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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
“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
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
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 s
Leila grips his hand that is latched around her throat, spreads her leg open quickly to give him room, the anticipation of what he plans to do to her heighting her desire and her heart pounds with ease. She moves his hand away from her throat and places it on her boobs, squeezing it against herself and her body vibrates when Tatum pinches her nipples, at the same time, slides her panties aside underneath her gown but he hesitates again. “Leila, are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you,” he says in a shaky voice, the struggle between his desire to take and pleasure her and the need to respect her sounding clear in his voice. Leila looks into his eyes, desire and hesitance fighting inside them, she bites down on her lower lip, finding it hot that even now that the roles are reversed, Tatum still respects her; he won’t touch her even if she wants it and that makes her want him the more. She clamps her lips against his, sucking on it passionately and Tatum gasps into her mouth as she cup
Antonio groans in his sleep, with his eyes closed, he searches for Leila on the bed and pulls her close to him, snuggling her tight against him but then he suddenly opens his eyes, shocked by the smell of the woman beside him and he sees it’s Carmela “What the fuck?” He says in shock, shoving Carmela away from him. “Baby, what’s wrong?” Carmela yawns, stretching her limbs and gazing around the room, “when did we come here last night?” Antonio sneers at her, anger bubbling in his chest. Did Tatiana deceive him? She wouldn’t dare, not with the life of her beloved in his arms. He knows his sister too well. When she’s in love, she’ll do anything for that other person, she wouldn’t dare to put Kelvin’s life at risk. That only leaves one explanation, Carmela must have found out about his plan somehow and sabotaged it. He knows she has a witch working for her but it’s never been an issue for him because there’s no trick up that witch’s sleeve that he wouldn’t know but how did he let hi
Tatum smiles at the sleeping figure of his one true desire in his arms, beautiful as the sun, peaceful as a dove. He wonders how she’ll react when she wakes up and realizes what happened yesterday. He shouldn’t have done it but it was hard to hold back. The most control he could exert over himself was not to fuck her. He wants to earn that, he wants her to want it when she’s completely sober, he wants the desire to come from her heart and not from her body alone. He heaves a sigh, his guilt pricking his heart once more. This guilt will stay with him forever, even after he earns her complete forgiveness. He has a lot to make up for, so much more than he thought. Leila groans softly, her eyes fluttering open and Tatum shuts his eyes, waiting to see what her reaction would be. He feels her gently pry herself away from his arms as carefully as she can, not wanting to wake him up and then he feels her hand waving across his face to check if he is awake and he almost smiles at what she
“This is the best offer we can give, Alpha Tatum. It helps your pack and our company. Let us have those acres of land develop it, rather than allow it to lay in waste,” A man says to Tatum in his office later that day. He is part of a group of investors who are interested in developing a parcel of land sitting on the outskirts of the pack territory. Zane frowns, “I already told you gentlemen, if you can’t meet my ask for the lease, forget about it. I am not negotiating the terms of our deal.” “Alpha, I think you should consider their price, it’s fair and it greatly benefits the pa—” “I said we’re not selling, a lease is all we can—” The sound of Tatum’s phone vibrating on the table cuts him off and he arches his neck to look at the caller. Leila’s name displayed on the screen immediately makes his heart race. Why is she calling? Does she finally want to talk about last night? Has she forgiven him and wants to take him back? The butterflies in his stomach suddenly go on a rampag
Leila stares at her phone for the umpteenth time, feeling very worried. She has a lot on her mind but chief of them is that Tatum hasn’t replied to her messages in days and she cannot reach him via phone call.They’ve been at the Northstar pack for over a week now and it was only the first two days that she was able to communicate with him.Tatum mentioned that Trent had given her three days to return or she will be banished and she has been here for days more than that. After the incident at the training for the competition, she couldn’t just leave the next day, Amara needed her but now, she’s worried something might have happened to Tatum because of her absence to show up during the stipulated time window.She sighs and decides to go see Jenny to talk about it. Jenny can look after Amara and also keep her out of trouble. She needs to go and help Tatum no matter what.His position is their only true security.She steps out of the room given to them in the pack house to go to Jenny’
“My daughter!” The sound of the head warrior’s yell as he rushes towards the scene jolts Leila to the harsh reality of what Amara just did. It’s not just that she used her powers in public, breaking a rule that had been given to her but she also used it to hurt someone. Athena flew yards into the air, if anything happens to her, Amara could be in real trouble because of it. “She’s not breathing! Help, somebody do something!” The head warrior yells, clutching Athena to his chest, blood oozing from the corner of the limp girl’s head. Leila rushes towards them as fear of the worst grips her. She ignores Amara who stands there with a blank expression, her face staring at Athena and her father and she tries to hold Athena but the head warrior shoves her away. “Don’t touch my daughter, your child did this, she is evil,” the man spits out with venom, casting a cold look at Amara. “Why?” Leila immediately turns to Amara, holding back the bitter words she wanted to reply to the man with
