of its socket, causing hot tears to stream down her eyes.“What have you done to my daughter in law, you silly girl?!” Adaline, Alpha Tatum’s mother, yells at Leila, storming forward.Leila freezes at her words, shock evident in her eyes and pain pinching her heart. Adaline has never hidden her displeasure towards her but she never expected her to call Carmela her daughter in law openly. “My wrist, I think it fell off its socket,” Carmela cries, gingerly supporting the damaged wrist with her other hand, her face a mess of tears.“What? How?” Leila turns to her with a confused expression, trying to hold the arm but Carmela backs away.“Don’t touch it, don’t touch me, it hurts, it really hurts.”“Get out of the way,” Adaline shoves Leila,
Leila gasps in shock, clutching her chest at the pain that rips through her. Her head spins, feeling like it is ready to split open. The torture is emotional, mental, as well as physical.He turned his back against her, he didn’t take her side, he doesn’t choose her yet again but she wants to hear him say it, she wants to hear the words from his lips, she wants to hear him say: ‘I believe you are a monster, a vindictive woman who hurt my true mate out of bitter jealousy.’“Alpha,” she sobs silently, her eyes full of pain, every syllable laden with agony. “I know I am not above the law but do you believe I broke it?”Tatum frowns, looking down at the pitiful Carmela gently resting in his arms before he turns his gaze upon Leila but before he can speak, Carmela cries out.“My arm…..I can’t take it anymore, this pain is going to kill me,” she wails, seeing that the cold look in Alpha Tatum’s eyes was morphing into a pitiful one as he looked at Leila.“Stay here till I return, I will see
“I can’t believe Leila would do such a despicable thing,” Edna snorts, gritting her teeth.Surrounded by friends, Carmela is still with her innocent, harmless smile, lying on a hospital bed when they are all condemning Leila.“Oh, I can believe it, that little shit is the devil,” Tracy replies in a stern tone. “She wants to maim Carmi so she won’t look pleasant in the eyes of the Alpha.”“Then she is a fool because what the Alpha and Carmi share transcends looks and abilities, it is a love formed and made permanent by the bond,” Edna retorts.Carmela blushes subtly at Edna’s words before a sullen look creeps up her face. “I don’t know if she did it on purpose but her grip was so strong that when I tried to free my wrist, she broke it.”Edna rushes over to Carmela, cupping Carmela’s face, her gaze flushed with concern. “When you become Luna, you should make her pay dearly for doing this to you.”“But I told you guys, I don’t-”Tracy steps forward and gently presses her index finger aga
“How is this possible?” Trent asks in shock, unwilling to believe what his eyes just witnessed. Adaline has been laying in a pool of her own blood with wounds all over. How is she fucking healed? And Darren has him pinned to the floor. Did he suddenly recover from his illness? He looks sharply at Leila, getting a thought as the blue aura emanating from her slowly starts to dim. Is she the one behind this? Does she have some kind of healing power? “Are you okay, Father?” Leila asks Darren, slowly walking towards him, her heart full of relief and gratitude. She has no idea what happened or why that powerful aura burst forth from her but something tells her that it has something to do with Trent’s recovery. “Never been better,” Darren applies more pressure to keeping Trent in place, “I think whatever happened with you just now healed me, I feel so young and strong.” Leila blinks and tears roll down the corner of her eyes. She immediately mindlinks some of her trusted warriors and fo
“No…” Trent’s voice is filled with terror upon seeing Leila, “you shouldn’t be here, you should be dead.” Leila sneers at him, “you think you’re one step ahead of me with your plotting and scheming to have me sent to the palace so you could get rid of me but the problem with being a step ahead is that you leave steps behind and you never know what’s going on behind you.” “Bullshit!” Trent growls, his eyes red and full of murderous intent as he stares at Leila. “You made a very foolish decision coming back here, your plan should have included you running for your dear life just like your cowardly husband because now I’m going to kill you myself, then I’ll kill this old fool and his wife. Nothing will stop me from my destiny.” Leila grinds her teeth, feeling so much anger inside of her from Trent’s words but she manages to keep the anger away from her eyes and her voice becomes sullen like someone riddled with fear from Trent’s threat. “Why? Why are you doing all of this?” She backs
Trent quickly tries to move out of the way but he’s not fast enough and her claws tear into his cheek, making him yell in pain. She’s been behind the door the whole time listening to the conversation between him and her husband and the more Trent revealed the depth and treachery of his schemes, the more she hated herself. She was Carmela’s number one supporter. All those things she did to Leila, all the many times that she made the poor girl’s life hell, it was because of this man and his evil deeds. “You bastard,” Adaline growls, charging at him again, taking another swipe at his face but this time, Trent blocks her attack and shoves her back. He wipes the speck of blood on his already healing face and rubs it on his finger. “I’d ask your husband to put you under control but seeing as he is not fit to carry out his manly duties, I’ll do it myself.” He throws a punch at Adaline but she ducks underneath it and kicks the back of his leg, making him stagger forward. “You don’t dese
