Thank you for reading❤️
“For the charges of the murder of Beta Henry Rogers, the court finds the accused, Beta Trent Easton, guilty and he is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment with no option of parole, for the charges of conspiracy to murder and the murder of the pack witch, Alina, the accused is also found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour,” Judge Ruth slams her gavel as she passes judgement on Trent. Leila gently squeezes her mother’s arm who has teary eyes and she glances at Tatum who keeps a stoic, emotionless look on his face, a short distance away from her, his hands around Tatiana’s shoulder. She still has no idea where Kelvin is or where he could be and she doesn’t know what to do about it, she doesn’t know if he is still alive and she doesn’t want Amara to use her powers to find him again, she is scared of what might happen. She cannot lose her daughter after losing her best friend. She turns her attention back to Trent who is being led away from the courtroom while C
“Leila, you need to calm down,” Liana says to Leila back at their apartment in the living room. Leila stops her back and forth pacing, looks at her mother for a second and continues, bitterness and anger churning inside her. She never saw this coming, not in a million years, nothing gave her a clue of what Antonio’s real plan is, nothing. On one hand, she is grateful that like everyone else, he fell for Carmela’s deceit and will not have eyes on her, it will make rejecting him easy but on the other hand, Carmela has gotten away yet again. Whenever it seems like she is about to get some victory over Carmela, something happens and the table just turns but that is even the least of her worries right now, she has to protect Amara and herself but especially Amara. If he could claim Carmela as his mate in front of her with no remorse, it is a sure sign that he doesn’t give a damn about her at all and he would not hesitate to hurt her and her child. “Where’s grandma?” She pauses and as
Leila sits in one of the high end restaurants in the pack, feeling jitters, gazing around with her feet trembling underneath the table as her heart pounds. It’s the day of the ritual, the ritual that is supposed to look into Amara’s future and destiny but she cannot be with her daughter, there is something that she must do. Taking her grandmother’s advice, against her wish, she must keep Antonio occupied and distracted. If he is really after her and Amara, he probably would be having them monitored but if she has his attention while the ritual is going on, they could have a chance. Which is why she invited him to dinner tonight, to apologise for how things went between them the last time they met and also to play the role of a jealous mate since he claimed another woman right in front of her even if that is the last thing she is. The moment Antonio steps into the room, Leila feels the air shift, that powerful and dangerous aura of his that he kept hidden from her for a while fills
“Lucky indeed,” Antonio replies, lifting his eyes from Leila to look at Tatum with a calm smile on his face, “what brings you here? I’ve heard the Alpha of the Blood Oak pack isn’t one to mingle himself.”Tatum smiles back at Antonio and he walks towards him and Leila, intentionally not paying Leila any look as he steps to their table even if all he wants to do in that moment is stare at her all night long, tell her how beautiful she looks in the red open back sequin dress that she is wearing.He wants to be the one sitting where Antonio is, singing her praises and adulation, expressing his admiration, he wants to tell her sweet words that will make her light up the room with her beautiful and ethereal smile, jokes that will have her laughing so hard till her tummy hurts but he cannot do any of those and seeing another man in the position he desires more than anything hurts more than words can describe.But this is how he must be, he cannot show even the slightest form of affection to
He looks away before he is tempted to rip her from Antonio’s hand and rip Antonio’s throat open. “If she’s mine, she’s special,” Antonio says in a cheeky tone, looking from Leila to Tatum with suspicion in his eyes, noticing the tension between the two and how they can barely look at each other in the eyes. “Tonight, I plan to claim her, maybe I’ll invite Carmela to join us,” Antonio says with a cheeky smirk, “three is a crowd but it’s also a party,” he says, curling his hands around Leila and breathing in her neck. Leila forces a smile, her skin crawling everytime he touches her but what upsets her the most is the carefree look in Tatum’s eyes like he doesn’t care. She knows that right now they are both playing a part, she cannot react anyhow and must allow Antonio do what he wants so as not to piss him off and Tatum on the other hand must act like he doesn’t care about her so as to protect her real identity but if things go how Antonio wants tonight, it may all be useless in the
Leila gasps in fear and her thuds in worry as the midlink drops. She mindlinks her mother again but it does not connect. She tries over and over and over again to no avail and tears start to fall from her eyes as dread quickly dawns on her. Patting her face, she rushes out of the restroom, reaching the restaurant hall and she halts by the door, her eyes darting to where Antonio still are, seemingly involved in a deep conversation as neither notices her. She bites down on her lower lip, every cell in her body shaken with fear and worry, trying her hardest not to give anything away and her eyes quickly shift to the exit. She wants to make a dash for it and find her family wherever they are but if Antonio sees and follows her, she will be leading him straight to them and she will probably be putting them in more danger than they are already in. She may not be able to leave but Tatum can, he can take men with him, they can find them and save them. Still standing with her heart pound
