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How does he know that? Leila half sneers at him.“Did you like your doll house and have you built it?” Tatum turns to Amara with a broad smile on his lips.“Papa Kev has been busy and Mama can’t help with it,” Amara replies in a somewhat wry tone, her little face holding a look of disappointment.“Yeah…your mama has always been more brains than brawn, doesn’t care for all that physical stuff but tell you what, how about we build it together while I babysit you, like the idea?” Tatum smiles at her.“Really?!” Amara replies excitedly, “You’re awesome!”She hugs Tatum and he chuckles, softly rubbing down her back.Something tugs Leila’s heart seeing the seamless interaction between the both of them, just so natural and she feels her eyes becoming wet, so she looks away quickly, a stabbing pain she doesn’t want to feel striking her heart.This is what she wanted, this is what she saw, this…..Tatum being a good father to their kids, loving them, doting on them, it’s why she held on, why sh
“You were just leaving,” Leila replies coldly, sifting for other options in her mind. She doesn’t want her mother remaining in custody for even one more second but Tatum is not looking after her child. “She’ll be safe with him, we don’t have much time,” Kelvin says in a frantic tone, his grip tightening on his briefcase. “Mama….” Amara’s little voice coerces. Leila grits her teeth, her ego taking a punch as she says. “Fine, nothing better happen to my child.” “She’ll be as safe as safe can be, you have my word.” Leila scoffs as she walks closer to Tatum, handing him Amara, mindlinking him. ‘We both know you’re not a man of your word, so just look after my child and if I find out you have anything to do with Amanda not being here or the judge’s emergency, I’ll cut your balls out and feed it to you.’ ‘You’ve always liked to have your hands on my balls Leila, I guess old habits die hard,’ Tatum replies, winking at her. ‘Fuck off and I mean it,’ her voice comes colder, frowning at
“All rise,” the court clerk announces and they all stand to their feet as the judge comes inside.The court is divided into two rows by a single aisle, each row further divided into six columns in a linear sitting arrangement.The judge takes his seat at the podium and Kelvin turns back from his attorney’s desk to look at Leila sitting right behind him on the first row on the right column, giving her a reassuring nod before taking his seat and Leila does the same.Carmela smiles sinisterly at them from behind Leila. Trent never appeared in the courtroom after giving Carmela the necessary information that she needed.The clerk remains standing, announcing. “All those having business with this court plea, stand forward and Judge Bruce Tanner will hear you.”“Bring in the accused,” the judge says and immediately, the door opens up and Liana is led in by two guards with chains around her hands and feet, her eyes looking desolate and pale, her body visibly weak.Leila’s heart breaks with p
Everyone files out of the courtroom after the session, Kelvin goes to do the paperwork for Liana’s release so she can go home with them while Leila sits on the bench just outside the courtroom waiting for them to return. She takes out her phone and calls the house phone to check on Amara. Surprisingly she doesn’t feel as anxious as she thought she would, leaving Amara in Tatum’s care. Maybe because he’s her father or probably because a part of her knows that somewhere inside Tatum’s cold and dead heart is affection and kindness, the same kindness he extended towards her when he married her after her house was attacked. He may say he did it out of selfish love which is an obvious lie because that man doesn’t have an ounce of love for her in his heart but looking back at that event, her becoming Luna was the only thing that could have saved her from the onslaught. No one takes the call, she tries again and gets the same result. A sense of panic slowly begins to rise inside her to com
Leila scoffs, a smile on her lips as she pulls back to look at Carmela in the eyes, her gaze dripping with smugness.It’s obvious Carmela believes she wants Tatum back and thinks the news of the pregnancy is supposed to make her jealous but who cares?Coming back here, she had a lot of theories in her head, one of them being that they would be a loving family, Tatum, Carmela and one or two pups but Carmela doesn’t even live with him.“Do you know who my new neighbour is?” Leila smirks smugly and Carmela frowns, giving Leila the answer she needs.“That’s right, even if you’re pregnant with his child, he still wants to wake up and see me. I’ll probably invite him over for dinner one night, you never know what a good meal, a couple glasses of strong wine, a hot dress and the right conversation can lead to?” Leila flicks her brows suggestively, a cocky smirk perfectly etched on her lips.Carmela clenches her fist, her head turning red in frustration and she sneers at Leila, her chest risi
Yes she is, she’s telling him everything but her words that she wants to be with him and he’s smart enough to see that. If only she knows how much he wants to have her, how he wants to taste those small pout lips of hers and kiss them dry of moisture, how he wants to run his tongue over every inch of her body, the many times he’s imagined being intimate with her in plenty different ways but imagination is all it will ever remain. He doesn’t want to take advantage of her. Does she really love him or is she trying to move on from who she loves using him? What if she realises it too late? He shouldn’t care about that, the other guy messed up, big time, but everytime in the last four years that he wants to make a move on her, he just finds that he cannot. He has loved this woman since he was a little boy and he wants nothing more than to be by her side for a lifetime. As a boy, he would pray daily to the goddess that she would be his mate, the one made specially for him. Nothing i
