The next few days were a mess. We tried convincing Dami that she didn’t need to give up her happiness for us but she was adamant that it was the only way forward. She said she only had nine months left so she would be going back home to spend some time with her parents. It was heartbreaking to watch her resolve and it was equally heartbreaking to watch how my mate beat himself up for his inability to help his sister. He didn’t say it but I saw the guilt in his eyes now and then. He must be blaming himself for what was happening with Dami. I too was at a loss as to what to do. I was throwing up a lot more these days and no matter how I tried to force myself to eat, I could not bear to stomach anything. Today, I was hanging out with my father after seeing Dami off and watching Valens bury himself in work to distract himself. “It’s nice sitting with you like this,” I told my father with a small smile, my mind on Dami. “Is it?” My father asked. “It’s a bit boring.” Teenage me would hav
“I - I’m sorry. She said she was your sister so I – like a fool –“ Dahlia lowered her head and my annoyance slowly faded away. Irene, on the other hand, was busily looking around my living room without hiding her awe. Her jaw was quite literally on the floor.“It’s fine,” I said, feeling my head throb already. First, it was Thelma, now her bitch of a daughter had joined. Would I ever get any reprieve from these people?“Sister – your home is lovely,” Irene said with a small smile. “It’s like the one you’ve always dreamed of, right?” She asked, her eyes sparkling. For a moment, I was afraid. I knew that look. It was the look of covetousness. It was the same way she always looked at my things before she snatched them from me.I gnawed on my lips, clenching my hands into fists and reminded myself that there were things that could not be taken from me. This house was mine – my home. She may have succeeded in ruining my first two homes but this time, I was determined to not let her win.“T
* VALENS *It was too much. This suffocating feeling, this feeling like I had my hands tied never to be free, had gotten too much. Dami was suffering because of me and there was nothing I could do to help her.How do I stop a goddess? How do I register my displeasure with such a cruel being?If I set the world ablaze, would it bother her?For an insane moment, I had fantasies of everything burning to the ground but then what would I achieve? I had a mate to think about. Dami would blame herself forever if I hurt others for her.What do I do?It had been a while since talks of her being the next Oracle went around. Even when she was just born, her magic was phenomenal and we knew she would go on to do great things. Being an Oracle was just a joke. As time went on, the joke rarely came up. Dami had a lot of dreams for the future. As the only family I ever kept in touch with, she was the closest person to me and since my words were few, she always filled the silence between us with her d
There were so many things running through my head but the first thing I did was to call Dami. She picked up when I’d given up hope of hearing from her.“Hello?” Her voice was calm and stable.“Hi, it’s Chantelle,” I introduced myself.“Yeah, I know,” she responded with a sigh. “Is there a problem?” It was such an awkward question to ask but I pretended everything was fine.“How are you?” I asked instead. “And don’t lie that you’re fine.”“So what should I say?” Her words were a little rough around the edges. “I’m with my family. Aysel came in with her kids today so the house is busy. How could I not be fine?” She asked.“I sincerely hope you’re not lying to me and yourself.”For a few seconds, all I could hear was the bustling outside the pack house as there was silence on the other end of the line. After a while, there was another dejected sigh.“Isn’t it better this way?” I bit my lips at her crestfallen tone. “There’s nothing I can do so I should learn to deal with it.”The tightne
“Did you know?” I couldn’t help but ask my father when Thelma went to the bathroom. “Did you know that Jackson tried to kill you?”We were at one of the many restaurants in Redville’s gigantic mall, waiting for Irene to join us so we could have a ‘family bonding time’ while shopping according to Thelma. I was more concerned with seeing what she had planned and I took this opportunity to have a conversation with my father.“Who told you?” He didn’t sound surprised. I crossed my arms across my chest as my blood pressure spiked. I could feel a pounding on my temple as I fought down a scream.“Does it matter who told me?” I couldn’t help but sound annoyed.“Yes, it does matter.” He maintained his expressionless face and it was starting to piss me off. I was angry that I cared about a man who took his life for granted. I was angry that no matter what I said, he would not listen. Above all, I was angry that I could not mirror his nonchalance. I was pissed that I could not stop myself from c
“Channy,” he called my name and my heart skipped a beat.Goosebumps spread all over my skin from the intimacy with which he called my name. All of a sudden, my eyes watered. I shook my head hard.“Why are you here? How are you here?” I glared at him and his eyes dipped to my stomach. Bile rose in my throat. I hugged myself.“It’s showing already.” He took a step forward and I took a step back. He raised his head and the pain in his eyes slammed into me and took my breath away. I could feel the sorrow radiating off him and while my wolf was on alert, she still reacted to the intensity of his negative emotions.“I’d never hurt you.” His words were choked and tears filled his eyes. “Don’t avoid me, please.” I swallowed down the retort on the tip of my tongue.Jackson looked – unlike the Jackson I knew. His clothes were haggard. His skin looked weatherbeaten and his facial hair which was always kept neatly trimmed looked overgrown and a mess. He looked like hell and the wild look in his