Leila looks away sharply, feeling a slight pang in her heart and she can feel Antonio’s intense gaze on her as she does so but her eyes snap back to Tatiana in shock when she hears Tatiana say, “hello brother.” She looks sharply from Tatiana to Antonio and then at Tatum, her eyes widening in shock as realisation dawns on her that Antonio and Tatiana are siblings, Tatiana never mentioned that and neither did Kelvin, which can only mean one thing, Kelvin never knew. She quickly recovers from her shock, placing a fake smile on her face as Tatiana turns to face her. “Hello Leila,” Tatiana says, tightening her grip around Tatum’s hand. “Hi,” Leila replies wryly, her brain doing the quick maths of what could be going on. If she is right about Tatum that he is putting on an act, then this fake relationship with Tatiana could be a facade that he plans to use against Antonio, maybe use his own sister against him but what if it is the opposite, what if Antonio is using Tatiana as a tool aga
“C’mon,” Tatum says, curling his hand around Tatiana’s waist, leading her away from Antonio and Leila and as he does so, he gives Leila a quick yet reassuring look. A look with no words yet it screams the words ‘I got you’ to Leila and her skin is riddled with goosebumps out of nowhere. From the crown of her head to the sole of her feet, a wave of relief washes through her. A small smile of gratitude tugs her lips but she quickly hides it, knowing Antonio is watching her but not before she steals another look at her Alpha. Leila almost blushes, realising what she just called him. Is it excitement that has her heart pounding right now or is it gratitude? Well, whichever it is, one thing is for certain, Tatum will always have her back, he will never leave her to weather any storm by herself, including this one. She may not fully appreciate him always leaving her in the dark but she understands now that he is doing it to protect her. “We should leave,” Antonio’s grumpy voice brings
Tatum pushes the door to a room open, the actual room where Leila is. Tatiana had drugged Leila, according to Antonio’s wish but she never took her to the room Antonio wanted.She knew her brother would have eyes on Leila throughout the whole party waiting for her to drug Leila so she had no choice but to use a minimal dose of the drug and lure Leila away to make it appear real.In addition to giving Antonio the drug, she added a spell that filled the room and Carmela, who is actually the lady in Antonio’s room, with Leila’s essence.She knows with her brother drugged, his magic would be dull and he would be too dazed to notice but she also knows it is a risk to her life, one that she willingly took.Tatum stares at Leila laying on the bed. She stirs awake from the heavy sound of his footsteps, her eyes hooded as she turns to face him.Tatum looks away, his heart heavy with guilt and sadness. Everything Amanda reminded him of tonight bearing heavy on his mind.He has done her so much
While the party is going on in the hall, Tatiana drags Leila’s unconscious body into a dark room and lays her on the bed. She stares at Leila for a while with a sullen look in her eye, a pinch of regret in her heart that she had to drug Leila as instructed by Antonio.She heaves a deep sigh, takes one last look at Leila before she leaves the room and makes her way back to the party but when she gets there, everyone is already leaving and she cannot find Carmela, Antonio or Tatum either.She frowns and turns to leave herself when Amada suddenly blocks her path.“Where have you been?” Amanda asks, eyes squinted at Tatiana in a very suspicious gaze.“The restroom?” Tatiana replies sharply, making a face at her. “What happened?”“Your brother happened,” Amanda repies with a sneer. “Also Leila’s missing, Tatum’s gone in search of her. I’m staying out here incase she pops up. Can anything in your witch arsenal help us find her?”“Do you have any of her persona effects on you? I’ll need–” Ta
“First of all, she didn’t make the choice to marry you, you claimed her and made her your Luna. She was a bright beautiful girl with dreams of her own and you made her give it all up to be your bride and it was all for nothing. The moment your phoenix Luna returned, you kicked her to the curb,” Amanda fires at Tatum, glancing from Tatum to Carmela. Tatum sneers at Amanda, realising she is playing Leila’s role in their original plan. He chuckles lightly, wobbling as he walks closer to Amanda to amplify his drunk act. “What did you think? That I would pick her over Carmela, my fated mate? I only married her because I needed a Luna, not because I had any affection towards her. I’m not the first Alpha who chose a mate in the absence of their fated mate and I picked her not because she is special or anything like that, she had a good lineage, and came from a family of strong Betas, that’s all. She is nothing and will never be anything compared to—” he turns and looks at Carmela with tha
