This cannot be happening to me. I cannot be Harry's replacement. I stand up from the tub in a split second, spilling water on the floor as I do.I'm quick to drape myself with a towel and go back to the room. My brain is all over the place, and I can't think straight. I hear Sandra follow me closely; she stands right across me from the bed."What's wrong?" She asks in a concerned tone.Really? Did she just ask me that question?"Everything. Everything is wrong. Your Alpha," I spit out the word in disgust, "took me away from my home. No, he kidnapped me. Then he brought me here against my free will and is now forcing me to help him.""Not only that, he sees me and then magically claims I'm his mate. Everything is wrong. Everything is terribly wrong." I rant like a crazy person.She just stares at me. I know she can't relate. In her mind, she might think this is a good thing. Being the second chance mate to an alpha is a big thing, but not to me.I already have a family, a man that I lo
"You can return to your quarters now." He tells me, and I frown."Tomorrow, I'll take you to meet my father, so you can't see his state for yourself." Harry adds, and I grind my teeth."Whatever," I tell him as I turn around and start to make my way back to the pack.I feel him close behind me, and it annoys the hell out of me, so I quickly snap back around to face him in fury and say, "Stop following me!"He scoffs, "You just tried to escape. I'm only taking necessary precautionary measures." He raises his hand in surrender, and I frown."We just made a deal; I won't try to escape. Yet.”He raises a questioning brow at me, and I scoff, turning back to my front to continue walking. Thankfully, Harry doesn't speak a word to me until we get back to the courtyards."These people know who you are to me, so you'll have to behave yourself." He whispers by my side, and a scowl settles on my features as I stop in my tracks and turn back to face him."Who am I to you?" I repeat, in disgust."M
Harry's father isn't kept in his room like I thought he would be. Instead, we walk down to the dungeons and I start to wonder why Harry would keep his father there.But its unlike any other dungeon, it's deep and it doesn't have gates. Instead, it's an iron door with four guards in front of it.Harry dismisses the guards, and he opens the door. I watch him as he does so. Once the door is opened, Harry is the first to step in, and I follow suit.The room is so chilly and dry. It's decorated like a normal room. And there's this pungent smell, but I can't quite pinpoint what it is.I hear Harry's father wheeze and cough, but I don't stare at him yet for fear that I might not like what I see at all."Father!" Harry says, and Sir Smith's wheezing gets harsher."Harry..." The man croaks, and a sinking feeling settles in the pit of my stomach."I've found help. She'll help you." Harry uses a tone unlike any other that I've heard him use before. So sincere and desperate."Really?" Sir Smith s
"My lady, are you sure you don't want to go?" Sandra asked me for the umpteenth time today."No, I don't." I speak in the firm voice that I've been using since.I'm not going to Harry's so-called birthday bash today."But why?" Sandra whines.I'm going to sneak into the gardens and find the flower that they've been feeding to the former Alpha.Of course, I don't say that out loud, but it's my plan. I need to know. Something is telling me that all the answers to my questions regarding Sir Smith's health lie in that garden."I want nothing to do with your Alpha." It's partly the truth, though.I see Sandra's shoulders slouch as she stares at me helplessly. She thinks she's trying to help me, but she's not. I have no idea what kind of image she has of Harry and me in her mind, but I know for sure that it's incorrect."Okay, but just in case you change your mind and decide to come..." She trails off as she opens up my wardrobe and pulls out a shimmering golden gown."You can wear this!" S
Someone is trying to kill Smith.As I walk back to the pack house, that thought spins around in my head.Does Harry know about this? Is he the one trying to kill his father? No, he's not. He called me to help his father. He can't possibly know that he had a hand in ending his father's life.I need to speak with Harry right now.I walk straight back to my room, and once I get there, I slam my door shut and clutch my chest. The gold dress on my bed is still lying there.I said I wasn't going to do this.I hold the dress up in the air."I'm going to the Alpha's birthday bash." I whisper.I go into my bathroom and take a quick shower. I come out feeling refreshed. I put on the dress and prepared myself for the party.My dressing mirror is furnished with makeup tools. So I pamper myself with them. My skin work is subtle, but I give a dash of boldness to my lips, painting them red.Once I'm done, I let my brown, wavy hair fall down from my shoulders. I prepared myself before walking out of
"Stop the music!" Harry barks, raising his fist to the air, and I flinch back in shock and fear. So does everyone else.The music stops abruptly, and everyone freezes in their tracks."Harry..." I trail off as I speak because the sharp look he throws my way is one thing I don't want to mess with.His steps are slow and audible as he walks back to his throne and settles down on it. I can hear how everyone's hearts race in fear and anticipation of what he's about to do."My father," his voice booms in the whole ballroom, "is being poisoned by one of you." He continues, and everyone breaks into hushed whispers."I didn't say you could speak." Harry says, and everyone closes their mouths."After all I've done for you runts, one of you decided to kill my father." Harry says, then lets out a bitter chuckle at the end, and a shiver runs down my spine in fear.What is he doing to do it? And why does he have a manic, sadistic look on his face?"Lock the doors." Harry orders the guards by the t
