“I manage,” Leila replies, her heart sinking to her stomach and she gives Carmela a sullen look but Carmela keeps a straight face like losing your wolf wasn’t such a shameful thing.“I’m sure you do. Now, how about we go make some cold drinks and let the man work?” Carmela’s straight face lights up with a beaming smile as she replies, glancing at Tatum but Leila is too uncomfortable.What else does Carmela know? Is her secret still safe? What if she tells it to the other pack members? The consequences will be too dire for her. The pack members will blame her for Tatum’s actions just like they did when Carmela disappeared.Fear, worry and anxiety all flood her heart at the same time and she stands up abruptly, feeling too self conscious and shameful in front of Carmela.“I um- I have to go, I have somewhere else to be.”“But you only just got here, I was hoping to get more stories about your reign as Luna,” Carmela replies with a subtle coyness in her tone.Leila gulps, becoming more wo
Kelvin’s brow creases with worry for her. A deep frown contorts his face and he walks over, taking the seat next to her. He gently takes her hands in his, squeezing it gently, making Leila’s sad eyes meet his affectionate ones. “What happened? Is he treating you poorly?” he asks in a soft and worry laden voice. Is Tatum treating her poorly? Does sleeping in another woman’s bed and spilling their deepest secrets to her count as being treated poorly? “No….” Leila shakes her head, feeling a tug of pain in her heart. “Carmela is back, Kev, you know what that means.” Kelvin scoffs softly, raising a brow at Leila, looking a bit relieved to know she wasn’t suffering at the hands of the Alpha. “You disappoint me Leila, you’re just going to throw away your marriage and position because of that bitch?” Kelvin asks in a curt tone. His dislike towards Carmela is well known to Leila and Kelvin is not one to mince words or hide his feelings, except the ones he has for Leila. Telling Kelvin
She smiles bitterly at him, holding his gaze, letting the pain in her heart take full control of it. Her legs move with a slow tremor under the table and she bites back her tears, hoping her pain is not so evident in her voice.“If I am STILL your Luna, when do I stop being her, Alpha?”“What do you even mean by that?” Tatum looks at her weird.“I mean, your true mate has returned, obviously my days are numbered,” Leila manages to keep her voice from trembling as she speaks.Something that looks like guilt fills Tatum’s eyes and he shifts his gaze back to his laptop screen.“What I choose to do with her shouldn’t concern you,” Tatum replies passively with an aloofness to his demeanour.The tiny sliver of hope that Tatum may yet keep her flicks through Leila’s mind but she quickly pushes it away. He only said not to concern herself with it, he never said it won’t happen.“I’m just asking because-”“Leila, drop it,” Tatum snaps his laptop shut, his tone becoming stern. “Trying to change
A nervous pit settles in Leila’s stomach as she reads through the divorce papers, shaking her feet under the table. She stuffs it back into her bag, frowning at the other item in there, the test result of her pregnancy. One of them will be in the Alpha’s hands tonight. She picks up the cold glass of freshly squeezed orange juice from the gold plated table of the restaurant's VIP section where she is sitting and as she sips, her eyes scan the space and she can see the eyes leering at her. In a VIP section with ten tables that can sit up to forty guests, she is the only one sitting there. Tatum either booked the whole place out for their surprise date night or the pack members who can afford it are just avoiding her as usual. Tatum has barely said two words to her since their argument about Kelvin, in fact, she barely sees him. He leaves the house very early in the morning and returns far into the night, heavily reeking of Carmela’s smell but Leila doesn’t dare to complain, she is qu
Leila looks away from his eyes. How dare she endear him when it brings pain to her heart knowing it only gives her a hope she shouldn’t have. Afterall, the names were only to amplify their act to everyone and now the gig is up.“Leila…that day when I married you, I meant every word, every promise,” Tatum says in a calm voice, his eyes carrying an emotion Leila can’t quite describe.He promised a lot that day. He promised to always be there for her, to help and to protect, even though...they are not mates.They aren't. Tatum knew that, and lied to the pack for her.She once thought it might be the result of somewhat a small but real affection in his heart for her, but now...she realises it's only because her life was saved by his Luna. She is just a symbol of Carmela in his eyes. Nothing more.None of them thought Carmela would come back. Only he did, only he kept searching for her.The signs are there since Carmela returned, she cannot allow herself to hope, he will break his promise f
