I couldn't deny the truth. “I'm so sorry, Tanya. I didn't mean for it to happen-” “It’s my fault.” There were tears in her eyes now. “I should never have told Mother to ask her to come back home. Then we would have gotten married, and I'd have been yours. You would have been mine. It's my fault.”“Tanya-” “I hate her so much.” The solemn way she dropped that statement made me pause. “...what?”Her tear-stained eyes looked directly at me, and I saw a storm blooming in them. “I said,” she sniffed. “That I hate her. I hate her so much.”Then she turned and fled.Julian came out not long after that with on unconscious Diane. “Had to put her out,” he grimaced, opening the door of a car I hadn't noticed before. “She was calling me a child.” I didn't know how to reply to that.He waved me over after he'd got into the driver's seat. “Get in. You need to give that official statement of yours, and soon. Diane's goons are still there.” I did as he'd said, and soon after, I'd dropped Audrey
If I could describe it, I'd call it electric. Just like the time our eyes met.“Can I-” he paused, seeming surprised that his voice had dropped by an octave, then chuckled embarrassedly. “No. It's too soon.”“What is?” I whispered, not wanting to distort the mood that had been created.I didn't miss the way his gaze dropped my lips and slowly traveled back up to my eyes, and my wolf protested when he stepped back from me. “It's nothing. I'll be back soon.” “But Alpha-”“Oh, and,” he said with a slight frown. “You should stop calling me Alpha. Call me Roman.” Immediately, I shook my head. “That would make it seem like I'm competing with Tanya for your heart. I won't…I can't do that. Not to her.”Hearing my stepsister's name, his eyes dimmed, and he looked away. “It doesn't matter anymore.”I was pretty sure I had a confused expression at that moment. “What do you mean? You two are engaged to be married in a few hours. How can you say it doesn't matter…” I trailed off, a random though
“I need space, Mother.” A sob raked its way out of Tanya's throat. “And I'd prefer if you just-”“Come on, Tanya.” Diane felt desperate now. This had gone on for long enough. “Please. Let me help out, at least.”Silence greeted her statement, and then she heard a loud sigh. Seconds later, a puffy-eyed and bedraggle haired Tanya stared at her. “You can help out by staying out, Mother. But since you just wouldn't give up, come in.”Seeing that look on her daughter's face almost broke Diane, but she kept her emotions in check.Tanya flopped on the clustered bed, and her mother, momentarily forgetting her mission, examined the situation with concerned eyes. “Don't you try to say something derogatory against me,” the younger woman suddenly said, startling her mother. “I’m grieving, Mother.”“I was not going to,” Diane replied, clearing an area with her hand and sitting there. “I was just…it's a mess.”“I'm a mess. It's just a reflection of how I feel right now.” Subconsciously, Tanya's h
Marcus hummed again, his other hand running lines up and down her upper body, occasionally brushing her clit. “That won't be easy, Diane. I hate him as much as you do, but the Crimson Wolves apparently have laid a mark on him. He's their target now. What I can do, however, is help you kill him slowly.”Her initial disappointment gave way to curiosity. “How?” “Poisoning, of course.” He grinned. “But you'll only get it at a price.”Oh, she was completely aware. She agreed to his terms immediately, and jerked him off as a bonus signature. When he was sound asleep, she took her things and shimmied into her clothes, calmly opening the door and walking back to her room like nothing had happened, only to pause when she noticed Donald standing in front of her room, about to knock. They stared at each other for a while, before the young man chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck. “My shift just ended, so I thought-”She laughed lightly and told him to wait, then pulled out th
The DNA sequence didn't match the normal human’s, he'd discovered. It'd taken a while for him to adjust to it, and while he didn't tell my secret to anyone, it'd been odd for him to accept my existence. But he'd stuck close since then, and had offered his services in case I ever needed them. I needed his skills more than ever in that moment. He grinned at me when he opened the door and invited me in, then whistled softly when he saw my face. “I hate to break it to you, boy, but you look like shit.” “I'm aware,” I retorted drily. “I can't do anything about it, however.” He looked me over with a frown on his face and offered me a seat which I politely accepted, then waited till I was settled in before he attacked me with questions. One disadvantage of being friends with a scientist was that every moment was a cause for questioning. Even breaking up a wedding on the wedding day. “There's a much more important thing at stake here,” I interjected when I'd had enough. He po
I lifted my gaze to my friend's face. “Huh? What was that?”“He said that you two…” Jacob gritted his teeth. “He said that you two are fated to each other. Is that true, Audrey?” I took in a deep breath, then let it out, and nodded. “We are. I'm as surprised as you are, but it's the truth.”“Is that why you ran away the other time? While we were walking?” He was so terribly observant at times that I didn't know whether to love or hate him for it. “No, it…it was related to him, but I didn't know we were mates then. It was more of the fact that we'd met somewhere before, and I didn't want him to see or recognize me.”“That didn't work out in the end, huh?”I blew a raspberry. “Nope. Not one bit.”He chuckled and passed a hand through his hair. “Does he…hurt you in any way? Like, say any insulting words? Or physically? You can always reject him as your mate if he's doing that, and obviously that is abuse, so you can also-”“If anything, he's terribly remorseful and is trying to make me