I narrow my eyes into slits as I stare at Harry. How can he look so relaxed after killing a man and sending an entire family to death?"My lady, we have to go." Someone bumps shoulders with me and starts to pick me up from the floor, but my eyes are still dead set on Harry.The person starts to drag me away, but I'm reluctant to leave."My lady, please," and I'm dragged away. It takes me a while to realize that it's Sandra pulling me out of the ballroom.She doesn't say anything until we get back to my room, where she sits me down on the bed and locks the door. She turns to me, but all I can see and hear is Harry beheading that doctor again and again."Are you alright?" Sandra asks me, and I look at her through hooded eyes as I clutch my chest."No. No, I'm not alright. A man was beheaded because of me. I'm not alright!" I whine out in a blubbering voice, and she turns her attention to the ground."I'm sorry you had to go through that," Sandra says, and I frown."You're sorry I had to
Once I finish crying my eyes out, I clean up and compose myself before retracing my steps to Sir Smith's room that I used the other day.I try to block out all thoughts of Harry as I do so, but it proves to be almost impossible. I mean, I am staying at his house, and everything around me smells like him.My werewolf senses are slowly coming back to me since I'm now staying here. I'm not sure if it could be a good thing or a bad thing.Once I finally get to the dungeon-like place, I greet both guards by the doorpost awkwardly. Though they might be entirely different guards from the other day, I'm very sure they know who I am because they step away from the door and open it up for me.I let out a sigh before taking a step into the room. Harry's father looks like he's sleeping. And the room still smells the same way it did when I first came here.Though now I can clearly tell what it is. A faint aroma of belladonna. Harry's father seems to be unhooked from the tea treatment. The air surr
"Isla, you look so pretty.” Sandra says to me, and I look at myself through the mirror.I do look pretty. I look beyond pretty. My cheeks look higher than they've ever looked before, and where my freckles are supposed to be, they seem spotless. I'm glowing; my hair is glowing; my aura is glowing. Every single thing about me is literally glowing.Why wouldn't they? It's my wedding day.Yes, Harry and I are finally getting married. We can’t keep living as co-parents and mates for the rest of our lives. We have to get her married. It took us three years to finally agree to it.Sandra and Denise are here in the room, helping me get ready. I was very much against the idea, but the two paid me no mind as they made up some speech about best friends always being there for each other and whatnot. stuff like that.Now they have to deal with my moodiness and awkwardness. I effing love them so much. "Thank you. I really appreciate this.” I say to the two of them in a very honest tone. They manage
"What do you mean by what? You guys want a day off, but we can't get any time off? That sounds awfully unfair.” Oliver crosses one arm over the other, and I huff."It's not unfair. We're girls, and we need breaks.” I stomped my leg on the ground."Oh wow. What a theory! So boys don't need breaks, right? That's what you're trying to say?” Harry speaks up, and I nod."Exactly!" My girls exclaim at the same time, and I nod my head."Well, I'm the alpha, and I decide what's what.” Harry says, and the boys hoot and holler in his favor. Lilah rolls her eyes, crossing over to where me and the other women are standing."Boys drool, and girls are cool.” She says in a pouty voice. Dylan laughs at her face."Sure. Like you're not the one drooling right now.” He says, and Lilah's palm instantly finds her mouth as she checks for drool. She doesn't find any. What she does find is a squad of men laughing at the obvious prank.Her eyes narrow into slits as she folds her arms together. "You're going t
Everyone is excited. Harry, being the person that he is, never thought to replace the once-councillors that he had slain for some kind of reason.I'm Luna, and even though I love Harry and his weird methods of doing things, I can't let things go like that. So that is why I suggested we form a new council.We can't keep ruling on our own. We need a council. Harry always seems to think the opposite of what I'm thinking. He prefers it this way. Says there is a lesser chance of getting betrayed by another council member if there are no more council members.incredible flawed logic, but I love the man anyway.Everyone is gathered in the courtyard, and they are all aware of what's going to happen today. Harry makes a show to attend at the last minute with a frown on his face to show how much he doesn't appreciate this.Yet he finds his way to me and settles down in the throne-like chair next to me. "Hi," I mutter to him, and he grumbles under his breath.“Hey.”After that, the ceremony comm
