“I don’t know why I have to come along for this…” I grumble as I teeter down the hallway to the committee meeting room. “I never had to dress up and go talk to a bunch of “important” people last time.” “I told you things would be different this time around. I’m making it public that I’ve found my mate, and that she's agreed to run my pack with me. Last time you were more of a… fill in.” He shrugs a little and glances down at the really not very high heels I was struggling to walk in. I was envious of the very even dress shoes he had paired with his ass hugging slacks he liked to wear. “Whatever…” I sigh in frustration as my ankle rolls to the side. “God damn it.” I huff, stopping and leaning against a wall in frustration. “You know I don’t think I’ve worn anything but tennis shoes since I had the twins.” I glance up and narrow my eyes in on Sebastian, who has his head tucked to the side to hide his face in his shoulder. “I’m glad my pain could amuse you.” I say, but there’s a small
“You’re crushing my hand.” I whisper quietly to Sebastain as his dramatically appearing mother and a couple of the committee members get distracted by chit chat amongst themselves.“Sorry…” I hear him mutter, and his grip loosens a little. I glance at him a little out of the corner of my eye as he pulls his hand away from mine and starts rubbing his hands up and down his legs. “Are you okay?” I ask, making sure the committee members are still being self obsessed. My eyes linger on Serena. She’s very beautiful, very elegant looking. She made me feel kind of.. Dumpy, to be honest. “I’m fine.” I hum a little at his very non believable response. “Alright, enough chit chatting. Let’s get down to business.” I shake my head and refocus on the line of committee members now returning their chairs to face Sebastian and I. The apparent leader of the group, Adam, smiles at us and folds his hands as he stares us down. “Today we are here, to discuss if this young woman is a good fit to rule our
“Does anyone have anything else they’d like to add?” Adam stands and folds his hands in front of him, looking at the other committee members expectantly.I looked at each person for a moment, trying to gauge if any of them still had a problem with me. When I had first walked in, their gazes had all been judgy and cautious. Now most of them are shrugging or nodding, seeming to be satisfied with my answers. They lo0ked at me with more understanding, and I was cocky enough to think maybe I had actually convinced them. But of course, when I finally land back on Sebastain’s mother, Serena, she has some evil grin on her face like she was waiting for this exact moment to pull some nasty trick out of her sleeve. Sure enough. “I just had… one more tiny thing to add.” She says, her thick, glossed lips curling into a smile as she stares me down. I glare a little, taking a deep breath to try and prepare myself for whatever she was about to do. There was no way whatever she was about to say wou
“It’s decided then. In a month, we will reconvene and see who our Sebastain has chosen to rule his pack with him.” Serena smiles as she turns to look at everyone with a warm expression. Except me. I got the same nasty look she’d been shooting me since she walked in the room. The committee members all nod, and I shrug a little. Camilla has her gaze fixed on Sebastian, who has the decency to at least look uncomfortable. My eyes run over the girl again. She looks a lot younger than me, and probably prettier. Her skin is soft looking, and her figure is carved and pleasantly curvy. If I wasn’t thinking about how much I wanted to push this woman into a deep dark hole, I might be jealous of her.“Good. I’d say we’re done here for now, then. May the best woman win.” I scoff and roll my eyes and Serea’s pretend amicable statement, and stand up and walk towards the exit as everyone else starts slowly standing up and the committee members talking amongst themselves like they hadn’t already been
I step outside my bedroom the next day, anticipation heavy in my heart and a permanent smile on my face. I was going to get to see my kids today. I looked up and down the hallway for signs of life, my eyes lingering on the door I knew belonged to Sebastain. Last night we had dinner together, and I can’t lie, I kind of enjoyed myself. We just talked. He told me a little bit about his mom, and what it was like being raised by a woman like that. He told me she has always had incredibly high expectations for him, her only son, to be the absolute greatest. I guess it kind of did him good though, because now he was the Alpha of literally the strongest pack in the nation. Knowing that, I could see how much she bothered him when he spoke of her. His shoulders tensed up and his fists clenched, and his face morphed into one of an immature child with no emotional outlet. It was definitely a more vulnerable side of Sebastain that I hadn’t yet encountered. I bite my lip a little and slowly
“Tell me what I’ve missed.” I say to Lucas as I tear up a pancake for Eli, who was sitting on my lap. We had moved to the kitchen of Sebastain’s house, where one of the servants had breakfast already prepared for us. Sebastian had said he had some work to do, and had gone upstairs to his office, leaving Lucas and I alone with the twins in the kitchen. I was a little surprised he was leaving us alone, to be honest, but I didn’t want to question it and make him change his mind, so I kept quiet. “Uh. Well.” He scratches the back of his neck and pushes away the food he was given. I can tell being here makes him uncomfortable, and it’s clear he doesn’t trust Sebastain’s people enough to eat the food they cooked him. Which was fine, but I was proof that being poisoned was a very real possibility in this pack. “Here baby.” I whisper to Eli as I offer him a piece. “Killian has been… in a mood. Since he came back without you.” Lucas admits. I look up from Eli to look at him. “He’s been st
