Samantha’s POV“I almost called Killian.”The confession tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop it. Annie froze mid-motion and the rag she was using to wipe the kitchen counter dangled from her hand as she turned to look at me.“You did what?” she asked surprised and with a tinge of disapproval in her tone.“I didn’t,” I said quickly, burying my face in my hands. “But I almost did. When I woke up and found the kids and Dominic gone, I panicked. My first instinct was to call Killian for help,” I admitted. I was scared that Dominic would take my kids away and it was only Killian that I thought could help me. Even after learning from Annie that Dominic took the twins for a walk, I was still paranoid that he might have tricked her and actually took the kids away from me.Annie set the rag down and leaned against the counter, crossing her arms. “Samantha, you really thought Dominic would just take off with them?”I lifted my head and looked at her, my chest tightening with shame. “For
Samantha’s POV“You’re going, and that’s final,” Annie said, cutting through my thoughts as I stared at the red dress laid out on my bed. “You have spent the entire day pacing back and forth like a caged animal. The least you can do is see where this date leads,” she added and I sighed.I shook my head, biting my lip. “I don’t know, Annie. What if this is a mistake? What if he is just… doing this for the kids? Or to make himself feel better? I don’t want to end up—”“Stop.” Annie’s hands landed on my shoulders, forcing me to turn and meet her gaze. “You deserve this, Samantha. You have been punishing yourself for so long that you have forgotten what it feels like to just live a little. And Dominic…” She sighed, a small smile tugging at her lips. “I see the way he looks at you. Whatever his reasons were before, they are different now.”I opened my mouth to argue, but her expression left no room for debate. Instead, I glanced back at the dress with its vibrant red fabric shimmering soft
Samantha’s POV“You are seriously not going to tell me what’s going on?” I asked in disbelief. I had to muster some courage and put up with all this makeup, high heels, and a red dress just for the night to be put on hold. I thought he wanted to fix us, but he could not even properly be with me even just for a night. Well except when we were in bed.He sat stiffly in his chair, barely meeting my eyes as he reached for his drink, taking a huge gulp before as if it could soothe his nerves.“It’s pack business,” he said evenly, carefully controlled, like he was talking to a mere business partner he did not give a shit about. Was I that to him? “An emergency. I need to handle it,” he added, and I leaned forward, narrowing my eyes. “That’s it? You are not going to explain anything? You dragged me out here, acted like this was important, and now you are just going to bail?”His jaw tightened, and he finally looked at me with his gaze filled with a mix of frustration and guilt. “Samantha, I
Samantha’s POV“They are going to hate me,” I muttered under my breath, my fingers clenching the hem of my sweater as we walked on the uneven dirt path toward the pack house, and as we passed by several pack members, their eyes were trained on me with questioning gaze.Dominic’s stride did not falter as he gripped my hand tighter. “They will respect my choice,” he remarked, with a faint hint of frustration that he did not bother to hide.Respect his choice? The concept felt foreign to me now, like something out of reach. “You don’t understand. I did not just leave, Dominic. I disappeared. I abandoned my role, my place, my duties. Do you have any idea how much damage that must have caused?” My voice cracked despite my efforts to keep it controlled.He stopped so abruptly that I nearly stumbled. Turning to face me, he cupped my cheek with his free hand, his dark eyes boring into mine as he spoke. “They will understand, and they will accept you because you are their Luna. You always hav
Samantha’s POVOlivia’s face still lingered in my mind, the way she had looked at me before I left the pack grounds. That smug smile. That group of wolves hanging on her every word like she was some queen. It was not new to me anymore. Olivia always thrived on being the center of attention, making sure I was on the outside looking in. But today, it had gotten under my skin in a way I could not shake.The way she tilted her head with a smile just wide enough to feel like a challenge made my stomach stir. She did not even have to say anything. That was the worst part. She knew how to needle me without lifting a finger.I let out a heavy breath as I sank deeper into the couch. My shoes were still on and my bag dropped somewhere by the door. I did not even have the energy to care. My body felt like it was running on fumes, but my brain would not shut off.What was I even doing there? Going back to that pack, and walking into this mess, it felt like I had walked into a fire willingly. And
Samantha’s POV“Why did I let this happen?”The question hung in the air like a fog I could not escape, pressing down on my chest as I sat on the edge of the bed with a towel wrapped tightly around me. The faint warmth of the water still lingered on my skin, but it was nothing compared to the fire that had raged between us just moments ago. My reflection stared back at me from the small mirror across the room, but it was not just my face I saw. It was the conflict within, the confusion, the shame. And something else, something I was not ready to admit.I ran my fingers through my damp hair, pulling it away from my face as if that would somehow clear my thoughts. But nothing helped. My mind kept replaying the way his hands felt on me, the way his lips claimed mine like they were meant to. And worse, the way I had wanted it.No, I had not just wanted it… I had needed it.The realization sent a shiver down my spine, one that had nothing to do with the cool air in the room. What was wrong
Samantha’s POV“Mom, why does your face go red every time Alpha Dominic is around?”Diana’s question made me choke on my water. I coughed, sputtering as Diana giggled uncontrollably and Annie raised a single, knowing eyebrow from across the dining table. My cheeks burned hotter than the sun, and I struggled to compose myself, waving off Annie’s attempt to hand me a napkin.“I don’t—” I started, then stopped, realizing any denial would only make things worse. Devon was staring at me with his arms crossed, his face far too serious for a six-year-old, while Diana leaned forward eagerly, clearly enjoying my discomfort.“You do, though,” Diana chirped, grinning. “It’s like you are allergic to him or something. You always act weird.”“I do not act weird,” I muttered, stabbing at the salad on my plate with far more force than necessary.“You totally do,” Devon said, smirking now. And that smirk, it was the same one Dominic wore when he knew he had the upper hand in a situation. Oh, great. My
Samantha’s POV“Step aside?” I interrupted, “You are out of your mind if you think I am handing over my kids to you or anyone else. I would die before I let that happen.”“How noble,” she drawled. “But don’t fool yourself into thinking this is a choice, Samantha. You are playing a losing game. You are weak. And when you fall, those kids will be left to pick up the pieces. Do you really want that for them?”My hand trembled with the force of my grip on the phone. “You don’t know a damn thing about me or what I am capable of. And if you come near my children, if you even think about trying to take them again, you will regret it.”“Oh, I’m trembling,” Olivia mocked. “You think you can scare me, Samantha? You think your little threats mean anything? I have dealt with bigger obstacles than you, and I have crushed them all. You are nothing.”“Try me,” I spat. “Come near my children, and I will show you exactly what I am capable of. You think you are ruthless, Olivia? You don’t know the firs
[SAMANTHA's Point of View]I shouldn’t be here.I shouldn’t have followed her here, but my instincts and my wolf told me there was something wrong, and I needed to check for the safety of my kids. For the safety of the pack. Olivia was definitely planning something against the pack and me. Something much more dangerous than her father was hiding from me and Dominic, and there was no way I would let
[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