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“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
“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
“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
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
“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 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
“Again!” Trent yells at the warriors training with Tatum who Tatum had just put to the ground. Tatum is on his knees, one knee on the floor, the other bent with his elbows resting on it as he pants exhaustedly. His shirtless body is dripping with sweat, mixed with his blood oozing out of the whip marks on his back and the side of his torso. “What are you waiting for?!” Trent yells, trashing the whip and landing it on Tatum’s back. “So you think that rebel, Alpha Leo will give you time? Pathetic,” he spits out with venom. As the silver tip of the whip cuts into Tatum’s back and tears his skin on the way out, it sears him with pain but he barely reacts to it, only looking at Trent with a deadly look in his eyes, his teeth clenched. No matter how much pain he has to endure, he will never break before this ceremonial Alpha. He folds his fists together and smiles maniacally at Trent, blood covering his entire dentition. “You need to hit harder, old man. You’re an Alpha now but you see
“Stop here,” Leila says to the driver bringing her back to the Blood oak pack territory, her voice low and sullen, her eyes pregnant with tears but she holds it in, determined to stay strong for her, Amara and Tatum.They both needed her and she had to make a choice.Something inside her feels torn that she chose Tatum over Amara, that she chose the father who abandoned them over the child who brought joy back into her life.She remembers how sad she always was when she was pregnant with Amara, how the days spent in the cell being nibbled on by rats while she starved haunted her sleep throughout that period.She was not herself then, often lost in her thoughts thinking, swimming around in her anguish until it drowned her.But Amara was the light that the goddess sent to her darkness. Once she was born, it was as if alongside her, Leila also pushed out her sadness.Amara gave her hope, something to look forward to, something to live for.The tears push heavier against the blanket of he
Hearing that, Leila frowns. Of course Adaline did not come to apologize to her out of the remorse of her heart, it is only because she knows she’s the only one that can stand up to Trent in Tatum’s absence.While she may be bitter towards Adaline, Darren has remained like a father figure to her, she must go and find out what’s going on.She stands up immediately and leaves Adaline in her office with not even a word in response, wasting no time to rally some of the trusted men Tatum had left behind and makes her way to Darren’s house.Trent must have learnt of her move to take back the seized properties and now he is making another move to undermine her but why Tatum’s parents?What is his goal here? Whatever it is, she is going to find out.“You’re not allowed to go in, no one is.” One of Trent’s men blocks Leila’s path at the entrance to the house with several of them standing outside.They far outnumber the men Leila had brought with her but she doesn’t even need her guards to handl
“Please have your seat,” Leila offers Adaline, keeping her face calm and polite.“Thank you my daughter,” Adaline replies, hurriedly sitting down. Leila doesn’t know how to react to being addressed as ‘my daughter’ from the same woman who would bring hell down on her if she dared to address her as mother in the past.It feels strange and beyond strange, it’s quite discomforting. She tried several times to be a daughter to Adaline and she always got served a bad hand in return.The only reason she’s not rebuking her right now is because the sooner she can handle whatever brought Adaline here, the sooner she can get back to the important work of getting a legal team ready for the battle in court that may happen.“How can I help you?” She replies, keeping her voice curt.“Leila….” Adaline stretches her hand over the table to hold Leila’s hand but she withdraws it before Adaline can touch her and keeps it by her side, a mix of a puzzled and irritated look on her face.‘What is she trying
Leila is distraught upon hearing the news, the pain she feels is cataclysmic. She knows Tatum is not dead, if he was her wolf would feel the bond snap and she’ll be in even more terrible pain.Yet, he is nowhere to be found, presumed dead and she has no idea if he got to save Amara or not.What is she supposed to do now? The wedding may have fallen through but it is secondary to the claiming ritual, she is the Luna in the eyes of the pack members whether they said I do or not.“What do you think you’re doing?” Her mother steps into her room, giving her a stern look, where Leila’s sitting on the floor, a mess of tears.“Mother, I—”“He’s not dead!” Liana snaps at her, “you said so yourself. And if I know anything about that young man from recent events, he’ll claw his way out from hell itself to get back to you and he certainly won’t let any harm come to his daughter but when he returns, who does he return to meet, the woman he trusted to be Luna and left his pack to or a pitiful wife
