Dominic’s POVI stood there as she left. The urge to go after her nearly consumed me, but something stopped me, a bitter mix of shame and realization of the fact that I hurt her, that I pushed her away, and now, she did not want anything to do with me.I had no right to demand anything from her. Not after what I had done.The frustration simmered just beneath my skin, fueled by both anger and regret. Regret for the years I had let slip by without finding her, and anger at myself for being the reason she had left in the first place.My chest felt tight as I turned back toward my mother’s house. I had come here hoping for answers, for some kind of clarity, and instead, I was left with more questions and a gnawing sense of failure.“She’s not going to make this easy for you.”I looked up sharply to see my mother standing on the porch with her arms crossed over her chest. She was watching me with that knowing look she always had, the one that told me she had seen and heard everything.“Di
Samantha’s POV“Mom, why do you smell like him?” I froze mid-step at Devon’s innocent question.The twins stood in the doorway of the living room with their faces scrunched in confusion. Devon’s nose twitched as if he was still trying to figure out where the scent was coming from, and Diana was clutching her stuffed wolf tightly, her small brows furrowed.The question struck me like lightning and my breath hitched as I stared at them, my heart hammering in my chest.“What do you mean?” I asked carefully, even though I already knew the answer.“That uncle from the hotel,” Devon said, his voice insistent. “The one who bought us food when we got lost.”Dominic.My stomach churned. How could they recognize his scent on me? I had showered twice since the confrontation at his mother’s house, scrubbing at my skin as if I could erase the memory of his touch. Yet, somehow, my children had picked up on something I could not hide. And time was indeed catching up. They were growing up so fast tha
Samantha’s POV"Oh! I’m so sorry!" said someone slamming into me. I stumbled back, barely managing to steady myself as a stack of papers scattered between us.“It’s fine,” I said quickly as the girl, wide-eyed and clearly flustered, knelt to gather the papers she had dropped, apologizing profusely. I smoothed my hands down the front of my blazer and I gave her a small smile before I walked to the room where the conference hall was.The massive oval table stretched across the center and around it sat Alphas and Betas from various packs having conversations. I was the only woman in the room and I saw the indifferent glances of the other men to my presence as if I did not have the right to be there. I could feel their judgments even without hearing them. Why her? Why would the Moonstone Pack send a woman?I ignored them and straightened my shoulders as I walked to an empty chair near the edge of the table. I refused to let them see my nerves, though the raw power of these Alphas exuding
Samantha’s POV"Dinner? With you?"The words tumbled out of me before I could stop them and Dominic just stood there, in front of me, calmer than I was used to, like he had carefully rehearsed this moment. I was not sure what I expected him to say after the meeting, but it wasn’t an invitation to dinner.“I know it’s unexpected,” he replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. “But there are things we need to talk about, Samantha.”I stared at him, feeling my irritation bubble beneath the surface. “We’ve talked enough, haven’t we?”He exhaled through his nose, something faintly like frustration crossing his face, but he reined it in quickly. “Just one dinner. No arguments. I’ll take you back as soon as you want. I promise.”It was not his words that swayed me, but the way he looked, like he had thought about this long and hard. Like whatever he wanted to say could not wait. And curiosity, my constant enemy, nudged at the back of my mind. “Fine,” I muttered before I could change my min
Samantha’s POVMy entire body froze. “What about the twins?”Her words tumbled out in a frantic rush, each one was piercing like a cold knife to my chest. “Samantha, it’s the twins. Something’s happened.”My stomach dropped, the blood draining from my face. I gripped the phone tighter, and my knuckles went white.“What happened?” I demanded.“I… I don’t know. They are gone. You need to come now.”Then out of nowhere, the line clicked dead.My hands were trembling as I turned slowly, panic bubbling up so fast I thought I might choke on it. I hurriedly reached my bag and looked for my car keys but they seemed to be unrecoverable. Dominic was watching me from across the table with concern etched into every line of his face, but I did not have time now. The twins, they were gone.“What is it?” he asked.I could not speak. The only words running through my head were Annie’s frantic, terrified voice, delivering the news. It can’t be.“Samantha,” Dominic said again, standing now, trying to
Samantha’s POV“They’re gone. I don’t know how—” Annie’s voice cracked, but I was not listening anymore.The words echoed in my head, pounding like a drum. Gone. My legs felt numb, but I pushed past her into the house. My eyes darted around frantically, looking for any sign of Devon or Diana. Their laughter, their little shoes in the hallway, anything. But there was none.“Where are they?” I shouted, spinning to face Annie. She flinched, her hands wringing together as she tried to speak.“I… I don’t know, Samantha. I was… I left for just a second. I swear. They were here. I don’t—”Dominic spoke, cutting through her panicked rambling. “Where were you when they disappeared?”I knew he was angry, I could hear it in his voice, but it was buried under his calm face. I could not say the same for myself. My chest heaved as I fought to keep breathing through the panic and anger.“The backyard,” Annie stammered. “They were playing. I came inside to grab their snacks, and when I went back out—
Dominic’s POV“Alpha, they are at Olivia’s house.”The words came from one of my men over the phone and my grip tightened as he relayed what they had just confirmed.“We saw two kids being brought into Olivia’s place earlier tonight,” he said. “Didn’t think much of it until we got a closer look just now. It’s them, Alpha. It’s the twins you were looking for.” I was relieved to hear that the twins were alive and unharmed, but they were in Olivia’s house. A place they should never have been. And my pack territory was miles away from Killian’s, it would have been impossible for them to just wander around and end up here in a few hours.She must have taken them. And that thought made me more furious. Olivia had no right to touch the kids, worse, she had no fucking right to take them from their home. That’s kidnapping!“I’m on my way,” I replied, ending the call without waiting for a response.I turned to Samantha, who was pacing near the car, and her hands clenched into fists, trying to
Samantha’s POVWhen I heard Dominic’s news about my kids, for a second, I thought I had misheard him. Surely, he had not just said Olivia’s house. Not that Olivia, the conniving snake who had slithered her way into every aspect of Dominic’s life and made it her mission to meddle in mine. But his grim expression left no room for doubt.“What did you just say?” My voice was shaking, though not with fear.“The twins are at Olivia’s house,” he repeated.Something snapped inside me. The heat of my fury surged through my veins, and my hands clenched into fists as my mind raced. Olivia? Olivia had my children? What possible reason could she have for taking them, what possible excuse?“What the hell is she doing with my children?” I shouted. “Why are they there, Dominic? Why would she take them?”“I don’t know,” Dominic said, but I did not miss the tension in his jaw or the way his hands curled into fists at his sides. “But we’re going there now.”“That conniving, manipulative bitch!” I screa
[SAMANTHA’s Point of View]I was so terrified.My whole body was trembling with fear, but I managed to hide it from Dominic. I wasn't afraid of the werewolf that my husband had just defeated, but rather I was nervous that if I had arrived a little later than I did, I would never have seen him alive again.
