ALLISON KEELERI spent the night watching my son sleep. I was afraid to close my eyes, the fear of having my son struggle for life while I was asleep kept the need to sleep away from me. I checked his breath and temperature at intervals and he seemed alright. Yolanda didn't reach out to me. She didn't bother to check in to see if my son was alright. Maybe she was after all as nice as I thought. Or maybe she had been encumbered with a lot of responsibility and I slipped her mind. The latter had to be the case here. Darlene didn't bring my meals but someone else did. I wondered where she was and why she didn't bring my lunch and dinner earlier.I didn't know I had dozed off until I came instantly awake at the sound of Fihl's wails. He wasn't loud enough to be heard outside the thick walls and doors but I still had to make him comfortable enough to stop wailing. I glanced at the time on the nightstand, two a.m. a few more hours before I began the day. I breastfed him and noticed he

ALLISON KEELER "You can't keep living this way," Matt's eyes glittered with an unshared emotion, "You have to fight back." Matt was nuts. It's either that or he was trying to make a mockery out of me. "Fight? Fight who?" I almost scorned it. Grimsby was an Alpha with power enough to smash me to the ground before I could throw a punch, then Colton? I couldn't even think about what could happen if I started a war against him. Deviating from the terms of this deal was like waging war against the cruel Alpha. "Your son is too fragile, I know but you could get all the protection you see from this Pack." "Faye's father is in charge of the Pack, so it all balls back to them. I'm alone in this, I don't see my possibility of winning this battle." I didn't even understand what this battle was all about. My freedom? No, I doubted. All I cared about and wanted to focus on was raising my son. Matt got really close to me, his eyes on my face with that same indescribable emotion gl

ALLISON KEELER Matt stopped by the Pack clinic and a doctor checked Fihl. I kept Fihl's heating-up experience to myself. With Matt's revelation, I didn't know if to trust anyone in this Pack. Darlene was with Fihl all the time we stopped for ice creams. It was one of the best experiences for me. It felt almost as nice as the first time I had an ice cream. "You're not going back there," Matt announced. "It's too risky." "You don't expect I'll live here on the streets with my son?" I quipped my interest and attention on the sundae cone in my hand. I forgot my entire being. Matt watched me lick my ice cream. "You're coming with us to our apartment." Darlene took my hand. "You're a part of our family." She kissed Fihl on the head, "He's now my son too." "Grimsby's going to strike out. I'm not prepared for such a war." I shook my head. "I don't want to get entangled in any war. It's why I'm returning to the mansion." "And what?" Matt snickered. "Pretend none of this happened.

ALLISON KEELER "I think I look okay here!" I chuckled with flushed cheeks at the last shoot Alan just did. My eyes were on his phone watching myself try to be someone I wasn't. I wasn't a Luna. I didn't even know if I could be. "We don't think we need ‘okay’," Alan bounced the video. It was the sixth out of the six videos we made. He kept bouncing them. "What are we looking for?" I rolled my eyes. "Strength, certainty, boldness we want you to appear, sound, and act the role of a Lynth princess." He glinted at the video and shook his head, "You look so unsure of yourself." Because I was. I was afraid all this was only going to blow off in my face leaving me in regret. "You're setting high bars." I clicked my tongue. "I was thinking I'm not high enough," he moved to adjust the backdrop and lighting. Matt watched us without a word. I handed the video to him and he had the same opinion as Matt. But to me, I looked beautiful. I looked better than I had ever looked with thi

ALLISON KEELER"Quit overreacting. Chill out!"Matt caught my arm before I could make it out the door with my son securely held in my arms. I snapped from him and shot him a glare. "This is all a joke. I've been made fun of all my life and I'm not settling for more." I retorted with my face grim and lips puckered. "No one's making fun of anyone." His tone was super soft, and his eyes were pleading. "He sounded like I'm a runt. I don't want to be a runt anymore." My tone faltered. Dane's attitude got to more than I even realized. "I just don't want to feel this way.""So you're backing away just because Dane made some remark?" He sounded pissed, "Allison this has gone beyond you. This is about the Pack and the needs of the members. You chose to walk away then we're left without a choice but to succumb to the tyranny of the Flynns.""What does it matter anyway? I don't belong here. I'm out. You all can find another way around this." I sniffled and headed out into the sunlight unsure