[Blackwater Restaurant, 7pm. Let’s talk about it.]Tatum frowns, hitting the send button and sending the text to Leila. He drops his phone and sighs. The pressure from the council of elders is getting worse since everyone now knows Leila no longer lives with him and she has completely neglected her duties as Luna.He seems to be the only one holding back, he should go ahead and marry Carmela, it’s the right thing to do, the pack approves of her, she has the phoenix mark, but his wolf does not sense her.Everyone else may not see that as an issue because she bears the mark but the prophecy did not just say she was going to bear the mark, it also said she was going to be his fated mate, which she currently isn’t.[8pm.]Leila replies to his text and Tatum thinks even her reply is cold.The beautiful afternoon sun finally sets at dusk and Tatum makes his way to Black water restaurant.He’s almost at the entrance when Carmela’s orange and mint smell wafts into his nose and he frowns.She
Tatum squints his eyes at Leila, surprised by what she just did. “You did that on purpose! Tatum can you see? Did you see what she just did? She hates me,” Carmela cries out, tugging on Tatum’s sleeve. “Calm down Carmi, I’m sure it was just a mistake,” Tatum replies, even if he knows the truth. Leila dropped the cake on purpose and she wasn’t really trying to hide it, even though she’s acting like she’s shocked. What has gotten into her? He has never seen her this….he doesn’t want to call her crafty but that is exactly how she is right now. “I swear….it was a mistake,” Leila pouts, her eyes flushing with pity. “Why would I drop the cake you baked for me out of your pure love? I’m sure you put so much effort into it.” Leila puts her hands to her chest. “I’m really sorry Carmi….I know I was mean to you but I was just bitter, you are right, let’s put it all behind us. Let’s bake another cake, we can even bake it together.” Carmela instantly looks puzzled by Leila’s reaction, her
“What is she doing here? Doesn’t she have any shame?” “A truly despicable woman, I’m sure she’s just here to make trouble.” “I heard the Alpha even had to chase her out of the house for the phoenix Luna.” “Serves her right, she was never meant to be Luna anyway.” The negative whispers and cold stares hit Leila the moment they drop from her car but she ignores all of it despite the bitterness in her heart. After tonight, everything will be over. She may not be the phoenix Luna but like a phoenix, she will rise from the ashes and reinvent herself. She will learn to live again, to make her happiness something only she can determine. It won’t be because of the way a man treats her, never again. She will never give anyone that much power over her again. The red carpet is teeming with pack members looking their very best like tonight is the blood moon festival, smiles on all their faces. The lights are glittering, the design ethereal, the colour scheme and mix for the decorations a
Leila gasps, dropping the glass in her hand, her heart pounding hard against her rib cage. Carmela turns around, staring at the video that is on a loop, playing over and over again. “Who did this?! Who is trying to sabotage the Luna of this pack? Turn it off, somebody turn it off,” Carmela shrieks. “You don’t have a wolf?” Someone beside Leila says to her . “A wolfless mutt has been our Luna? Outrageous,” another one adds. “Whoever released that video must be targeting the Luna with such lies, there’s no way she rules this pack without a wolf, it is a lie, that video has to be fake,” Carmela continues. Leila stays frozen to the spot, unable to figure what to do, what to say, how to say it. Her only wish is that the ground should give way and swallow her. Carmela knows she has no wolf but she just said it is a lie. If it were before, Leila would trust that her friend was defending her but after recent events, she’s not so sure of Carmela’s intention anymore. Suddenly, everyone’s
Kelvin gets to Leila before he can and despite the situation, Tatum feels that jealous feeling rise inside of him again. “I’ll take her,” he says in a low and cold tone to Kelvin, taking Leila from his hands. “Did she just pretend to faint to get the Alpha’s sympathy?” “What a pathetic woman.” “That’s enough,” Tatum’s voice is curt. “Whoever disrespects the Luna disrespects the Alpha, now get back to the party, all of you.” Carmela steps forward, her eyes flushed with tears, holding a deep sombre look in her eyes. “Is she going to be okay? Even though she lied against me, I still care about her well-being.” “Carmela is so kind, goddess bless her soul,” Tracy says in a soft tone, full of awe. “She is an angel, even to the devil that tries to sabotage her,” Edna adds. Kelvin seethes at them, seeing their hypocrisy clearly for what it is. Carmela may have been away in these two years but her minions were around and those videos were clearly taken pre planned. “Someone invaded
“Leila…..”Leila hears her name and her eyes snap open.Where is she? At a beach? She can feel the wet sand below her, she can feel the waves rushing against her feet, the smell of the salty sea.“Leila….Leila! Help me…..”She suddenly sees her younger self running along the pack borders, giggling and skipping along the column of trees and shrubs of the thick forest, seemingly full of joy and glee but when she turns and looks at Leila, her face is full of sadness and her eyes are pitch black and sombre.“Help me Leila,” Her little self says, dashing into the forest.Leila’s heart pounds and she rushes after her, feeling a great sense of fear and worry but the forest clears into an opening, endless white clouds for miles and that’s when Leila sees it, her wolf.“Ama
“So she still won’t talk to you?” Theo asks, taking out a cigarette from the pack on Tatum’s table.“Nope, not a word. Literally deaf and dumb when I’m in the room,” Tatum replies with a frown, swirling the whiskey in his glass and staring at it like it has the solutions to all his problems.It’s been a week since Leila woke up but the shoulders she gave him are more than just cold, they are freezing.She desperately wants to leave but he can’t let her out of the house, not now. It’s still too dangerous for her, his house is the only place some angry pack member is not going to try and attack her.He wants to be there for her, to explain himself to her but she won’t even let him talk or talk to him and it’s all because he banished Kelvin.Why does she care about that dude more than him?
“Rise and shine!”Leila feels someone throwing her duvet off her body before she hears the shrill voice that follows, Carmela’s voice.She immediately sits up and wears a cold look. She has been wondering when Carmela would show up to torment her.At last the day is finally here.“What do you want, Carmi?” Leila asks in a straight tone.Carmela places her index finger on her lip, squinting her eyes and smiling coyly down at Leila with a pout on her lips.“Hmmmm, what do I want? Well, none of that matters, the Alpha has instructed me to take utmost care of you while he’s away and I’m going to give it my all,” Carmela replies in a cheerful tone.“Away?” Leila retorts, her heartbeat suddenly increasing. “What do you mean ‘away’? Where is Tatum?&rd