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“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
“I’ll do it for you,” Antonio continues with her throat still wrapped in one hand while he extends the claws on his free hand slices down her dress, licking his lips as her succulent breasts fall out in front of him. “Please…stop,” Leila cries out, covering herself. Shame, fear and disgust all come at her at the same time but Antonio doesn’t relent, he throws her on the bed instead, jumping down on her before she can even balance. He must have a taste of her, fuck her till her body is numb and then he’ll discard her and if she annoys him any further, he’ll fight this strange compassion he has for her and take her life anyway. “So the rumours are true?” Leila replies, with a shaky voice, tears pouring out of her eyes as she wriggles fruitlessly underneath him, “you really are a monster.” Antonio chuckles maniacally in a soft tone. “Monster is a word used to scare little kids, kitten, I am something worse,” he says, groaning in pleasure as he grabs one of her boobs. Leila grits her
Leila doesn’t know how she got home that night, all she can feel is pain. Gruesome and lethal, on every part of her body, in every part of her system. It is not just the way Antonio ridiculed, humiliated and rejected her that hurts but the pain from the one sided rejection is something that she cannot explain. It feels like her heart is under attack from a swarm of bees, constantly being stung, her head hurts, bangs like a sledgehammer is being used to try and force her skull open. When she gets home, her family is still not back, she wants to mindlink her mom but she cannot, she cannot even feel her wolf, the pain is so brutal that it seems to have sent her wolf into hibernation. Her eyes are a deep shade of red, bulging and strained, causing her even more pain like they will fall off any moment. She undresses herself, wincing every time her finger grazes her skin because it burns, every touch feels like a silver needle being used to prick her. She walks like a wraith into the
Carmela sits on the large bed in Antonio’s room, dressed in red lingerie with a small night dress draped over it, playing with a necklace around her neck, shaking her legs gently but her heart is racing fast and hard. Tonight is a big night. The biggest night of her life and she could not be more excited. When she stole the phoenix– no, when her father stole the phownix luna title from Leila and put the tattoo on her, her biggest dream was becoming Tatum’s woman, the Luna of the bloodoak pack and enjoying the benefits that came with it. Being the Luna of the bloodoak pack is great, even just as Tatum’s fiancee, she felt like the world was at her feet but becoming the Lycan Queen? Now that is on another whole different level and tonight, after Antonio marks her, that will be her fate. As the lycan queen, she will be the most famous woman in the realm, respected, admired, adored and the envy of every other woman in the kingdom. She will even get her own palace with access to the wealt
“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, there
“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
Tatum looks down at her, his eyes skimming past her pale yet pretty face to her lush boobs half hidden in the water and he gulps, his heart racing hard. It is hard enough to control himself from out here, sitting with her in the tub will be too much for him and yet it is exactly as much as he needs, he is more than deprived of her touch, the contact of her skin, the warmth of her body. He misses her, every little thing about her. Not a day has gone by that he has not craved for her, for a moment where they can just put everything behind them and enjoy the comfort of each other’s company. He can feel the urge of his wolf to be with her, even if there is no bond between them which is even more strange yet he is happy about it, that his wolf wants the woman that he wants, mate bond or not. Leila lets him go, sensing his reluctance and she dips her hand in the water, closes her eyes and throws her head back, feeling the water or whatever is inside it, slowly sucking away her pain. Sh
The moment Tatum sweeps Leila off the floor into his arms, Leila feels a yearning deep inside her, rising above the terrible pain that she is currently in, she snuggles closer to Tatum as if the warmth emanating from her is not enough and she needs more of his. She looks into his eyes as he takes her upstairs to her room and there is nothing but worry and concern in his eyes. More tears spill out of her eyes, her heart wobbling in pain, reminded of the fact that their story ended when Antonio put her in his bondage. If only she did not harbour such hatred in her heart towards him, if only her anger didn’t burn through her like a fiery furnace when she first returned but how was she to know? How was she to know that behind Tatum’s cold and seemingly ruthless behaviour towards her, he always cared and never stopped caring, how on earth was it possible for her to know that beneath her pain, her hatred and anger lingered a desire for him. She fought hard not to give in to it when s
“Come on, it’s late, you shouldn’t be up by now, let’s put you to bed,” Leila says to Amara in the living room of their house, frowning at the little girl. After the ritual, Amara seems to have gained more control of her powers and she can now keep her Lycan aura down whenever she is around people. It was that inability that first sparked Antonio’s interest in her when he saw her, he could feel the strong aura emanating from such a young child. “It’s the last episode mama, please,” Amara pleads with puppy eyes, clasping her hands together and she looks to Amanda for support. Amanda came a day after the ritual to be with them incase medical help was needed. “Nope, you’re— ah!” Leila suddenly screams, clutching her chest and her wolf wails in her head, pain dragging through her already weakened body from the one sided rejection. “Mama!” Amara yells as Leila falls face first to the floor and Amanda also rushes to her, her eyes wide in fear. “Leila, are you okay? What is wrong?” Le
Frantic and scared inside, Carmela retains her poise outside, docile as a lamb before Antonio but she schemes like a fox in her head, thinking about her next best possible line of action to avoid certain death. She remembers what Lithoha told her about bearing Antonio’s mark and him bearing hers. It would mean that she would share a portion of his powers and he will be bound for her to life, unable to feel attraction for or comfort with anyone but her. She knows what she has to do. She will mark Antonio before he marks her. That way, even if she is exposed, he will think twice and hard before killing her because if he does, he will be killing a part of himself too. “I see you took my advice to be naughty literally,” Antonio says as Carmela massages his cock from his trousers while simultaneously sucking on his thumb. “Your wish is my command,” Carmela replies, batting her eyelashes at him, her voice coquettish to the max. “Good girl,” Antonio rubs her head, unbuckling his belt to