"Do I no longer have a son?!" the voice on the other end of the phone reproaches Ragnar immediately. "You spent two months out of the country and don't even feel like seeing your family? Why didn't you come home, Ragnar? Octavio told me that you arrived and went straight to your apartment.""Hello, mother," Ragnar responds. "Yes, I came to change. I have a meeting in exactly thirty minutes, I didn't have time to go to the mansion and come back.""You just arrived, Ragnar. Can't you stop working for at least a few hours to be with us? We are your family."Ragnar massages the bridge of his nose as he gets into the car."When I'm done here, I'll come, mother," he replies and ends the call. He will have time to talk to her calmly when he feels up to it. Right now, he feels overwhelmed with work and responsibilities.Julián starts the car again while looking at the alpha through the rearview mirror. He has known him since he was a cub and knows that something is bothering him, but he is no
"Finally, the alpha Shadowfang deigns to talk to me!" says Ruby, his sister. "I thought I had to schedule an appointment at the company just to be able to talk to you.""I was in a meeting, sister. How are you?""Well, we are angry and worried about you. I miss my brother, and Mom asks about you every day," Ruby complains. "You haven't called us even once in these two months. We know you are strong and can defend yourself, but we don't deserve your indifference.""I'm sorry, sister, but I really needed that time alone, to disconnect from Pine Woods.""I miss you a lot, brother, and so does Mom."Ruby's voice sounds very sad, and Ragnar is aware of it. He wants to have the strength to face what he is going through, but there are days when he can't stand himself, and he doesn't want others to bear him or his shitty personality."Are you coming home tonight?" his sister asks. "We can have dinner together, the three of us, at that restaurant you like so much.""I just need to finish every
Katrina organizes some things in her flowery backpack to go to Amber's apartment and see if she can rescue some of her notes and folders that were left behind in the castle when Lorena attacked her. She doesn't plan on staying here all day with her mother-in-law, criticizing her and telling her what a worthless person she is compared to her son.She takes a brief shower, then dresses in her typical jeans and t-shirt. She applies a little concealer to cover her deep dark circles, after all the vomiting and crying, and with a high ponytail, she is ready.Now she is absolutely sure that she is not going to tell anyone about her pregnancy, at least not right now or until her husband realizes. Knowing Marta, she is capable of doing something to make her lose her puppy. She is not going to allow any harm to come to her child, even if she has to hide it until the moment of birth. She doesn't know exactly how she will do it, but she will find a way.Once ready, she grabs her things and quietl
"I think you're a bit confused," says Jarl, looking at him intently. Something in his eyes frightens Mauricio. Jarl's eyes turn from a light brown to orange, and his voice becomes deeper. "I didn't ask you if you agreed or not.""What are you talking about, Jarl? Have you lost your mind? You are the president of Sofisthy, but I am the owner. I am the one who decides what is done and what is not.""You're not understanding anything, father-in-law," Jarl responds, impatiently tapping his fingers on the polished desk. "I don't need your permission for anything because you are not the owner of anything at all."Mauricio's eyes widen, while Jarl's smile grows wider. Does he know about Lauren's will?"I don't know what you're planning, but I don't intend to waste my time with you, Jarl," Mauricio stands up from his chair, but a threatening growl freezes him in place. He knows the character and strength of his son-in-law, not to mention that Job is the strongest and largest wolf in the Alba
"You can't do that, I am your companion, your wife, not your prisoner, Jarl," Katrina screams with disappointment welling up in her eyes."Of course I can, and I am already doing it. You know me, Katrina, you know that if you resist, it will be worse for you.""What will happen to my studies and my job? The salary I earn there is my livelihood," the young woman sobs, filled with anguish."You are my wife, as long as you are here, you will not lack anything.""The connection you said we had was false?" Jarl snorts as he hears her. Katrina begins to cry. "What do you want from me, Jarl, if you don't even love me?"Jarl stands up and grabs her by the waist, throws her onto the bed, and gets on top of her. Katrina is suddenly terrified."What I want is to fuck you in every possible way until both your body and mine can't take anymore. I want you to fulfill me as a woman and as a wife, squeeze me so much that you leave me finished. I want to feel every part of your body, to feel it complet
After a few seconds of dark silence between mother and son, Jarl nods. Marta puts her hands on her head. She looks at her son and denies again. Having to be kind to that girl is going to cost her a lot.Katrina wakes up in pain, but not specifically from the fall she had the day before yesterday. She looks down at her bruised body under the sheet. How is it that Jarl always gets what he wants from her? Will he ever stop being so foolish?Denying that she loves him and that she enjoyed everything he did to her last night is like denying that the sun exists, but that doesn't change the situation between them, everything that has happened and discovered in the past few days.She looks away towards the door and sighs heavily. She attempts to get up, but at that moment the door opens and Sara enters with a tray full of food. Katrina's sense of smell immediately activates and her stomach growls. She didn't eat anything yesterday."Here is your breakfast, ma'am," she says, placing the things
