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Set me Free, Alpha Eight
Valeria'S POV Once I was sure that everything at the office was running smoothly, and would continue to do so even though I was absent for the day, I took the afternoon off to visit my grandmother. At least, this time, Dimitri would have nothing to complain about. Even if he did, I wouldn't let him intimidate me with his bellyaching. "Ms Morre," the friendly nurse at the reception greeted as I passed by her station. "Hello," I replied. "She's awake and alert. Go right in."The nurse then continued writing in a book, dismissing me. I went to my grandma's room. The moment I stepped in, my nostrils were assailed with the sweet fragrance of flowers. The source was from the large, beautiful bouquet of lilies, her favourite flowers, in my grandmother's lap. With a pleased smile on her face, she fingered the delicate petals, pressed it to her nose and inhaled deeply. "Hi, grandma," I called out. She dragged her gaze from the flowers to my face. "Hello, Valeria. Come on and sit down." S
Last Updated : 2024-03-04Set me Free, Alpha Nine
Valeria’s POV"What?" I exclaimed through a throat that felt like it had been clogged with sawdust. I didn't know that I had fallen backwards into the chair until Ivy put out a hand to steady me. The bottom fell out of my world. Pregnant? How could I possibly be pregnant? I tried to do a bit of calculation to remember when last I had seen my period, but my head was in a whirl and I could not think straight. Horrified, I stared up at Ivy, who held my hand tightly. I convulsively squeezed her hand. "Ivy... you wouldn't lie or joke about something like this, would you? If it's some kind of joke-"Ivy looked disgusted at the very idea."You know me better than that," she said. "I would never joke about something like that in the first place.""Okay. But- but are you sure about the results? Maybe there was some sort of mixup. Mistakes can happen, results can get swapped, or maybe you need to take another sample or- or-"With a sigh, she sat beside me. "I know this is very hard for you t
Last Updated : 2024-03-05Set me Free, Alpha Ten
Valeria’s POVI marched back to the spot where I had been standing with Noah, but he was no longer there. The mass of people to my left briefly parted, and I saw him, talking and laughing with a group of important looking people.Good. I wanted to be on my own for a while. I took a glass of champagne, leaned against the bar, sipped it and stewed in anger. The nerve of Damian, talking to me like that!I was careful though, to keep my face expressionless. I nodded, smiled at those who caught my eye. Again, I raised the glass to my lips. Nothing came out. I needed another drink. Badly. There was a waiter up ahead. The place was noisy and he would not hear me if I called out. I took a couple of steps towards him and stopped. The ground seemed to undulate under my feet. The room spun. I clutched the glass in my hand tightly, hoping, praying that I wouldn't fall and disgrace myself. "Hey. Are you okay?"Relieved, I sagged against Noah as I felt his arm slide around my waist. "I guess so
Last Updated : 2024-03-05Set me Free, Alpha Eleven
Dimitri’s POVI watched in horror as Valeria reeled and began to drop like a pack of cards. I was running towards her before I was conscious that I was moving, screaming her name again and again. Just as I got closer, I slid to her on my knees and caught her just because she could hit the floor. "Valeria. Valeria," I called frantically, shaking her and trying to tap her away. She lay still and very pale in my arms."Help," I called again, seconds before remembering that we were the only ones on this floor, probably the only ones in the building. I swore.I pressed trembling fingers to her wrist and checked her pulse. It was slow, but it was still there. I drew in a shaky breath of relief, scrambled to my feet and ran to the elevator. Glancing nervously at her, I ran out of the building. The doorman was barely in time to open the door. I laid her gently in the backseat of my car and zoomed off to the nearest hospital. "Hey! Emergency," I shouted as soon as I got out of the car, ala
Last Updated : 2024-03-05Set me Free, Alpha Tweleve
Valeria’s POV "Okay, babe. Promise me that you won't freak out. We have got everything under control..."Ivy telling me not to freak out had the exact opposite effect. I was freaking out. I clutched the phone tightly. "What's going on?" I asked breathlessly. Ivy drew in a deep breath. "It's your grandma. She... has caught a cold, a bad cold."And then Ivy went on again about how I shouldn't panic and about how my grandma was being looked after. I didn't bother listening to the rest of what she said. "I'll be right there," I said and hung up.I looked around my office distractedly, fear and worry gnawing at my insides. I grabbed my bag and without a word to anyone, left the office. ‘Let her be okay... Please, let her be okay,’ I said again and again as the taxi sped off to the hospital. I didn't bother listening to what the nurse at the reception area wanted to say to me. I ran all the way to my grandmother's hospital room. She was fast asleep, but didn't look good at all. She was
Last Updated : 2024-03-05Set me Free, Alpha Thirteen
Valeria’s POV‘He had to accept my report and the suggestions contained in the report this time,’ I thought, as Dimitri flipped the pages of the file I had just placed in front of him. Four times today, he had told me to make changes to things about the Rosy project I had been working on. Now judging by the scowl on his face, I would be going through that report the fifth time. Damian suddenly thrust the document away from him. "What's this, Valeria?" he said testily. "This is not good enough. Do I have to keep impressing on you how important the Rosy project is? What's this... tripe that you keep submitting to me? If not for the fact that you have been on this project from the beginning, I would have taken you off it immediately."I fought the surge of anger, the urge to yell at him and ask what the hell he wanted and why the hell he was acting like an asshole. With a lot of effort, I mastered my anger, remembering that I was supposed to act indifferent towards him. I wouldn't let
