I was back in my office the next day, finishing up with a file that morning when a tall shadow filled my doorway. I looked up to find Neil staring at me. “Have you finished with those files, Lia?” Lia? I almost asked. He had found a name for me? Well, it wasn't that bad. “Almost,” I answered, looking at him. The office phone began to ring, and I quickly picked up the call. “Good morning. Berg Oil Company. This is Mr. Neil's secretary; how may I help you?” “Notry director speaking. We've arranged a venue for the meeting, and it is scheduled for eleven this morning.” I quickly checked my watch; it was past nine. “Isn't that a bit too sudden? We should check our schedule before making such arrangements, don't you think?” “We have to strike the deal today so we can focus on mining as soon as possible. What does your boss say?” I turned to Neil, with one hand pressed against the phone. "I apologize, but the Notry director insisted that the meeting be held today. He says it's urgent
After the meeting, I noticed Karl stop Amelia in a corner while I spoke with the CEO of Notry. I saw Amelia smile innocently at his usual dry jokes. She gave him her hand to shake, but instead of shaking it, Karl placed a kiss on her knuckles. That fool! What was he doing? I tried to control Sphinx from pushing out, as he was already grumbling in anger. What was Karl thinking, flirting with my mate? Karl's lips lingered on Amelia's hand for a moment too long, and I could feel my anger rising. I fought to keep Sphinx at bay, but he was growing increasingly restless, demanding to be released. I couldn't understand why Karl was being so bold—to flirt with my secretary before my very presence. He knew the consequences of his actions, and he might be tasting my rage for the first time today. But even as I was consumed with rage, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the scene unfolding before me. I could see a flash of discomfort in Amelia's eyes. She quickly pulled her hand away from Karl's
A rush of energy flooded my system as I pictured the next good thing coming in. It wasn't my fault that he died. His carelessness had killed him, but it worked just according to plan. I stepped into Sen. Clayton's penthouse with all my hopes high. Logan trudged in behind me into the living room. I inhaled deeply, feeling a sense of satisfaction. “Did you get his biometrics?” I asked without looking back at Logan. “Everything is ready. If you wish to access the vault right away, we can do that as well. But we need to dig more and find the exact location of the vault in the senator's office,” Logan replied as he slowly walked over to stand beside me. "Are you sure we won't have any opposition? Who else knows about the senator's money vault?" "My intel says that only his wife knows how to access the vault mechanically and—she might be the only problem we'll be facing and maybe the only one who knows the exact location of the vault." “Then get me the bitch,” I turned to face Logan, a
I didn't know if I was to shed tears or ignore the news I had just received. But I couldn't stop my tears from flowing. He sold me out for nothing. He gave me to bondage without a cost, at least to maintain my dignity, and Lorenzo had played him real well. I continued sobbing in the car, unable to control my emotions. I was not sure if I was crying for the fact that I meant nothing in this whole setting or for the fact that my father was dead. I tried to hold in my tears when I saw Neil approaching, but instead, the tears poured out. Neil rushed over to my side in the car and held my shoulder. “What's wrong?” he asked. I felt my throat clog from tears, affecting my voice. “I know he was selfish…” my lips quivered, my chest began to rise and fall in tears. I saw him as a victim. He fell prey to Lorenzo's trickery because he was obsessed and selfish while I got caught in the middle. “But still—he didn't deserve this…” Neil's arms crossed my shoulders, and I felt so warm under his arm
I shifted uncomfortably on the seat, aware of the tension in the air. “How… how did you know?” I asked Leo, my pulse quickening in fear. I couldn't even imagine what would happen if Leo told Lorenzo I left the office without him. “You shouldn't have done that. Do you know how dangerous it was out there for you?” Leo took one short glance at me and turned back to the road. “The capo is still battling the Farem group, and it isn't funny, yet you took risks that could jeopardize him…” “I thought he said he wasn't capable of love. What did it matter to him if I died?” I found myself saying the first thing that came to my mind without thinking twice. Wasn't that what it meant? Lorenzo clearly stated he couldn't love me, so I wouldn't be used to get to him. So that the famigilia and his business wouldn't collapse because of love. “It matters to him because you haven't given him an heir! Do you get that now?” Leo shouted. “Lorenzo can only protect you. He can't love you, because caring for
At first, I felt Amelia and I had begun to connect. But for the past week, Amelia had been withdrawn, unlike the first day she had resumed work. She took up so many tasks in the office without getting tired, and she was extra-punctual. I had tried asking her what the problem was, but she didn’t want to say anything relevant—just a couple of “Oh, I’m fine, Neil.” “Have you tried asking others, maybe her bodyguard?” Sphinx suggested. I quickly stood from my seat at Sphinx's suggestion and headed out of my office. I passed Amelia's office and spotted her engrossed in whatever she was doing on the system. I silently walked past her desk and headed for the lobby, where her bodyguard, Leo, was. “Hey,” I moved closer and sat opposite Leo. His eyes were cold, and the way he stared at me without replying forced me to start imagining what Amelia must have suffered in Lorenzo's hands to make her become less human and more of a machine. “Can we talk?” I asked. “If it’s something worth discuss