The next day I slept in late, mostly because I knew Sebastain had his lunch date with Camilla today, and I didn’t want to run the risk of running into either of them; or worse, both of them together. I just knew it would annoy me, knowing I was in this weird dating game with them. I didn’t like being used like some kind of puppet.We’re still playing the denial game, I see. “Yup.” I mutter to my wolf as I get an outfit together for the day. I planned on walking around the pack grounds a little. I had done plenty of work with tons of different pack members during my first two years here, but I haven’t even interacted with any of them in… weeks now. Since I started feeling the effects of the poison Sebastain and his mistress had been slipping me. There had been a couple passing interactions, but nothing like the hands on work I was used to always having done in whatever pack I was helping lead. I wanted to make sure the maternity ward I’d help build was doing okay, as well as check in
“I’m glad everything is running smoothly.” I say with a smile to Crystal as we watched a nurse burping a newborn. “I hope that doesn’t mean you won’t come around anymore. If I need to lie and tell you things are awful I will.” She says, looking up at me with a worried expression. I laugh a little. “I’ll come back-”“Right this way Alpha. It's an honor to have you visit us today.” I stiffen and let out a deep sigh when I hear a nurse calling someone Alpha, and footsteps coming towards us. “We keep the newborns here for monitoring, and to let the mothers get a little rest after giving birth. Would you like to meet a few of them?” I hear the nurse telling who I assume to be Sebastain and most likely Camilla as she leads them closer and closer to where we still stand watching the babies. Why the hell did he have to bring her here? I bet he knew the first thing I’d want to do was check on my projects. He probably brought her here on purpose, to rub it in my face. I can feel Crystal look
I sigh heavily, letting another file I’d built for a new potential Alpha fall into the trash can. This one’s name had been Andrew Powell, a long residing pack member with good combat skills. When I'd asked around about him, all anyone had to say was good things, and everyone seemed to know him. With that in mind, I had eagerly pursued him, and of course, he was just as eager to accept the challenge.He’d started off great, doing his best to make a good impression. Then it was like something changed, and he let the mask drop. He started acting like he already had the Alpha title, parading around telling everyone what to do. So this morning, I’d brought him into what I was currently using as an office, and told him he was no longer being considered for the Alpha position. Of course he had gotten pissed, started telling me I wasn’t even qualified to make this kind of decision, and that maybe he would just take the title without my blessing. At least I knew now I was right in my choice.
Was this how Everly felt when I had been unfaithful in our marriage? Did she too feel this sadness, this envy, this anger?All I could think about was hearing those words from her, “I’m pregnant. And it’s not yours.” Over and over again like a broken record.Pure, unfiltered rage courses through my veins as I stomped out of our house, swinging the door open so hard it cracked against the wall behind it. I ignored the stares from the pack members I’d had outside with Ella and Eli, and didn't stop to answer their questions of where I was going and if I was okay. The twins would be fine with them for a little, maybe better than if they were left in my care.Because I was anything but okay. My woman was pregnant with another man’s child, and I had a very good feeling on who’s it was. I could tell by her hesitation, the tone in her voice. It was that bastard’s, Sebastain’s. The image of them screwing pissed me off, and made bile rise in my throat. I didn’t even want to think about them
“Hey, babe. How’d it go today?” Killian’s voice says in my ear through my phone. I swallowed thickly at his question, clenching the phone in my hand so tightly I was scared it was going to break. This was the part I was dreading. Killian and I were just reconnecting, and now I was about to tell him I was going to be gone for some undetermined amount of time. Not to mention… There was a baby growing in me right now. What if I was gone for months? I would show back up with a swollen belly. That would be nothing if not jarring. I mean, it’s not like I had cheated on him or anything. But I still felt guilty, horrible even, at the life growing inside of me. “It was okay.” I say, then fall silent. I know he’s waiting for me to tell him more, what I chose to do, because I hadn’t even told him my plan. It was kind of a last minute call. That, and I’m too weak. He had hugged me with such warmth before I left, kissing my cheek and telling me he couldn't wait for me to come home. “Uhm. I gues
