Liela stares at the test result in disbelief, her ears ring as Amanda’s voice comes as if through water–
“Congratulations Luna, the heir to the Blood Oak pack is five weeks old. In PERFECT condition. You are going to be a Mom!”
The only thing going through Liela’s mind is: Thank God her gynaecologist also happens to be her best friend, otherwise she won’t even have a chance to keep this a secret.
She has to keep it a secret, at least until she can figure everything out.
How could she be pregnant? The Alpha doesn’t want one, and he has done all the precautions he could. So how could she be pregnant?!!! Liela can’t even pinpoint exactly which time went wrong because it happened many times more than usual recently. But that doesn’t matter now.
The question Liela needs to answer now is: what to tell Alpha Tarum.
Does she even tell him? If she just takes care of the abortion herself, then he doesn’t have to know.
After all, he is not in the pack right now. He is out there looking for HER, as always.
“You don’t look too happy,” Amanda cups Leila’s face worriedly, “are you alright?”
Is she alright? She hasn’t been, not a day since she married Tarum. More accurately, not a day since Carmela died for her. Carmela was supposed to be his Luna, not her. She was the one who the rogues took. If only she had died like fate wanted for her, but no, Carmela took her place, and her life has broken into pieces since that day.
She lost her best friend, the whole pack deems her stealing the Luna’s title from Carmela. And did she? The Alpha never believed that Carmela really died, and he spends all his spare time out there looking for Carmela.
Even if she stole, she stole only an empty title.
“I’m fine…” Leila forces a smile, “Too…exciting, the news is.”
“I totally understand!” Amanda squeezes Leila’s hand firmly, her eyes too genuine for Leila to look at, “You and the Alpha have been trying for over two years now! The whole pack was starting to worry! I know how much pressure you were under, I totally do.”
Yeah, Amanda doesn’t understand, at all.
Leila smiles faintly at her innocent friend. It’s the Alpha’s responsibility to bring an heir to the pack, so they have been putting up the image of trying hard at it. Otherwise the pressure would be on him.
What sarcasm! She not only carries a problem in her womb, but also has to accept people congratulating her for it with a smile.
“The Alpha’s joy is going to be over the roof when he gets the news. After two years, he finally has a scion, now he can feel like a true Alpha,” Amanda replies, already daydreaming about the seven day banquet, customary to celebrate the birth of a new Alpha.
“Hmm, about that,” Leila takes a deep breath and cuts in before Amanda dreams all the way to when the baby is born, “I want to bring Alpha the news myself, so before that…”
“I understand!” Amanda laughs, patting Leila’s hand, “Not a word out of my office until you brief your dear husband! Trust me!”
Amanda is THE gossip of the pack, but Leila has to trust her this time. As if she has any other option.
“Amanda, we have been waiting for this for too long, and I just want it to be perfect, can you understand?” Leila takes a deep breath, saying the smooth lie she has been practising for the past two years, “Not just to the Alpha, okay? Not a word, to ANYONE–”
“Who’s in there? She has been talking forever!” A woman’s sharp voice comes through the closed door, obviously loud on purpose for them to hear.
Leila glances at Amanda worriedly before she stands up. This should just be a “routine check-up”, people would get suspicious if they take too long.
“Don’t shush me! The Luna title doesn’t give her the right to be a bitch!” The woman continues her sassy comments, “If she could get pregnant, she would have in the past two years!”
“The rumour is that the moon goddess sealed her womb because the title doesn’t belong to her.”
“That serves her right! She stole the title from her friend! One that saved her damn life! I’d be too ashamed to live if I were her–”
Leila opens the door calmly and the hallway falls into an awkward silence. The sassy woman halts her words, too, but not before she shoots Leila a mean glare. Leila glares back, and the woman bares her neck under the pressure of her Luna’s aura.
Leila normally avoids conflicts like this. She deems all her suffering the way to redemption because she knows she can never repay Carmela. But these people don’t get a say when they have little idea what happened. Even if she doesn’t care about her own reputation, Leila can’t allow them to discuss the Alpha like this behind his back.
