“My Alpha, Beta Tom has arrived,” one of the servants in Alpha Blake's house announced. “Alright send him into the reception room.”Alpha Blake starred a bit longer at the old picture. Sighing, he carefully laid it back in the old wooden box and pushed it back under his bed. Then he made it to the reception room.When Beta Tom saw him walk in, he stood up. “My Alpha, is everything alright? When I got your urgent message I was deeply worried and had to come at once.”Alpha Blake nodded with a small smile. Having Tom Carlos as his Beta lessened his worries. Asides the fact that he was deeply respectful, he was always there whenever he was called upon. sometimes Alpha Blake thought he was being too respectful especially as they were friends. “Yes. Thank you for coming.” He motioned him to sit. Alpha Blake let out a heave as he settled into the sofa. Beta Tom squinted at him. “You look troubled my Alpha. What is it bothering you?”Alpha Blake sighed again. “It's nothing. Tell me,
LIA'S POV “This personal assistant of a thing…I know I have already asked before but do I really need to–” “Yes, you really need to pick one,” Ma'am Lucy said without even letting me finish. “I have compiled a list for you and the ladies will be arriving for selection at a scheduled date.” She was leading me to go say my greetings to Derrick’s parents. As usual her strides are so fast I was struggling to keep up. Surprising how little I had heard of Derrick's father but so much about his mother. I hadn't even seen his face ever since I entered the Pack and no one ever spoke of him. It was as if there was an unwritten rule to never bring him up. “The king will pick you up from here. Don't move an inch.” “What…weren't we supposed to go together…” Ma'am Lucy was already trotting away while I was still complaining. I groaned in frustration dreading another long weary minutes in the same space with my cruel captor. Seconds later and he showed up. He stopped and scanned
WRITER'S POV Derrick stood to his feet and walked to the window for the umpteenth time that morning. He stared out briefly down at the building next to his office and it was still as quiet and uneventful as the first time he had checked. Beta Damian strutted inside. “Are you worried? Why don't you go down and see for yourself if you are so worried,” he spoke, startling Derrick who immediately slung his hand into his pocket and shifted from the window. “Worried? Why would I be?” Derrick scoffed, resuming his poison on his seat. He steepled his fingers on the desk and tapped. It wasn't that he was worried. It was just that going over his words again made him realize how harsh he must have sounded. He had tried to convince himself that it wasn't really that bad. And fact remained, he had said worse words than those to others and didn't bulge about it. Why was he suddenly worried about his words hurting a woman who was nothing more than his bait. Damian chuckled. Of course he wa
WRITER'S POV “Alpha Dante?” Alpha Gregory held the door, surprised. “What brings you to my abode?” “We are not supposed to meet today…” he added and looked past him expecting to see someone else. “We can no longer meet at our usual place. Derrick’s eyes are everywhere,” Alpha Dante uttered hastily as he let himself in. “Did something happen?” Alpha Gregory questioned signaling to one of his servants to bring them a drink. “You should be grateful to me,” Dante said and plopped down in the nearby seat. “We have been followed. Our meeting spot is no longer safe.” “I knew it. We would have been foolish to not expect it. I just didn't expect he would be moving this fast. But…how did you find out?” Alpha Dante looked up, a smirk playing at his lips. Derrick had always discovered any spy he placed in his house. What usually saved him was the oat he always made the men take. They always swear to rather bite their tongue to death than to ever reveal his name. Of course he always
“Some people are incredible,” Jimmy muttered, shaking his head. “You mean some people are increasingly good with words,” Emily rephrased. “Mm-hm,” Jimmy mumbled and readjusted in his position. They were at the back of the thick crowd of women in the lycan king's house. The women's voices were booming as they waited for the king to come out and address them. “Are you sure we did the right thing following them to come here?” Emily whispered to him. “If we are to find Lia, we have to stay up to date with the happenings of the Pack. We will leave once we hear what the king says to them.” “That is if he will show up,” Emily mumbled back, stretching her head to catch a glimpse of the lycan king’s house. She thought the women were bold, storming into their lycan king's house to protest. All credit to the woman that convinced them. Although she had to involve her life in the process of convincing them. “Still…this is…bold…” she sighed, pressing back a spilling yawn. “This is t
Standing in the balcony of the second floor of the building, Derrick looked down over the heads of the women. As much as he wanted, he couldn't get a good look at their faces. It was practically impossible considering the distance. But even if he were to be closer to them, it was almost impossible to detect his enemies amongst them–which was actually what he wanted more. He blamed Damian and Ethan for putting him up to this and wasting his precious time. The main mastermind he was seeking for was most likely not present. “Women of Harrow Wood! You want me to prove that the Luna is truly my wife and we are not having a fake marriage. Then so be it. To prove the sincerity of our marriage, I am declaring a week holiday for everyone. On the seventh day, we shall be having a celebration! Bring your families along!” “We want to know her identity! She is a murderer! She murdered Laura!” Someone screamed from the crowd. Derrick squinted at the screamer. He couldn't get a better view
