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
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,
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
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