“Walk ahead,” Leila says to Carmela, squinting at her as they trudge up the small hill.
There is no need to hide it, she doesn’t trust Carmela at all, this is a woman that had her locked up, tirelessly tried to poison her and eventually tried to kill her, there is no way she can walk with her back turned to Carmela.
Adaline may be here and so Carmela may not try anything but she cannot take that risk. The fact that Carmela knew the assassin that attacked her on two occasions still baffles Leila’s mind.
What she cannot make sense of is why Carmela would stage an attack, fake her own kidnap and then return now to try and kill her so she can become Luna when she could have just stayed and married Tatum naturally.
Kelvin bites down on a piece of wood as he stitches himself up. For some reason he isn’t healing and his strength fails him by the minute.He cannot die, he must get home and give it to her and when he does, he will tell her how he really feels. He will finally let this burden that he has carried in his chest for over a decade out.He hears the sound of rattling outside and he leaves the needle in his broken skin, taking deep quiet breaths to silent his heartbeat as much as possible.He thought he had lost his pursuers, as he made his way to this old abandoned garage, he covered his blood trail and footprints as much as possible, he even used a scent blocker.What kind of excellent tracker did they use to find
“Fucking lies,” Tatum growls despite the fear that makes his heart pound.“I can hear your heart racing Alpha, what? You never thought her mate was going to come for her one day?” Kelvin smirks at him.Kelvin isn’t sure if Leila is his mate but she must be, they have a strong connection even without the mate bond and he hasn’t found anyone else as his mate.The only explanation is that Leila is his mate and once he gives her the cure, he will know for sure.Initially, he thought Tatum was Leila’s second chance fated mate and he had given up all hope on her but after learning the truth that day at the hospital, his hope rejuvenated.
“How are you mother? How do you feel?” Carmela asks Adaline as Adaline’s eyes flutter open, while Carmela sits beside her bed.They are back at Tatum’s house and Adaline has been comatose for two days.“Leila! Where is Leila?” Adaline jumps to her feet and Carmela frowns.Since when does Adaline care so much about Leila?She even risked her life to save Leila at Aragine hill.Her hired assassin was just about to rip out Leila’s throat and she was watching on with ample joy when Adaline suddenly got up and dove at the man, throwing them both off the hill.She got up to finish the job herself but Amanda and one other guy suddenly showed up, completely ruining her plans.She hates it. Leila must die.She must never find out the truth.“Mother, Leila is fine, she’s in—”Adaline doesn’t even let her finish before she dashes out of the room and it stings Carmela deeply.“Bitch,” she mutters at Adaline as she leaves.Leila is startled when her door flies open and Adaline rushes in, hugging h
The truth is even if Carmela’s wolf sensed his right now and the bond is completed, he has already made up his mind to still keep Leila as his wife and his Luna because he is truly in love with her, the little boy in him that fell in love with the daughter of his father’s beta is still very much alive within him.And the selfish man who took advantage of her misfortune two years ago to make her his wife is just as crazy about her now as he was back then but it is quite sad and heart breaking that his feelings will never be reciprocated because Leila’s heart belongs to Kelvin, her supposed fated mate.No matter how much the urge keeps growing in him to take Kelvin out of the picture, he cannot stand in the way of Leila’s happiness. He would rather live with the pain and regret of losing her to Kelvin than keep her from her wolf and her mate, now that a second chance has presented itself.It hurts, it really hurts, but he cannot continue to keep her against her wish.Kelvin will have t
Leila sniffs back her tears and wipes the few drops that escape as she blinks with the back of her hand before she shuts the door slowly and drags her heavy feet towards Adaline.“Come, sit beside me,” Adaline pats the space beside her on the bed.Leila sits, watching Adaline’s soulful expression closely, her heart thuds gently and Leila surprisingly feels calm when Adaline rests her hands on her thigh to stop Leila from shaking her legs.“Tell me the truth Leila, do you love Tatum?”Leila freezes, not expecting that line of questioning from Adaline but the woman asks in such a calm and gentle tone, bereft of any hostility and even if Leila thinks it is the wrong decision, she replies.“Yes, I’ve always loved him.”Adaline smiles broadly, heightening Leila’s confusion. “I know, it is quite obvious. Now tell me, what do you think of me, an evil mother in law? A vindictive bitch?”Leila looks away from Adaline’s peering eyes. If they are having a heart to heart, it is better to tell he
“As you can imagine, I hated Darren, with every breath that I took, with every cell inside of me. I couldn’t stand him but I quickly discovered that the mate bond isn’t something you can fight, the goddess made us for each other for a reason. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t resist him and he tried to win my heart, not relying on the mate bond alone but the irony is, the mate bond is still the reason he thought to do so.“I watched Darren turn from a ruthless, vicious and desperate leader to the most kind, sweet and loving Alpha, the version you all see today and it is all because I was put in his life to temper his anger, to guide his rage and to nurture his ego. That is what the mate bond does, it searches for the deepest, most innate good in our mates and helps us bring it out and I want my son to experience the same.“Leila, if you love Tatum, if you really love him, you will let him go,” Adaline concludes and as she stands up, she runs her hand down Leila’s hair twice, givi
“I thought we were past this,” Amanda says in a clearly irritated tone, scowling at the way Carmela has her arm wrapped around Tatum’s elbow and the two are beaming with smiles.An important part of the werewolf games is the charity donation day. An initiative that was developed to help the less priviledged and needy of the various packs. Every pack and their Alpha were to pick another pack and donate to that pack’s less priviledged and needy.While Leila is busy handing out supplies and supervising the affairs of things, carrying out her duty as Luna, Carmela is perched at Tatum’s side and he lets her.Leila smiles bitterly at them before she replies to Amanda. “They share a bond my love cannot compete with, I cannot stop Tatum from being with her.”“Don’t give me that crap,” Amanda sneers at Leila. “Even if Tatum’s hands are tied because of some prophecy or bond or whatever, you of all people know Carmela is an evil psychotic bitch who should not be allowed anywhere near the Alpha.”
“What are you doing here Carmela?” Leila asks in a firm tone, her anger palpable in her voice.Her and a few other Lunas from the council scheduled a meeting right after the charity donation ended.The reason for the meeting is to discuss the banquet preparations at the end of the whole event. There are six Lunas currently present, including Leila and a seventh impostor, her one time best friend and her now arch enemy, Carmela.Her presence doesn’t sit well with Leila and this time Leila doesn’t hide it or hold back.“Carmela is here as a special advisor to me,” Margaux, the head of the Luna council answers with a condescending sneer on her face. “Anyone who has a problem with it can leave.”“Have you gone nuts Margaux?” Leila fires at her coldly. “Where did you think this is, your pack? If she is your advisor, then fine, she can advise you after the meeting, not during. She- needs to leave.”The other Lunas look at Leila with palpable shock. She rarely talks back to anyone in the pas
“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