Ragnar jolts awake, gets out of bed, and looks around, trying to focus his gaze. He takes his head in his hands and shakes it. This always happens every time he comes here.A sharp pain in his chest hits him at that moment. He retrieves his pill bottle that he always carries in his pants pocket and immediately takes it to alleviate the pain. He breathes deeply a couple of times and then leaves the mansion, unconcerned that it's still early in the morning, to go to his apartment.He wakes up Julian and asks him to drive. Throughout the journey, Ragnar remains with his head bowed and held in his hands. Julian looks at him with great concern. He is not well."I'll call the doctor as soon as we get to the apartment," Julian says, getting his attention. "You don't look good, Alpha.""I'm already better, Julian, thanks for caring, but it's not necessary anymore," Ragnar replies, taking a sip of water from his bottle."Then it's better to make an appointment for these days and have him exami
Mary's birthday dinner ends up being less unpleasant for Ragnar than it was at the beginning. He chats with some council members he hadn't seen in a while due to his trip to New Zealand.With a few glasses of wine in him, Ragnar decides it's time to leave, although Mary tries every means to detain him."Don't you want to go out for a drink tomorrow night?" the woman suggests, taking Ragnar's arm just before he climbs into his truck. "Just a couple of drinks. We haven't gone out in a long time.""I have a lot of work, and I prefer not to stay up late on consecutive days," he answers, looking at his watch; it's almost two in the morning. "Let's save the drinks for another occasion.""Well, we don't have to take too long. It's the opening of my mother's place, and I'm sure you'll like it.""As I said, I don't have time. I have a lot of work, and I prefer not to commit to something I can't fulfill. Besides, I think you're confusing things, Mary. We've had this conversation before.""I kno
Twenty years have passed...From his office window, Ragnar watches Katrina attentively as she talks with Amber and Rubí in the courtyard, pointing towards the little ones playing in the vast yard. A little further, by the pools, are the older ones, Ethan and his mate Milly, Selene, Rouse, Brandon, and Bruno, the twins born after Rouse, and Lucinda.A smile spreads across his face as he sees Silvia sobbing while asking her mother to carry her. Since birth, she's been a very sensitive and complaining girl, unlike her twin Hector, who seems unaffected by anything and quickly adapts to everything. Yes, Ragnar and Katrina have eight children in total, and according to Katrina, these will be the last, as they are of grandparent age, but Ragnar and Remus disagree. Seeing so many pups roaming the mansion warms his heart, especially since the youngest are already 3 years old, so they might try for more soon.Ethan has become the second man of the house at 20, taking care of and protecting his
Weeks fly by in the blink of an eye. Katrina's belly has grown significantly, and her movements have reduced to a minimum for this stage of her pregnancy. Her little Rouse, as she and her husband call her, is very healthy and energetic, so much so that she doesn't even let Katrina sleep properly anymore, and consequently not Ragnar, who takes care of her day and night.Today is the day of the scheduled surgery to give birth. Moreira preferred her to have surgery since the baby is in a less favorable position for Katrina to have a natural birth.At Alba Noctis castle, everyone is awake early, preparing for the princess's arrival; there's a lot of activity in every corner. Ragnar is very nervous, his hands sweating, and a giant knot in his throat making it hard to breathe normally. He had never been this nervous in his life, not even the day the twins were born.He has already made about ten rounds in total in his little one's room just this morning. He hired a designer specializing in
The elderly counselor, responsible for giving the final verdict, steps onto the stage and begins to speak."The council of the Alba Noctis pack, after analyzing all the evidence against the accused provided by Alpha Ragnar Shadowfang and hearing their statements, found them guilty. The three are sentenced to an undignified death in front of all the members of the pack. The sentence will be carried out tonight in the castle arena.Lizzie begins to cry inconsolably, while her mother remains stoic, unmoved. Mauricio remains unresponsive, considering the possibility of using the potion that man gave him the other night to prevent those Lycan from ending their lives in front of everyone.Katrina puts her hand over her mouth to stifle a sob as she desperately seeks a way to escape.After the sentences, the trial is concluded and the three are taken to the places where they will remain until the night.Ragnar and Katrina embrace. This is something that pains her despite everything, but it is
