Chapter 1

Selene’s POV

“Mom, where’s dad? I thought you said he would be here before my birthday starts; I can’t find him anyway,” Ella whined as she tugged on my dress, her eyes wet with sadness as she stared at me.

I could feel my heart weigh with guilt as I lowered myself to her level, once again, to lie about the absence of her nonchalant father.

“Baby, your dad called me; he said he’s on his way,” I said to my little daughter, who happened to be missing her father on such a special day in her life. It was the second time telling her this tale, and each time I could tell from her eyes that she was becoming less convinced about my words but rather had decided to hang on with a little strand of hope.

“You know dad won’t miss your birthday, right? You are his little princess; he wouldn’t miss it for anything” patting her head gently, I pulled her in for a kiss.

“Now go on; your friends are waiting for you; don’t miss out on the fun.” She hesitated to leave, so I decided to spice up the ceremony by calling her group to come play with her.

“Everyone!” I called out, “It’s time to sing for the celebrant and share the cake!” The children in our midst began to cheer. The only way I could pull her mind away from her absent father was to distract her.

“Ella, you see, your friends want to eat cake, why don’t you all sing together so I can go cut the cake?” She nodded, then went off with her friend.

I felt a little bit relieved seeing her meet up with her friend, but I knew she was going to come back in the next thirty minutes when her father didn’t walk right through the door.

‘Tell her the truth, tell her he won’t be coming’ My wolf snickered with hate.

‘No, maybe Alexander would come; maybe he’s just busy and lost track of time’ I replied before excusing myself from the noises. I had called him several times before now, and it had gone straight to voicemail. Where the hell could he be? What could be more important than his daughter's birthday?

“Alex, if you can hear this, it’s the sixth voicemail I will be leaving. Please, Ella needs you here. I can’t hold on for too long… I can’t.” I felt my voice break before ending the call.

I had been holding the tears for so long now, but it was just too much to handle.

For months, Alex had been so cold to me; he never spoke to me if it wasn’t an errand or question about Ella’s needs, he didn’t touch me, he didn’t smile at my joke; he never reciprocated any attempt I made to rekindle his emotions, but at least, it was our daughter's birthday, the least he could do as a father was to be there.

Swiping my eyes dry, I walked out of the room with the cake in my hands to share it with the children who were now singing and dancing around the table, including Ella, who now happened to be dancing hand in hand with a friend. It was a beautiful sight to behold. I would not miss it if the world were ending outside, but I guess Alex didn’t feel that way about his only child!!

“Everyone!Come take a piece of cake!” I yelled to the children who were still dancing, it was a nice distraction but it wouldn’t last, but it was worth the attempt. As they gathered to take a piece from the tray my eyes wandered around the room when I noticed one of the children tugging on the alpha’s statue in the living room.

It wasn’t balanced properly, it was going to fall and she didn’t notice.

“Get out of the way!” I yelled.

I shifted to my wolf form in an attempt to push her out of the way, before the statue hit her. Which was barely a success, as my wolf fell to the floor in agony.

Most times I forget how bad the legs of my wolf were. My initial dive to save her was successful, the statue didn’t hit her but it crashed into the centre table.

My back sagged to the floor in exhaustion, as I shifted back to my human form.

•••

“Daddy didn’t make it,” said Ella as she sat beside me. The party was over, and Alex didn’t make it. I had prolonged it as much as I could, but one could only do so much.

With a sigh proceeding my words, I said, "Yes, I can see that, darling, but dad had a call at the office. You know he’s busy, but he said we should see him at the office because he has a present for you and he wants to give it to you when your friends are not around.”

“Really!” She exclaimed.

I faked a smile as I lied through my lips, “Yes! Let’s drive over to dad's office, shall we?”

“Yay!” She hopped down from her chair, then tugged on my fingers. “Let’s go, mom! Dad will be waiting.”

“Sure, sure thing, baby,” I managed to say.

‘You would break her heart when you find out he isn’t there. Selene, you are not doing this girl any good’ My wolf whispered within me, I didn’t respond this time. I was tired of defending him. For months now, he had been so detached that my wolf felt so weak and resentful, leaving us emotionally vulnerable.

I called him again, but nothing happened, so I went down to the garage with Ella beside me, and we drove all the way to his office.

All the way there, I called, but there was no response. My heartbeat palpitated. What if he wasn’t here and I was literally driving my daughter to witness disappointment?