Three days later…For some reason, Sebastian’s pack land looked different to me this time around. It seemed less foreign, for sure. I had lived there for a while, and spent plenty of time wandering around. Less intimidating, maybe, now that I knew there was no scheming man waiting around the corner. I walked behind Adam and a couple other committee members who had tagged along, a woman named Marlin, a man named Thomas. This morning, Adam and them had shown up at my door, and told me we would be travelling here today, to announce my decision to the pack and appoint a new Alpha if my choice was to leave. He told me I could have them fight me or each other, do a poll, whatever I felt was the best call to pick the new leader. Sebastian didn’t have an official Beta, so while that would normally be the first logical choice, unfortunately it wasn’t an option this time around. Strangely enough, none of them had asked what I was going to do yet today. Adam kept eyeing me, like he was doubti
Since returning to Kilian’s pack things had been… different. I was happy to be back with Killian and our kids. We were finally together, able to raise them side by side. I wasn’t having to look over my shoulder because I had to be on guard all the time, and Killian was paying me more attention than ever before. Apart from that, there were a few more serious things going on. For example, Sebastian’s pack was left without an Alpha. The committee members were breathing down my neck, telling me I either needed to relinquish my position over to someone else, or step up and take charge of the dozens of wolves looking for a leader. And don’t even get me started on Felix’s pack. They weren’t in my top list of priorities, I can't lie. Most of them had run off, only a few of the new members who had been forced into Felix’s pack had stuck around. Honestly, I had kind of been hoping Sebastain would show back up. I would be more than happy to hand his pack back over. I didn’t want it. I hadn’t
The ride back to Killian’s pack was mostly quiet; he’d ask me something every once in a while, about the twins or his pack. But I think we both had a lot on our minds. I know I did. The car had dropped us as close to the pack lands as it could, and we walked the rest of the way. “God, I’m glad to be back in these woods.” Killian said as we walked along. He had his face tilted to look at the tops of the trees, and was smiling a little for the first time in what felt like forever. It was kind of cute, the way he was acting like he was literally being recharged just by being in his woods again. “What are you smiling at?” He asks me, bumping his shoulder against mine a little. I shake my head, and look up at him. “Just… happy we both got to come back here together.” I say. “Did you miss this place at all?” He asks, looking down at me. I nod a little. “Yeah, I guess I did. Or really I missed the good memories I had attached to it.” He nods along. “Like… Do you remember that one nigh
A lot had happened since I had beaten both Sebastain and Felix. Most of which I wasn’t currently letting Killian in on. It’s not that I didn’t trust him or think he wasn’t capable anymore, but I knew he was hurt. And I knew only half of the pain he was feeling right now was physical. First of all, May reared her annoying ass in again. It makes sense, as she had been spotted previously hanging out with Felix, and had been acting suspiciously close with him before. But I was a bit surprised when his body was taken away by his pack members, and she surfaced through the crowd, like she’d been there the entire time. “Look who’s leveled up in the world.” she had sneered at me as she glared down at the unconscious Felix. She looked at me bitterly, like I had taken something from her. She had gone on about how this and this were supposed to happen, but now everything was ruined since I’d stuck my nose into everything. She said I was in the way, like always, and should’ve just learned my
I always thought Everly had such a pretty side profile. I remember when I first started getting to know her, I would stare at her across the courtyard at our college, just watching her read or talk to someone. I liked the curve of her lips, the way her lashes brush the tops of her cheeks when she blinked.That’s what I was thinking about as I watched her talk to the doctor who had been taking care of me for the past couple of days. I was being released. My injuries weren’t all the way healed, but I was good enough. The doctor had actually said that. I wasn’t upset about it or anything, I was ready to get out of here as it was. I was still in Sebastain’s pack. Or I guess, Everly’s pack. We hadn’t actually talked too much about that little fact yet. I’d tried to bring it up a couple times, to find out what exactly happened. I knew the outcome of everything, but I still felt like I was missing a lot of important details. But whenever I did bring it up, suddenly Everly had to pee so
Failure. You lost. Pathetic. You don’t deserve to be Alpha. These words are the only ones that fill my head as someone carried my unconscious body like a sack of potatoes. I didn’t know who it was, if they were taking me to finish me off or help me, but I didn’t care. I can’t believe I lost. My mind can’t quite put everything that happened in order, not yet at least. I remember the beginning of the fight, flashes of Everly’s anxious face watching me get my ass kicked. I remember… getting knocked down. Lots of yelling. But I’m not sure why… I couldn’t pick out what they had been saying. Sounded like a woman, calling someone a monster. But who would be yelling that, and why? And I remember opening my eyes for a moment, and seeing Everly kneeling above me, blood on her chin, and her eyes so, so worried for me. Why was there blood on her chin? “...you gotta open your eyes buddy.” Whoever that is sounds familiar. Lucas? He was the only one who would call me something like “buddy.”