“I – I was going to the bathroom!” I slammed his laptop shut, realized I met it open and then struggled to open it back up. I didn’t know opening up a laptop would include so many technicalities. “Oh, never mind!” I left the laptop and escaped into the bathroom with a small chuckle behind me.Sitting on the toilet seat, my teeth tore apart my bottom lip as I wondered just what I stumbled upon. I’d gone red from head to toe and even my insides were tight with mortification. Shit. Why did I look? If I’d been looking straight ahead – if I hadn’t been so curious- Oh goddess.There was a knock on the bathroom door, startling me out of my raging thoughts. I rushed to finish my business, washing my hands hurriedly for fear of him walking in.“Research is good, don’t you think?” He asked with a smirk.“Y – Yeah – Very good! Great even. Wonderful.” To avoid his gaze, I looked everywhere from my palms to the sheets and the table. “Ah, I’m tired.” I climbed into bed and pulled the sheets over my
I had a quick check-up after that. Valens watched from the side without hiding the anxiety in his eyes while I smiled and tried to act as nonchalant as possible. The check-up didn’t last long and after that, I ate, took my supplements and fell asleep.When I woke next, the room and the world outside were dark and Valens was nowhere to be seen. I turned on the light and stretched. The door opened shortly after and Dahlia poked her head in. I was surprised to see her so I almost gasped.“You’re awake,” she said and then stepped into the room. “Do you need anything?” She asked. Her tone was rough around the edges but I ignored it.“No. What are you doing here?” I asked as I sat up. “Where’s Valens?”“Vee dropped by the office real quick. He didn’t want you to wake up to an empty house so he asked me to hang around for a while,” she said. “You sure you don’t need anything?” She asked again but I shook my head, getting out of bed to grab some water with Dahlia following behind me.She watc
“Uggh,” I sighed as I collapsed onto the sofa. “I’m tired of being pregnant,” I muttered as I sank deeper into the new sofa. I was a few weeks away from delivery and I felt huge, as in HUGE. There were times when I saw doors and I was scared I wouldn’t be able to fit through. Of course, it always ended up being my imagination but my back was killing me and my feet were now atrociously large. Most of all, I was more than eager to meet my babies. “We’re done, Luna,” the pack members who’d come to help Valens and me move into our new home announced. I’d been looking forward to this day for a long time and it was finally here. The house was fully decorated and we’d set up the babies’ room a while back. Everything was perfect. Life was awesome. We hadn’t moved all those months ago because aside from having to decorate the house, I didn’t think it was right to leave the pack house when the pack was still grieving. Redville had not experienced a battle in decades and although there were a
The sun hitting my face forced me to open my eyes. The sterile smell of antiseptic assailed my nostrils and made me wrinkle my nose. The hospital remained one of the worst places for me. It reminded me of the many long hours I used to spend in fertility clinics trying to conceive. I touched my stomach or I tried to. One of my hands felt numb and the other was gripped in someone else’s hand.I took a deep breath to calm myself as a flood of memories passed through me. It was as if I was being held at knifepoint again and my heart trembled. My lips pursed and tears rapidly filled my eyes. I’d been so scared, goddess, I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I’d been as scared as I was then. My life had flashed before my eyes and I saw everything I was about to lose.I tried to breathe but my chest felt like it was caving in on me and I could still feel a hand around my neck choking the breath out of me. The nightmare was over but the scars it left were permanent. As I lay there in bed
As the howls faded into the night, I continued to pace. Beth tried to comfort me but I couldn’t listen to her. Lucian had dispatched more wolves to the battleground and I knew my mate was badly hurt from the pulsing pain I felt at my side. All I could do now was pray to a goddess that had never answered me. Although I’d trained a lot in the past to augment my lack of strength as an omega, I’d neglected training since I entered Redville. Even if I was not pregnant, there was nothing I could do to help my mate at this point and it made me feel like a failure.My mate was out there risking his life to protect me, to protect us, and all I could do was hide. As his Luna, I should be by his side always and if I should die, I was to die by his side but I was hidden here, biting into my nails and holding back tears. Nestled in the pack’s sanctuary, I could not keep still. I and many other women were wide awake like an owl, the air heavy with tension and fear.Even after the moon waned and nig
