Richard’s POV:I sighed, feeling a headache coming on as I tried my very best to tune out the background noise of the respected and revered, wise Pack Elders squabbling to get their own words out.This was the part of being Alpha that most people didn’t know or understand in the way that I did. Even Darren, who was rarely here without my presence to accompany him - or rather, he being the one accompanying me - couldn’t understand the way that these Elders loved to operate. Sometimes hey we’re in agreement, and sometimes they each had their own strong opinions that one needed to wade through in order to find a compromise.Finally, I grew tired of the way that the noise levels kept increasing, and my headache as well did the same, so I raised a hand as well as my voice.“Elders,” my tone was nothing short of the steely, strong Alpha that everyone in the Pack knew and respected. They all stopped and looked at me. I continued, “I came here to answer your queries about the Rogues. They hav
Arielle’s POV:Immediately Richard had left the study, I found myself left bereft of the warmth of the mate bond, just a little. As his presence left the study, so did the warmth decrease, and he took my heart with him.“I’m turning into a soppy mess,” I said out loud, shaking my head in incredulity. I had definitely never expected that having Richard as my mate would change me so much. I always loved romance stories, and now I was living in one.The ticking grandfather clock at the corner of the modernized study caught my eyes, and I gazed at the pendulum swinging back and forth with its mesmerizing clicking motions. It looked old, very damn old.It seemed to me that even though Richard had become Alpha and modernized Regis study to his liking, the legacy of the previous Alphas of Redding Pack before him still remained. Just the way they should.In just the way that Richard’s legacy would remain a long, long time from now.I took a step forward and a deep breath in, reveling in this
Richard’s POV:It went silent quickly after Elise left, and I could practically see the curiosity seeping off of Arielle in waves. Esme shot me a look that said ‘you better tell Arielle’ before she turned to my mate in question.“Sorry about that, dear. I heard the commotion from my room and came to check,” she gave Arielle a bright, reassuring smile, which Arielle only returned with a confused, wan smile.There was unease roiling in my gut at the look on her face. I knew for sure that once Aunt Esme left, I would be facing the questions from her.Damn it, I thought, clenching my hands into fists at the memory of seeing that girl once again returned to the pack. I hadn’t remembered about Elise, truly.In all the commotion of having to deal with the Rogue, trying my best to build my relationship with Arielle, and also appeasing the Elders among other things, I had pushed the thought of Elise Evans returning to the pack. I had, after all, done what I could to send her out of the pack -
Arielle’s POV:Richard was silent for too long, in my opinion.He had seemed stumped after I asked the questions pertaining to whether or not he had any clue that Elise had been in love with him even when to him, it was just sex.But after a few moments, he had finally spoken.“Arielle, I don’t know what else to tell you. Elise had probably been under the assumption that I would be with her someday. But I swear to you that I never liked her or told her that I did. I would have also not reacted this way towards her if she had let things go when I ended our… situation. But she went behind my back,” his voice was tighter now, as if he was concealing some rage within him. “She acted erratically, and would often threaten other women who I was with in passing. She kept telling people around that I was dating her, and that she was going to be the Luna someday.”I gaped at him.Was he serious?Was she really that unhinged?My brows furrowed as I considered what I had witnessed only minutes ag
Richard’s POV:‘You were right,’ came Arielle’s voice through the mind link that we shared.I paused in my writing, alone in my study and now pushed out of the work flow I had found myself in.What did she mean about that?‘Angel? What was I right about again? Other than everything else as usual, that is,’ I replied back to her.I felt a tinge of mirth and teasing through our mate bond. So it couldn’t have been something extremely serious, right?‘Your ex-lover just came into my office to warn me off you. Says she’s the future Luna and all that,’ she sounded like she was about to burst into laughter by her tone. ‘Say,’ she began to wonder, ‘Does that mean that you share a mate bond with her as well? Could you perhaps tell her to stop harassing me right now?’I snorted out loud, shaking my head ruefully.Damn Elise, at it again.That was why I had sent her off and out of the pack for the diplomatic mission. Now I was remembering exactly why I didn’t even want her back anytime soon. Unf
Richard’s POV:The way that I felt disgust at her behavior simply could not be quantified.Trying to keep my face as stoic and expressionless as possible, I raised a brow at her.“Really? You want me?” I asked Elise.Her eyes gleamed as she squeezed my arm in her grasp once more.“Yes, Richard. I want you. I want to be yours once again. I want you to be mine. This time, I don’t want just sex. I want a relationship. I want the whole pack- no, I want the whole world to know that we are together. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, Richard,” she replied to my question.I sneered down at her, tugging my arm from her hold.She gaped at me in shock.“No,” I said. “Now, get out.”Turning towards my desk to sit down at my chair, I noticed glimpses of her face turning a shade of red.Her shock wore off quickly, though, and she stomped towards my desk with anger in her eyes.“What the hell!” She exclaimed. “I pour my heart out to you and that’s all I get.”My patience was wearing thin with her and as I
Arielle’s POV:I didn’t hear anything from Richard after I had told him that morning of what his ex-lover, Elise, had come to do at my office.Now, hours had passed, and I only spared the incident of this morning a small thought as I sighed, closing the file I had finished annotating on.It had definitely been a busier day than I had expected, and that possibly had something to do with the fact that I wasn’t at the clinic the previous day, what with the mission into the forest, dealing with Leon and then spending some time with my mate.I turned my head slowly form side to side, feeling my muscles stretch. Thinking about when I would be able to go tomorrow for the training session that Lilian and I had, I was startled a bit when I heard the door open, without so much as a knock.Lilian strode in determinedly, clearly not giving a shit that she just walked in without even knocking to see if I was busy.“Hi,” I greeted my best friend, my brows furrowed as I watched her plop herself onto
Arielle’s POV:“But what?”I asked Lilian, after she began to look curiously at me after I finished my rant. She had her brows furrowed and I wondered what she wanted to say that had her looking tense still.“But why? Why don’t you want anyone to know about you being Richard’s mate yet?” She queried.I opened my mouth and closed it, unable to say a word just yet.Should I tell her, about the fact that I simply was not ready to take on such responsibility yet? I wasn’t ready for the entire pack to find out that I was RochRd’s long awaited mate. I didn’t want to have the mantle of Luna suddenly foisted up on my small shoulders, not when I was just learning to heal and to be with Richard. I still had a lot of things I had yet to do, and I simply couldn’t let my status as Richard’s mate get in the way.Richard, despite the frustration I knew he held inside, respected my wishes. But I doubted that anyone else would understand the way that he did.“I don’t know yet,” I managed to blurt out