“Leila, seriously wait,” Kelvin rushes to the side of Leila’s car window as she revs up the car.She doesn’t listen, doesn’t even take a glance at him as she slams her foot down and takes off into the night, her vision blur with tears, her heart full of sorrow and pain.Maybe love isn’t meant for her. Maybe she isn’t meant to be happy with a man in her life.The man she loved with all of her heart and soul betrayed her and spat on her love and the one person who has been there for her, who she has been trying to see if things can work between them because she may have feelings for him keeps pushing her away.What else does she have to do? How else can she show him that she desires to be with him? She has said it in between words, used body language, everything.Kelvin is not clueless, she sees the look in his eyes, how he looks at her, the sensuality hidden in his gaze, the passion behind it, he has feelings for her too but why does he refuse to act on it, why does he turn down her ad
Tatum’s lips quiver, unable to utter a word as they both stare at each other. Leila’s eyes full of pain and rage, Tatum’s eyes full of pain and regret. “The guilt of my choice has been my companion for a long time and I reckon it will be for the rest of my life, I don’t deserve your forgiveness, I know, but back then, there was nothing I could do, I didn’t know how to weave my way around the law.” Rage boils inside of Leila. Even now he doesn’t see any wrong with his actions, standing behind the law, manipulating and using it to his cruel end. Has he always been this vile? What sort of a cruel monster tries to kill his own innocent child and labels it justice? He is never going near Amara again, ever. “Damn you and damn your fucking law,” she spits out with venom. “I want to see how you protect Carmela with it when I come for her because I’m going to hit her so bad, slowly peel back every layer of deceit that she has wrapped around your eyes and that of your pack members and ju
“Welcome to my humble and temporary abode Angel,” Leo smiles at Leila, opening his arms for a hug. Leila keeps her face grim, her feet rooted to the spot, barely any amusement in her eyes as she stares at Leo blankly. “My bad,” he chuckles and drops his hands, “we’re not friends yet, according to you. I’m glad you took up my offer. Come, I’ll introduce you to everyone.” Leila narrows her eyes at him as she walks in behind him. His men do not bow or show any sign of respect or anything like that as Leo walks past them. Everyone is just going about their normal duty and activities as if they cannot even see him. Even Tatum who doesn’t force anyone to respect him will not have his men just lazing about when he walks in with a guest. Is Leo really this jovial with his men or is this all an act for her to drop her guard? Make her feel like he is a warm and homely person? She only has one mission here today and that is to find her daughter. Whatever theatrics and schemes Leo has up hi
“I think you should go Leila,” Jenny says later that evening after Leila tells her of her encounter with Leo and how he both directly and indirectly gave her an invitation to his camp. Leila looks at Jenny with shock, not expecting her to say that, “can you even hear yourself? It’s an obvious trap. He already has Amara, if he kidnaps me too, then what happens?” Jenny frowns, “you’re both invitees of the king and I know where you’re going, he can’t actually kidnap you if you walk in there with your feet. This may be our only chance to confirm if he really has Amara in there or not.” Leila sighs, a sad and conflicted look on her face. Jenny has a point but it is also risky too. The Leo she met is a far cry from what she thought him to be but of course, that too might just be pretense. “I have an idea,” Jenny’s face lights up as Leila raises her head to face her, “to ensure Leo cannot do anything silly when you get to the camp, we just have to make the king aware of your visit to Leo’
What does he want with her? Is he going to— “I thought I told you boys to back off, are you trying to scare the lady?” Leo’s voice breaks into her thoughts and she looks at him with eyes agape in shock, then squinted in suspicion. “Alpha, we’re only doing our duty, it’s not safe for you to roam these streets alone, considering our current standing with the king,”one of his men replies. “The angel here knows a thing or two about standings with the king and she’s roaming, is she not? Unless you boys think a woman can handle what your Alpha can’t.” “Of course not Alpha,” the guy immediately goes on one knee and bows to Leo. Leo rolls his eyes and frowns, “you’re always too serious Dexter, I meant that as a joke but if you thought so, you wouldn’t be wrong, this lady here is a special one.” The discomfort in Leila’s heart grows and a tinge of fear rises in her from the words of Leo. He was somehow able to find out that Amara is Tatum’s daughter, what else does he know? Does he know h
