AITHANI blinked at him. Never in my wildest imagination would I believe I would one day have such a conversation with Pink. “You are gay?” I asked once more, to convince myself I heard him correctly, and that my ears weren't playing tricks on me. He nodded, his cheeks red. “It's not that obvious, is it?” “It's not. I wouldn't have even suspected a thing.” I gave him an appraisal. Aside from his unusual love for the pink colour, there was nothing odd about him. He spoke about girls like the rest of us and even talked about getting married to one and having a family. Was that all a hoax? To get us from knowing he was different from us? It wasn't far-fetched. He must have realized not everyone would be accommodating of his sexuality. “I know.” He smiled. “I only dated once though, and just decided to stop it after what happened to you.” He looked up sharply. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I was guilty. You see. I believed you would hate me should you know I was gay because o
“So, where are you taking me?” Michelle asked with a smile, wriggling her brows at me. “Well… Let's see.” I racked my brain for a place to take her to. I'd never been out of the house unless it was for something necessary. And then, it was to go to either my bar, to check out things for Viktor or a stakeout. I always took the women I dated in the past to the bar. There was no reason to think of where to take them when they liked me just for me. Okay, I once took one out to dinner. News flash? It was my restaurant. So, that was it. I had never been a romantic man. I sucked at it. Viktor always dragged my ears about this, but it wasn't my fault. I had little experience in that area, as Viktor wasn't the right role model. I doubt he had dated anyone since he became my father. He dedicated his entire life to me. I believe he influenced me.“Ai?” Michelle called out, bringing my focus back to her.“You choose. I don't even know much about the city. I can take you on a drive around, but
“That was fun!” Michelle sighed as she got up, stretching her back. “Even though I lost to you, I had fun. I didn't know life could be so interesting when you do something fun with someone you are close to. Let's do this again next time.”“Yeah.” Yawning, I got up from the chair and held her bag up. “Are you hungry? Should we go find something to eat?” I was hoping she would take the bait to avoid getting more messages from that damned, lousy werewolf. For the past hour, I had been getting messages from him, texts I didn't bother to open because I knew it would all be from him. You would have thought we were dating from the number of texts he had sent. “Eat? I'm not that hungry. Why don't we play for a few minutes more? We can play poker. I've been dying to try this out. I haven't done it in a long time.” She pouted, giving me her best puppy dog look. This would have worked on me had it not been for my eagerness to get out of there. I didn't want to get bombarded by texts from Alex
“No, it's not. I don't eat seafood,” I lied through my teeth, ignoring Michelle, who looked at me suspiciously. She knew I loved seafood as I always took her to the one near our high school each time we got a free period. “Oh.” He let go, his face in an unreadable mask. “I will have them prepare something else for you. I apologize for my oversight. I shouldn't have assumed you liked something without asking you about it.”“You don't need to bother.” I sat back in the chair. “What are you doing here?” Michelle asked Alex. Somehow, she had forgotten how he almost bit her head off because she called his name and how he ignored her. Alex glanced at her, his mouth still pulled up in a frown as he muttered. “This place is mine. Of course, I have every right to be here.”“What??” Michelle gasped, as she placed her right palm over her heart. “You owe this place??? What the hell???”“What do you want to have? I will have them make it for you. It's on the house. You can order whatever you wa
“It's okay. I will eat this.” Michelle frowned as she looked down at her plate. It looked like she had realized Alex didn't like her. It was such a pity, as it seemed like she liked him.“Are you enjoying your time here?” Alex grinned at me, acting like he couldn't tell he had broken a woman's heart.“What are you doing?” I glared at him, gritting those words out. “Don't you have anything else to do? Something to occupy your time with?” I didn't feel comfortable having him here with me, but he seemed as if he enjoyed it.“Come on. Why are you acting like we are strangers? We have basically seen each other's —”“What about the food? Why haven't they served it yet?” I cut his words short before he could complete them. Knowing how shameless he was, it wasn't difficult to know what he might likely speak about last night.“It's on the way.” He smirked as leaned on the table with his right hand under his jaw, looking at me with a suspicious expression on his face. I didn't need to be told t
ALEXHow did I end up in such a situation? Okay, I knew how. My jealousy caused it. The minute I got a call from my men alerting me of Aithan's presence in my casino, I rushed over to see him, only for my blood to boil when I saw him with that same woman his father said was a perfect match for him.The rage that took over was unlike anything else. I believed the night we spent together had a role to play. It explained why I felt the need to strangle someone, the woman, preferably.Now, I was tasked with chatting with the woman else he wouldn't speak to me again. It was as if he knew the kind of hold he had on me…else he wouldn't be so confident as to threaten me with it. He must have realized that I was a sucker for him.“Oh,” Michelle said with a smile. “You two must be close enough seeing you grew up together.”“Of course. We have even slept —” A curse left my lips when Aithan stomped on my foot once more. I had to shift my legs so he wouldn't do it again. “Pardon me for that. I was