Tatum spared no expense in hosting the engagement party evident from the lush and expensive decoration, several montages displaying pictures of Antonio and Carmela, the beautiful lighting of the venue and the impeccable colour scheme. Almost every werewolf that has come of age is present at the party and are having fun in one way or the other, some young lovers are making out on the dance floor, some in the corner, some people are dancing and grooving to the music and others are indulging their appetites, eating and drinking. Tatum sits in the midst of the crowd, slowly sipping on his fourth glass of whiskey, intentionally spilling some on his dress so the smell is heavy on him. From where he sits, he stares at Carmela with a fake longing in his eyes, a part of his act and only when Antonio or Carmela herself look at him does he look away, making sure they know he is staring at Carmela. He glances at Leila who is in the company of Amanda and a couple of other women. Their eyes meet
“Meet me at our cave tonight, make sure no one follows you.” Tatum’s words from his mindlink to Leila earlier keep replaying in her head as she gets closer to the cave, her heart pounding hard in her chest. Why did Tatum ask her to come here of all places? This was where she first confirmed that Tatum had feelings for her when they were still kids and it was where he confessed his love for her years later before the unfortunate incident of her arrest and departure from the pack. What does he want to tell her that he has to bring her here? She sees the lamps hanging along the walls of the cave and she can smell Tatum heavily, her wolf’s excitement as well is going off the roof. Even if technically, she cannot say that Tatum and are as back as fated mates, bearing each other’s mark means there is a bond between them and she is dying to see him, just like a little girl excited to go on a first date with her crush. Even if the bulk of the feelings are her wolf’s because of the mark,
“What is this?” Antonio sneers at an envelope that an omega drops on the stool beside him where he is sitting with Carmela on his legs. “The Beta of Alpha Tatum brought it,” the omega bows, speaking cautiously. Carmela stares at the envelope, doing her best to keep her heart from racing but her heart sinks to her gut knowing fully well what the envelope contains. She adjusts herself on Antonio’s leg and picks up the envelope, rips it open and skins through it before tossing it back absentmindedly. “The pack wants to throw us an engagement party. Since the Lycan king found his mate in this pack, they see it as an honour and would love to do this for us,” she says, watching Antonio’s eyes carefully. “Engagement party? A day after Tatum comes here? What did he say to you in the garden? I know of your little tête-à-tête,” Antonio says in a cold and suspicious voice, squinting slightly. “Don’t tell me the Almighty Lycan king is jealous of a common alpha,” Carmela replies sharply with
“Make it quick,” Carmela sneers, sitting on one of the concrete benches in the back garden of the house, away from earshot while Tatum stands in front of her, his back turned to her. Every cell in his body burns with anger and a livid hatred for Carmela and nothing would give him greater satisfaction than snapping her neck or ripping her heart out but she is the literal queen in this game of chess that he is playing and he needs her to make a crucial move. He knows Antonio isn’t done with Leila yet. From his discussions with Tatiana, he knows that her brother doesn’t like to lose or take no for an answer and that must be why he rejected Leila to punish her but ordered her not to accept so he could still have some claim on her. In the long run, Antonio will figure out something is wrong. He can only be deceived for so long but before that happens, he needs to bait Carmela into helping him. “My request is simple,” Tatum turns to face Carmela with a serious look on his face, his eyes
“There’s someone here to see you my lady,” An omega bows and says to Carmela in her room in Antonio’s place. Carmela turns her head away from the mirror where she is working on her makeup and looks at the omega before looking back at herself in the mirror and a wide smile splays her lips. She’s not even been officially announced as the Lycan Queen yet and people are already coming to seek her favour. “Who is it?” She replies in a stoic voice, hiding her excitement from the omega. “It’s— It’s Alpha Tatum, he says it’s urgent,” the omega bows again. A mix of anger, bitterness and fear immediately clouds Carmela’s mind and her heart races. What the hell does Tatum want? Why is that loser here to see her? What could be so important that he would come into Antonio’s lair knowing fully well the history between the two of them and how Antonio may feel about his woman being visited in his house by a mate she rejected. Is Tatum trying to ruin things for her? Her brows furrow and she c
Leila wakes up the next morning feeling lighter and better than she has felt in months. She eagerly jumps out of bed, saunters towards the drapes over the windows and she opens it. She jerks her head backwards, makes a surprised face as the flowers in the garden outside have all bloomed, even those that are out of season. She shrugs and turns and that is when she sees the mark on her neck in the mirror and her heart skips and memories of yesterday barrage into her mind. She gasps, rushing over to the vanity to check the mark up close, touching her neck and she looks at her bed, remembering that she fainted during the marking process yesterday and that is all she can remember. It turns out the mark of the phoenix was only hers to carry because it was Tatum’s to give, a mark of their bond. Tatum. Where is he? Did he leave last night? She rushes out of her room then halts halfway. Tatum was about to say something yesterday before he marked her but she did not want to hear it. She