"I'll have five hot dogs and one for my buddy," Sophia said something to the man behind the hotdog booth, which I overheard. The man prepared her order, and then we gathered our food and money. We moved closer to a park bench where we could have our supper. Sophia groaned after her first taste, "Yes" I chuckle, "That sounds so weird. She sighed again, "Don't care, because it's just so good" People passing by gave us a few uncomfortable looks. Sophia just sat there mindlessly chewing her hotdogs while my face grew hot with humiliation. Sophia leaned over to speak to me, but because she had food in her mouth, I was unable to comprehend what she was saying. I asked incredulously, "What?" Once more, the food in her lips muddled her voice as she began to say, "I said-" "What?" I said while furrowing my brow in perplexity. I looked in the direction she must have been going to point, and sure sufficiently, there was Ryan. She said, "I said if it's not that Ryan hanging over there
They finally finished doing my hair and cosmetics after approximately an hour. I spent that period appreciating their efforts. Ella sulked because she wanted me to do a larger glam appearance, but the makeup artist followed my request and created a natural look. Thhairstylistst added loose curls to the hair to complete the style. Now, what? When I turned my "Watch out for Ella!" "Just choose a dress from the rack over there," she said, gazing down at her phone and barely focusing on me. "Why are all the dresses white?" I enquired with suspicion. "I'm not sure. Ryan chose them." She answered. I looked through them for a long, until my eyes settled on the ideal one. It was a long-sleeved gown of sheer lace. I could almost immediately tell that was the one as soon as my eyes landed on it. I carried the garment into the little dressing area and quickly changed out of my old attire. Ella was still staring at her phone when I left. Just zip me up. I questioned as I regarded my image
I smiled broadly as I walked up to the stage. I watched Ryan as he sat on a throne from a distance. Before him, a large group of possibly hundreds of people were waiting. He stood up and said, "I'd like you all to give a warm welcome to your Stella, Marina." Cheers erupted from the audience as I hesitantly approached Ryan. This is the surprise, then? As soon as I was close to Ryan, I started whispering. He grinned, "You did say no party, but you didn't say I couldn't have your greeting ceremony." I said the oath before the joining of the blood, and then we got began. The ritual continued until there was. It was time for Ryan to declare my membership in the North Pack. "Alpha" a voice exclaimed over the muted murmuring in the throng. They are approaching. Marina's POV They're approaching. A pack of wolves charged in our direction before we had a chance to react or prepare. I saw a dazzling flash of yellow from the distance heading towards me, but owing to the shock I was fixed
As his name was spoken, Ryan hissed. Mother. "Why are you acting in this way?" He spat, "Because your companion here killed my father. Shielded by a wall, I could see someone circling the barrier as I got closer, perhaps looking for a way to get to him and kill him. I warned, my anger boiling with rage, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." "You want to exact revenge. Why are you including so many defenseless parties in this?" He shrugged it off as "Destruction". "You are sick, I gritted through clamped teeth, you know that. "Whatever you want to call it—sick or insane—I'm not going anywhere without staking his head on a stake." "That's not going to happen," I exclaimed as I prepared to strike. "I assumed you'd mention that." He grinned. I didn't even anticipate it. I experienced merely a strong force that knocked me off the stage. I fell heavily to my back. I put my hands on my tiny pregnancy belly and hoped everything was okay. "I'm hoping you're okay inside. Mother must s
She said with a smile, "You had me at massage." As she sauntered away, her hips swinging a little more than usual, I gave a dumb smile while shaking my head. A voice called out, "Alpha Ryan" from behind me. I look around and spot a recognizable couple. "Helen Ryan," Alpha I spoke to them with an incomprehensible face. "Ryan chuckled, "Seems like we missed all the action. Given that there were at least a hundred bodies, I decided not to share the joke. scattered all over the place. We arrived as quickly as we could, but I suppose you've got it under control. Helen said while circling. "Yeah. I owe my partner everything." "Where is she by the way?" Looking around, Helen questioned. "She's somewhere nearby. I believe you've already met her." "I do not have the pleasure. Before I got a chance to introduce myself, the party came to an end." Although Helen didn't know who Marina was, I was confident that just one glance at her would be enough to trigger memories. She was the moth
Marina's POV Ella obstructing his path on the other side wasn't a good idea. Never sway a mate's selection, especially an alpha. They were unduly protective and overly worried about their marriage. "If you don't move out of my way right away, I swear to God" I could almost physically feel the rage radiating off of him even from the other side of the door. "What is that? You'll tear me to pieces? I'd like to see you try, so go ahead." Ella wanted to die, but I had to grant her desire. I genuinely adored her for playing the overly protective friend. "Are you okay?" Sophia, concerned she touched my shoulder with her own. "No. I'm not okay. I recently met the woman who gave birth to me and discovered that my partner had been deceiving me for months. He claims that despite concealing all of this from me, there were no secrets between us. He's a real-" "Hypocrite" she concluded my sentence. "Yeah. I want I could despise him but I can't." It's so annoying, I grumbled as I ran my fin