“You do not–” Leila doesn’t get to finish.
“What’s going on here?!” A cold, dominant voice rises before echoing the hallway, attracting everyone’s attention.
Leila shoots her head up, frozen at the man striding over. Alpha Tatum. The youngest Alpha to have taken the title in the history of their pack. The man with a face that breaks every girl’s heart, and the body of a Greek god.
Leila's heart skips a beat.
The sassy woman already melts on the seat, legs shaking as well as her lips. Leila frowns at her before she walks up to the Alpha.
“What are you doing here–”
Before Leila could even finish, Alpha Tarum already passed as if not even noticing her. His rough shout piercing the hallway: “Where the hell are all the damn doctors?! Get me a doctor, now!”
Leila has never seen the man being this hasty. He is always calm, the living symbol of reason. Nothing makes him lose his cool.
Following the Alpha are four men carrying a stretcher, and on there lies a woman with a sickly beauty on her face. She is soundly sleeping and doesn’t seem to be in any critical situation.
And Leila understands it now. With her head buzzing for what she just seen, she understands only one thing now:
Carmela is back. Finally, he found her.
The doctors didn’t find anything wrong with Carmela except a few bruises, but Tatum insisted on her being hospitalised for the best care with a full bodycheck. Leila spends all the time she can squeeze out visiting Carmela.The whispers about her have gotten louder than ever now that Carmela has returned, with everyone asking, when will Alpha Tatum make Carmela his Luna?The question is not if he will but when he will. Everyone in the pack is so certain of it. As for Leila, she pretends not to hear these gossips, she tries not to think about it. She is just happy that her long-lost best friend who saved her has returned but the happiness is not a full one.Leila knows the truth in her heart and it is the pain that comes with it that makes her still live in denial.Alpha Tatum has tirelessly spent the last two years looking for his lost love and now that he found her, it was only a matter of time before she got the axe of rejection and let his rightful woman take her place.She knew sh
However, she says nothing and turns. She is not going to let this bitter women come between her and her best friend. They are Carmela’s friends, and they are picking on her on purpose because Carmela sacrificed herself for her.She has no position to defend herself.As she heads for the bathroom to get a mob, Edna shrieks behind her: “Who are you leaving this mess to?! Get the shards first! It could hurt someone, jeez!”Leila nods and kneels to pick up the bigger ones with panicking hands, and it is at this moment, the door opens after a short knock, and Leila looks up with the shards cupped in her palm, only to meet the Alpha’s cold eyes.“What are you doing?” He notices Leila and instantly, a frown crawls onto his handsome face.“Alpha!” Carmela jumps off the bed and runs to the Alpha, throwing her arms around his neck like when they were kids, “Can I please, please leave the hospital now? Pleaseeee.”Her cute tone got a light laugh out of the Alpha and he pats her on her waist to ge
Leila tosses and turns on the pristine white sheets of her soft mattress, her red and puffy eyes settling on the chandelier dancing to the tune of the strong wind blowing in from the open window.She smiles bitterly at the ornament swinging above her, it reminds her of own self. She is not in control, she just dances to the tune of whatever terrible music her miserable life is playing.Two years ago, she was just a regular girl hoping to find her fated mate, to live a simple life with him and raise beautiful children but life has her right now as a hated Luna and a jilted wife.Tatum promised to come home after dropping Carmela but it’s been hours and he is still with her, probably reminiscing of the love they used to share before Carmela disappeared She blinks back the tears tugging at her eyes as her chest tightens in pain from the thought. They aren’t mates. She forgot. She shouldn’t have let his kindness cloud that.It was his ultimate act of kindness that made him marry her. Aft