Sebastian and Ruby arrive first at the scene in their werewolf form, encountering an aggressive Akira and upset about the previous events, Ragnar semi-conscious and Jarl evidently dead in her claws."Are you okay?" Sebastian tries to communicate with Katrina through the mental link, but Akira still has her aura expanded and cannot effectively communicate with her or get too close, so he circles her at a certain distance with his tail between his legs, showing his neck as a sign of respect and submission.Rita, Ruby's wolf, also stays back, as well as those who are arriving at the site.Akira howls loudly again, increasing her aura even more. Sirox and the others have no choice but to step back due to the pain caused by her display of power. All the werewolves of the Alba Noctis pack receive the message from their leader, the one and only alpha, that their "chosen alpha," Jarl Fenrisson, has just been defeated by her. Most of them, from where they are, begin to experience a lot of pain
"Remus!" Katrina's voice makes Jarl blink, while Remus keeps his eyes closed, his strength quickly waning with the silver bullet lodged in his chest, and he retreats back into Ragnar's mind, allowing him to take his human form once again. Katrina's breath slows at that moment. Everything is silent and dark around her as she sees her severely wounded partner on the ground. Akira uses all her strength to cut the tapes binding Katrina's feet and hands and struggles to get up to reach Ragnar, blood gushing from his chest. She tries to scream for help, but her voice doesn't come out, all the words getting stuck in her throat, the drug that Jarl made her inhale is too strong, and Akira, although she tries to emerge, doesn't quite succeed. Katrina cradles her partner's head in her arms. He is still alive, though gravely injured and unconscious. Jarl looks up and stares at Katrina, who is deeply distressed about Ragnar, but unaware that he is also injured, his left arm has been torn off by
It is impossible to continue hiding what happens when everyone starts to move around the house.Rubí and Paula wake up disoriented by the unusual movement in the mansion's hallways, they go out to look and as soon as they realize that Ragnar's room door is open and there are several people inside, they run there."What's going on, brother?!" Rubí shouts. "Where is Katrina?!"Paula tries to restrain Ragnar, but she can't. He is too nervous.Ragnar can't stand to watch the video on the guard's phone, he takes a deep breath before leaving. He won't allow that man to harm Katrina. He said he would never allow it to happen again over his dead body, and he means it. Tonight one of them will die."Son, please," Paula tries to stop him. "Let the guards take care of it, please don't go in that state. You need to calm down, you're too nervous."Ragnar looks at her for a few seconds before leaving. Julián runs after him. Inside his car, he receives a message from an unknown number, with a photo
The lights of the Shadowfang mansion are gradually fading and Jarl knows that the moment he has been waiting for has finally arrived. There are two guards wandering around that area, weak omegas, who don't worry him too much, because he knows he can go unnoticed with the potion and that if something goes out of control, they are not enemies to him. He walks stealthily a few meters along the side of the wall when he overhears one of them saying he needs to go to the bathroom. That moment is perfect to move forward. He runs to the door and when he tries to open it, it opens without much difficulty. He looks cautiously to make sure there is no one else inside. The whole place is already semi-dark, but he can see that it is the laundry section of the house. He enters and after scanning everything quickly with his eyes, he goes up the main staircase to reach Katrina on the second floor.He opens each door very slowly to avoid alerting anyone and to see who is there, until he reaches the
Inside the cells of the Alba Noctis pack, Jarl hits the wall hard upon receiving the news from Gabriel. He is very nervous. His friend looks at him resignedly."You know that what you are asking for is dangerous, and they won't risk their lives for nothing," Gabriel says, trying to keep his voice low. "You decide, either give them what they want or stay here and wait for your trial.""That's too much money, Gabriel," Jarl yells, angry. "I'll be left with nothing, it's all I have left. They already took everything from me."There is a deep hatred in Jarl's eyes when he thinks of Ragnar and Katrina. Gabriel says nothing, but he knows that Jarl has some plan in mind and there is no human power that will make him back down."I need to get out of here. I want Katrina and that damn man to suffer for this. I want them to regret coming back and planning all of this against me.""Don't you think it's time to walk away? Don't do something that will drag you down even further, Jarl," Gabriel fee
Ragnar and Katrina, along with the elder council members, spend a long time in the boardroom to clarify some points, especially those related to those four. They do not want anyone to get away with all the harm they did to Katrina. When they finally leave the room, all the employees turn to look at her, but she is too mentally exhausted now to give them any kind of explanation. She will do it tomorrow when she is calmer and has rested enough. Ragnar gives some instructions to the assistant and she nods. She knows it's not a good time, so the assistant asks everyone to return to their workplaces and they do so. Katrina walks towards the elevator, ready to go back home, when a familiar figure appears before her, about five steps away. "Amber?" Katrina can't hide her excitement at seeing her after so long. She looks different, but it's her, she knows it, she can feel it. She walks up to her to hug her and they both embrace tightly. Amber is crying like never before. "Amber, my frie