AITHANHis office was the last place I thought I would find myself in. I believed we would part ways after spending half the day playing in his casino, but Alex seemed like he didn't want that. How else would he ask to discuss work with me when he knew I wanted to take my visitor home?I stepped into his office, looking around the neatly kept space. Alex didn't strike me as someone who would have such a commanding office. It looked just like mine. The only difference was how boring this place looked. I bet he hardly stayed in this place for a long time. The dark wood panelling and leather-bound books seemed to belong to another office, not to one that was his. He didn't strike me as someone who read. Behind the massive mahogany desk, a high-backed leather chair seemed to loom over the room, as if waiting for its occupant to return and reclaim his throne. He adorned the walls with framed photos of golf games and hunting trips, each one showcasing Alex's toothy grin and hearty handsha
I'd become used to his kissing, that was why it didn't come as much of a surprise to me. I returned the kiss, and we began kissing passionately. His tongue tangled with mine in a smooth, rhythmic way.His hands started feeling my entire body. The strong smooth hands caressed my body, and I felt myself arching towards him.He stopped at my crotch and lightly stroked my bulging hard-on. He slid his mouth down my neck, sucking and licking down as he unbuttoned my shirt with the quick precision of a man who knows what he was doing.“No,” sanity instantly returned. I held his right hand and stopped him from going further. It seemed like I had been kicked in the gut, to remind me of where we were before I let things escalate more than they had. “We are in your office. We can't do this.” I glance around as if I were expecting someone to jump up from the shadows. There was a massive possibility of someone walking in to see us in each other's arms.“And what about that? It's not as if we can'
I walked down the hallway to Alex's room. Sophia would have escorted me, but she got a call from her brother and had to speak to him. I left her alone to do that after I saw her expression. She didn't seem that thrilled to talk with him.I knocked on the door but didn't get any response. Trying it for the second time, I pushed it open and stepped in. The first thing that assaulted my senses was his scent. It enveloped the room, instantly wrapping me up in warmth. I closed my eyes and inhaled the smell I liked the most in the entire world. It was almost like the time when I rolled on the bed after spending time with him in his cabin, inhaling his sweet scent. I opened my eyes to look around, seeking the owner of the room, but he was nowhere to be found. Letting out a sigh, I let my gaze run around the room, taking the furniture, the masculine decor and the arrangement, in. The bed, a sturdy oak frame with a plush grey duvet, perched against one wall, flanked by two nightstands with
He didn't disturb me anymore. The promise of a reward was enough to keep him in his room for the rest of the hour. I looked through the photo album with Sophia, laughing at how cute Alex was. Who would have thought someone like him had such a soft side? I realized, though, that the cute pictures stopped when he got older. I didn't need to calculate to know it was around the time our mothers died. Obviously, his mother was the one taking those pictures of him. When she died, Marcus stopped it. He started training his son to take over from him in his death. I noticed how sad and serious the pictures after the cute ones were. Alex only smiled in three of the pictures, and they looked forced. His eyes lost that sparkle they had when his mother was still alive. Whatever happened to him was enough to rub him of his innocence, turning him into the man he was.“Alex changed after he met you,” Sophia whispered, causing me to look up at her. I was so lost in my thoughts that I forgot she was
AITHANWho knew women could be so strong and energetic? I didn't know, though, but it all changed when I met Sophia De Luca. She looked harmless with those soft brown eyes and auburn hair that she had up in twin ponytails. I watched her walk around; the hair bouncing with each step she took, intrigued. I'd never had a sister before, and the brother I had was almost non-existent. To me, I was an only child, and that never bothered me until I met Sophia. She was so fun to be with that she made me imagine how my life would have been if I had grown up with her. Would it have been the best?“Have you seen our photo album??!” she asked, rather excitedly. From the door, she led me to the house and straight to her room. She wasn't shy about having a man in her bedroom, and I realized it had to do with my relationship with her stepbrother. She knew I was taken and wouldn't have any thoughts about her. Her room was as feminine as she looked, with her cute pink sundress and ribbon she used in
