LOGIN~Amelia~The first day after the letter, I told myself I was imagining it.Kaden was fine. He was present, he was functional, he did everything he was supposed to do. He answered messages, he sat through a briefing with Caleb, he made sure I ate dinner. Normal Kaden stuff. But there was this half-second lag to everything like a video where the audio is just slightly out of sync with the picture. Nothing you'd catch if you weren't paying attention. Nothing most people would even notice.
~Amelia~Eli came to the house that afternoon.He set up in the kitchen with his case of supplies open on the table, and I sat across from him while he checked me over the way he'd been doing every few days, taking my pulse, testing my reflexes, pressing two fingers against my wrist in that specific way that meant he was reading something I couldn't feel. He worked quietly. "Your energy is lou
~Amelia~I didn't plan on crying.It just happened the way things do when you've been holding them together for too long and then you get one quiet moment alone and your body decides that's the opening it was waiting for. I'd made it through the meeting. I'd made it through Aiden's whole speech and Kaden almost losing it and the corridor ambush and not telling Kaden yet about what happened and the drive back, and then I sat down on the edge of the bed to take my shoes off and I just stopped. And before I fully registered what was happening
~Amelia~He had this expression on, concerned, the face of a guy who really didn't want to be saying what he was about to say but felt he had a responsibility to the pack. He looked at Kaden when he spoke first. That was the thing about Aiden, he was careful. He always started with Kaden, warm and respectful, like he was just one concerned family member talking to another."I think we can all agree that we want what's best for this pack," he announced. "And I think, out of respect for everything you've built here, it's worth having a conversation about the current situation." He paused. Like he was choosing his words. "There are questions circulating. About stability. About the child's parentage. I'm not saying these questions are fair, but they exist, and the pack deserves to know.""Sit down, Aiden." Kaden's voice hadn't changed. That was somehow scarier than if he'd raised it.Aiden didn't sit down."I'm just saying what people are already thinking," he continued. Still looking at
~Amelia~I changed outfits twice.The first was a flowy top and jeans, which I put on and then immediately took off because the top kept riding up over my bump and the last thing I needed was to walk into a pack meeting looking like I was about to ask someone to touch it. The second was a black wrap dress that was technically flattering but made me feel like I was trying too hard, so I stood in front of the mirror for a full two minutes pulling at the hem before I finally went back to the green dress I'd had hanging on the door the whole time.I turned sideways. My belly was noticeable now, not just to me, not that thing where you're convinced people can see it but you're not sure. It was actually there. Anyone who looked would know.Kaden appeared in the doorway behind me, already dressed, jacket on, looking like he'd spent approximately four minutes getting ready. He looked at me. Then at the pile of rejected clothes on the bed."I don't want everyone staring at my stomach," I answe
~Amelia~Kaden's head turned."I need to talk to you about.." she started."No." I cut her off before she could get another word out. "I don't want to hear it. Whatever you're about to say, I don't want to hear it.""Amelia, please just listen to me.""Are you still with him?" I asked. "Are you still working with Blake? Because that's the only reason I can think of that you'd be calling me right now, at this hour, after everything. You're gathering information. Or he sent you to mess with my head. Or both.""That's not what this.""You have lied to me my entire life, Brittany." I kept my voice controlled. I wasn't yelling. Yelling would have meant she still had the ability to make me feel something heated, and I was past that. This was colder. "My entire life. So you're going to have to do a lot better than a phone call from a blocked number in the middle of the night to convince me this is anything other than another one.""I know." Her voice sounded faint. "I know I don't deserve you
AMELIA’S P.O.VI was sitting in Kaden’s office when someone knocked. I knew it wasn’t Kaden because he wouldn’t have needed to knock on his own office so I stayed silent hoping whoever it was would leave. The knocking ceased and I thought everything was fine until there was some shuffling and the doo
AMELIA’S P.O.VThe moment I locked the door, I realized what I had done. I was shocked that I could be so brazen. I had never done something so out there before and just thinking about it had me flushing crimson. I risked a glance at Kaden and I saw that he was just as shocked, if not more shocked th
KADEN’S P.O.VI could not stop thinking about Amelia. I had been with different girls in my life but none were my mate and none had the power to infiltrate my mind the way she did. She didn’t even know the kind of power she had over me. I would never have thought it was possible for someone that smal
KADEN’S P.O.VI watched Amelia disappear up the stairs towards my private office. I knew I was taking a huge risk by asking her to be present but I felt it was a better alternative than leaving her in Clara’s house where he could easily sneak in to find her.If I had my way, we wouldn’t have been havi