Last Updated : 2024-03-05Set me Free, Alpha Fourteen
Valeria’s POVAs soon as I got to the hospital, Ivy spotted me. She extracted herself from a group of two nurses and a doctor and came hurrying towards me. "Thank goodness you're here, Val." She gave me a brief hug. "I'll let the doctor know you're here right away."She hurried away again. I didn't have to wait long. A nurse walked up to me a while later and informed me that the doctor was ready to see me. Worry knotted my insides as I followed her into his office. I hoped my baby was okay. A minute later, I was on the doctor's examination table."You said you feel pain," he said as he took my blood pressure. "Is the pain centered at any particular point?""No. It was generalized pain and I also wasn't just feeling well. The pain has stopped, but I can't help worrying. I wonder what caused it.""Hmm," said the doctor and wrote into a clipboard. He poked and prodded me for a few minutes more, then waved me over to the chair opposite his. "Ms Morre, from my examination, there is no
Last Updated : 2024-03-05Set me Free, Alpha Fifteen
Valeria’s POVDimitri answered my greeting the next day with an ill tempered grunt and a glower."I sent you a couple of emails just this morning. Get to work and go through them right now. I want everything I highlighted in those emails worked on the next time I ask." Then he turned his back on me and began barking orders to a couple of the staff. It was becoming really irritating.Feeling deflated, I went back to my office. What had I been thinking? That he would soften towards me after last night? Even more than yesterday, I deeply regretted kissing him back. He had probably kissed me just to gloat at his power over me. I should have slapped his annoying face the moment his lips touched mine. That would have served him right. Instead, like a fool, I given in, shown him how much he still affected me. "Pathetic," I muttered as I sank into my chair, read through the emails Dimitri had sent to me while trying to remember what exactly I was to work on today. "Are you done yet?" I jum
Last Updated : 2024-03-05
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Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty-Six
VALERIAWith my hands on my hips, I took a step back to look at the decorations. After a few seconds or so, I had to admit that the decorators had done a pretty good job. I had as well. Jayden had his superhero theme decorations all in blue, his favourite colour. Jane had her favourite Princess whatsername theme also in bright yellow.I grinned, reflecting on how very different children's birthday parties were from those of adults. The entire living room area was a clash of yellow and blue, and then there were the balloons also, covering large sections of the floor."And what are you grinning about?"I felt myself relaxing at the sound of Dimitri's voice, leaning back against him until his arms went around me. He repeated his question."I was just thinking that the whole place looks like a rainbow exploded in it," I murmured."Mmm. I think I rather like the look of the place. It's an improvement if you ask me."I snorted. "Having kids have made you soft. There was a time when you woul
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty-Five
VALERIAIt was bone-chilling to see Amelia's expression when she realized the game was over. It was like she had been wearing a mask which had suddenly come off. Now I could clearly see what lay beneath the facade she presented to the world. The sight made me shiver and I unconsciously shifted close to Dimitri who gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Amelia, teeth bared, kept looking around like a trapped animal searching for a means of escape."There's no way out now," Dimitri said, leaving the sofa to stand in front of her. "You can't escape so bury that thought.""Why?" I said, the question drawn from my lips before I even thought of it. Everyone turned to look at me but I had eyes only for Amelia, the woman who was my mother but had done things to hurt me more than anyone in this world. "Why do you hate me so much? Why... all this? How could you-""You know nothing!" she declared vehemently. "So don't you think you can sit there and judge me when you don't know half of what happ
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty-Four
DIMITRII let my suggestions about Amelia's and Alexis' eventual capture sink in. When I was sure it did, and that Valeria was in agreement with all I had said, I stood up to leave. Valeria's hand on my arm prevented me from doing so."Wait," she said. "There is something more."I slowly sat back down. "Tell me.""I want to be part of the capture."My response was instant. "Oh no. You can't.""Why not?"Funny she would ask. Even the thought of putting Valeria, especially in her condition, through any form of danger was so abhorrent to me it made me shudder inwardly."Valeria," I said in the most reasonable tone of voice I could muster. "There may be danger when they are caught. I have no way of knowing, true. But I can't take the risk of you getting hurt. Silas, Vance and I with all the others I will bring in to help can handle them. Trust me. It will be best if you stay completely out of it."Then I groaned inwardly when I still saw that stubborn look on her face, the look I knew so
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty-Three