[ALPHA DOMINIC’s Point of View]As much as I tried to conserve my strength, the poison in my wound depleted my power after a nonstop fight I was having with this giant, scar-faced werewolf in front of me.[You are not going anywhere. You will die here, Alpha of the Silver Crescent!] He snarled at me.
[SAMANTHA’s Point of View] Something was wrong.I could feel it through the bond.
[ALPHA DOMINIC’s Point of View]Twenty hours since I stepped inside the Black Forest and eight hours after I fought and killed those bear-like beasts and the wounds made by that f*cking bear trap made of silver haven’t healed yet. To lessen the pressure on the wound, I decided to morph back into my human form. I noticed that the wound was bone-deep, and I had to take an hour of rest to at least let some tissue regenerate around the femur. I had been walking half-naked around the forest after I tore my shirt and used it to cover the wound.Blood squelched and spurted as I step my injured leg and I couldn’t stop grimacing from it. The excruciating pain shot up to my thigh, causing me to drag my feet while I searched for the herb. I already went to places that were near water sources, but no plants ever looked like how they were described in the drawing Samantha had provided me as a rough reference.Samantha and Mom must have gone to that meeting, and I felt bad that I couldn’t go back y
[DEVON’s Point of View]I would never let them do this to mommy!This strange feeling of anger made my body feel unusually warm. No. Hot. I felt as though I was suffering from a fever. It scared me at first. I was scared at what I felt and I was scared of the anger I saw on those people’s faces towards us and my mom. But there was no way I would let them get near her. I promised Dominic I would protect Diana and Mom with the best I could. And even though my hands were trembling, I just curled them into fists. I couldn’t let them intimidate us. I couldn’t let them bully Mom!It confused me because I had never seen faces with such hatred before.Diana was on alert as well. Despite our fear, we chose to follow our instinct and watched all of them with cold, deadly stares. We sat on each side of Mom. Both her hands were on our left shoulders as the meeting continued with more hateful words from those old, mean people.I looked up at Mom’s face and realized how strong she was and that she
[SAMANTHA’s Point of View]After telling Dominic about everything I found out about my mother, it was my turn to talk to Lena and ask questions about it.I needed her to explain why she chose to keep it hidden from me.Lena and my mate’s Beta, Liam, went to the house the day after the incident. Dominic hadn’t come back from the Black Forest. With worry, I explained to them everything about why Dominic chose to go alone on that perilous search for the herb. The herb that held the key to unlocking my true potential as a direct descendant of the Primordial Clan.The Mother Luna of the Silver Crescent stayed silent as she sat on one of the sofas in our home, and Liam was looking at her, worried and anxious. I suddenly hesitated if it was a mistake that I told her too soon about this, but despite Lena hiding it from me, she was the only person I trusted aside from my mate. She had been a mother figure to me since I became an orphan and a wonderful mother-in-law to me.“Have you tried calli
[ALPHA DOMINIC’s Point of View]“I can go with you.”“No. You stay here…” I caressed her face and then pushed her hair behind her ear. Samantha closed her eyes for a second as she savored the feeling of my skin rubbing against her cheek. With an anxious expression, she reached out and grasped my hand while tilting her head to the side. Her eyes sparkled with tears when she lifted her beautiful face to stare deep into my eyes as if begging me not to go.“You know it’s dangerous out there. Liam barely controlled the situation that happened in the pack manor yesterday. You even had to call Alpha Vance to send more soldiers to stop the Black Claws from escaping the dungeon, Dominic.” Her voice was full of perturbation as she rested her hands on my chest. “There’s no way I would let you go into that forest alone.”“It will be a lot faster if I go alone, love,” I whispered to her and planted a soft kiss on her pinkish, supple lips. I wanted to kiss her more. I wanted to pin her back into b
[SAMANTHA’s Point of View]I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from my mate.Diana and Devon stood in front of me; both faces were filled with guilt as they fiddled with their fingers and pouted their lips, too embarrassed and ashamed of what they did.
[ALPHA DOMINIC’s Point of View]“You don’t understand the situation here, Alpha Dominic! I am helping you!”I snarl ripped in my throat as I pushed him away, dropping his body on the dusty, marble floor of the old library. I started walking in circles around him like a predator ready for the kill and was aiming to slit his throat if he ever made a wrong move.