LIA'S POV Why would Derrick kiss me? In front of the women at that! Fine, he was trying to make a point and It was only on my forehead but still… he could have chosen to do anything else but kiss. And he'd done it so naturally that the women were completely fooled! I was nothing but a bait until he caught whoever he wanted to catch and found Laura. And yes, this wasn't supposed to make me panic but since I returned from the unexpected meeting, it couldn't leave my head. I took off the extremely tight dress Clara had made me put on and let out a gasp. Well, he was an Alpha that would do anything to get what he wanted. I sighed as I recalled his words. I was nothing but his bait. I'm sure he would never feel differently about the kiss or anything. However, I feared my identity was on the verge of getting exposed. Those lycan women could have marked my face even though we were some height from them. But no matter what, Derrick must never find out I was not of lycan blood. Never. My
“What is the next step? His men are coming after me… they are searching all over the Pack for me…they will find me and kill me…”“Stop acting like a sissy!” Alpha Dante lashed out at the fidgeting reporter. He turned to Alpha Gregory and eyed him. He had told him to find a good reporter. Where did he find such a scaredy cat? “Look , Mr Graven, you need to calm down and let me think–”Mr Graven spun, eyes red with fury. “I can't hide in your house forever! The king has eyes everywhere. He can find me here and kill me! You are asking me to calm down? Because it isn't your bloody name that is plastered all over the newspaper as a fucking wanted man!”“I said shut your mouth!” Alpha Dante snarled. “Don't ask me to keep calm! Okay fine….You know what. I'm done with this and you both. You are the ones at a disadvantage now. I can go to the king and tell him everything you have done. You paid that woman to lead the protest and you made me write that report!” Graven sneered, his red shot e
“Dante! Come out here, you bastard!” Alpha Blake roared in front of Alpha Dante's house. The number of guards mounted in front of the gate was too much for him to go through–as if Dante had suspected of his coming and prepared. “You will regret this! You will regret this!”“Get out of my way or go in there and bring that bastard out!” He snarled at Dante's men. “Who is creating this unrest in my premises?” Alpha Dante came out in his balcony and barked. “Unrest in your premises?” Blake retorted charging past his grabbers. As the men rushed to seize him again, Alpha Dante signalled for them to stay back. “Alpha Blake, why have you come to my house to create problems by this time of the day?”“Where is my daughter?! Where is my daughter!”“What are you talking about?” Alpha Dante frowned. His face registered a surprise of a first time hearing s news. Alpha Blake clenched. “Don't give me that pretense look. I know you kidnapped my daughter. Bring out my daughter now!”“I have no ide
“What's going on?” Emily whispered to Jimmy referring to the crowd gathered in front of the notice board. Jimmy did a small dance as he dusted off his gloves. They were done for the day and he couldn't be more glad. Working in a pub wasn't an easy one. They'd only found out. “Probably another soon to happen protest or something about the king or his Luna. Whatever. We already have so much in our hands to worry about others.”“Are we still going to the death records center?” Emily asked. They had decided to set aside time to search for Lia despite their unavoidable busy schedule. “Why are you so bent on checking there. Lia is not dead,” she added trying to not sound as harsh as she already did. “Because we will still look there. It's better we look now and forget about it. And I really hope she is not there. Come on, we have like two other places to check today.”“Would that even help? If she died here, no one would care nor notice. Would they even let us see their death record?”
Derrick fumed. What sort of prank was that? Who was the idiot that brought him out? He swore to cut off his throat if he caught him. The moment he got out of his car, he headed to the dungeon. He was going to set Clara free but would seriously warn her to never come close to Lai. He should watch him catch her sister's killers but it won't be at the expense of Lia's death. He had already gotten in front of the dungeon when he heard Rick and Damian yell his name. “Derrick, we have a problem. A serious problem. Lia has been kidnapped.”“What?” Derrick was frozen. “What do you mean she is kidnapped?”“She is nowhere to be found.”The first place his mind went. “Clara,” he gritted. “And Clara? Did any of you release her without my consent?” He scowled, advancing quickly towards the holding cell. “Clara is still in the holding cell. She is not the one,” Rick said, forcing him to stop. Derrick staggered back and in an instant dashed over to Lia's quarters. “Lia! Lia!” He called as he se
Alpha Greg waved the guards to not bother leading him in as he trotted past them. He'd been here over a dozen times and knew his way with his eyes closed. He rapped lightly on the door and walked in. Alpha Dante seemed to be thinking but as soon as he walked in, he released a throaty cough. “You came quicker than usual.” His right brow arched up. Alpha Greg settled into his usual sitting position. “Am I the only one worried? Did you not hear? Blake visited the king yesterday as soon as he left here.”Alpha Dante did not look alarmed. Seeing him relaxed annoyed Alpha Greg who was not reluctant to say his mind. “You are so relaxed for a man who had plotted everything, Dante. If you are trying or even thinking of pinning everything on me, then this would not be funny.”“I have told you to relax, Greg! This is why your Pack members think you are a weakling and a scaredy-cat,” Alpha Dante said dismissively and hissed. Alpha Greg was ticked off. “Me? A weakling? Says who? Who said that!
