Kai:“We are going to be putting these here,” I heard mom say in the garden.“Why not choose a different color? The tones are a bit too dark and if this is going to be a celebration, we might as well make sure that they know that it is.” I heard Irina say and I raised an eyebrow. I walked out to the garden and shook my head in question as a small smile formed on my lips. “What am I seeing?” I asked, and mom winked at me. Irina’s eyes met mine from a distance and I saw how happy she seemed to be. Her pain was still in her eyes, but at least, she was able to stand in front of me as the Luna that I wanted her to be. She wasn’t weakening nor was she showing any signs of pain. If anything, she was showing off her strength.“Which color do you think is more suitable? I was thinking a darker tone, maybe blue, but Irina believes that beige could work just as fine. What is your input on it?” Mom asked, shaking her head in question.“I think that both colors are beautiful. You can choose the o
Irina:“Are you okay?” Luna Katerina asked, noticing that I was quiet.I smiled and nodded, knowing to keep her words in mind. I had to admit, despite them being painful, they were what kept me standing right now. The idea of her being right was one thing that I knew to respect. She was older than I was, more experienced, and I knew, even if it was deep down, that she had suffered a lot more than she was letting out. It was most likely why she was as careful as she was.“I’m fine, just a little lost in thought,” I said, and she nodded. “Where did Kai go?”“He most likely went to work. My son has his own things to finish. Sometimes you find him neglecting them, others you find him running after them. It just depends on the mood that he’s in.” she said, and I nodded. It was true, I did notice that he rarely ever went out to work. He mostly had his work inside his office at home. Unless, it was heading off to one of his clubs. “Do you think that he liked what we set up? He didn’t commen
Kai:“What happened between the two of you, Kai?” Irina asked, cleaning the cut that was on my neck, making me hiss as the alcohol stung my skin.“He tried crossing different limits, but don’t worry, baby. I put him in place.” I said, and she shook her head.“You look angrier than something to be that simple, you know that.” She said, and I looked down at my feet, avoiding her eyes.“He threatened to play the same game that he did with Clarice. He didn’t mention you, but I know that he has intentions that aren’t that pure, and that he is trying to use them against the two of us. He is going to end up pressing on your buttons and that fact alone is annoying me.” I said, looking away from her. I didn’t like knowing that he was using her against me. I didn’t even know how I was going to get her out of this. We had so much in our hands right now, and I knew that dealing with one thing at a time was not going to be something that I am going to be able to do.“You know that we are going to
Irina: I smiled when I woke up to Kai running his finger over my back, gently massaging it. His eyes met mine as I looked up at him, and he gently kissed my temple, letting his lips linger there for a moment before pulling away to look me in the eye. “Good morning,” he whispered, his voice deep and raspy, filled with sleep. “Morning,” I said, closing my eyes as I snuggled closer to him, curling up. He chuckled and tightened his arm around me, holding me to him, allowing me to grow more comfortable. His bicep was bigger than half my body, that was something that I couldn’t help but note out, but I knew that despite him being bigger and mostly stronger than I was, the man was being gentle with me. Rogue or not, the fact that he wasn’t forcing himself on me told me a lot about who he was and his character. The worry that I had about my mother was the one thing that made my smile fade, but I knew that he would find her for me. I just didn’t know what state she was in now. How much Co
Kai:“You actually came,” I said, raising an eyebrow at my brother and his Luna. Lea’s eyes met mine and she smiled, extending a hand to shake my own. “Welcome to the pack, Lea.” “Thank you, Kai,” she said, smiling softly. “Yes, we did come, brother. As far as I am concerned, this celebration is to announce your ‘wedding’ to Irina. We might as well be here for you, and as you may know, I am not against you, nor am I your enemy.” He said, and I nodded.“You might not be, but your mother, who is also here, is one.” I said, and he nodded. “Where is she?”“Locked in the Sforza Estate. She won’t be getting out for a while, but I have yet to decide what to do with her. Mom doesn’t know who she is, but she knows that something is off about her, and the one thing that I find myself concerned with is the idea of her feeling her bond as a…”“Cosimo might come, and he knows that you have her. He went rampart when she went missing and he…”“You told him that she was with me.”“He believed her
Katerina: “Do not test your luck too far with Cosimo, Kai.” I said, looking at my son whose eyes hardened. I knew that he was furious with his father, but the last thing that I wanted was for him to end up getting in trouble with the man, especially when I knew the type of man his father was. “He is not going to allow this to just drop, and I do not want you to get hurt.” “He is the one starting this war, mama. I am responding to it, and he knows that he is going to pay for what he is doing in ways that he is not going to…” “She is right, Kai. You are angry, but Cosimo is dirty, and he is going to do what he wants to get his way, and trust me, what he wants right now is not going to be in your benefit.” Diego said, looking at my son, stopping him from what he was going to tell him. I knew that being his older brother, despite his mother, he was going to be sure to keep him safe. At least, I knew that he wasn’t alone when it came to that part. “Not when you have her around.” Kai loo