My arm was locked with Lorenzo's as we were greeted by various people in the ballroom. Lorenzo held me like a trophy, warning that if his trophy—his property—was touched, then you would be thrown to the wolves. He had canceled my going to work that day for his Famigilia function in New York and had insisted that I go with him or I would stop going to work—“after all, I have more than enough to take care of you,” he had said. This was the second time he interfered in my job since the first month. I felt dispirited because of this. I wouldn't get to see Neil for God knows how long. I remembered his seizures; what if it happened again and there was no one around to help him? What if he died from it? And he had refused to go to the hospital. The thought of not seeing Neil made me anxious. I wanted to be there for him. I remembered his eyes as he looked at me, the way he held my hand. There was something in his gaze that told me he needed me, even if he didn't say the words. I felt like
Lorenzo tossed me into the bed in the hotel room he had booked. I fell flat on the bed. I tried to scramble backward, away from him, but my limbs felt heavy and uncooperative. Lorenzo stood over me, his face a mask of rage and his hands clenched into fists. He took a step toward me, and I flinched, my heart pounding in my chest. “Who is he? How did you get to know that bastard?” Lorenzo asked, his voice ringing through the whole room. I shuddered. “He was in a meeting at the company…” “And you let him touch you that way?” Lorenzo cut in, his voice sharp. “He is too strong. What would you have me do?” I wanted to ask him how it felt to lose a fight to someone, but I bit back the question. “Where does he live and how is he here in New York?” “Because his company is here in New York,” I replied and cursed myself inwardly for saying that. Now he would ask how I got to have a business meeting with someone who was based in New York. “Henceforth, no more meetings with any male. Every
Neil's POV It had been almost a week and I had been mourning him, loathing myself for his demise. I felt empty, weak, and powerless as he was cremated six feet into the ground. I would bear this scar, this burden all my life, as the one who killed his brother. I couldn’t accept any other truth, knowing this would not have happened if I had paid attention to what my mother said a few weeks ago about my brother's disappearance. I should have gone in search of him; maybe I could have saved him earlier. But now, there seemed to be more to this than just losing him to the monster I was yet to understand. A monster that operated with shadows and was as dangerous as hell, capable of possessing the soul of a werewolf. I had to dig into this. Who were the 'they' that were coming? And why do they want to wipe out all werewolves? His voice echoed in my mind. A thin line of tears rushed down my face as I stared at his grave. Every werewolf in the Castros pack had come to pay their last respe
Neil's POV "Scythe!!!" I screamed in fury with everything in me. The hairs on my body rose in anger. My blood boiled, and the only way to stop this was to take Scythe down and make him pay for everything he put the werewolves of Castros pack through. "Scythe!!" I roared again. Heira paced angrily within me, and I knew any moment now, he would push out. The air suddenly went still, and an ominous silence fell among the ruins of the pack. Cold air rushed in from all sides, and strange shadows began to take shape around me. Scythe's power had increased since the last time. More larger and thicker lumps of shadow penetrated the air now, cloning themselves... more than one Scythe stood before me, ready to attack. "You called me." His voice was unusually deep and menacing, resonating like thunder in the environment. But I cared less; he could display an array of powers as much as he wanted, but he was going down today. With gritted teeth, I pounced forward on both feet, claws pointed at
Neil's POV One blissful, amazing night with my mate had left us both curled into each other's arms. Her head rested on my chest while she slept. She was my mate, my Luna with a wolf spirit—a healer. Not only was she a werewolf now, but she was also a healer. In that moment, I wished I had turned her earlier; Cole wouldn’t have had to endure all of those struggles in Europe to save me from silver. I felt proud of her. She had awakened her wolf successfully after one bite, which was very rare, and she had been blessed by the moon with such a unique power. I suspected that was just the tip of the power of blue wolves. As I lost myself in thoughts about what it would feel like to finally present my mate to the Castros pack, a voice suddenly screamed into my head through the mind-link. "Alpha! Where are you? The pack is in chaos!" It was my beta, Damien. "What’s wrong? What’s happening?" "It’s the shadow assassin! The pack members are disbanding in fear. So many werewolves have been k