“We have to go right now! I can’t wait another second,” Leila cries, her eyes red and puffy, an unbearable pain lodged in her heart for fear of her precious angel.Anything could be happening to her daughter at this moment. She does not want to even think of it. How is it possible that the one place Leo chooses to attack is just where Amara is?This hardly looks like a coincidence, her heart throbs with pain, pounding in fear. Is it possible that Leo learnt the truth about Amara being Tatum’s daughter and is trying to hurt Tatum by harming her, but how would he have learnt that? Amara’s identity is a well kept secret.She looks back at Tatum from her trembling feet just as he slams his phone down, grunts and runs his hands down his face in frustration, his eyes weary and sad but his rage is clear in them.“I can’t reach anyone over there, it’s like their communications system has been cut off or something,” his voice is laden with worry “That’s why we should be on our way there alrea
It’s her wedding day, it really is her wedding day and it’s not the rushed secret night wedding she had the first time, everything is as she wants.Even if her dream wedding was something small, intimate between just her and her family, she could not deny the pack members who had been abuzz with its attendance so she decided to host it outdoors to accommodate everyone.Several Alphas and Lunas from other packs are also present. It’s a happy day for Leila and the members of the blood oak pack.The wedding was the needed boom of joy to topple the gloom that had overshadowed the pack in recent weeks.Not a single soul wanted to miss it. If they had opted to use a hall as Leila initially wanted, it would be full to the brim and not enough people would get seats.“The crowd outside is wild,” Amanda says, stepping into the room where Leila is getting the finishing touches to her makeup. “This has to be the biggest Alpha wedding I have ever witnessed.”Leila makes a face at Amanda, half roll
“We’re going to the temple?” Leila asks Tatum, seeing the path they are walking down, his hand intertwined in hers.“Yes we are,” Tatum replies with a smile, taking her hand up and planting a soft kiss on it that makes her blush and sets her heart racing even more.She wonders what this surprise may be that it has to happen in the temple. This is the most sacred place in the blood oak pack. Pack members can only visit it on invitation from the priestess of the temple. She has only ever been here once with her dad and even then, she had to wait a distance outside while he went in. The temple is located right in the heart of the pack and yet it is the most secluded place.When they get to the gate of the temple, they are welcomed by attendants who give them water to wash their hands, feet and faces before they are allowed to enter inside.Leila stares in awe at the gigantic statue of the goddess riding a three headed wolf with a sceptre in her hand, the walls of the temple adorned with
“Leila! You have guests!”She hears the sound of her mother’s voice calling her from downstairs and she drops her phone on the bed, which she had been browsing the internet with searching for pictures of a wedding gown and trying to also find a designer even though Amanda swore she had that part covered.Who could those guests be? She doesn’t remember expecting anyone, she’s not exactly the most popular figure in the pack, even though she’s going to be their Luna for the second time.A part of her is honestly quite troubled about how the pack is receiving the news of her wedding to Tatum.It still feels surreal but she knows it is happening. She is going to get married to the love of her life twice in her lifetime. The first time they got married, it was Tatum saving her, now it is her who is more or less saving him by agreeing to be his bride, such an irony.Coming down the stairs, Leila freezes and she takes some steps back, seeing the crowd gathered in her living room, members of t
“I already told you I summoned her, she doesn’t have to answer—” “It’s okay,” Leila gently holds Tatum’s hand to calm him, feeling the change in his aura. She smiles gently at him, letting her palm trace down his blood ridden forearm, her body tingling with a subtle pleasure as she interlocks her palms with his. Tatum unconsciously or perhaps consciously clasps his hands against hers, while looking at her with confusion in his eyes and feeling as one with him in this moment, the power of Trent’s Alpha’s command dissolves into thin air. That pressure that wolves always felt to speak the truth once under the alpha command is not felt by her wolf, what she feels is different. It is a feeling of bliss, a calmness and a knowing that this is meant to be. Her union with Tatum. Whatever happens next, whatever hurdle they have to face, whatever storms they have to brace, whatever challenges may come, they’ll face it together and so out of her own free will and not under the influence of Tre
Leila frowns as Trent approaches them, looking between Trent and Theo who has a stern expression on his face.Theo switched sides? He betrayed Tatum? Why? She understands Trent is the new Alpha but still, him and Tatum go way back.If she had to take a guess as to the men that would betray Tatum, she would have never put Theo on that list.She looks at him with pain in her eyes and heart as Trent closes the distance between them and says, “Theo’s my man now, my good beta, he does what I say, he’s loyal to me, right Theo?”“A beta must serve his Alpha wholeheartedly,” Theo replies in a clipped tone, that stern expression still etched on his face.Leila’s skin crawls at the way Theo easily dismissed Tatum as his Alpha. She can never understand the reason for his betrayal but she’ll have to worry about that later.Right now, all she needs to do is get Tatum out of this unnecessary torture they are making him suffer. The sound of his painful grunts and groans inside as he continues to fig