Liam:The day had dragged mercilessly. Endless meetings, numbers thrown at me, strategies debated that barely held my attention. I tried to bury myself in the work, thinking it might keep me from her.But it didn’t.Alaria lived in the back of my mind like a constant ache, and every word, every distraction, felt hollow beside it. “You checking your phone endlessly is not going to make her call you, Liam.”“You don’t need to keep reminding me, Kai.” I said, rolling my eyes as the two of us were in the car. “I am just glad that the day is over.”“Why? Aiming to go back to her ignoring you all day while you go back to burying yourself in more work just to forget that?” He asked, and I frowned. He shrugged, and I pinched the bridge of my nose.“At this point, I don’t even know why I am talking to you about this.”“Mostly because, maybe, I am the one person who is going to listen to this and enjoy it without making it too obvious.” He said, choosing to be sarcastic.“Hmm, saying it using s
Alaria:“Mama, why is Alpha Liam not taking me to school with you?” Anastasia asked, her voice gentle.“He has worked to take care of little ones. You don't need to worry though. I'm going to pick you up at the same time and I'm going to be dropping you off too. Is that not going to make you happy?” I asked softly.“Yes it is, but I thought that we were before happier when he was taking me to. You were happy when he took me to school before, but you're not happy today and you were not happy yesterday.” She said, making my chest ache.The morning air felt heavy.And though I tried to contain myself, I tried to control myself in front of her, it seemed that she still noticed.“No, I am happy, little wolf. I just have a few things in my mind and you know, Mama has to take care of a lot. But you don't need to worry. I'm going to make sure that everything settles. Eventually everything is going to go back to normal.” I said, and though I knew that she was not convinced, she was far too sma
Liam:It was like chasing a ghost. And the harder I tried, the harder it was for me to reach her.Every time I reached for her, she slipped further away. Whenever I tried to speak to her, she just looked away.“Alaria,” I called, my voice cutting through the hall. She didn’t even slow. Her spine stayed straight, chin high, the sound of her footsteps snapping against the floor like a refusal carved into stone. “For crying out loud, you can't keep avoiding me forever.”I caught her wrist once, just once. She froze, her body stiffening like my touch burned her. And when she finally turned to me, her eyes weren’t soft or conflicted like they’d been the night before, they were steel.“Don’t.” One word. Low. Final. Then she pulled free and left me standing there with my hand empty.It shouldn’t have hurt this much. It shouldn't be as difficult for me to be able to just speak to her. And get it was.I was Alpha. I commanded warriors, entire packs bent to my will. I stood in front of everyone
Alaria:I didn’t stop when I heard his footsteps behind me. I couldn’t.Because I knew that if I let him in, he was going to find a way to explain something that was not real, something that was a game. But I know what I saw. I know what I heard. The man was trying to play me for a fool again.And to make matters worse, despite me knowing the consequences, despite me knowing what I was doing, despite me knowing him, I allowed him in. I was the one who allowed him to get in my head.“Alaria… wait.”His voice carried through the hallway, commanding, urgent. The kind of voice that always made people freeze. But I didn’t freeze. I wasn't going to let him get in my mind again.“For crying out loud, just stop. Just give me a minute.” He tried again, but I did not care.I ran faster, my breath catching, vision blurring as tears pushed hot and unrelenting behind my eyes. I tried wiping them but they did not want to stop. Of course they wouldn't tell us in too much pain for them to just sudden
Amelia:I should not have lingered as long as I did.But I wanted to find something that would make me valuable for Alpha Darius, that would give him a reason not to let me go, not to push me away, and not to treat me like I was another failure.I knew what he did to failures and I did not want to be one. But of course, I failed. Because when Alpha Liam caught me, his eyes were dark with rage.“What were you doing lingering about?” He asked, glaring at me.“Alpha, I…”“I asked a question and I expect an answer, and that answer is going to come fast if you want to keep your head, Amelia.” He said, stopping me before I could even voice out the words that I wanted to say. More specifically because I knew that he was well aware that I had no answer to give him. I had no excuse of being there.“I just turned around the corner. I apologize. I did not intend to see anything that I should not have seen.” I said, looking down at my feet, avoiding his eyes.“This is not something you should hav
Liam:“You know, you can join me for dinner.” I said, teasing Alaria as the two of us sat on Anastasia's bed. Anastasia was getting ready for bed, the maid was helping her in her dressing room while Alaria and I chose to wait.“You should be careful, Liam. One would think that you are going to start neglecting your pack for me. You wouldn't even let me go and take care of my daughter like I am used to telling me that a maid would be doing it. I am her mother and if I chose to accept it today, it doesn't mean that it's going to be a forever thing.” She said, and I raised an amused eyebrow.“I was trying to help you. As far as I am concerned, you have barely allowed yourself the moment of rest since morning. I figured that you needed it.” I said, looking her in the eye.“While I do need it, it does not mean that I'm going to neglect her. I can rest when she is asleep. I don't want her to feel that me being by your side is making me too busy for her and I want you to engage with her in a