“Good evening Alpha,” The three chorus, smiling from ear to ear when Tatum breaks the hug.“I didn’t hear you greet the Luna.” Tatum’s voice is cold and with a command, his eyes flashing red, a sign his wolf is also agitated.“Good evening Luna.”The three quickly bare their necks to Leila, feeling terrified by their Alpha’s dominating aura.“Evening ladies,” Leila replies passively, grabbing her glass of juice and looking mindlessly away, knowing Tatum’s full attention will be turned to Carmela. She may just as well pretend to be a ghost at the table.“Can we sit with you Alpha?” Tracy eagerly says, smiling down at Tatum.A deep growl from inside Tatum’s throat is the response she gets and Carmela quickly pulls her back, smiling at Tatum.“Forgive her Alpha, we’ll take another table,” she says, leading her group to the table behind Leila and Tatum.“The Alpha was going to allow us to sit with him, you shouldn’t have pulled us away,” Philomena says the moment they sit down, frowning
Tatum didn’t return for the rest of that night.Leila stares outside the car window as she makes her way to Tatum’s father’s house, seeing a bunch of kids engaged in a fierce water gun fight and she smiles as a distant memory comes to her mind of her and Tatum always being a team at this sport when they were younger.Sometimes, she wishes Carmela never got the phoenix mark because that is when everything changed, when Tatum’s attention shifted from her as a friend to Carmela as his future Luna, only for her to discover as puberty hit her that those fun moments as kids had sown a deep seed of affection for him in her little heart.She hardly sees Tatum now, he doesn’t even come home some nights and it hurts because she knows exactly where he is and why and tomorrow, Carmela will move in permanently with them so whatever they get up to will be right under her nose.Carmela’s panic attacks have gotten worse instead of better and the Alpha of the Blood Oak Pack is the only one that can cal
Cheers, jokes, smiles, laughter, everyone seems happy, everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, enjoying this lunch but not Leila, she is just stabbing her food, occasionally giving comments when she has to and keeping that placid yet fake smile on her face.She used to be the centre of attention whenever she visited Alpha Darren, his questions and riddles to test people’s wit used to be directed at her but now, it’s like he doesn’t even see her, no one sees her, not him, not his wife, not even her own husband.“Saving Leila’s life came as an instinct to me. I always thought I was going to be Luna since I was ten and I thought of it as my duty to save the life of a subject,” Carmela replies to a question from Alpha Darren and the room goes silent, all eyes falling on Leila.Leila keeps her head down, avoiding the many eyes leering at her, knowing Carmela just put her on the spot.“But of course, Leila wasn’t just any subject, she was also my best friend. I’m glad she’s the one Tatum
“Everything will be alright father,” Leila gently wipes Darren’s forehead with a warm cloth while the rest of his body is covered in a blanket.He is freezing up, despite the averagely warm weather outside. No one truly understands the nature of this cancer that he has, he gets better a little on his own and then he seems to get worse. Darren nods weakly, his pale eyes full of gratitude.“I have to leave now, I’ll come and see you first thing in the morning tomorrow,” Leila says, she had spent the whole day tending to him after Trent left.“You’re leaving?” Adaline comes in carrying a tray of food, “I made dinner, I was just bringing you yours.”“That’s very nice of you but I’m fine,” Leila stands up and adjusts the blanket over Darren properly, “please take care of him.”“Leila please don’t go,” Adaline drops the tray hurriedly and rushes towards Leila. “I already had the maids prepare your room for you. You’re our only insurance against those men outside. As long as you are here,
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