His mind seeped back to the present as he saw his mate, the one he’d longed for that time, the one he’d sadly had to reject to marry her sister. Edwina Sinclair in his office.
He wondered how things would have turned out if he’d chosen to ignore the words of the pack’s circle, if he’d chosen to ignore the words of John Sinclair and just follow his heart instead. Perhaps he wouldn’t have had so much regret. John’s so-called befitting Luna not only hurt him, but had to humiliate him in front of the whole pack, giving his disability and insolvency as an excuse for her foolish pursuits with his beta.
He wasn’t in the marriage for love or anything of the sort, he’d always put his people first in all of his decisions and that’s why he’d taken Sonia instead of her sister. All he wanted was a Luna without any shortcomings, but at the end, he got the worst form of betrayal in a dish served cold.
Sonia was more than happy to take the place of her sister and become Luna. They both had a happy marriage until the worst tragedy befell the pack.
One day, their greatest enemy, the sizzlers attacked with full force that the night howlers never expected, leading them to almost lose everything, but for the inner strength of the pack and the mighty resistance from their best soldiers. Their pack was saved and the remaining sizzlers retreated, but all didn’t end well. Not only did a great number of night howler soldiers die, but the great alpha Alexander lost his ability to walk in battle, leaving him confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
He saw his wife’s true colors after this time, as Sonia never failed to hide her despite for him. Xander needed help with a lot of things after the accident, especially feeding and clothing, but not only did Sonia spit at his face when he asked for help, she also swore never to lift a finger for him. He didn’t retaliate to any of her nasty behaviors, he chose not to all those times, but there’s always a limit to how much one can take. Sonia not only hurt his pride deeply as an alpha, but still chose to cross the line by pursuing affairs with his beta, one of his most trusted followers.
The lies, the betrayal, the hurt, they all came from the ones he trusted the most, they all came at his lowest point in life.
“Sir?”
“He rose his head to meet her gaze. She was still standing in front of him in his office. He looked at her deeply this time, her auburn eyes, her dark brown hair, her body, she was so beautiful.”
Edwina had started getting impatient standing there, watching him. What was he thinking about and why hadn’t he said anything for so long?
“Sir?” She called again.
“Yes, Edwina Sinclair. So, you were the one. It took so long for me to recognize you.”
Of course, he would have had difficulty marking out her face, as they had only met once in the past.
“I understand sir, an alpha is so busy with a lot of things. I didn’t expect you to recognize someone like me at all.”
“What happened? You disappeared after that time. I married your sister, and I never even saw you once since after the rejection.”
“I hardly come out much sir, my abilities are limited.”
“So, you went on to marry Benedict, and now here we are, two victims of heartbreak and betrayal. He and your sister sure did a fine job of making a big joke of us.”
“I am sure that if Ben and Sonia knew how much their actions would hurt us, they wouldn’t have done what they did, sir.”
“How do you know that?”
“I just know, sir.”
He sighed, “hmmm. You seem to have a good heart, Miss Sinclair. Maybe things would have turned out better if I’d chosen you instead.”
Edwina didn’t expect those words, she didn’t know how to respond, “I’m…”
“You’re what?”
“I’m sure you did what you thought was best then sir, you are a great alpha, and your people always respect your decisions.”
“Not this one. Marrying your sister is one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made.”
“I am sorry that things didn’t turn out the way you wished for, sir.” She bowed. “We can only hope for better things in the future.”
This is the first time that Xander is getting to meet Edwina Sinclair through the way she speaks, as the people surrounding them both didn’t make room for that five years ago. Some part of him wants to see more, but he doesn’t know if he should take that path yet. She seems very different from how her father described her that time. In fact, she does not seem that bad at all.
“Miss Sinclair?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Thank you very much for your time. I must admit I enjoyed this talk with you. You may leave my office now if there’s nothing left for you to say.”
“But sir…”
“Yes?”
“What about my request to overturn the judgment you made on Ben and my sister? Are you not going to give me a final answer?”
“You’ve heard what I said before, Miss Sinclair. I don’t not attend to wolf pack matters in my business office. There are humans everywhere, you know.”
“I’m sorry for coming here sir, but please understand why I…”
“I understand perfectly well. You said the guards won’t let you in because of your deficiency, but that’s none of my concern. You found a way to sneak in here with all the tight security, you can apply that same smartness when you get to night howler territory.”
Those words of his. How can someone switch from warm to cold all of a sudden?
She watched as he picked up the wired telephone on his desk and dialed a number, after which he began speaking to someone on the other end.
“Security? Yes, send someone up to escort Miss Sinclair out of this building immediately.”
