LOGINI don’t know how long I had been locked up in this cold, dark cell. All I know is that they gave me only one meal a day, composed of stale food I could barely swallow. But for the sake of my little angel in my belly, I forced myself to eat.
I heard the doors of the entrance being unlocked. Was it time for my meal? I was not sure since there was no set time for my meal, which made it hard for me to know the time.
I waited for the guard to shout and throw my tray on the ground, but instead of him, I was surprised to see my father standing in front of my cell with several people accompanying him.
Hope slowly filled my chest as he called me to come closer. Maybe he was going to get me out of prison. Maybe he begged Leo to set me free in exchange for all the times we had spent together.
But as I got near, instead of a warm embrace, I received a slap on my face.
“I told you to go and take care of her. But instead, you pushed her down the stairs?” My father’s voice was filled with fury. His painful words cut deep within my soul.
“I didn’t push her,” I whispered.
“You’re still making excuses at a time like this?” The coldness in his words was enough to send chills down my spine, “And because of you, she cha never have children again. How did I end up with such a cruel, disgraceful daughter? You've brought shame to our entire family!”
My hand automatically went to my belly as the fear of losing my unborn child scared me.
The guards opened my cell, and they dragged me to where Merry was, and I didn’t even try to resist because I was afraid of what they might do to me. I needed to protect my baby.
As I stood in front of Leo, I could see Merry smiling smugly at me behind Leo’s back.
Rage filled my whole being, and I lost control as I started blabbering.
“Merry isn’t pregnant!” I told Leo, who looked down at me like I was the filthiest and most disgusting person he had ever met. “It had been part of her plan. She wanted to take everything from me. My family, and you. Why can’t you see it, Leo?”
Leo nodded at the guards, and the two guards beside me forced me to go down on my knees.
“How could you do this to me, Kelly? How could you do it to my innocent child? What did my child ever do to you?” Leo’s voice was filled with anguish.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He was taking her side, Merry, the woman he barely even knew, over me. The betrayal I was feeling cut so deep, like I was being shredded into a million pieces.
I am the woman who knows him best, who knows his deepest, darkest secrets, and still loves him. I am the mother of his child, and he doesn’t even know that because we wouldn’t let me tell him.
“Beg for Merry’s forgiveness,” Leo commanded as his brown eyes went dark with authority. This isn’t a request–no, he was using his Alpha powers to make me submit. Forcing me to give in and apologize to the woman who took everything away from me.
“I don’t want her apology, my love,” Merry said, crying as she held onto Leo’s arms. “I will never forgive her for killing our child. I will never forgive her for making me like this, not being able to give you an heir.”
Merry turned to face me.
“I can’t believe you could let your jealousy make you a killer. It’s not my fault, Leo is my Mate. How could you make me this way? I was so good to you!”
“Leo,” I said as I moved closer to him and reached for his hand, “You know I would never do such a thing. Merry is just making it up. She is not really pregnant. In fact, while we were in that store, she told me her great plan of taking everything that’s important to me away.”
But instead of hearing me out, Leo pulled my hand away from his arm.
“Someone as vicious as you doesn’t deserve to be part of my pack.” The coldness of his voice made the hairs in my arms stand, while sending chills down my spine. “From this day forward, you are no longer part of the Mystic Moon pack.” Leo stood, “Kelly Anderson, I banished you from Mystic Moon!”
I felt the chill become colder as the guards dragged me out of the hospital towards the exit of the pack.
As they drove me to the farthest point from the entrance of the pack, I suddenly remembered my brother.
If only he were here, none of this would have happened. Leo might have still punished me, but he would never let Leo banish me this way.
“Get out!” the guards ordered, and I did. Once I was out of the truck, they showed me what seemed to be an entrance to the forest.
“Don’t ever come near Mystic Moon or you will be killed,” the other guard said before they all turned back towards the truck and left.
I started walking towards the forest. I don’t know a lot about anything outside the pack. I had never been out this far. But now, I have no choice. I need to find a safe place, but not too far. So that when my brother comes home, he could find me.
As I was trying to find a place to spend the night, loud snickers surrounded me.
“Is that her?”
“I think it’s her,” another man replied.
“Yeah, Merry said she would look filthy.”
Merry? What do these men have to do with Merry?
“All we have to do is kill her baby, right?”
“It would be easier if we killed her, because once we do, the baby would die too.”
“That’s a good idea.”
Merry knew I was pregnant.
If she ordered these people to kill my child, it only means that she knew who the father of my child was.
She didn’t just want my child gone, she wanted me gone.