*VALENS*My moon stared at me and I stared at her. We both knew what was coming. My wolf was already bristling with anticipation. Chantelle’s face was pale and I needed to reassure her.“It’ll be alright,” I said and I was sure of it. In seventeen years, I’d conquered twenty-four packs. There was nothing to fear from Dahlia and Jackson. I told her just that and it almost felt like bragging.“Then, you couldn’t be killed,” she responded, her voice disturbingly quiet. “But not anymore. Anything could happen and I’d lose you.” Tears filled her eyes and my chest tightened.“I’ll be by your side forever. That’s a promise. You’re mine in every lifetime so I’ll always be by your side, moon.”“Don’t say that.” She shook her head. “It sounds like you’re planning to die and leave my side. Don’t make it sound like you’re saying farewell.”“Farewell? We’ve not even moved into our new home. I’m not leaving you to raise our pups alone.” I hugged her to me. The sensation of having her pressed tight
*JACKSON*“Alpha Jackson, you are a genius!” Alpha Shawn praised me.Shawn was one of the many Alphas I met through my mysterious benefactor and the most powerful of all the Alphas I’d been introduced to. I found him obnoxious and too talkative but he had a large number of resources to throw away as long as he could watch the Cursed Alpha get trampled on. His stocky build was more like a Beta’s and he constantly stank of garlic so he wasn’t the most pleasant person to be around.He was a man that I would have dismissed if I didn’t know the power he wielded. Sometimes while we conversed, I felt resentful that a man like this had so many resources to spare while I was now battling bankruptcy thanks to Alpha Park.As if that bastard had known what lay ahead, he’d started to sell his properties in Blood Moon. I heard he’d made investments in Redville. Thelma had somehow found out that he’d willed everything, including his clothes, to his daughter. Everything he had left would go to her. I
By evening that day, the entire pack was silent. It was weird to me because usually, I’d ask Dahlia to tell me what was going on in the pack and now she wasn’t here anymore. It’s like she’d disappeared into thin air. Knowing her better now, I knew she had planned that too. She was smart so there was no way he didn’t know she’d be caught one day so she must have put in thorough plans into escaping when her crimes were exposed.As for her brother, he was not in jail because he was Valens’ Beta. I’d had to step in when it looked like my mate would unsheathe his claws and take a swipe at his chest and I knew the Beta would not try to defend himself. He’d take it without a word. For now, we put Lucian on probation.I was stressed, feeling feverish and stewing over Dahlia’s lies and how well she played me. It was as if the puzzle of life suddenly clicked. Everything made sense now, from how protective she seemed of Valens to the things happening around me. A girl like Dahlia who could sell
It was chaos after that. Chaos and pandemonium and everything in between.The first thing I did when I got out of my office was to go find my mate and tell him everything Lucian had confessed. His expression, much like mine when I first heard from Lucian, transformed from surprise to anger in the blink of an eye.“That stupid bitch.” I caught him by the hand when he almost stormed out. I’d felt a sharp pain at the side of my rib so I held his hand and doubled over as I gasped for breath.“What – where does it hurt?” Valens doubled back, his anger morphing to concern in the blink of an eye.“It’s - it’s okay. Just a normal random pain.” I didn’t mention it hurt as much as getting stabbed. “I asked Lucian to put her in the dungeons.”“You trust him to not give her a heads up to run?” He asked.It was not an irrational concern and I was ashamed to say I’d never thought of that. Despite it all, I continued to see Lucian as Valens’ Beta. He was loyal to Valens and although he tried to pro
I was taking a break from work by scrolling through an online baby store when someone knocked on my door.“Who is it?” I asked, adding a cute set of baby sock-shoes to my cart.“It’s Lucian. May I come in?” It was rare for the Beta to visit me like this so I asked him to come in with a curious frown on my face. “Good afternoon, Luna,” he said, his expression as blank as usual.“Yeah, good afternoon,” I said as I locked my phone and sat upright. “Is there a problem?”“No,” he responded but after a bit, he spoke again. “Yes. Well, it depends on how you look at it.” Another pause during which he drew a deep breath and then released it. “What am I saying? It’s a problem.” He shook his head with a stiff posture. His beefy muscles were corded and he looked like he was on the verge of an explosion.“Have a seat first.” I offered him a seat, partly due to the tension I read on him and the fact that he was fucking huge and towering over me in an enclosed space.Lucian was supposed to be my Bet
I was going through an appeal from pack members to increase the budget for the kitchen when my phone rang. I picked it up with glee, not even bothering to check who was calling because I needed an excuse to escape the tedious work.“Hello?” I said into the phone.“You sound tired,” came a familiar voice. My eyes lit up and I could not stop myself from exclaiming.“Dami!” Even my wolf was excited to hear her voice. “How have you been?” As I asked that question, I felt a bit of guilt because I’d let myself get carried away to the point I forgot to even contact her.“Oh, I’m alright,” she responded with a laugh. She sounded a lot happier than the last time we spoke. “How have you been?” She asked.“I’m alright! How are things going for you? With the moving and all.” I brought the conversation back to her.In all honesty, nothing was going on with me except for the fact that it felt like Valens was hiding something, something that made him incredibly pissed. Every time I asked if somethin