'Baby, wait here, I need to check out something,’ I said to my daughter. I left her in the lobby while I walked towards his office.

His cohorts didn't hesitate to stare at me and whisper to themselves. I could almost tell what they were curious about, they wanted to know why Luna had a frown on her face or why she looked dissatisfied. But now wasn't a time to cheer around or please civilians.

With a squared shoulder, I walked to the office. Just outside, I heard the sound of a lady in his office, followed by a flirtatious comment and then a giggle. It wasn’t hard to detect who owned the voice, I knew it was my sister, Why would she be here with my husband?

I moved closer, placing my ears on the door, to hear clearly, Maybe I misunderstood them, but then it was never a misunderstanding, they were flirting with each other.

Unable to stand there anymore, I pushed the door open.

“Seriously!”

“What!” Alex jerked from his seat in horror as I emerged from the lobby, My eyes narrowed towards my sister, who was only dressed in pants. With her clothes on the floor, she was seated on Alexander’s desk.

Around her neck hung a necklace I had seen in Alexander’s pockets earlier.

My heart skipped a beat, I thought he got it for me and was waiting for the perfect time to give it to me, but here she was, wearing the same necklace.

Unbelievable.

“Alex? Natasha?” Lost for words, I walked towards them in disbelief.

“It’s not what you think, sister, I promise, it’s not what you think,” said Natasha as she picked up her clothes.

“What are you doing here? You are meant to be at home with your child,” said Alexander in a stoic manner.

“Our child, you mean? The same child you should be attending to while you are here with my sister, seriously!”

All my life, Natasha had wanted everything I owned, she wanted my life so desperately—first it was my parents, my belongings, and now my husband!

She never wanted to marry him at first, I was tagged a fool for marrying him because he wasn’t the Alpha, while my parents praised her for having class and resented me for months because I had settled for a man with no title, and now she was here, taking the same man she detested.

“What more do you want, Natasha!” I yelled at her in pain and anger.

“Selene, it’s not what you think,” she said as she walked towards me in an attempt to hold me, but I moved back so she wouldn’t, just for her to fall, and then broke down in tears.

“Ouch my legs,” she screamed amidst her charade, It wasn’t a new sight to behold, she had always done this. Always.

“What have you done!” Pushed aside by Alexander, I watched him run to my sister's rescue like I wasn’t before him.

“I just wanted to apologize, that’s all, she pushed me,” she continued as she broke down in tears in his arms.

“I didn’t even touch her, she fell on her own.”

“Apologise to her now,” he snarled.

“What? She fell on her own! I did nothing to her,” I said in my defense, but he glared at me in anger, he didn’t believe me, not at the very least.

“You are so heartless, even to your pregnant sister,”

Pregnant?

I staggered backwards. 'Impossible,’ my wolf snickered within me. My eyes narrowed back to Alex, I saw the way he held her, ‘Could it be? , no, no, no!’

Alexander had been so distant from me for so long, he resented me for so long, but here he was with my sister, like a desperate lover.

My world came to a halt, but I composed myself, I couldn’t afford to break down here, not now!

“She’s pregnant with your child?” I asked just to be sure I wasn’t thinking too far .

“Yes, Natasha bears the next heir.”

I felt my heart break into a million pieces, not because of his words but because of how he said it with such pride and no regrets, He was totally unapologetic about impregnating my sister.

I stared at my sister, who now clung to him like a prideful wife, she was also unremorseful about it.

“Yes, I have always wanted an heir, and Natasha had made my dream come true.” He placed a kiss on her forehead, not regarding my presence.

“If you wanted an heir so badly, why didn’t you try with me, why?” He rolled his eyes in exasperation without giving me an answer, rather, he carried Natasha, then placed her on the table while he coaxed her and dressed her.

He had given me enough answers already, he had lost interest in me before now.

“Mummy!” I heard Ella's voice from the lobby, she was approaching, so I cleaned my eyes so she didn't suspect anything.

“Your daughter is coming, let’s put this aside, I told her you would be giving her a gift, that’s the least you can do, it’s her birthday,”

He turned to face me, and for a second, I saw the look of a father who at least had love for his first offspring and only daughter.

“If you don’t do it for me today, do it for her; she deserves the love and respect as Luna's daughter” The look I had seen on his face disappeared, and it was instantly replaced by contempt.

“More like the daughter of my biggest mistake!”