Samantha’s POV“Your daughter kidnapped my children,” I snapped at him, disregarding any respect for whoever he was in this pack. “That’s what’s going on.”Richard’s eyes darted to Olivia, whose carefully composed mask faltered for just a second before she straightened. He ignored her and addressed Dominic instead, his tone shifting to something smoother, almost rehearsed and reverent.“Alpha Dominic,” Richard began, his tone oozing with false diplomacy, “I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding. Olivia was not trying to harm anyone. She was only doing what she thought was best for the children.”“What she thought was best?” I repeated. “She had no right to take them from me! What kind of twisted logic are you trying to sell here?”Richard raised a hand as if to calm me, but it only stoked the fire in my chest. “Samantha, let’s not forget that Olivia and I have already proven our loyalty to your children once. Do you recall the Summit? When Devon and Diana wandered off? Who found them
Dominic’s POVI reached for the car door where Samantha sat with the twins, their small forms huddled together in the backseat. “Wait for me,” I said. “I’ll drive you home. Just give me a minute.”She did not respond, did not even look at me. Her silence was louder than any words she could have spoken. It was a silence I was not used to, one that had a gravity of its own. I turned, heading back toward the house, but something in her quiet stillness tugged at me.For the first time in what felt like forever, I believed we might be able to fix this, whatever this was between us. Finding the twins together, fighting side by side against Olivia, I showed her how much I cared for her and the twins, and I just hoped she could see that I was serious with her, and in fixing our marriage. I wanted her back, and she should know that. Maybe it was not too late yet. Maybe I could prove to her that I was not the man she had run from all those years ago.I stepped back into Olivia’s house, and befo
Dominic’s POV“You’re playing with fire, Dominic,” Olivia said as the old woman lit another bundle of herbs, releasing a thick, pungent smoke into the air. “But I think you already know that.” She did not mean the literal fire in front of us, but the truth that would arise after this.However, I was not sure if it was the smoke or her words that made my stomach churn. My instincts were screaming at me to stop, to leave, but the nagging doubt Olivia had planted refused to be silenced in my head. I needed answers.The old woman — “the seer,” Olivia called her, was crouched on the floor of a dimly lit room at the back of Olivia’s house. The space reeked of aged wood, dried herbs, and something metallic, like blood. Candles flickered from every corner with their flames casting eerie shadows that seemed to dance with a life of their own.“What exactly are we doing here?” I asked.The seer did not look up, her attention was fixed on the symbols she was drawing on the floor with what looked
Dominic’s POV“What does that even matter? I’m unlucky enough to be marrying Samantha as it is.”The words echoed in my mind, sharper now than the day I had spoken them on our wedding day, and I saw the broken look in her eyes, the way her shoulders had slumped as though carrying a weight too heavy to bear. I had been too blind to see it then, or I just did not care. I was too consumed by my own bitterness and resentment to realize that I had been the one breaking her.I ran through the woods as the cool night air whipped against my face. The revelation of my children’s existence surged through me like a storm, leaving me breathless, and excited, but at the same time, the regret was consuming me like a fire determined to turn me into ashes. Devon and Diana were mine. Mine. And yet, Samantha had kept them from me, hiding their existence for six years. But I understood, or perhaps, I wanted to because I knew that I had done her wrong, but I also thought that I had the right to know, and
Samantha’s POVThe knock at the door came just as I finished tucking Diana into bed for her afternoon nap. My heart immediately sank to my stomach. I knew it was him. Dominic.I hesitated, my hand hovering over the doorknob as I tried to calm myself. Last night, I hated that he stayed with Olivia, that he was with her, it reminded me of the past, that I had been working so hard to forget, but every time I saw them together, it all came rushing back. I did not know what happened to them that night, nor did I want to know what they did. That should be none of my business already, but it never left my mind since this morning. Dominic had been relentless in pursuing me, wanting me back in his life, but I could not shake the fact that Olivia was still hanging around him, and I did not want that because it made me question his loyalty. I could not fully trust him.I opened the door, and there he was, standing tall, broad, and imposing with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, as though h
Samantha’s POVI clenched my fists by my sides, trying to keep my composure. My heart hammered in my chest as I felt the intensity of his gaze on me, weighing, challenging, and gauging what would be my response. He did not leave my eyes even though I began to look somewhere else just to avoid his gaze while telling myself not to waver. His interest in the twins terrified me. I could not let him get close, not now, not ever. I was not ready yet. “They’re fine,” I replied curtly.“I would like to see them,” he pressed gently, taking a step closer as if caging me to a point wherein I could not refuse.“No.” My voice came out sharper this time, leaving no room for argument. “They do not need to meet you, Dominic. Not now, and maybe not ever.”He frowned, his jaw clenching, but he did not lash out or argue. Instead, his gaze softened, filled with a kind of determination that made me uneasy. “I am not here to take them from you, Samantha. I just… I just want to know them. To see them. Ev
Olivia’s POV"How could everything go so wrong?" I whispered to myself, pacing back and forth in my bedroom. My heels clicked against the hardwood floor, and I clenched my fists tightly, my nails biting into my palms, and forming a crescent line mimicking the ends of my nails. No matter how many times I replayed the last few days in my head, the outcome did not change. Dominic knew. He knew he was the father of Samantha’s twins, and now, he could not seem to stay away from them.This was not how it was supposed to be.I sank onto the edge of my bed, burying my face in my hands. Every breath I took felt shallow with each exhale carried with frustration. I had imagined this going differently, so differently. I thought Dominic would be angry. Furious, even. I thought he would storm into Samantha’s life and rip her apart for hiding the truth from him. And I thought he would be grateful to me for showing him the light, for helping him uncover the truth.But instead… instead, he turned all
Dominic’s POV"You’d throw it all away for her, wouldn’t you?"Richard Bennett’s words echoed off the walls of my office like a challenge. He stood there with a commanding presence as if he owned the room, and me.I did not bother to hide the irritation flashing in my eyes. “Is that why you are here? To question my choices?”He smirked, the kind of smug expression that used to make me bite my tongue out of respect, but not anymore.“Questioning your choices implies you have made any worth questioning,” he replied condescendingly. “This is not about choices, Dominic. It is about your complete disregard for everything we have worked toward.”I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms. “You mean everything you’ve worked toward. Let’s not pretend your interest in me or my pack has ever been selfless.”His smirk faltered, and I knew I had struck a nerve. He recovered quickly, though, stepping further into the office and closing the door behind him. “Selfless or not, my investments have ma
[SAMANTHA’s Point of View]“Why don’t you tell us what really happened, Samantha? Where did you drag the Alpha and he came here almost half-dead?!” asked one of the council members, baring his teeth at me. “What is really going on here?”I ignored him and hissed at Olivia once again, my fists tightened, wanting to feel the skin off her face, “If you still love your lif
[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.