75: Silvan’s POV As Isla disappeared from sight, my heart twisted with bitterness and anger. Emotions bubbled within me like a simmering cauldron. I watched her retreating form with a mixture of longing and resentment. My mind was clouded with obsessive and possessive thoughts fueled by the rejection I had just endured. The audacity of that little girl…rejecting me, not once, not twice, but three times in one day alone. I sneered as I walked home. A dark impulse gnawed at the edges of my consciousness, whispering sinister suggestions into my ear. My wolf seemed to like the ideas. He reasoned that if Isla did not belong to me, then she should belong to no one. Isla's blood would serve a higher purpose; after all, my pack needed her blood to wash away our sins, and she would serve that purpose perfectly.The notion sent a shiver down my spine, but I could not shake the twisted satisfaction that accompanied it. I imagined Isla's blood staining the forest floor, a macabre offering
76:Isla’s POVA wave of exhaustion washed over me, the events of the day weighing heavily on my mind. For a moment, I imagined what it would be like if Dario was all over me like Silvan was. For one, I would probably not even be at the academy anymore. I would go to all his functions with him, I would trail behind him anywhere, happy to just be in his presence. I knew that was the bare minimum. I knew I had no standards whatsoever, but I did not care. Nima made me shameless. Of course, blame the wolf. I chucked at the thought of my wolf rolling her eyes at me. I was exactly like Silvan- a complete simp for Dario. Speaking of Dario, I tiptoed into the building and quietly shut the door behind me, hoping with all my heart that I did not bump into him. I honestly was not ready to face him right now. I just wanted the comfort of my room. “Isla…” someone familiar called behind me, and I turned around, my weariness melting away at the sight of Diane sitting on the couch, her face etched
Isla’s POV With flour dusting our cheeks and sauce smeared on our aprons, Diane and I giggled like schoolgirls as we tossed pizza dough in the air, attempting to recreate the perfect circle.It took a good amount of pleading to get the Italian chef to release the ingredients for the pizza. He had insisted he did not want us messing with his ancestral meal. And seeing his expression from where I stood, I knew we were not getting the circle right and it bugged him. I told Diane who guffawed and made faces at the chef. He tried to force a smile which made us laugh all the more. Our laughter mingled with the smell of melting cheese and sizzling toppings, filling the kitchen with a sense of warmth."Okay, Diane, let us see who can make the best pizza!" I declared, a competitive edge creeping into my voice as I surveyed the array of toppings spread out before us.Diane grinned back, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "You're on, Isla!" she replied, rolling up her sleeves and diving into th
Isla's POV.Sitting on the bare floor in the cemetery my face red and scrunched up as hot torrents of grief coursed down my face“Why did you have to go Dad? Why mom? Now I feel alone, I feel abandoned." I wailed, my voice coming out in cracky shrieks.I saw shadowy silhouettes make their way to me from a distance. The hue of the approaching dawn making it hard to see. In no time, they were in front of me and I was happy. I knew I was. I had wanted to smile, but my lips were stiff and the tears still fell down in torrents. What was happening? I could barely make out my mom's face. I could not be blamed though. She had left me when I barely had memory of anything or anyone. But I remember how she smelt, the faint scent of vanilla that teased my senses was forever etched in my mind. I guess it contributed to my unhealthy addiction to vanilla scented perfumes, candle and anything there is. “You could have stayed longer with me, Mom. I needed you, you know.” My bottom lip quivered as I
Dario’s POV I heard her voice before I saw her.Isla.“Hey boys,” She said to my guards and walked into my study.I pushed away the tray and cleared my throat. The maid rushed in, picked up the kettle and plates, bowed, and walked out. “Dario,” She said in a calm tone. I gave her a stiff nod and looked away. Her eyes followed the maid with the tray and it softened. I observed her look and said, “Have you eaten? I can get her to make something for you,” “I have. I have eaten.” “Good,” I looked down at my files and began to try to work.I read the sentences over and over again but the words refused to stick to my head. All my attention was on her and her movement.She shuffled on her feet. Stared at me. Cleared her throat too but I did not look up. “Dario,” She called. I paused looking through the papers when she continued. “How are you?” The softness in her voice does not only thug at my heart, it also made me realize how much I had missed her. So I do the next best thing.Put
Chapter 80Isla POV “I agree.” He said that and looked back to his files. I flinched, feeling a little hurt but getting the message at the same time.He was waving me off. He was dismissing me.So I let myself out. I stomped down the hallway, back to my room. I tried to keep my emotions to myself but it was hard.One of his guards raised a brow at me as I marched out but I did not bother to look in his direction. I entered my room and slammed the door shut. I threw myself on the bed, grabbed the nearest pillow, and screamed into it.It was annoying.It was frustrating.It made me so angry.I was standing right there and he did not make any effort to look at me. He did not even try to glance at me.“He barely even said anything directly,” My scowl deepened as I remembered all we talked about was Kate. Nothing more and nothing less.I walked to my mirror and stared at myself. I patted my arms and ran my hands down my curves. “Is something wrong with me? Am I that undesirable?” I sho