“W-what?” I asked, momentarily confused and slightly frightened as he lifted me off the bed and sat me down again. “I- you…dear Luna.” He got up from the bed and took a few steps back. My heart sunk into my stomach when I saw the disgusted look on his face. “R-Roman?”“I touched you,” he muttered, staring at his hands. “I can't believe I fucking touched you.”For a second I thought I hadn't heard him well. “Well, what's so bad about that? We're mates, aren't we?” He looked up from his hands to my face, and I was tempted to recoil at the haunted look on his face. “No, Audrey. I'm not worthy of that title. Not yet. A lot is going on, at the moment.” This again. “But Roman, I told you that I forgive you. You're perfectly fine now-” “I'm not worthy of you yet, Audrey.” His voice was resolute. “I caused you to feel so much pain in the little time I got to know you all because I couldn't handle my feelings and didn't know the necessary steps to take at the time.”I stared at him, in
Roman POV:She stared at me for a moment before shrugging and nodding her head. “One random guy from high school. Christoph. I found out during graduation, and rejected him immediately.”The emotion that bubbled up in my heart could not be properly described, but it was a mixture of surprise and horror. I'd been opportune to attend her high school graduation since my father was the guest of honor, and recalled having to stop a boy named Christoph from ingesting a bottle of pills when I wandered to the back of the school.But I hadn't succeeded in stopping his death, because two days later, news went around that he'd drowned in a lake. Only I knew it most likely wasn't an accident. He'd attempted to take his own life again.Now, years later, I found out that he'd been rejected that very day. It was a stretch to say that the rejection was the cause of his suicide, but I'd heard enough stories to know that the feeling of being rejected was like that of being stabbed with a hundred knives
Tanya POV:“A…what?” I responded, wondering if I'd heard right. But when he laughed again, I knew I had. “Hey, Jacob!” he said, and I saw the Gamma's eyes narrow into slits. “When was the last time you had a woman?”“Are you drunk or something?” was the Gamma's response. But his eyes had moved from my breasts to where Marvin's dick buried into me. It felt a bit odd, being watched like that, but it also felt…good. Dirty. Sexy. Marvin noticed where the other man's eyes lay. “Do you wish it was your dick in hers, Jakey boy?”“Shut the hell up. I'm getting the hell out of here.” But he didn't move. “You don't have to, you know.” My mate caressed my pussy and I reacted despite myself. “Tanya here wouldn't mind a threesome. Would you, T?” Would I? “I'm not sure I-” Marvin dipped two fingers into my pussy and I moaned. “There's your answer,” he chuckled, pressing against me so that my breasts now rubbed on the wall. Something about that caused an even greater reaction from my body. “Com
Tanya POV:In Roman's absence, Marvin and Jacob had found a way to sway the council of elders’ sentiments in their favor. How they'd done it, I had no idea. But in the four days after the Alpha had suddenly disappeared, they had successfully enlisted about fifteen elders who were willing to break out of the pack and join forces with Marvin. My mate had laughed heartily when I'd asked how he'd done it, and told me the work hadn't started when Roman left, but way before that. I still hadn't understood it. We were currently seated before a group of elders in Marvin's apartment, and they all had the same expressions in their eyes- a mixture of trepidation and greed. The two clashed so badly I had to turn away, focusing on my beloved, whose arm was wrapped around my waist, his gaze seemingly adoring. I watched silently as Marvin discussed with the elders, expertly weaving them into his web of deceit. I almost pitied them, knowing what I was facing would soon be their fate. A deal with h
Roman POV:I watched as Audrey's eyes were brimming with tears after watching Sam twitching in pain accompanied with a long cough as he struggled to speak. "We'll fight if they manage to reach this place, but with the way I ran, it should be impossible for them to trace me here," he said, coughing hard enough to have his lungs out on the floor.Audrey ran to his side, gently lifting his head and pressing her hand against his cheek. “Sam? Can you hear me? Stop speaking you're only endangering yourself,” she said, wiping her tears frantically away from her eyes."He's not going to die Audrey, if he can still manage a smile in the Middle of all this chaos, it seems like dying isn't on his schedule anytime soon," I said, but she only rolled her tear-filled eyes at me and worked her fingers over him, her fingers trembling as she wiped at the dirt on his face and checked the gash above his brow. A sliver of jealousy flickered in my chest. I hated that it did. But I also knew better. Sam