Darren already knows this so it does not come as much of a surprise to him but he never thought Trent would openly admit his atrocity, which makes him gaze at Trent with a bit of surprise in his eyes. Trent scoffs, reading the look on Darren’s face and he smirks. “I’ll admit that I had a little bit of luck with the drunk old witch, finding out what the phoenix mark was going to look like from the prophecy before anyone else. After consulting with my own witch, it wasn’t hard to discover who was most likely to be the real phoenix Luna. Imagine my anger when I found out it could be Henry’s daughter. I was livid. “I wanted to wipe out the entire family that day when I killed him but he wounded my wolf before I could take his life. Leila wasn’t even there and I was too weak to take out his wife but I figured I’d spare them and let his family watch as I stole their destiny, just like he stole mine. All I had to do was put the beautiful mark on my daughter and present her to you all. Oh,
Trent watches from a distance as Leila’s car drives out of the pack and he picks up his phone and dials a number. “She’s enroute, make it look like an accident.” He ends the call and licks his lips, still staring as the car becomes as tiny as a dot in the distance and an evil smirk adorns his lips. It’s time to take what should have belonged to him all these years. “Take me to the old Alpha’s house,” he instructs his driver, cracking his knuckles and his neck like a fighter getting ready for some action. “How art the mighty fallen,” Trent mocks Darren who is lying in bed, shivering and covered with two thick blankets, his eyes pale and as red as blood and he can even barely keep them open. “The once great Alpha Darren the ruthless,” he shakes his head pitifully, “look at how pathetic you have become. This is what you get from deciding to surround yourself with weaklings!” He yanks the top blanket of Darren’s body. “No Trent, stop…” Darren weakly reaches out to grab the blanket b
“Darren told me the king summoned you?” Adaline sobs, wiping her face with the back of her hand. Leila squints at her, confused at why she’s crying. “Yes,I’ll be leaving at dawn. Is everything okay?” “Yeah…” Adaline sniffs, “I just wanted to thank you Leila, for everything. Since you became Luna, even if it’s only been a short while, the pack has prospered.” Leila keeps the look on her face blank. She’s always put her best into being Luna no matter what and made sure things progressed. She can even say she did more back then when everyone treated her terribly than she is doing right now. It only seems like a lot because she is wrestling with an opposing tyrannical power and this time, instead of seeing her as an usurper, the people are seeing her as a Saviour. “We all have duties we have to carry out, you don’t have to thank me for doing what I have to do,” Leila replies, glancing through the mess of things she has scattered on her bed. Her mind is continually hassled by what th
Leila’s newfound revelation of Tatum’s long lasting love for her somehow just happened to be the boost that her mind and spirit needed. Rather than spend time wallowing in worry and fear, she now catches herself fantasizing about her future with him. Knowing that he has always loved her and seeing how they have been through so much together, she believes their love can only grow stronger. She takes a day off from her Luna duties for the first time in a while to have a spa date with Amanda and some other women that were pivotal in helping her stabilize the pack. Things are running more smoothly now, Trent has been quiet, not stirring up much trouble with more and more people offering her their support over him. She doesn’t worry but she also cannot wait to be reunited with her family. Whatever Tatum is planning, she hopes it works out soon because she is sure that his plan includes them being together, she just has to be patient and make sure that he returns back to the pack better
Leila sets down a cup of coffee on a stool beside Darren and she takes hers, sitting beside him. Darren takes a long sip before smiling at her. “You know, from when you both were kids, I’ve always wished you would be his fated mate. Tatum did too, he would always speak about it, even if was just out a boyish crush. Do you remember the night your father died?” It is a night Leila remembers too well. She had faked an illness to avoid going on the trip to the neighboring pack with them so she could attend Tatum’s birthday party. The next morning, her mother showed up wounded, her father dead and Carmela was named the phoenix Luna a few days later. She can hardly ever forget those days. Trent stole her father from her and Carmela stole her destiny, how can she forget? “I try not to remember it,” she replies in a wry tone. “Hmmm,” Trent takes another sip of his coffee. “That night was the first time I realized that Tatum’s affection for you was not just something in passing. He had
How is it even possible? Tatum never mentioned it to her, not once. That man clearly mentioned the word ‘cure’, which means at some point in their quest, Tatum must have mentioned it to him. The fact that she did not have a wolf was a secret privy to very few. He was trying to get help back then when she thought he was constantly neglecting her? Why did he never tell her? “Welcome home dear,” Adaline greets Leila as she steps into the house, just as an omega rushes forward to carry Leila’s bag. “Good evening mother, how was your day?” Leila replies. She may not see eye to eye with Adaline and can hardly find it in her heart to let go of her bitterness but a cordial relationship between them is necessary for the benefit of all. “Good evening Luna,” Darren surprisingly greets her, rolled in by a wheelchair. Leila’s eyes widen slightly, happy about this new development. There’s been some visible improvement in his condition lately but this is a huge one. “You’re out of bed,” she