Alpha Kade's POV I wake up with an intense migraine. I slowly sit up from my position on the ground and look around me. I must have fallen asleep at the cemetery talking to Leila. I look around me and my eyes catch on the guy leaning against the truck on the path through the cemetery. "Nice of you to finally join the land of the living," Garrett growls at me. "I was waiting to see if I needed to give you a nice shower with some ice cold water to wake your sorry ass." I scrub my hands down my face, silently begging for this headache to freaking go away. "What the hell are you doing here?" I ask him. "Looking for you," he responds. "You didn't come back to the pack house. When you didn't come to training this morning, Marcus and I were concerned about your sorry ass. I volunteered to come and look for you." "Oh, so Marcus is considering talking to me again?" Garrett rolls his eyes before he responds. "He's contemplating it. And you know regardless of how stupid and downri
Emilia's POV Marcus raises his voice again. I'm not even in the same room as him and Alpha Kade, but I can feel his anger from here. All of this over me... I don't want to come between friends, not in the slightest. I just want to be treated fairly and equally by everyone, including the hard headed Alpha. Yet, I know he will never treat me as a person. Simply because I am his second chance mate. He views me as the enemy. "—lying to yourself, Kade. You admitted it yourself. She intrigued you. There was something about her that kept your attention. You were curious about the girl. And now you suddenly learn about her past and want nothing to do with her? You know who her parents are! At the very least, you can fucking tell her everything instead of keeping her in the dark! Especially everything that happened to her brother and sister! At the very least, you can tell her where her parents are buried!" Marcus yells at him. My brother and sister are alive? Alpha Kade knows who they
Alpha Kade’s POV For the first time since meeting her, anger courses through me. Not at the lack of respect, because there is no respect, but at everything this girl has been through. She is barely a legal adult. And she has seen some of the true horrors of the world we live in. I want to take revenge on those that hurt her, harm her. No matter how i feel about her or the lack of the bond flowing through is now, no one in their right mind deserves to be raped or even starved. I can feel Marcus’s disappointment behind me. He hates how i continuously push her when none of us truly know what she’s been through. And I get it now. I really do… I shouldn’t have pushed her. I reach my hand out with the intention of touching her arm, wanting to offer some type of comfort. The tears are killing me. I hate crying. Even more so when it’s a woman and I know I caused the pain. I may not have been the one to rape or beat her, but I caused her to relive the pain by pushing her to the point of
Emilia’s POV I stand in the office listening to Alpha Kade tell me about the fate of my family and I’m numb. I can’t feel anything. I don’t want to feel anything. Feeling…well that will be worst than just blocking everything out. And that’s what I want to do. I want to block it out and forget that I pushed the Alpha to tell me. I want to forget he told me about my brother and sister’s fate. My sister had a baby…not just one, but two. Two beings who were part of her. Who is the baby daddy? Why doesn’t he want his kids? Why are they in my brother’s care? Does this mean Ramira had found her mate early on? My head spins as all the questions race through me. Questions I don't have the answer to. I can't do this. I can't do it right now. Without saying a word, I spin on my heels and walk out of the room, not bothering to talk to either man in the room. If they tried to stop me, I wouldn't know. My mind keeps wandering to the last time I saw my brother and sister. They day my pare
Pain and suffering go hand in hand. It’s nothing new, nothing uncommon. My life had been nothing but hell from the moment everything changed for me at the ripe age of seven.Yep, that’s right. I was seven when my world flipped upside down, so when I met him—you know, the one they tell you is supposed to love you unconditionally (a soulmate is what the humans call them)—everything was supposed to get better. Change. At least, that’s what I thought. That’s what I prayed for.Nope. That was a lie. I was fucking wrong.It will never get better; nothing is ever going to change.I am unworthy of love.I am unworthy of happiness.Forever destined to continue in this fucking loop of hell and misery, praying for someone to come be my savior. You know, like a good ol’ Disney movie.Ha! Jokes on them…Disney got it wrong.Life isn’t a fairytale…And this? This is my unhappy ending.______________________Emilia’s POV—Age 7Bang!My heart stops and I frantically look around as I hear someone ban
Emilia’s POV—Eleven Years LaterAnother day, another dollar. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to be, except I never get paid for any of the work I do.I have been in the Black Claw pack for last eleven years and every day it is a fight to stay alive—to keep on going until I can find a way to get out of this fucking hell hole.Since my parent’s murder, I have been reduced to nothing but a simple common slave to the Alpha and his pack.That man who ordered my mom to be raped and murdered in front of my father and then proceeded to kill my dad? He was a bounty hunter, sent to retrieve me because Alpha Jackson placed a hefty bounty on me.Why you ask? Well, when you figure that out, let me know.“Emilia!” Luna Ismalda screeches from downstairs.I slowly rise from the bed, my joints aching from the lumpy mattress underneath me. I sigh softly to myself and look around the room I’m in.One day…One day, I won’t have to live like this. I just have to wait until I turn 18…one more day…then I
Emilia’s POVOnce I finish decorating, I pull back and look at my handiwork. This is the best they are going to get, but I must admit—it looks damn good to me, especially considering my fingers didn’t stop shaking the first hour as my body slowly warmed up.I check the time on the clock above the door and let out a sigh. It’s time to head back and get started on dinner. I imagine my attendance is going to be required at this dinner too, which means they are going to expect me to wear my ‘nicest’ clothes I own and serve them and their guests.Once again—it’s fine. I am used to it.The issue? I don’t like surprises and Luna Ismalda didn’t tell me which Alpha they are expecting. Some of the Alphas they host are downright fucking cruel. The company they bring with them, like their heirs, are even crueler.There was once this one Alpha who came with his twin Alpha-heir sons. They were having a mild disagreement, so they decided to come up with a way to settle their little tiff. How did the
Alpha Kade’s POV“Emilia,” Jackson barks, “show our guests to the rooms you had made up for them.” I am disgusted as I glance at the girl and see the fear in her eyes. One of the girls next to her inconspicuously taps her on her lower back, almost like she is trying to reassure her that everything is done. Emilia turns her head slightly and the girl gives her a small, barely noticeable nod. My guess? She didn’t know she was responsible for preparing our rooms.“Follow me,” she murmurs softly, motioning for us to follow behind her. I turn to look at the warriors and my ranked members. Two of my warriors’ step-in front of me, following directly behind the girl.I swear my men sometimes take their tasks too serious sometimes. I highly doubt this measly Omega could harm any of us, even if she wanted to. She looks severely malnourished and underweight. It doesn’t look like she has even an ounce of muscle on her.Whenever I leave the pack, I always bring four warriors with me as added prot