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