VALERIAOne of Ivy's nurse friends from the hospital clapped her hand over her lips to keep in a giggle."Ssh!" said a friend of Vance who just had to be a bodyguard. His tall, muscled figure could be made for nothing else.The man was smiling himself."Sorry," the giggler apologized as she smiled up at him.I felt much like giggling myself, especially at the look I was already picturing on Ivy's face when she eventually realized Vance had brought a lot of his friends and her friends on their date."They are here," Dimitri whispered in my ear.Dimitri's words were whispered back and forth between everyone."Remember everyone. Don't make a sound when they come in," someone said.I looked straight ahead and saw Vance, lead Ivy by the hand into the private booth of the restaurant where we were all hiding."It's beautiful in here," Ivy said, looking around. "But it's rather dark, don't you think? Maybe a little more light will-"She made a move to touch the light switch. I stiffened, drew
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty-Two
DIMITRISilas, who was to all appearances lounging on the verandah outside while making some calls, met my eyes. For the last few days, I had kept him in and around the house, ostensibly running a few errands for me, being extra security for Valeria, but really he was around to keep an eye on Amelia.We had all come to the conclusion that since she felt herself entirely free of suspicion, she would make a move to contact Alexis or to put her plans into action soon. I felt that she was about to do either or both of these things now.Just this morning, Amelia had been acting strangely. Although she had tried to hide it, Silas and I had noticed her acting ill at ease, although Valeria had of course remained oblivious. Amelia had started acting this way after Silas, as he told me, had overheard her yelling at someone over the phone.A few minutes later, with her handbag slung over her shoulder, she had said very casually, "I'm making a quick trip to the store to pick up some things we nee
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty-One
VALERIAAlthough it had seemed impossible at first, the endless hours after Grandma Reese passed became days. Days became weeks. The weeks eventually added up to a month, and then several months. Though I missed her terribly with each passing day, life went on. My pregnancy became advanced. The doctors told Dimitri and I to expect our child soon.That was the only happy thought that kept me going all through those months. That, and the fact that I had Dimitri at my side.The rest of the time, I was consumed by fear, fear that at least one archenemy was still out there. Dimitri had gently broken the news of Grace's death to me, but had confessed that he still had not found a trace of Alexis. I was terrified that he would one day make an appearance and attempt to harm my child and I. Whenever I voiced out my concerns, Dimitri was quick to assure me that he was still on the lookout for Alexis.And though I took a little comfort in his assurances, I never once forgot that Dimitri was not
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty
AMELIAThey were fools. The lot of them. Stupid, trusting fools, but their stupidity suited me just fine. It was how I had stayed hidden all this time, after all.It was a shame about Grace, but it had to be done. She had been becoming a wild card, a disappointment to me. This early in the plot, she had shown that her emotions overruled her thoughts, and anyone who thought with the heart rather than the head was a liability, was expendable. This was why I had taken Dimitri and Silas to the spot where she was to meet with me. Grace was dead now and a lot of the future complications I knew she would bring had died with her.I glanced at the locked door of my room and continued pacing.I had to get word across to Alexis. Just calling him on the phone wouldn't do. I had to see him face to face in order to assure him that our plan was still on, and that Grace's death changed nothing.The only problem now was Dimitri wouldn't want to let me, a supposedly grieving mother, out of his sight. T
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Thirty-Nine
DIMITRIThe place where Grace had chosen to meet with Amelia was very like the place where she had kept Valeria captive. It was on the grounds of a building, a deserted one by the looks of it. The building was in a scarcely frequented part of the city.Silas, Amelia and I got there a full hour before Amelia's appointment with Grace. We chose good hiding spots where we could see and not be seen. Then we settled down to wait for Grace to show up.Thirty minutes before the time of the appointment, we all clearly heard approaching footsteps. A woman came into view. She was wearing a scarf that obscured most of her face and huge sunglasses, but I knew it was Grace. My hands ached with the effort of keeping them still and not going for her right there and then. Grace gave a sweeping look around the area."Get down," I whispered to the persons with me.Though I was sure we couldn't be seen by her, we all went down and peered at her from between the thick foliage of overgrown shrubs we were h
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Thirty-Eight
DIMITRI"I can't remember."Amelia had said this more times than I could count in so many different ways, but it still boiled down to the same thing. She still clearly could not remember anything about what Valeria's grandmother had said about her and her past."Why can't I remember?" she said again, with tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes.She glanced over at Valeria. Whenever Amelia had declared that she didn't remember, Valeria, with her head resting on the sofa, nodded mechanically and simply kept staring at the blank wall before her.Seeing that Valeria was more or less unresponsive, Amelia turned to me. "What is wrong with me? Why can't I remember any of what happened?"I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring look, patted her hand. "It's okay. Don't worry. I promise you that I will do everything to find out how your memory was tampered with and if possible, you will get your memories back."Amelia nodded and then just sat there, crying and wringing her hands. I sat by