Edwina had this disappointed feeling in her heart as she was led out of Mr. Chase’s office, through the floor halls, down the elevator and the ground floor reception which led out of the tall company high-rise building. It was right in the middle of the Danbury city, one of the human territories which mostly had buildings belonging to some night howlers.As she began her walk down the street, her heart told her not to lost hope yet, as the alpha hadn’t given his final answer, she would just have to find a way to meet him in the pack house.“Edwina!!! Hello! Edwina!!!!”She’d been hearing someone call her name from behind as she walked, but was too absent minded to notice. Her attention was finally gotten when she felt a hand touch her shoulder from the back.“Edwina.”She turned to see it was the receptionist from the office. The older lady then stopped to catch her breath as she appeared exhausted having chased Edwina all the way here.“I’m sorry,” Edwina apologized. I couldn’t hear
A lot of things still surprised Edwina as she was being driven in the back seat of the private vehicle. A lot of questions she had in mind to ask about Mr. Chase and how he was able to locate her. Finding her home might have not been a problem, as this same driver had dropped her off there earlier today, but finding her new workplace where she’d barely resumed? How was he able to? “Excuse me, um… Mr.… Um.?”The driver turned to face her for two seconds, “Patrick. You can call me Patrick, Miss,” he said, before focusing his gaze back on the road.“Okay, Mr. Patrick. I hope you don’t mind me asking this, but how did you find out about my workplace? Prior to this time, no one else knew about my new job besides me.”“I also didn’t know about it before this time, ma’am.”“So how then did Mr. Chase find out?”“He didn’t. My only instruction was to come to your house to pick you up this evening, miss, but I knew you’d be working so I went to your new boss to ask for permission first.”“How
“Nothing sir,” the older woman whose name appeared to be Becca answered as she then let go of Edwina’s hand.His face scowled even more at her response, “I heard you, you were just saying something to her now, and now you tell me nothing’s going on? Lying to my face?”Becca didn’t respond anymore, just bent her head as she trembled in fear, fear of saying any other thing so as not to make matters worse.Edwina wasn’t staring at him, but still, she could feel him glaring holes into her face.“Stephen.”After hearing the alpha’s call, the butler didn’t need to be given further instruction as he hurriedly ran up the stairs to assist Mr. Chase down using the specially designed stair climber.“Edwina,” he called her after Steven placed him in front of them. She turned to face him, “Y-yes, Mr. Chase?”“What was Becca telling you before I came?”“Nothing sir.”“You’re covering for her, aren’t you?”She shook her head, “no sir. She was just welcoming me, that’s all.”He stared at her more d
***THE NEXT DAY***Edwina was still distraught with the after thoughts from what had happened yesterday. She’d returned to her former home in night howler territory after the dinner, the alpha had given her some time to think further about the condition he gave. There was no need for thinking, saying yes would give her what she wanted after all, but he still insisted on it.Now that she thought of it, even though she wouldn’t die, she realized she would still be at the losing end of all this. She would have to return to a disabled man whom she had no feelings for. She would have to live a life that involved caring for someone whom she once shared a bond with, a bond that had been rejected, a bond that had hurt her so badly. Now she had to go back to a home where she would be reminded of the pain she once felt every day. This will be hard, even much harder than death, but does she really have any other choice?She does, the other one would be to let Sonia and Benedict die, but she know
The time that Edwina had here was limited. There was so much she wanted to talk to Sonia about, so much lost time between the two sisters, but that will have to wait till later. First, she had to tell her what was most paramount, she had to tell her the happy news, that she wasn’t going to die, that her and her baby would live, all because of her sister’s sacrifice.“Sonia, you are not going anywhere. These will not be your last days on earth.”“I love your optimism, Edwina, but let’s face the truth. No one will make the alpha change his mind once it’s made up. The warden came to tell me here today that the execution date will soon be fixed.”“I’m serious about what I said, Sonia. And I’m not just being optimistic because I think it will happen. I went to the alpha to plead with him on you and Benedict’s behalf.”“You did what? And what makes you think he would ever change his mind? I mean no offence by this, sister, but he was once my husband, I lived with him for years. Once he deci
Edwina had soaked her pillow in tears after returning home from the cells. Her emotional state didn’t even allow her pay a visit to Benedict, as she headed straight home right after seeing her sister. Why is Sonia behaving like this? Why wont she let her worry about taking care of a disabled person? Why wont she let her worry about choosing to stay with a man she does not love?But of all that had happened today, one thing moved Edwina, it’s that for the first time, Sonia considered her sister’s well-being first, despite the fact that it meant she wouldn’t have a life to continue with anymore, she wanted Edwina to be happy. She wanted her sister to be free, but how can Edwina have all that without any family by her side? Does Sonia not know that loneliness makes such happiness and freedom less relevant? What will be the point of all this if she had no family to share her joy with? Probably this was why alpha Chase insisted that she had some time to think it over, maybe Sonia was rig
Edwina's POV...I glared out my window, it was a brand new day and the air felt lighter, but I didn't feel lighter; I just knew I was free from one of my heart-felt turmoil and about to start one more, I was going to marry a man I don't love, to save a sister who never showed me any kindness as she did before yesterday.I was overwhelmed with the despair of my current situation, I was always one who wanted to marry for love and nothing more. Not for money, not for appearance but just for love. Thinking about marrying a disabled man I don't love was another struggle in my head. How was I going to cope with that and not lose my mind in the process?"Stay still," Becca commanded me as she inserted another pin into my headgear."Ouch," I cried out as she mistakenly pierced into my skin."Sorry," she apologized, "Please stay still so I don't pierce your head again," she instructed and I sighed then nodded my head.She was trying to make me over to prepare me for the official ceremony of th
Xander's POV...Getting back from the fucking ritual of annulling the marriage of my mate to be; sometimes I wonder about the fundamental significance of some of these norms and frivolous shenanigans. They were sometimes lengthy and quite frankly unnecessary. Why can't I just annul a freaking marriage? Why do I have to go dip myself twenty times in the river?A lot of unanswered questions.When we walked into the jail to pick up Benedict, he glared at me miserably, I couldn't recognize him, he wasn't even the shadow of the man I knew, he looked weak and unstable. Before then, he used to look muscular and in control, he used to be my right-hand man, but not anymore.Growing up as the Alpha's son, I knew it was my destiny to become the Alpha and so did Benedict. He also knew it was his destiny to become the Beta wolf, so we would always be forced to go hunting together as kids. Gradually, we developed a mutual friendship that was built upon the better good of the night howler’s pack. We