"I want to do it again.” Harry says in an awfully serious voice, and my jaw drops."Wh-what?" That was not what I was expecting him to say. Not what I was expecting him to say at all.He wants to kiss me again. I thought he would say something like, ‘It was a mistake, and we shouldn't try it again.’"Isla, let's make this easier for ourselves. Let me kiss you, please.” He says in a desperate tone as he cocks his head to one side and leans down."But you're mad at me," I whisper against his lips. He's literally the one always glaring at me through the hallway with piercing eyes, as though he wants to kill me or get rid of me entirely.I'm still not sure what provoked the bathroom incident, but I'm sure as hell that he can't be serious about kissing me again. Right? He can't be. "Can't I be mad at you and still want to fuck you senseless?" My breath hitches as words refuse to come out of my mouth in that second. Even if any word were to escape from my mouth, it would probably sound lik
Everyone turns to face the loud interruption. We see Sir Smith with an amused expression on his face, contrasting with the assertive tone that he used seconds ago."What is it, dad? Harry asks his father in a harsh tone. I notice how detached he's been from Sir Smith all throughout dinner. Like he's repulsed.I don't think it was the embarrassing tales or condescending remarks that Harry got from his father tonight that caused him to act so hostile towards him. I think it's because of the thing with Jeremy.One thing I know about Harry is that it's incredibly hard for him to go past things, especially lies and betrayal. I know that firsthand since I'm not really sure he's forgiven me. He loves me; of course, I know that.But the matter is trust; will you be able to trust me again? And has he forgiven me for breaking his trust? Probably not, or maybe. I'm not sure.And Sir Smith lied to Harry for years, looking at him face-to-face and still continuing to lie to him. Harry thought his b
By the time Harry and I finish our illicit deeds and head back to the dining table, I can tell that everyone knows what happened inside the bathroom. More like what didn't happen.We only kissed before we broke apart, and I helped him wipe dry his pants, and we both left the bathroom. I wished that something more would happen, but then again, I'm also afraid that I won't be able to handle it.Does that make sense? I bet it doesn't, but that's actually the reality.We settle down once again, and I dish out the desert for everyone, mostly for Harry because he didn't get to finish his meal because of the water incident. Remember that?"So..." Sir Smith continues in an awkward tone, and I thin my lips into a firm line. This man is as much a rascal as Dylan is. "Lilah here was telling me about how you almost beat up a six-year-old kid." He refers to Harry, and I stiffle with laughter.Harry grimaces. "The little fucker had the guts to kiss my girl." Harry defends himself in a gruff tone, a
This. This is what I've been afraid of for so damn long. This anger of his. He can be calm and laughing and all jokes one second, but the next, he turns into a beast. His wolf pull is so strong since he's an alpha.Even more so than Sir Smith. He's never been able to control it, and half the time, his wolf makes his decisions for him. That's why I'm so scared of how he'll be with the kids.He could lose control of one of them one day and... I don't even want to think that far, but I know that it's inevitable. These kids can make someone pull their hair out of their head.A person has to have real patience when dealing with them, or else things could really go to shreds. I don't want my kids to get mauled by their father. I don't think any sane person would ever want that.Time stills as Harry's amber eyes glow. I'm not sure the kids understand what's happening. They think that the show of eyes is cool because the three of them are fawning over it.Only we, the adults, know what's trul
Harry is here. At my family dinner. Why is Harry here? And why is he all dressed up? Like his father, he's also dressed in a suit, but it's a bit more subtle and doesn't give off show-off vibes. A suit is still a suit.Dylan leaves me and runs to his father, just like Lilah and Daniel. Harry crouches down to their level to speak with them."Daddy! You're here!" Lilah says in excitement, and I roll my eyes. When did he become their dad? And why am I so jealous of the relationship that he's formed with them in such a short time?"Of course, your mom invited me." Harry answers, and Dylan whispers something inside his ears. Harry laughs a bit, then goes to fetch something from inside his pocket.A wallet? He carries out his wallet and hands them cash. My jaw dropped wide at the scene before. Dylan! He's behind this."Hey! Return the money back, you naughty kids!" I yell at them, and guilty expressions form on their faces. I snap my fingers, "Now!" I bark.The three kids turn to Harry with
I make my way to see Sir Smith. Over the last few weeks, I've been visiting him constantly, and he's gotten better. Way better, but lately, whenever I see him, I'm reminded of what he did to Jeremy.I admit that he made a mistake—a misjudgement of character. If only he had listened to his son and acted on his fears, then maybe some things would have turned out differently. But instead, the second he found out his son was having fears and opinions, he boxed him up and sent him to the first rehabilitation centre that came calling.Because of that, there's a certain grudge I hold against the man, though the one I hold against myself is bigger. Now, with the threats eliminated, I didn't think there was any reason to have Sir Smith's door guarded 24 hours a day, seven days a week.Now, the man is as free as a bird, and sometimes he takes walks around the hallway with no one to force him back to his room for rest. I step into the room, and I see that he's just making his way out of the toil