She said, "He killed himself because of me " "And what was that?" I lied; I didn't exactly catch it. She shouted more forcefully, her voice replete with remorse and guilt: "He killed himself... because of me she spoke up louder, her voice filled with regret and shame. " "And what specifically did you do?" "I walked away. I broke up with him after learning that I was expecting his child. I had just given birth to you when I first met Ryan, my partner, but I didn't want anything to get in the way so I dialed I-I-" She appeared to be having difficulty releasing it. "I left you at the edge of the Crystal Blue pack, far enough away from the West pack that I would never need to see you again. I didn't tell your father I was pregnant or that I had a beautiful baby girl. He passed away without being aware that he had a child. She was a sobbing wreck by the time she finished her confession, but for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to feel bad for her. I scoffed, "Oh, I guess I had a b
Marina's POV These previous several weeks have seen a lot of events. It was challenging for me to do tasks because of my large baby belly, but I managed. My welcome ceremony was able to be completed, and it came to a successful conclusion. We concluded by charging across the woods in wolf shape. Seeing the entire group gallop beside me was a breathtaking sight. Things were beginning to improve. I just wanted to avoid receiving any more unpleasant surprises. However, it appears that I spoke too soon because I felt water starting to stream down my legs at that precise moment. Really!? "Why couldn't you hold off till I finished my ice cream?" I grimaced. I started to walk, but a contraction stopped me in my tracks. As I tightened my grip on the countertop and screamed in agony, the marble cracked under my firm pressure. I moved forward by taking a small step while breathing heavily. After the pain lessened, I let go of the counter and attempted to take another step, but I slipped o
AMAYA'S POVWeeks had passed after the little scenerio that played at the De Lucci mansion and the little family kept living live the way it was supposed to be cleary Amaya was trying her best to overcome her emotional barrier. On a beautiful Monday morning after Aiden had left for work Amaya was staring off into space with nothing to do so many things crossed her mind like calling Lisa and Phumsile over for a girl's day after going back and forth on whether to call she finally picked up the telephone line and dialed Lisa number.“What up Cuz?”“Hey Lisa how are you let me get straight to the point…… I was wondering if you wanted to come over for lunch together with Phumsile?” “Of course, Seeing as you called me you must be really bored I even wanted to come over to get the full gist of what happened at the lunch with your in-laws” Lisa snickered.“No problem, come over and we'll talk till you feel satisfied” I smiled as she cut the line to go on and prepare for the little lunch par
On their way to his house Aiden could feel the anxiety oozing out of Amaya as she tried not to show it in her expression. He was well aware of the pressure cause he was experiencing it himself all he could do was hold onto her hand with an expression saying I'm here with you. On getting to his house, she was lost for words it wasn't like she hadn't seen his house before which was through the television and pictures but seeing it physically was just breathtaking. The distance from the gate to the actual house was a a suit a a mile.The scenery of the house was just amazing. “We are here…” Aiden said bringing her out of her reverie. The minute she got down with Lily it seemed like her anxiety never happened even Aiden noticed her confidence on stepping out of the car. “Are you ready?” “As ready as I'll ever be!” Amaya said as she and Aiden began to move towards the large door in front of them with sleeping Lily in Cara's hands. As they got close the door opened wide and in front was
Amaya was overjoyed, she made sure that she did not give it away from her face expression. She was wondering if she she should also reciprocate the her feelings back to him but she was scared, in between his family members not wanting her and he liking that lady. She felt like she would later be an outcast and the thought was not appealing to her at all. She did not like it, she loved Sandro with everything that she had. She had always loved him but she was scared to let him know how she felt cause of heartbreak. She remembered how she bared herself to him when they first got married. She was such a fool, because anytime she was in love she always fell in love with everything she had, with her mind body and soul and she was happy that he reciprocated how he was feeling to her but what if he changes his mind. She did not want her daughter to be raised in a family where there was no love, she had experienced it and it was what affected her till now. In between her mother dying and h