Chapter 81Dario's POV.The number of files stacked on the table significantly reduced as I put finishing touches on each of them, proofreading and cross-checking where necessary. It had been a while since I was able to get such amount of work done so the dopamine rush i got was second to none.There were just few files left, and when the door twitched. "Who is it?" I asked, not bothering to lift my gaze from the paper i was reading."It is Jonas, alpha. Can I come in?" His voice sounded from the other side of the door."You were already about to, weren't you?""I am sorry alpha." He pleaded, finally landing a few knocks on the door."You can come in." "Thank you sir," He entered wearing an unreadable expression, making it difficult for me to pin point the reason he was here."Is anything the matter?" I queried, my curiosity getting the best of me."Kyle is here," he announced. "He just returned." He added, possibly noticing the shift in my mood."Take over for me, I was almost done
Chapter 82Dario's POV"You can not disgrace me, Dario. Before you do that, I will make sure to make a fool out of you first." Brenda's words echoed in my head. What did she mean by that? Did she know something? Or was she probably just bluffing? Towering above her, I could see strands of her hair sticking into her mouth. She looked crazy. "What are you saying?" My voice was dark."So I finally got your attention," she laughed maniacally. "Answer me this minute, Brenda... what did you mean by that?" I would not let her ruin my reputation and my hardwork. “Well…” she tilted her look as she stared me in the eyes. “I happen to know a couple of your secrets…” she grinned. “…and I would not really mind sharing them with the elders.” She could see my brain racking, struggling to figure out what she meant. Was it about Isla? My hands tightened. She dared not. I would not let her drag Isla into our mess. “But I have just one condition to make this all go away.” She waved her arm in the a
Five years later. I woke up to the sound of my children's excited voices, their laughter cascading through the air like a warm, familiar embrace. Pulling my eyes open, I gradually focused on my daughter. She was standing really close to me, with her hands crossed behind her back "Mommy, come downstairs! Quick!" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. Her hands, which were crossed behind her back, moved forward to touch mine. "Mommy, come on! Quick!" she exclaimed, with a higher pitched tone. I tried to understand my daughter’s sudden need for me to go downstairs. I glanced at the clock on my bedside, and I realized it was just eight in the morning. It was quite early. Very early. I sighed, turning to look at Selene who seemed to have given up. When she saw I wasn’t budging she let go of my hands and headed out of the room. Then she returned few seconds later, with a pretty determined face. “Mom, this is really important.” Not long after she said those words ,
Isla’s POVThe night was quiet. The only sound breaking the stillness of the air was the soft rustle of leaves outside our window. I lay in bed after I had managed to put my daughter to bed, dozing off. Suddenly, a cry pierced the silence, a sound that jolted me awake. My eyes flew open, my heart pounding, and without hesitation, I swung my legs over the side of the bed, my bare feet meeting the cool wooden floor as I rushed towards the nursery. Dario, who had heard the sound of our daughter’s cry, rolled out of bed. He walked behind me, his steps slower than mine.I pushed open the nursery door when I got there. Dario and I had put the nursery in order some days ago. Actually, Dario had done all the work; I just stood there watching him since he wouldn’t let me help.Gliding past the entrance, I felt a surge of warmth fills me at each step. I moved to the crib, which was adorned with soft blankets and stuffed animals. Then I reached for my baby, cradling her gently in my arms."Hush
Isla’s POVI stood wrapped in Dario’s arms, with my heart racing with excitement.. Dario, had just proposed to me.It all felt surreal like none of it was true and I was leaving in the walls of my imagination, but as I glanced at the sparking gem in my hands. I knew that, this was far from being surreal. It was real and I was going to get married to the man of my dreams.If someone had told me some months back that I would end up with Dario. I would never have believed that person, but here I was today, leaving my dreams.Dario pulled his hands away from me, he placed a soft kiss on my ringed finger, then he moved his hands to my face.“My Luna!” He said softly. I blushed not hiding the fact that I was filled with joy. During that moment, the thought of spilling everything that happened to my parents crossed my mind. I wanted my padre to know that everything turned out fine."Dario,” I called out to him. “I want to tell my parents about us," I said.Dario smiled warmly, his eye
Dario’s POVI walked into the mansion with Isla by my side. Finally, the battle was over.I stared at her as those thoughts settled in my mind. The victorious look in her eyes was not so different from mine. She must have noticed that I was staring at her because she looked my way, and I noticed as tears began to full from her eyes.“We did it!” She said with her lips curved up. “We finally did it!”“You did it!” I said moving close to her. I wrapped my hands around her body, planting a kiss on her forehead. The joy in my heart couldn’t be contained, and right now the only thought on my mind was finally seeing my child—my daughter.My hands which were on Isla uncurled and my eyes swerved in the opposite direction staring at Jonas.“Inform the men to take care of the bodies and clean everywhere up.” Jonas nodded at my reply, after that was said I turned to look at Isla.“Let’s go see our child.” Together, we made our way up the stairs, crossing the bodies that were at the staircase.