Katerina: I stood, baffled as I processed what just happened while Cosimo walked around toward the men, friends of his own, talking to them. It wasn’t until a hand touched my shoulder that I jumped, surprised to see that she did approach me. “You gave him the chance to play you in a way that would have you wondering how things went the way that they did.” Claudia said, her voice calmer than I thought that I would hear. The woman regularly argued with me, and I knew not to expect anything other than that. “He knew what was coming when he came here to begin with,” I said, turning to face her. “I am surprised that you came.” “I came with Diego. He asked me to do so considering that he and Lea were coming. I didn’t want to leave them alone with the devil, and considering the fact that he has been playing dirty, my son wasn’t going to let him go.” She said, and I nodded. “You heard of my daughter.” “Yes,” I said, and she nodded. “And I take it that you have heard a lot more of the con
Irina: I walked with Luna Katerina, not wanting to leave her alone in case she decided to go to Diego’s mom. I didn’t understand the feud that was between them, but I could tell that it was one that has been going on for so long, and that it was not going to be solved overnight. However, I knew better than to interfere or ask questions. Kai was going to be upset if I did anyway, and the idea of angering him on a night like this one, over a past that I knew he wouldn’t want to speak of wasn’t something that I wanted. Him being upset was not something that I wanted. “You can go and sit with Kai, Irina. I know that you are worried that I might end up getting…” “I don’t want you to be alone when upset. While you might tell me that you aren’t. I can tell that you are,” I said, and she looked down at her feet, avoiding my eyes. Her heartbeat was calm, and taking sight of Cosimo, I could swear that I saw annoyance in his eyes, annoyance of a man who could be in love. However, he knew tha
Kai: I had my arms wrapped around my mate, pulling her closer to me as I felt her tighten around me. I swelled inside her, throbbing with each thrust, knowing that I was nearing my edge. Her canines and mine were already bared, and our wolves were more than willing to mark one another. The café was empty, and the rooms that we had there were going to need us to both rearrange and fix them later. But then again, I figured that what better way to mark our new spot than with a marking for our love. It was something that even Irina understood. Something that the two of us loved. “Fuck…” Irina said, crying out when she felt me hitting her G-spot. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and I knew that if I didn’t mark her now, both of us were going to end up out of energy. But then again, I doubted that she would mind. It wasn’t until she woke up to find out that she was with a limp that we would be making the smaller difference. “You are so fucking tight.” I said, shuddering over her
Irina:“What do you want to do today?” Kai asked, breaking my train of thoughts.I looked at him and smiled, shaking my head in question. It has been two months since my mother left the pack, the woman that I called mother, that is. I didn’t know what I should address her as anymore. But I knew one thing, I was thankful that she went without more trouble. She has caused enough as it was anyway.“I have nothing in mind, but I can assume, since you asked, that you might have something that you want us to do?” I asked, and he smiled. He walked toward the edge of the bed where I was sitting, reading through a few emails.“What are you doing?” He asked, and I shrugged.“You have work that you assigned me to do, remember, boss?” I teased, and he smirked.“Well, having you as my assistant ended when we were in the office, that is, of course, if you don’t want me to take you here and now, on the desk.” He teased, biting my bottom lip as he leaned in to kiss me. I laughed and wrapped my arms a
Kai:I watched as Irina walked out of her mother’s infirmary room, looking as if she had seen a ghost. And though I heard everything that went on inside, I knew better than to walk in. I knew to leave her to deal with things with the woman by herself. Had I interfered, she wouldn’t have been able to see her true face. A face that I saw long before she had seen it.Flashback:“She is not going to understand anything from her, Kai.” Mario said, looking at me. “While I know that you want her to try and listen, she is going to be more hurt than she has been. You are going to need to be there for her, and if they do talk, you are not going to interfere. If the answers that she gets do not satisfy her, I am going to speak to her.”“A little too late for that, Mario. The woman doesn’t even know you as her uncle. I doubt that she is going to accept a word from you…”“I am going to try to speak to her. If she is willing to listen, then I am more than open to telling her what happened. If not,
