The scent of lavender permeated the drawing room. Servers were placing champagne bottles and glasses on the small tables situated before the couches. The room was huge and airy, with white curtains fluttering in the breeze blowing in from the open windows. There were bouquet of flowers scattered around for aesthetic effect. It was to convey a certain mood and it was definitely doing its job as I already felt as though today was the wedding. I woke up in a festive mood, all unsavory thoughts regarding Alpha Ian seemed to have left me. My focus needed to be on my mother and preparing for her big day. After everything has been arranged per my mother’s specification, I was left alone in the room. It didn’t take long for the guests to start trickling in. My mother joined us after a little while and she and her friends launched into a chaotic conversation filled with laughter and talking over each other. I kept glancing at the door, wondering when Bianca would come. She arrived right befor
Francesca’s POV Long after the brunch had come to an end and all the guests left the drawing room, including Bianca, I was still seated in the armchair. I seemed unable to move or speak, brain slowly trying hard not to think too much about my mother and Alpha Ian in bed. In fact, I was trying not to think about what the Alpha was like in bed at all. It wasn’t the kind of thoughts I wanted to harbor. I didn’t need my imagination to run wild. The man was marrying my mother come tomorrow. I didn’t know what it was exactly I felt, but it needed to die down. It needed to be obliterated because there was no space for it in my life. It would only bring me pain and complicate everything. I resolved that it was a silly crush borne out of Alpha Ian’s devasting good looks and effortlessly dominant nature. “Francesca,” Jessica Reginald called out in a soft tone. “Yes, mum,” I replied, turning my head sideways to stare at her. My mother was sitting on the long sofa alone. In fact, I hadn’t no
I love weddings and all the commotions they come with. Granted, I wasn’t the happiest trooper when I learnt about this particular alliance, but I think it’s safe to say I was fully on board now. I couldn’t have been happier for my mother. I was ready to give Alpha Ian a chance and put all of the mess that transpired between us in the past. Dominic already felt like someone I’ve known my whole life. I was also integrating well into the life of our merged packs. When all that was said and done, it was my mother’s wedding day. I was running around like a manic headless chicken. It was one errand after another. I was lucky I had Patrick and Bianca to relegate some of the responsibilities that were thrust upon me. I didn’t know whether Aunt Eleanor thought I had some hidden powers that would enable me to be at a hundred places at once. She was a tough cookie, that woman, merciless to boot. “There’s no rest for the wicked, Francesca,” she would say whenever she discovered my latest hidi
Francesca's POV Dominic had been right. Once Damien started going on about Francesca, the Magnificent, it was almost impossible to get him to stop. But I didn’t mind. I enjoyed it if I was being honest. She sounded like a riot, an untamed and unhinged woman who had been fully in control of everything in her domain. Now, there’s a woman worthy of being a role model. I’ve always had an affinity for my name, always thought it had a grandeur to it, but now there’s a new significance attached to it. At some point, I had to excuse myself from the conversation and make my way inside the mansion. The wedding progression was about to start. I needed to get dressed in the drawing room with the rest of the bride’s entourage. There was incessant chatter when I walked into the dressing room. On the far side, I saw my mother was being fitted into her gorgeous dress and I could only smile, feeling a wave of powerful emotions course through me. My cousin, Mayrah’s dress had obviously been adjusted
Francesca’s POVLife has a way of taking us down roads we never saw ourselves traversing. It’s crazy how we hardly have any say in how certain things in our existence will unfold. The Moon Goddess could be especially cruel and fickle when she chooses to be. I finally understood what Dominic meant. I always thought the moment I met my fated mate would be a magical one. I would be ecstatic, over the moon with overwhelming emotions, and grateful to the Moon Goddess for finally blessing me with such a precious gift. I never imagined it would go like this. This was far from my ideal dream and fantasy. No, this was a nightmare, a hellish one I wanted to wake up from but knew for a fact that I never would. This was reality. It was my reality.My mother’s husband-to-be was my fated mate. I should have known there was a reason I reacted so viscerally to his presence. From the very start, all the signs were there. I was too stupid to see, even after Bianca warned me. But of course, I didn’t wan
Francesca’s POV From the moment I stepped foot outside of my bedroom, it felt as though I was submerged under water. My surroundings closed in around me and everything echoed. I barely remembered how I made my way to the drawing room and joined the other bridesmaids and my mother. Someone gave a short speech before we departed for the wedding tent. I don’t remember who it was or what it was they talked about specifically. I seemed to be moving on autopilot. I had completely dissociated. I think my senses slowly came back to me when my mother and Alpha Ian began exchanging vows. Their words stuck to me like glue. I wished I wasn’t standing so close and that I could divert my gaze and not take the scene in, but I didn’t have a choice in the matter. For now, this was what I needed to do. It was happening whether I liked it or not. My fated mate was standing before me, and he was promising to spend the rest of his life loving no other person but my mother. They finished exchanging th
Francesca’s POV I was slowly coming back to myself. My eyes were struggling to slip open and adjust to the light that seemed blinding. I was no longer out in the woods. That much was obvious. In fact, I was lying in bed, one that felt and smelled like my own. I was dressed in a simple white T-shirt and black shorts. I also happened to be buried under a mountain of blankets. It was nice and warm. I wanted to stay there forever. My mind was momentarily blank, as though it was trying to protect me from thinking about the plethora of painful events that had taken place in the last several hours. It didn’t take me long after that to figure out two other people were on the bed with me. It was Bianca and Patrick flanking me on either side. They both wore worried looks. I could also see their confusion clear as day. They must have a thousand questions running through their heads as to what led to my collapse in the middle of the woods. I couldn’t begin to imagine how panicked they had been
Alpha Ian’s POV I didn’t know what to expect when I stepped into her room. I wasn’t sure what I would feel the second I laid eyes on her again. I’d gone through with the wedding without much thought. I didn’t allow myself to even stop for a second, because then I would have been forced to confront the finality of what I was doing and all the repercussions it would have. Now that my goal had been accomplished, and the reception had also served its purpose, it was only natural that I felt the need to go to her. When Patrick and Bianca left us alone, I could only continue to stand in the middle of her bedroom, floundering like a fool. She looked so small and vulnerable buried underneath her blankets. I wasn’t immune to the heartbreak that was visible in her expression. I simply wasn’t sure what to say or do. How much should I reveal about what I was feeling? Was it even appropriate to burden her with it? Where was the line now? She was my fated mate but I had essentially rejected her.