Amelia's POV She was very focused and carefully navigated the woods as if she had been there before. Also, she was very fast; I could tell by the amount of wind brushing past her fur. Neil was behind us... wait, not Neil. It was his wolf! I chuckled in excitement. It was getting interesting. 'Lydia is beautiful', I heard Neil in my head as our wolves sprinted through the undergrowth. 'She's charming and very interesting. I love her already', I replied as I laughed. We were beating Neil and his wolf in the race. They couldn't keep up with us; Lydia was extremely fast. 'And she's unusually fast! Damn! Heira is struggling to match her speed!' Neil complained, and I took pride in that. I heard his wolf purr as he increased his speed. 'Catch me if you can,' Lydia screamed in excitement. We pounced ahead. But Lydia suddenly paused and turned to Heira. 'Okay, I think we have arrived at the end of the game.' I stretched my eyes and saw it was a dead end—a cliff. Heira swiftly transfor
Amelia's POV My whole body quaked even while Neil was licking the wound. His hot tongue flapped the bite marks, but that didn't stop the storm I felt within. He pulled away and looked into my face. I thought he was going to let go because he didn't know when my wolf would arrive, but instead, his lips found mine. My lips quivered in his mouth as he kissed me, lips first until our tongues almost set on fire. I could feel my thigh getting slicker as our mouths continued dancing together. Yet, my whole body was on fire; starting from the mark Neil had just placed on my neck to the very pit of my stomach. I began to feel so strange, so alien to my body. I gasped into Neil's mouth while he kissed me because the pains were almost choking me, but Neil's powerful arms held me steadily against his chest as he tried to ease the pains. My fingers dug into his back as it felt as if I could merge with his body. The pains throbbed in my head and pounded in my chest, as if my body would explode an
Amelia's POVI know my name is Amelia. I remember that face; the face I wake up with every morning, right on my mind. I remember his name; he is Neil Morreti. All the memories we ever shared all rushed into my mind; including the sex in the pool at Arkans. I remember he had saved me but I can't remember what happened that he needed to save me in Arkans. I remember that monster, Logan; he cut off my pinky and promised he would send it to Neil, which he did.One distinct thing I also remember is that Neil is not an ordinary human. He has a wolf; a dark haired wolf that is so strong.I couldn't stop myself from imagining what it felt like having a wolf that you could call on, even when you are in danger. I would speak to her, hear her thoughts and opinions and not a soul will know what we are discussing. I would make her my gist mate. I would smell things from afar, hear any little sound like I wish to, become terribly fast and my punch will be strong enough to break enough bones.That f
Amelia's POV I knew my name is Amelia. I remembered that face; the face I woke up with every morning, right on my mind. I remembered his name; he was Neil Morreti. All the memories we had ever shared rushed into my mind, including the moment in the pool at Arkans. I remembered he had saved me, but I couldn't recall what had happened that required his intervention. I remembered that monster, Logan; he had cut off my pinky and promised to send it to Neil, which he did. One distinct thing I also remembered was that Neil was not an ordinary human. He had a wolf; a dark-haired wolf that was incredibly strong. I couldn't stop myself from imagining what it felt like to have a wolf that I could call on, even when I was in danger. I would speak to her, hear her thoughts and opinions, and not a soul would know what we were discussing. I would make her my confidante. I would smell things from afar, hear any little sound I wished to, become incredibly fast, and my punch would be strong enough t
Neil's POV I was shocked to the bone marrow. Not once did Amelia stir as her eyes continued piercing mine inquisitively. "Is he the bad guy who cut my finger with a knife and laughed while I cried?" She raised her stubby pinky to me and pouted her lips, ready to tear up. I was short of words. She remembered Logan, Karl, me, and every other thing except Lorenzo. She didn't remember the man who was ruthless and cruel to her in the name of marriage. She didn't remember how he killed her parents or how he led her to the altar and proceeded with the marriage vows with her. She didn't remember the mafia boss of Chicago, the one who married her for an heir and made life hard for her. She didn't remember any of it. But seeing this situation, I was going to seize it. I would make sure she never remembered those horrible nightmares with Lorenzo. She would never remember that Lorenzo ever existed, that he ever lived in her life. And that he was her husband. I would make sure those nightmares
Neil's POV The first thing I did was get Amelia out of that hospital and take her with me back to America. Cole booked us a room in a hotel to stay and watch out for the time being. The situation in America about being the miscreant who took the lives of hundreds of workers in a refinery explosion hadn't been laid to rest yet. But I was not that bothered about it; now I had all that I wanted, an undisturbed life with my mate. It was late by the time we arrived in America. Amelia had been sleeping on my shoulder all through the flight. She looked so weak and sick. The kind that moved me to pity, but it wasn't pity speaking. I was not pitying my mate. I was deeply concerned about her condition and if Neil Morreti would survive if he lost her. I would become a shadow of myself, and I might not be what anyone expected me to be anymore—just a loner who had lost control of his emotions and his whole self. I let her freshen up alone and treat herself to a nice meal. I took her to watch the