ALEX I felt like the only man in the entire world. Having my Aithan with me was the best feeling, like the first drop of water after a long winter. For the first time, I felt like I had found my meaning, the place I belong, where I was supposed to be.I got down from the car and walked around it to open the door for my mate. Aithan humoured me by staying put, waiting for me to do so. He smiled when I opened the door. “We are here.” I offered my hand to him, and he took it.He let me help him out of the car. I closed the door behind him and took his hand in mine, turning to look at the house. As if on cue, all the men gathered in front of the house, in two straight lines, leaving a space between them, enough for two people to walk through. Puzzled, I watched them, waiting to know what was going on. It was the first time I had seen something like this with the men. Max stepped out of the house and walked toward us, smiling. “Welcome home, alpha.” He bowed to me when he was a few pa
AITHAN “What the hell are you talking about?!” Viktor yelled, his veins popping out. His eyes looked like they would jut out from their sockets should he add more strain to them. “I'm leaving with Alex.” While he was seething, I was calm. I had already decided on this. Alex killed his father, to save me. Not everyone would do that. If he didn't love me, he wouldn't have harmed his blood just because he tried to kill me. It was time to break free from Viktor's hold. I'm no longer a kid who hides behind his father. I could tell it was near, the time to start a new life and a family. “You don't know what you are saying.” He drew close. “Did you, by chance, hit your head on anything? Is that why you aren't making any sense?” He placed his right hand on my forehead, to feel my temperature. “It's not hot. You are okay. So, why are you talking like a kid who lost his mind?!”“I didn't.” I shook my head and sat up on the bed. “I know what I'm talking about, Viktor. It's time to let go of
Aithan woke up two weeks later. I had lost hope of ever seeing his pretty blue eyes, of ever seeing them smile when he finally opened it. The two weeks I spent by his bedside were the worst days I ever had. My heart felt like it was slowly dying each day that passed. His mark on my neck felt hot like it was being melted in a cauldron heated several times. I thought the worst. I thought the pain was because my mate was leaving, slowly losing grasp of the world. Sophie and Max stayed by my side, rendering their support the best they could while keeping the house running in my absence. I was too worried about my mate to care about the family and anything else. Viktor located me a few days ago, but I refused to let him see his son. It wasn't easy to do that. Had it not been for our location, there would have been a bloody fight between us. He was the father, after all. It wasn't like I cared. I didn't trust him enough to let him see my Aithan in this state. He might take him from me,
I changed my mind on my way home. Instead of taking Aithan to the house like I planned to do, I drove him to the hospital instead. I needed to be careful with him, to avoid regretting my decision just because I wanted to hug him to myself all day. I had to drive him to the only hospital owned by the werewolves, the one with werewolf staffs instead of humans. To keep the humans out, the hospital always charged an obnoxious amount whenever they got human patients, so they could drive them out. Since the time they built it, they had admitted no human to it. I was right to take Aithan to the hospital, though. The doctors confirmed the poison would have slowly killed my lover if I didn't bring him over. Marcus knew it was lethal. He recognized how dangerous it would be to Aithan, and how it wouldn't affect me. It was clear he wanted to kill him and keep me alive, so I could return to the heartless killing machine I was for him.For a week, Aithan remained unconscious. I'd never been as w
I froze, and so did Aithan. I wasn't expecting to hear something like this. With Marcus, it was always one surprise after the other, but never in my wildest imagination did I think this would be something he would say. “You don't know, right?” He smiled, pleased he had gotten my attention. “I once thought you guys might be siblings, you know? Seeing how your mother didn't think twice about opening her legs for —”“That's a lie.” I shook my head, trying to deny everything I heard. “It can't be true. My mum never cheated on you. I knew it!”He scoffed. “You do?” “My father never cheated on my mum,” Aithan uttered. “Viktor always spoke about how they were meant for each other.”“Just like you and my son?” He chuckled. “It's a pity Alex believes the same.” He shook his head, looking at me with a mischievous smile, as if he knew a secret I didn't, one that would shatter my life if let out. “What do you mean?”“Are you acting like you don't know what I'm talking about?” He strode over to
“You are a damned bastard!" I struggled against the men holding me to the floor. In a normal circumstance, none of them would have been able to hold me down. It just wouldn't have been easy for them to do so. However, with the dart Marcus had them shoot me with, holding me down wasn't that impossible for them. “Stay out of this, son.” Marcus glared. “Despite how many times you have rebelled against me, I won't hurt you. You are my child, after all, my pride and my heir. I —”“Your heir?” I spat, despite the haziness of my head. I was getting drained the more I fought against the men's hold. Aithan stopped fighting a long time ago and just focused on Marcus with that dark scowl. I know that looks all too well. Should Aithan get away from them, things wouldn't be pretty for any of them. It might turn into a blood bath.“Of course you are.” Marcus smiled, his face looking as hideous as hell. He looked like a grim reaper waiting to harvest the soul of the living. “No, I'm not. You cance