Tatum is sitting on Carmela’s bed in the dark, with Carmela on his legs, her head resting calmly on his chest, with one of his arms around her waist while the other slowly runs up and down her hair.As his Luna and bearer of his mark, the mindlink gives Leila access to all of Tatum’s physical senses and what she sees in her vision cripples her heart, forcing the tears she has been holding back to run down the corner of her eyes.Whatever hope she held out that she meant something to him instantly shatters and an unbearable pain rips through her.A pained smile curves up Leila’s lips and she is about to cut the mindlink when Tatum’s voice barrages into her head.‘What is it?’The coldness of his voice hurt her even more than the image in her vision. It’s like this man feels absolutely nothing but irritation towards her since Carmela returned.Before Leila can even form words in her head, Carmela notices the glow in Tatum’s eyes and guesses it’s Leila mindlinking him.She jumps down from
The rich smell of coffee and excess milk wafts into Leila’s nostrils and her sullen gaze shifts from the mug to his handsome face but she doesn’t reply to him not knowing how to feel. Tatum’s fingers grazes her arm as he pulls away and his mere touch sends tingles of pleasure through her body.Bringing her coffee every morning in bed was his usual routine, something she has grown used to but why still bring her coffee this morning when he spent the night in the arms of his love?Did he even remotely think about how she must have felt yesterday when he made that decision? Were her feelings something that mattered to him or was she just an object that he took pity on and had fun with while he searched for his true mate?“Earth to Leila,” Tatum snaps his finger and his voice brings her back to reality.Leila gulps, feeling her heart pound with raw nervousness and she drops the mug on the bedside.It’s now or never. If she wants to rid herself of this agonising ache hammering at her heart
Old times? She always felt invisible back then when they all hung out with Carmela getting all his attention, she’ll feel even worse now.“You go on ahead, I have a meeting with the pack widows this morning,” Leila replies, looking away from his eyes.“Leila.”The sternness of Tatum’s voice makes her turn, struggling to keep her emotions together.“Yes.”Tatum closes the gap between them, staring deeply into her eyes, like he is looking into her very soul. Leila’s chest heaves slowly, wondering if he has her figured out but he says nothing and he plants a soft kiss on her forehead before leaving the room quietly.Later that day, Leila is woken from her nap by the sound of laughter from outside her shared room with the Alpha. The voices are more than familiar, she knows she should pretend to be asleep and not go there but she just cannot hold herself back.She steps out of the room and to her surprise, the laughter is coming from the room directly opposite theirs. She selected a room do
“I manage,” Leila replies, her heart sinking to her stomach and she gives Carmela a sullen look but Carmela keeps a straight face like losing your wolf wasn’t such a shameful thing.“I’m sure you do. Now, how about we go make some cold drinks and let the man work?” Carmela’s straight face lights up with a beaming smile as she replies, glancing at Tatum but Leila is too uncomfortable.What else does Carmela know? Is her secret still safe? What if she tells it to the other pack members? The consequences will be too dire for her. The pack members will blame her for Tatum’s actions just like they did when Carmela disappeared.Fear, worry and anxiety all flood her heart at the same time and she stands up abruptly, feeling too self conscious and shameful in front of Carmela.“I um- I have to go, I have somewhere else to be.”“But you only just got here, I was hoping to get more stories about your reign as Luna,” Carmela replies with a subtle coyness in her tone.Leila gulps, becoming more wo
Kelvin’s brow creases with worry for her. A deep frown contorts his face and he walks over, taking the seat next to her. He gently takes her hands in his, squeezing it gently, making Leila’s sad eyes meet his affectionate ones. “What happened? Is he treating you poorly?” he asks in a soft and worry laden voice. Is Tatum treating her poorly? Does sleeping in another woman’s bed and spilling their deepest secrets to her count as being treated poorly? “No….” Leila shakes her head, feeling a tug of pain in her heart. “Carmela is back, Kev, you know what that means.” Kelvin scoffs softly, raising a brow at Leila, looking a bit relieved to know she wasn’t suffering at the hands of the Alpha. “You disappoint me Leila, you’re just going to throw away your marriage and position because of that bitch?” Kelvin asks in a curt tone. His dislike towards Carmela is well known to Leila and Kelvin is not one to mince words or hide his feelings, except the ones he has for Leila. Telling Kelvin