WRITER’S POV “You disgust me! You irritate me! My sister did not deserve a mate like you!” Clara slammed at Derrick. He'd come to visit her in the holding cell where he ordered her to be kept until he figured out what to do with her. He regarded her quietly. “Yes, kill me! You think I'm being unreasonable? You think I'm being wicked? Then imagine how my poor innocent sister must have felt dying unfairly! Imagine how she'd feel watching you move on so quickly from her death like it meant nothing!”“Why did you take up her name?”“What?” Clara scoffed. “Is that what is important now? The name I chose to bear?” “You are very different from her.”“Yes I'm very different. In fact, we are both very unalike. She was too soft and had the worst luck to be mated to someone like you. That is why she died such a stupid death. She should never have accepted to be your mate in the first place! She should never have gotten pregnant for a man like you…now look where she ended up. My poor sister.
LIAI had gotten to my quarters. Left to ascend the few stairs before I got past the door when I felt something knot in my stomach forcing me to halt. “Are you alright, my Luna?” I heard the guard ask. I opened my mouth but only a groan came out. My head felt light and I needed support. Tried to find one but ended up staggering. The guard was quick to catch me. “Are you alright? My Luna?” I began to hear several echoes. My already heavy eyes couldn't remain open. I passed out. When I opened my eyes much later, I was in a room that smelt like herbs and meds. I tried to raise my hand but it was proving difficult. “My love, you are awake!” Derrick shot up. Ah. I sighed. He was the one making it difficult to move my hand. Like a scanner, his eyes examined all over my body as he ordered for the doctor and healer to be sent in. The healer, a woman, ran checks on my body. She pulled my lower and upper eyelids, felt my pulse and did the others I didn't know their significance. “What'
LIA“Come with me to meet a guest,” Derrick nudged me. We were in bed in his chamber, my head on his chest and his arm over me. All we had done since we discovered we were mates, was make love, hang out, eat, go on dates. Derrick said he was in his dating me phase. And that he would like us to do another wedding after it. He said he wanted to start with me on a fresh note. Wanting a fresh start was right. Perhaps. First wedding, I was a fake bride arrested as an intruder, second wedding I was a substitute bride. But would we really be starting on a fresh note if we had another wedding? Everything I have said to discourage him from having another wedding only seemed to fuel his idea more. I had given up trying to change his mind. I knew I would not be there. He would cuddle me, snuggle so close and kiss me at every chance. He cooked for me too and damn he could cook. He was a fuvking hopeless romantic! I couldn't tell if he'd changed so much or if he was always like that? How did he
“You desist from being my Beta henceforth,” Alpha Blake gritted. “Alpha Blake!” Beta Carlos slammed frustratedly. “You are taking away my title for what?” he questioned, scowling. “Because I can and because you do not deserve it.” Alpha Blake told him and spun set to match back into his house. “Your daughter!” Carlos yelled. That was enough to have Alpha Blake halting. “Does the lycan king know his wife is fake? That she is your daughter?” Carlos grinned sinisterly. Alpha Blake’s face tightened alongside his fists. “Are you threatening me?” he sneered. “You have been aware, haven't you? Did you tell you daughter to deceive the king?” Carlos mocked. “Let's not do what we'll regret, Alpha Blake. We are still very good friends. I confessed to the king of your crimes…”“What?” Blake sneered. “You still have learned nothing from hanging out with those two?” He shook his head and stormed away. Later, he visited Alpha Dante's house. Alpha Greg was there. As soon as the door was open
LIA “Could you pass me the dish over there?” I said to Rick who was closer to the dish of fried chips. Just before he could move, Derrick stretched and got it. It must be great having long limbs. “Here,” he said as he placed the dish before me. “Thanks,” I mumbled, avoiding his gaze as I helped myself to it. I could literally hear the smug on Rick and Damian's face. Derrick new behavior surprised me everyday. Each new day I saw a side of him I never knew existed. He was sweet, kind, considerate and thoughtful. He could even make cute faces. Heaven! He was one step ahead each time there was a bump on my way. He told me he was going to try his best to read me so he could understand my mood changes. Fucking understanding. Holy shit. What else did a woman needed in a man? And he was lover boy. Who'd ever ever believe that? I wanted to stand on the cliff where my voice would echo and reach the towns and different Packs telling them that the cruel wicked lycan king had emotions, and