Roman POV:I stood in the corner of the room, watching Audrey sleep. She looked so small curled up under the thin quilt, her breathing finally even and steady. The bruises on her arms were already beginning to fade, but I felt a lot of pain seeing them, like they were carved into me instead.She shifted slightly, her lips parting with a soft sigh as she exhaled. She had fallen asleep right after I cleaned her wounds and laid her to bed while I sat deep in thought of how I was going to make sure I provided a pack she wouldn't have to always run from.And just before her eyelids fluttered closed, she’d whispered, “You’re enough for me, Roman. Don’t ever think you’re not.”Those words had settled somewhere deep in my chest, warm and heavy. She didn’t even know how long I’d been waiting to hear that. How many nights I’d stared at the moon and wondered if the bond we shared meant anything to her. How many days I doubted if I could ever be the kind of mate she deserved. But now…Now, all I
Tanya POV:When the doorbell rang for the fourth time, Marvin groaned, his cum spilling into my mouth as he emptied himself. Then he caressed my hair and opened his eyes. “Stay here, baby,” he said when the doorbell rang again. “I'll be back soon.”I watched him leave, feeling empty. When was the last time I felt alright? Truly alright? I couldn't remember. The past few days had been a whirlwind of mind blowing sex for Marvin and I. He would corner me everytime he had the opportunity, no matter the location, and make me cum numerous times, then clean me up and tend to me like I was some priceless object. Before, I'd have been touched by those actions, but after my mother's death, I was merely existing. I'd lost all form of contact with life and the only reason why I was still here was because I realized there was nowhere I could go. None of my mother's men would be willing to take me unless I could offer them something, and I wasn't going to give my body to the same old coot my moth
Audrey POV:I fluttered my eyes open to the view of a room, my body felt like a thousand needles were stabbing into my side.I groaned and opened my eyes before shutting them almost immediately from the brightness of the candlelight that shone in the corner of the room.It was then I realized that I was on a relatively soft object, and when I moved my hand slightly, I felt a mattress. Alarm bells rang in my head, and I sat up abruptly, wincing from the pain that shot through my body."No! Don't move abruptly!" a familiar male voice yelled, and a figure ran to me. I was almost flinched when a sweet smell engulfed my nostrils, and I blinked rapidly, now clearly seeing the man bending over me and cussing. “Oh, thank Luna. The wound didn't reopen.” "Roman?" I muttered questioningly, trying to wrap my head around how he got here. The last thing I remembered was running from those rogues, and fighting for myself. He looked sadly at me. "Hey." "H-how are you here? Where are we? How did
Audrey POV:I raced through the woods, my heart pounding in fear. I'd shifted in the course of my escape, and my senses were terribly heightened now. It was as though I was one with the woods. Every scent, every twig crack, every noise…I could perceive them all. I could especially perceive the wolves that were currently bounding after me. The sound of their snarls echoed in the woods behind me, causing stabs of fear to run through my heart. I almost couldn’t breathe.The cold air slashed through my lungs as I ran, my paws slamming against the damp earth, scattering leaves and dirt in every direction. My heart thundered in my chest, a deafening rhythm that drowned out everything- save for the snarls behind me. They were getting closer to me, each one louder and more closer than the last. The forest around me blurred, a dizzying smear of bark, shadow, and moonlight. Twigs snapped under my foot, branches tore through my fur.Somewhere, somehow, in the middle of my desperate run for s
Roman POV:The air that left my lungs at her statement slowly returned, but that still didn't stop the shock from flowing off me in waves. “What-” I paused at my choked voice, coughed, then started again. “What do you mean by that?”She gave me a sad look. “Roman, if I can't find Audrey right now, then it means she's in danger. Whether it is that she's unconscious- for someone could have knocked her out- or that she's…well…”“She's not dead.”No. It couldn't happen. She'd only just walked into my life. I couldn't lose her just like that. Audrey was a light, a beacon of hope that I could find love, even in this bleak world where I was surrounded by so much hate and betrayal. Mother shook her head. “Obviously, I don't wish for her to be. She's such a sweetheart. What I'm trying to say is-” “Audrey's not dead!” I snarled despite myself. She bit her lower lip and turned away. “No, Mother. She cannot be dead. For crying out loud, it hasn't even been up to a year since she stepped into m
Roman POV: “You did quite well,” Julian said to me while I watched Jacob supervise the cleaning of the conference room. It'd been about fifteen minutes since the meeting ended, and a part of me had reveled in the fear the elders had in their eyes whenever they crossed the body of their dead comrade. “You really didn't have to kill anyone though.” “They are infuriating,” I said emotionlessly as the cleaners began their job. “It was high time they learned that I wasn't just the old Alpha's son. I am the Alpha.” My best friend gave me a look. “I hope that doesn't mean you plan to resort to the harsh ways of your father.” “Never,” I grunted. “But I'll have to place some respect in these elders’ hearts. They need to be reminded of their position before me.” My Beta merely passed a breath through his mouth. “If you say so, Roman. I just really hope you're not using your anger with your mate's disappearance to cloud your greater sense of judgment.” “Audrey's disappearance has n