Irina:I walked inside my mother’s room, daring to face her after everything that happened.I had to admit, I was just as scared as Kai was, if not more frightened and worried. But I didn’t want him to see that. I didn’t want him to see me weak and I didn’t want him to think that I wasn’t going to be willing to do this. For him, for us, and for myself.I knew that this was something that I was going to have to do. Otherwise, I wasn’t going to be able to cope. I knew that about myself, and I knew that he saw it in my eyes.“You came.” Mom said, taking me off guard. The fact that she was speaking to me was something that I didn’t expect, but I knew not to expect any less. She has hurt me enough to be ignored. And I knew that many would have done so.“You still raised me as a daughter. One that you both abused, I understand that much, but I was still growing under your roof for a very long time. I might as well value that, right?”“Irina…”“I am not going to be long, but there are a few
Kai:“Are you sure that you are going to want to do this, Irina?” I asked, looking at my mate, remembering the pain that I saw in her eyes the other day.The fact that I knew that she wanted to speak to her mother wasn’t one that I was going to deny. But I was worried that IF she did, that she would be falling back into the cocoon that I barely managed to get her out of.“I know that you are worried, Kai. But I have no other choice right now. I am not going to run away from the woman. She still is the person who raised me, and considering the fact that I can’t get answers elsewhere, this is the one place that I have. Plus, it is not like I am a child.” She said, and I shook my head at her. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, turning her to face me.“Irina, I don’t want you hurting. And you know that IF you try hiding it, I am going to feel your pain. This is going to make it a lot worse, because this time, I am going to have to look at the woman without breaking her face for breakin
Irina:“I want to be left alone, Kai.” I said, knowing that Kai was going to try and comfort me. While I was thankful for his attempt, it wasn’t what I needed right now.“I know, but I am not going to leave you to deal with your pain alone. Plus, it is not like you don’t know me as a husband to think that I would be willing…”“Me knowing you is not going to change the reality of me wanting to stay alone. I really need to be alone to allow myself to process what happened, and though it might not matter to you…”“Do you really believe that it doesn’t matter to me, Irina?” He asked, and I took a deep breath. I knew that it did, but right now, I also knew that I was bursting out over so many things. He wasn’t the one that I was angry with, and he knew that. But the idea of him not willing to leave me alone was one that I didn’t like. I didn’t want to be beside anyone. I just wanted to vent, but I wanted to do it by myself.“I don’t want you to see me in my worst state, Kai.” I said, and h
Irina:“Hey,” Anastasia said, putting a drink on the table in front of me.I looked at it for a moment then at her, and she smiled. “It is not poisoned, I promise.”“The fact that you would think that I would be concerned about it being poisoned amazes me. But then again, you lived your life dealing with Cosimo. I doubt that you would be living in any less worry or concern.” I said, and she smiled. I took a sip of the drink, wincing when I felt it burn my throat. It was vodka.“Are you okay?”“Would a person in my shoes be okay?” I asked, and she sighed. “I need to think straight, and no matter how much I want to, I really can’t find myself doing so. And to make matters worse, I know that nothing that they are going to tell me is going to make this any better. I am going to need to try and understand things my way, and it is going to be a lot harder as time goes.”“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I am exiled from both my brother and mother. Neither one of them is going to want
Kai:“Irina…?” I frowned, seeing that she wasn’t by my side.I got up from bed, and walked out of the room, frowning when I heard the fuss that was going on. The idea of her not being here was something that I didn’t like. I didn’t want her to be alone, especially when I knew that she was holding a lot more than she was supposed to inside her.“What is going on?” I frowned, seeing that mom was walking with her robe. She was wearing a white one, and the idea of seeing her awake at this time was one that I wasn’t used to.“Irina’s mom woke up.” Mom said, making my eyes widen in surprise. “Rustem saw her first, and Irina is there now.”Anastasia, who was here, looked at me. Her eyes met mine and I nodded at her, but the woman looked down at her feet. I knew that she was thrown in tough situation, but I wasn’t going to leave her alone. Not after everything that she went through.I put my hand on mom’s shoulder, gently squeezing it, before turning to the infirmary.I looked at Irina who wa
Irina:I woke up, careful not to wake Kai up, as I got out of the bed.The man had barely slept, and the last thing that I needed or wanted for him was to end up exhausting himself more than necessary. He needed the break, and I wasn’t going to deprive him from it.I walked out of the room, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep anytime soon, and to the dressing room to freshen up. Washing my face in the suite’s bathroom could end up waking him, and I wasn’t going to take that risk.My heart ached with each step that I took, and it wasn’t long before I found myself in the garden, walking around, knowing that I would be finding most of the pack members asleep. Some were walking around, others patrolling, but it was almost empty.We have been here a week, and I still couldn’t find myself accepting what happened. And with my mother still being asleep, I knew that I couldn’t help but find myself falling deeper into the cocoon that I was in. Kai was the one reason that I was a