“This mysterious savior of yours seems to be one of a kind,” Jenny says after Leila recounts her ordeal at Leo’s camp to her. “I guess he is,” Leila replies, her eyes holding a conflicted look, her thoughts still unsettled about the probable identity of the man and his proximity when her life is in danger. “Jenny.” “Yeah.” “Is it possible for one’s wolf to change, maybe by magic or a spell?” “Why do you ask?” Jenny squints, her face becoming doused with scrutiny and a hint of sudden realisation, “wait. You don’t think it’s Tatum, do you?” “I don’t know…” Leila replies, her voice sullen and dry, her heart soaked in grief, “if such a spell was possible, I suppose I would think so. I mean, who else would come to my rescue like that but him and his choice to stay mute too. Plus Tatum has a habit of doing things and keeping me in the dark. I’m just so confused.” Jenny heaves a deep sigh, pity covering her eyes. She sits beside Leila on the mattress and drapes her hand around her. “D
Leila immediately takes off in the direction through which she came, the guard at the post takes a swing at her with the silver spear clutched in his arms but she ducks underneath it, her heart pounding hard and fast as more guards join in the chase. She reaches the fence and in one swift move, she leaps over it but the barbed wire tears into her back and the side of her arm as she lands but the pain doesn’t deter or slow her down. Leo already has Amara, no doubt to have an edge over Tatum, if she gets caughts too, it will only make things worse and judging from what she has heard about Leo, he could do much worse than just capture her. The sound of the dogs barking and men yelling gets louder as she takes off into the deep of the woods. She almost shifts so she can gain more ground on the dogs who she can see closing in on her from her peripheral vision when she remembers the dangerous spell cast on the capital, way before Antonio even became king. It is a tale every child growing
“If your mind's made up, give me a few hours, I’ll do a cloaking spell to keep you hidden when you get there, go get our little warrior and bring her back,” Jenny replies, giving Leila a hug. Leila feels a bit of relief hearing that. With a cloaking spell, she can easily move in and out of the camp undetected and hopefully, she can get Amara out. Armed with Jenny’s cloaking spell which Jenny channeled into a bracelet around Leila’s wrist, Leila heads to Leo’s camp. As long as she keeps the bracelet around her wrist and avoids water getting on it, the ordinary eyes of men will not be able to see her. Her eyes scan the camp’s walls—high wooden fences reinforced with barbed wire and guarded by sentries, their sharp eyes scanning the darkness for any movement. She can see their figures in the distance, shifting in and out of view as they pace. She holds her breath, listening for any noise that might betray her presence. Even with the cloaking spell, she still has to be very careful, o
The next day, Leila makes her way to the palace to officially answer Antonio’s summon. She would rather be looking for Amara or Tatum right now but it’s important that she sees Antonio too. The last thing she wants to do is give him an excuse to legally place any kind of punishment on her or pack using her disobedience as an excuse. “State your business,” a rough looking guard, a guy as tall as a mountain, confronts her at the gate. “I’m here to see the king by his summon. I’m Leila Cromwell, Luna of the blood oak pack,” she replies, staring at the gates that stand tall and imposing. The guard grunts and they his eyes change colours, showing he is mindlinking, possibly confirming if she was truly summoned by the king. “Wait here,” the guard frowns, before walking through the gates and into the gate house. Leila’s heart thuds nervously as she waits aside. A lot depends on the outcome of her meeting with Antonio but what would she even say to him when she sees him? The man singl
Leila’s heart races, her breath becoming unstable from Jenny’s revelation as she tries to make sense of it. “If it wasn’t for Amara’s power that caught him off guard, he would have captured us right there and then but she bought us enough time to escape and stay hidden until Tatum and his men arrived and the moment Tatum left with Amara, Leo and his men stopped their onslaught and went after him,” Jenny concludes. Leila sighs sadly and massages her temple. This endless cycle of torment and confusion just seems to never want to stop revolving around her. She knows Amara is alive but she still cannot ascertain her safety from what Jenny is saying. It makes no logical sense for Tatum to bring Amara to the last place that she should be and another thing is how far the North Star pack is from the capital. It’s a very long journey that would take travelling through different packs and despite the measures she put in place and people she had sent to different packs in search of Tatum and A
A terrific sigh of relief escapes Leila, her eyes going wide in shock and she hugs Jenny again, tears falling out of her eyes, a rush of relief filling her heart. For many nights and days she has prayed and hoped that Amara would be safe, that no harm should befall her but why the capital, why did Tatum choose here of all places to bring her, right under Antonio’s nose. What is his plan? She breaks the hug and tugs Jenny by her arms, “do you know where she is, can you take me to her?” She asks, her heart pounding wildly, nothing would bring her more joy right now than seeing her little girl again, seeing those shiny pretty eyes, her bubbly personality. The last time they saw Amara was withdrawing into a shell because of how different she was from kids her age and how they treated her. Will she still be the same or will spending time with her father have that effect removed? “Leila , calm down,” Jenny replies, a bit of a sullen look in her eyes, “I know where she is but it’s not t