LeoThe long table in the conference hall was set for forty and laid for war.Maximus had insisted on the formality of it. “You break bread before you break a line,” he’d said, in that voice that made even Sean stop chewing. “The wolves who eat together fight better. Because they know who they are fighting for.” So we’d done it his way. Black linen. Iron candlesticks. Mateo’s pack had brought wine in stoppered jars older than my grandfather. Sean and Kale brought meat for us to feast on.Kelly sat at my right. Aiden at my left. Ella was across from him; she looked better now, but the marks filled her arms like a tattoo. She didn’t hide it this time, and for who knew what it meant, it showed her respect for everything she went through. We all arrived at the same time, a few hours before the feast.Aerin sat beside Clint and pretended very hard that she was one of us. They had prepared the feast just as we had all agreed.I watched as everyone enjoyed the gathering. It’s been a while si
AidenElla had stopped looking at me like I might disappear if she blinked.I noticed it around midmorning on the third day, when I came back from a brief meeting with Leo and found her sitting up in bed with one of the books from the packhouse shelf open across her knees. She looked up when I walked in and said, "There's tea on the table if you want it," the way a person says something like that when they've been sharing space long enough to start knowing each other's habits. Casually. Without the measured caution she'd had when we first got here.It was a small thing. I stood in the doorway for a second longer than I needed to, and then I went and got the tea.The truth was, I had been handling her as if she might break, and she had noticed, and she had decided at some point to stop tolerating it. I wasn't certain exactly when the shift had happened. Somewhere between the moment she'd said I know in response to my confession about the mate bond, and now. She had decided, in that qui
I woke in the middle of the night to find Leo sleeping soundly beside me. Careful not to disturb him, I slipped out of bed and quietly left the room. The room was dark and silent as I made my way to the couch in the mini living room. Once seated, I reached up and removed the necklace, letting it rest in the palm of my hand.I'd been thinking about what Ella said ever since. ‘Don't think. Just hold it.’ I had been wearing it around my neck for weeks, and nothing had happened, which made me wonder if the instruction was more specific than it sounded. I stared at the pendant in my hand and touched its cold surface, waiting for something to happen even though I did not exactly know what I was waiting to see. Maybe holding it wasn't enough. Maybe she meant something else by it. Maybe she meant: hold it the way you hold something you're afraid of losing. Hold it the way you hold the last thing a person you love left for you.I sat in the chair by the window with the pendant in my palm an
The door to our room was slightly open when I arrived, which meant that Kelly was still awake. She never left a door fully open when she was sleeping. I pushed the door open slowly.She was sitting at the edge of the bed with the three journals stacked beside her and the small pendant from her mother's necklace resting in her open palm. She wasn't reading. She wasn't doing anything except looking at the pendant like it owed her something.She looked up when she heard me.Neither of us said anything for a moment. It’s funny how we tend to stay silent when we both have a lot of things to say. The room glowed with a soft amber light, cast by the fae lamps that gave everything the hazy warmth of an old memory. Outside, the palace lay silent. Silence has never been this deafening.I crossed the room and sat beside her on the edge of the bed. Not close enough to crowd her. But close enough to make her feel my presence."You found something," I said. Stating the obvious."Yes." Her reply
I found Mateo in the training yard behind the packhouse, running drills with three of my Moonlight Warriors as if he'd been born into this pack instead of visiting it. Aerin apparently assisted him here because he wanted to make sure my daughter was safe. I watched him as he took his position as three of my men began attacking him all at the same time. I know that he is a great fighter. He had proven that over and over again. And, as his friend, I also know when he’s distracted. Just like how he is right now. It was one of the things that I admired about him. How could he still be calm and composed despite the chaos in his mind? He moved efficiently, quietly, but not as flawlessly as he could be if his focus was on the task at stake. It is the minor details that no one would notice unless you have known the man all your life. The sparring had ended with one of my warriors almost getting close to him. I took that sign to walk up to him.He saw me coming and called a halt. The warrior
Aerin led me through the palace in silence. She didn’t ask any questions, just continued walking ahead of me, leaving me alone with my thoughts that had been in complete chaos ever since I left the Fae King’s office. Watching Aerin’s composed silhouette in front of me made me think of my mother. She was a great fighter, one of the best. It makes me wonder what kind of control she had just to survive everything she went through before everything fell apart.Aerin guided me to a door near the place where my mother was now lying in her endless sleep. Knowing all of her and the Fae King’s sacrifices didn’t help ease the guilt that I was feeling. Instead, it just made it worse. “Here,” Aerin said as she held the door open for me. “You’ll be at the packhouse where your brother is once you step inside. And you have a little surprise waiting for you as well.” She added with a smile. “Thank you,” was all that I could muster to say as I walked closer to her. But before I could take a step ins
There are only a few people in my life whom I consider important to me. And one of them is my brother. He had been my rock, my lifesaver while I was drowning from all the pain I had to endure because of Leo and Merry. And there was nothing that I wouldn’t do for my brother. But if this were anoth
The world around me stopped moving as I froze from where I stood. In front of me is the man who knows about my painful past. The man who not only broke me but destroyed me in the most excruciating way.“Hello, Kelly,” Leo said softly, but his eyes weren’t looking at me. He was looking at the little
I haven’t heard anything about Leo since that day. And Mika didn’t mention anything that was related to Mateo and Leo, which made me think that whatever had happened between them had nothing to do with me. I returned to my usual routine, thinking that things had finally returned to normal. I wok
I told Leo the biggest lie I have ever told. “I am happily married now, Leo, and I have a child. I won’t be coming back to you. Go home. Merry needs you.” I can’t quite figure out the look he had when he heard my lie, and honestly, I don’t have the time to think what that weird look on his face m