Amaya woke up some time during the early hours of the morning when she felt Aiden leave the bed. She blinked in confusion, not sure how she'd gotten to bed. She was stark naked and she didn't remember getting undressed, or even coming upstairs for that matter. She could hear Lily fretting through the baby monitor and was about to get out of bed when she heard Aiden's gentle voice crooning to the baby. Lily calmed down a little and Amaya smiled as she listened to him sing to the baby, his sleep-roughened voice slightly off-key. His voice faded and she sat up, switching on the bedside lamp and adjusting the pillows behind her back when she realised that Aiden was probably bringing Lily into the bedroom for her feed. He appeared moments later, looking completely rumpled and wearing nothing but white boxer shorts. He smiled when he saw her sitting up in bed."Your daughter's hungry," he nodded down at the fussing baby and Amaya reached up for her and he transferred the wriggling bundle ge
Right, the knee-length silk slip dress was a little too low and made her swollen breasts look slightly too voluptuous for her liking. She felt a little uncomfortable in it but Lisa had chosen it, saying that the ice green colour did wonderful things for her hair and eyes."I mean, did you guys even think to make reservations?""Amaya, with your dad and husband being who they are, do you really think getting into any restaurant you want is ever going to be a problem?" Lisa scoffed and Amaya wrinkled her nose, conceding the point. Lisa flounced through the door and Rick stood aside to let Theresa in.The maitre'd smiled and led her through without question. Surprised, she followed him with a little frown on her face. He led her through double glass doors. The place was packed with people and for some reason no-one was sitting down. She squirmed uncomfortably when everyone turned to stare at her, not quite sure what on earth was going on."Surprise!" She nearly jumped out of her skin at
"Ours was just the biggest news because of your father's involvement. It made a bad time for the family even worse. I was so busy doing damage control after the news of Rosalie's pregnancy and subsequent abortion that when the story of our marriage first hit, I wasn't even aware of it, until my mother brought it to my attention. I dropped everything and flew home to you. I couldn't stand the thought that you'd think it was true... that you'd think I valued our marriage so little that I would file for a divorce without even talking to you about it." "What happened to the friend?" "She sold our secrets for a pittance but the status she had in our society has diminished to nothing. She is no longer welcome in the circles she once ruled. Trust me, there's no greater punishment for someone like her. Gabriella has learned a valuable lesson in discretion... and a few Italian publications are currently being sued for libel when they completely fabricated a lot of the so-called 'facts' to ba
Amaya headed down to the kitchen for breakfast three weeks later and found her husband already seated at the table, newspaper in hand. He'd already dressed Lily and had her little baby carrier placed on the table in front of him. Lily was asleep and Aiden was so absorbed in his paper that he didn't notice her at first. It was Phumsile's usual day off, so he'd fixed himself a bowl of cereal, toast and some coffee. She smiled at the sight of them, her heart overflowing with love for both of them."Good morning," she greeted cheerily, as she headed over to the breakfast nook. She dropped a kiss on the baby's cheek and then, after the briefest of hesitations, one on her husband's lean cheek. While Aiden was a lot more affectionate these days, she still felt a certain reserve around him, not sure if she could touch and kiss him as freely as he did her. She knew she was being silly but she seemed unable to overcome her emotional barriers. He told her he loved her every day but she still cou
"You were hoping for a girl?""Yes. Very much," he staggered her by confirming, his eyes remaining steady so she was in no doubt as to his sincerity."I don't understand..." she shook her head slightly. "Why?" He didn't respond, dropping his eyes to the suckling infant at her breast."Aiden?" She prompted and he raised his eyes to hers once more. He smiled cryptically before shrugging."This is neither the time nor place to be having that particular conversation, Amaya'," he frustrated her by saying."But...""We'll discuss it soon but right now I think Lily is ready to be burped," he pointed to the infant whose tiny mouth had slackened. She awkwardly dragged her bodice back up and then clumsily repositioned Lily until the baby was draped over her shoulder."Could you get the nurse?" She asked Aiden, putting his previous comment from her mind for now. "I'm not sure how to do this.""Rub your hand on her back in a circular motion," he noted the surprise in her eyes before shrugging. "T
She awoke to the sound of angry, hushed voices and blinked groggily as she tried to get her bearings."I don't want you anywhere near her," she heard Aiden hiss furiously and tried to concentrate on the drama unfolding in her doorway where she could see two large men silhouetted. One was unmistakably Aiden and the other; she narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to focus a bit better. It looked like her father."She's my daughter and I'll damned well see her when I want to," the other man blustered, confirming that he was, indeed, Jackson Noble III."So that you can damage her more than you already have?" Aiden asked, almost shaking with rage. "I won't let you get close enough to hurt her like that again. And you can forget about getting that grandson you want anytime soon. I refuse to give you the pleasure.""Well then stay married to her until you do, or give up the vineyard," her father sneered."The vineyard never meant as much to me as it did my father. You can have the damned place