Isla’s POV The battle unfolded before my eyes, as I ran upstairs. I watched as more of the attackers stepped into the mansion walls with their weapons in their hands. It seemed that Dario had called upon on his men from the human base because I noticed that among those attackers were men far more armed and ready to take down whoever dared to stand in their way.As I ascended up the stairs the sounds of body dropping to the ground filled my ears. A sign the men were already taking action.“Do you think it’s going to work?” Nima’s voice spilled into my mind as I continued to walk.“What is?” I questioned, trying to grasp what she was trying to say.“The plan you have to weaken the cursed blood.”“I know it will. The fact that this idea crawled into my mind means it will work and if it doesn’t we would find another way.”Nima didn’t say any words after and I focused on the hallway ahead of me. I arrived in front of the room where my grandmother was staying with Diane and my baby. I tr
Isla’s POV “I think I need to have my rest now.” I said standing on my feet.” Diane rushed on her feet, she headed in my direction but a loud sound which filled the atmosphere had stopped her midway.“What’s that?” She asked, moving her eyes from me to our grandmother.“Maybe something fell.” Our Grandmother said. “Those guards can be quite clumsy one almost—“The sound repeated itself this time louder than before. “I don’t think that’s a mistake.” I said with my eyes landing on Diane. During that moment I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. The feeling was so strong and I knew what it meant.“I think the baby is coming.” I said.“Isla, are you sure?” Diane asked.“Yes.” I screamed. “It is time.”My eyes which was once on Diane landed on my grandma who looked shocked. With a raised tone she spoke up, running towards the hallway to get a hold of the guards.“We need to get to the hospital now!” I could hear my grandmother say. “We can’t waste anytime.”Diane moved close to me she help
Dario’s POV (2 months later)Time flew by very quickly, and the arrival of my daughter was closer than I expected it to be. The joy of becoming fatherhood filled my heart , but underneath that joy was fear. I couldn’t shake off the thoughts that I might mess things up or something would go wrong somewhere. No matter how many times I tried to convince myself internally that handling things after the child was born would be an easy task those treacherous thoughts would return.Kai on the other hand felt otherwise and I wasn’t surprised. The joy in his heart was one he wasted no time to spread for instance this morning.I had gotten up much earlier than usual. The sky was still dark, and from the looks of it. It would take a while before the sun would arrive.I made up my mind to jog, well that wasn’t my first choice. After, I couldn’t fall asleep and the fear about being a terrible father had taken over my mind. Kai ever so considerate had suggested that I head out for a run.“Running
Silvan’s POV Months had passed since I had set my eyes on Isla. My mind wasn’t at rest. I wanted to see how things were going with her and how she was doing even if it was just getting a glimpse of her.I made up my mind the following week to do so. With my men going to the pack for an attack, Dario would be out of the house making things so much easier.At the arrival of the following week, I set out to the pack . I had taken a narrow route, instead of the main path so I wouldn’t be seen. I bursted out at a trail which stretched out into the forest that was pretty close to Dario’s mansion.I parked my car there, and continued on foot. It was pretty difficult navigating through the path on foot but I managed to find my way. The top of the mansion looked at me as I reached the end of the forest. I inched closer until I arrived at the main road. I made my way down the road that pointed to the mansion entrance and when I got there, I realised only two guards were stationed outside.A
Isla’s POVI watched as Dario got into the car. My mind was a bit unstable but I didn’t dwell on it. If Dario could handle the first attack then I was sure he could handle whatever was thrown his way this time.I walked into the house, Grandma was waiting in the sitting room with Diane. The minute I stepped into the sitting room they turned my way.“Are you fine Isla?” Diane was the first to speak up and I smiled her way. “I’m okay, a bit scared but fine.” I took my seat close to her and she shot me a calm look. “I know he’ll be able to handle whatever comes his way.” I added.“Of course.” My grandmother joined in the conversation. “The only thing I’m concerned about is why this people keep coming back.”“I wonder the same thing too.” Diane said. “It’s strange.”“I feel like they’re here for something and they are yet to get it.” I said casually. Diane and my grandmother agreed to my words, they also had a feeling that the attackers were here for something.We spent the rest of th