Leila looks at Amara who is fast asleep beside her in the middle of the night unable to sleep herself. Aside from the fact that she naturally finds it hard to sleep in a new environment for a few days, her heart is heavy. Tatum didn’t argue with her concerning returning to the pack in a few days but her daughter and her have never been separated for more than a day and she will have to leave her, perhaps for weeks or even months, depending on how long it takes for them to get Tatum back his position of Alpha. She runs her hand slowly through Amara’s hair, her eyes welling in tears as she kisses her daughter’s hair, taking a good whiff, a strong sense of anguish filling her for the decision she has to make, even though deep down in her heart she doesn’t want to leave Amara but it’s the only way to keep her safe. Aside from the anonymous letter that they got asking them to protect Amara, she also cannot shake a feeling deep in her heart that Antonio is doing all of this because he wan
“Welcome to the North Star Pack Leila, I am Alpha Caden,” Alpha Caden says to Leila before opening his arms and squeezing her in a hug. “And you must be Amara,” he smiles, breaking the hug and bends to pick Amara up in his arms, tugging her chin as he chuckles. “Thank you for having us,” Leila replies to Caden, hiding her surprise in her tone. Caden is not like anything she imagined or like most Alphas she knew who were either lean with muscle or bulky with the same. He looked very different, tall and robust with a stomach that could pass for a pregnant woman’s bulge but he has a warm aura to him and his sandy blonde hair has been twisted into short locks. “Thank you?” Caden suddenly frowns at Leila, making her wonder if she said something wrong. “Family does not thank one another. I find that offensive, Leila, you must apologize,” his tone softens and his frown morphs into a smirk. Leila smiles back to him, amused by his character. “I’m sorry Alpha Caden.” “Apology not accepted b
“I, Alpha Tatum Cromwell, under the all seeing eye of Selene, witnessed by the elders of the Council, renounce my position as the Alpha of the Blood Oak Pack.” He feels the rage of his wolf blending with his as he locks eyes with Trent who has a smug look on his face. Trent steps forward, joining Tatum in the middle of the circle. “Representing the elders, we witness your renouncement. Who do you name as your successor,” Trent’s face is flushed with a look of mockery that makes Zane boil even further. He should have had Trent sentenced to death instead but then he thought it would be quick mercy, he wanted him to suffer imprisonment for the rest of his life as a lesson for all his evil deeds but it seems that decision has come back to bite him in the ass. Zane frowns. “Not as my successor but as an interim ruler, I name—” he extends the claws of his left hand and slashes the wrist of his right hand. He looks slowly from the thick red liquid dripping from his wrist, making patter
“Alpha Tatum,” a tall bulky man dressed in a grey suit bows slightly to Tatum with two much smaller men dressed in similar styled suits walking behind him. They are at the annual werewolf trade fair. An event organized amongst allied packs to foster unity and commerce. Attending the event is the perfect cover for Leila to get away with Amara just in case Antonio still has any men watching them. Tatum gives his hand a firm handshake. “It’s been ages, Curtis. The years have been kind to you.” “As they have been with you. Our Alpha sends his greetings. The North Star pack will forever be grateful to you for saving our Alpha’s life.” “He would have done the same for me,” Tatum pats the side of Curtis’ arm with a small grin that barely lasts a second before he pulls the big man to the side. Curtis is the Beta of Alpha Caden Miles, the Alpha of the North Star pack. Many years ago, during his Alpha training, that was when he met Caden and saved him from being lynched by a pack of rogues
“That bastard!” Tatum yells, punching a hole through the wall of his office, his heart beating fast, his entire aura swirling in visible rage. “Calm down,” Leila says, not feeling any sort of calmness herself and Tatum can sense it, which only pisses him off more. It’s like they can’t get a fucking break, things just keep going from one crisis to the next and it’s all because of one man who wields too much power, it’s beginning to get to his head. It is completely unheard of for an Alpha to name another person as an acting Alpha when he is still alive and more so, even if that was to happen, Theo, his beta would have been in a better position to receive that honor, not fucking Trent. He hisses, tapping frantically on his table, staring at the warning message they had received concerning Amara. This whole thing has Carmela written all over it and Antonio in his vileness would be more than willing to oblige her. Whoever sent them this warning must have found out something. He nee
“Leila! I can’t find the vegetables, are you sure we got everything down from the car?” Liana says from inside the pantry as she puts stuff they bought from the market away. “I’ll check,” Leila replies, ruffling Amara’s hair. “Nice Drawing baby,” she smiles at the drawing of a face that is half completed which makes it hard for her to know exactly who the child is drawing. With Antonio no longer in the pack, Selina has returned back to her coven with the promise to come back periodically for Amara’s training and with the uncertainty of unforeseen events, they also decided it was best to suspend the active training for now. It’s almost been a full month since Tatiana went missing and no one has heard a word from her. Tatum even risked a bold step, sending word to Antonio of her disappearance before he found out and has an excuse to do something sinister but he never got any response, as if Antonio is completely done with them and the pack for good. Sometimes it feels like a relief t
“Brother please,” Tatiana pleads with Antonio after the party as he heads to his car with Carmela beside him. They are getting ready to leave. Antonio looks at his sister, tears streaming down her eyes, he can see how broken and torn she is but all he does is give her his signature wicked smirk before he opens the car door and then he pauses. “This is for your own good, Tatiana, you need a capable man beside you,” Antonio replies in a calm and patronizing tone. “But he’s not even a warrior, why do you even need a personal bodyguard, you’re untouchable, you’re the freaking Lycan king,” Tatiana replies in despair, sobbing hard. Antonio doesn’t reply, he holds the door wide open for Carmela to enter the car but she stands in front of the door, looking at Tatiana with a sort of disdain in her eyes. “You should have chosen your brother’s side, he is your only family but you chose others over him.” “Shut up you bitch,” Tatiana snaps at her, “what do you know about family? Your father